They said there’s a Nipsey in your hood that you don’t support. Newark, I found one of the Nipseys in our hood. Principal Akbar Cook is isn’t just your average, he’s a savior and a symbolic human being. Most principal just care about increasing students test scores so they can get a pay raise. This principal cares about student lives so he can them walk across a stage on graduation night.
Cook had washing and dryer machines installed at his school the summer of 2018 to deter bullying and embarrassment for his students, who didn’t want anyone to know that their families couldn’t afford to wash their school uniforms. Which went viral and ultimately led him to a seat on the Ellen show.
“When I found out about a high school principal from Newark, New Jersey who is doing incredible things to keep his students in school, I knew I wanted to have him on the show,” DeGeneres said on her talk show.
DeGeneres had a surprise for him, too. The talk show host, who has a partnership with Cheerios to encourage “One Million Acts of Good,” gave Cook a $50,000 check for West Side.
“Oh My God,” Cook said.
But there’s more.
Cheerios also gave West Side a year supply of food to stock the pantry for the school’s “Lights On” program that keeps kids off the street at night.
“Lights On,” another Cook genius idea, started three years ago so young people would have a safe place to go from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. A lot can happen to a young person in those five hours, and Cook didn’t want trouble to find his kids.
https://twitter.com/datboy_jerm/status/1117417286632132609?s=21
Cook organizes recreational activities for the students and works closely with Newark Police Department to ensure safe transportation for all of the kids after the functions end. When Cook is not maneuvering through the many perils and arduous tasks that come along with being a Vice Principal and Head Basketball Coach during the school year, he serves as Co-Director of LifeCamp, a summer camp for children from the greater Newark area.
To learn more about Akbar Cook and to donate to this great cause visit the link below:
https://4agc.com/donation_pages/0a51e1e6-d3a8-4e84-983f-600ef5635d19
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