Louisiana Families Celebrate Educational Options with Marvin Sapp

 

Over 2,000 of our friends in Louisiana had the opportunity to spend “An Evening with Marvin Sapp,” last night, in celebration of educational options for African American families.

The Grammy-nominated, Dove, Stellar and BET award-winning gospel artist and Michigan pastor was in Baton Rouge, LA as part of his multi-city tour, sponsored by the Black Alliance for Educational Options through its “Give Parents a Choice, Give Children a Chance” campaign.

Dr. Sapp is a proponent of school choice, as he opened a charter school in Grand Rapids, Michigan this school year for performing arts students.  The Grand Rapids Ellington Academy of Arts and Technology is the first performing arts school in the West Michigan area. 

In addition to a special performance for the crowd, Sapp also talked about the importance of educational options for all students, and the choices available in the state for families seeking better educational opportunities.

-American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, KMS

Something to Sing about in the Peach State

Grammy-winning singer Marvin Sapp wowed a
packed, reform-minded church in Georgia yesterday.

What does an award winning and Grammy nominated musician have to do with education reform?  In Georgia—a lot.

Marvin Sapp—the eight-time Grammy nominated gospel singer from Grand Rapids, Mich. spoke last night at "Educating our Future: The Fight for Georgia’s Children," hosted by the Center for an Educated Georgia and the Alliance for School Choice.

The event, an informational forum about education reform and how the community can get involved, drew nearly 1,000 supporters.

Sapp, who sang two songs at the event, spoke about his strong support for education reform, as well as his plans to open the GREAT School, a charter school focused on the arts in his home town of Grand Rapids.

Originally a passion of his late wife, Sapp has continued to pursue opening a charter school following the death of his wife last year.

“The reason I came here is two-fold,” said Sapp, referring to participating on a panel discussion on education reform and, of course, singing a couple of hit songs for the excited crowd.

Right Now In Georgia: Award-Winning Singer Marvin Sapp Discusses Education Reform

We'll have much more to bring you from the event tomorrow, but right now, we wanted to give you a sneak peak at the full recap we'll be providing tomorrow on a special even we're co-hosting starring legendary gospel singer Marvin Sapp. The full details can be found here, but read below for some perspective on why we're so excited about the event, courtesy our own David Morgan:

You have to have a great messenger when you’re trying to do something radically different. 

Education impacts us all. When you have a well-educated society, that’s just a win-win for everybody involved…We want to make sure that children and families have every opportunity available to get a good education and are not deprived due to geography or income. 

I believe in strong public education and I also believe that families should have options. That makes a huge difference.

We'll bring you a full update of all the songs and important discussion tomorrow, so stay tuned to this space to  get the full recap.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG