this is a this is a huge moment not onlylife not only in my family's life not only in the Foundation's life but kids and for the whole city of and more importantly this is a moment for all of us so we should all give ourself a round of applause as well I kind of when I stand up here I kind of start off with the same because it's kind of true you guys never seen me come up here and go in my and grab out no cards or grab out you know points of what I should tackle because uh to be honest I kind of never know what I'm gonna say until I get up here and I kind of feel the crowd and I kind of feel the emotion behind whatever I'm doing thank you too so I kind of just speak from the heart
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I've always found that to be a lot better and quite just you know just true so so here we go as a kid from Akron Ohio myself I remember walking these same streets I remember walking North Street West Market I remember walking behind here on Crosby going to Harris Elementary riding my bike throughout the rest of the city so when people ask me why why is school that's part of the reason why because I know exactly what these 240 kids are going through I know the streets that they walk I know the trials and tribulations that they go through I know the UPS the downs I know everything that they dream about I know all the nightmares that they have because because I've been there I know exactly what they going through so you know they're the reason why this school is here today and yeah there you go say it again there you go testimony we're gonna turn this Monday into a Sunday
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soon you're gonna say something like that again Reverend James don't come out soon already got the suit on you know but I think for kids for young kids ages the most important thing that we can give them is structure and a sense of they just want someone to feel like they like we care kids just want to know if we care about them they have the dreams they have the aspirations they have everything that they can can actually get to whatever they want to get to in life they just want to notice someone care and that's why we're doing this today that's why we're going to continue to do things like this because we want these kids over here these kids over here and all the kids in this city and hopefully beyond the city lines beyond the state lines beyond the country lines understand that this is something because we care about their future so can't say another word without thanking the Michelle Campbell wherever you are she is the main reason why this is possible her heart her passion her commitment to excellence her commitment to the LeBron James Family Foundation is the reason we sit up here today with the LeBron James I promise school and I said wherever you are but she's right over here she hates attention but she's right here trying to hide behind these bleachers over here unbelievable to the Akron public school system thank you thank you so much I was a part of the Akron public school system from kindergarten all the way to eighth 84 grade and I just want to say thank you for your support for your commitment to
not only abroad James Family Foundation but also to these kids you guys are unbelievable thank you so much to all the sponsors I see all of you guys all over thank you so much I wish I could thank every last one of y'all by name but you all played a real huge part on this become impossible my wife Savannah my mother Gloria oh my god someone said we we huh hey you must really know my mama huh to be saying that name I haven't heard that a long time okay and my beautiful daughter right here Zuri my angel obviously my I got two boys as well they're too cool for school these days but no they're they're a huge part of of who I am today without this structure without you know their leadership you know I know I get a lot of the line the lime life I know I get a lot of the you know the cover pages and all those things but without the support systems from our family I wouldn't be able to do the things that I do on a day-to-day basis so please give a round of applause to those guys please thank you I got a lot of a lot of friends and families sitting out in the crowd right now and someone asked me like when you were growing up and you were in the inner city of Akron Ohio I actually did an interview with one of my one of my third graders that's in Teen Vogue and one of the questions was when you were a kid growing up in higher in Ohio and so many things were happening in gun violence and drugs and things were going on and I was I must I come from a single-parent household as well what stopped you from going the other way and I look out in the crowd and I see a lot of my childhood friends there the reason that kind of stopped me from going the other way you know having you know kids around my same age and we having the same goals at mine really stopped me from going other way and that's what we want to create here at this school you know school is definitely about learning about strengthening your mind but more importantly it's about the friendship that you can create every single day being around the same is y'all get to learn each other and y'all get to be will wanting one another every single day because I feel like that it just builds so much it builds so much character that will last forever I mean I got I'm looking out I see my friends right now that I've been with since I was 6 7 years old and we've been together this whole time and thank you guys I really appreciate you guys are unbelievable so thank you so last before before I get off the mic I just want people to know this is for the adults that uh it doesn't matter you know as a kid growing up in inner city and me specifically growing up here in Akron Ohio you know being under privileged and feeling that you could become a statistic by me being able to put something like this together I want people to know that these kids should still have the same opportunity as everyone else and that's what's most important so that's the dose you can guys cough it up if you want to so us as adults we have a responsibility to not let these kids down to continue to be the teachers the mentors to parents the coaches the life studies the life skills whatever it is the inspiration the superheroes everything that's our responsibility because these kids are our future and they have dreams that's bigger and greater than the city of Akron in a state of Ohio than the United States of America so in closing thank you so much I love you too man I really do I really do and and know no matter if I'm playing in Los Angeles or not Akron Ohio is always home for me always so mom I think it's time to raise the I promise flag it's on you mother so thank you so much guys you guys are unbelievable ladies and gentlemen the I promise school is now officially open for the world to see thank you for sharing in this milestone moment that will change lives for years to come in Akron and across the country
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