A crowd of about 500 parents, students and community members filed into the Friendship Southeast Elementary Academy in Southeast yesterday to dedicate the school in the memory of Martin Luther King 40 years after his assassination.
Gospel choir members in flowing robes and students delivering speeches, singing and dancing took the stage to dedicate the school that opened its doors in August after a two-year building renovation that cost $15 million.
Remarks from Friendship Chairman Donald Hense, the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts III and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty celebrated the school and honored King’s legacy.
“His teachings of peace, unity and hope still resonate in the District of Columbia and everywhere else,” said Mr. Fenty, who urged D.C. residents to take a moment to honor one of the world’s “greatest civil rights leaders.”
Mr. Hense and Mr. Butts, a pastor in Harlem, were ushers at King’s funeral in 1968 and said that dedicating a school to the slain civil rights leader demonstrates that King lives on through work that educates young people, especially about the importance of character.
“We were together as students when the Rev. Dr. King was assassinated,” Mr. Butts said of him and Mr. Hense, adding that the dedication of the school was a “fitting way to acknowledge Dr. King.”
The 38,000 square-foot campus that stands at the intersection of Martin Luther King Avenue and Milwaukee Place Road in Southeast is one of five Friendship Public Charter Schools in the District. The school has another location in Southeast and three locations in Northeast that enroll a combined 4,000 students.
Deborah Simmons, editorial page editor at The Washington Times, acted as mistress of ceremonies at the event. About 50 students in matching maroon and khaki uniforms listened to her message of the importance of education.
Students recited portions of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, weaving in passages about their own personal ambitions, and ended in unison with the message: “Free at last.”
The Howard University Gospel Choir also participated in the two-hour program that featured choirs and dance teams from all five charter schools. Each had performances that brought the standing-room-only crowd to its feet.
Dawn Cook, 35, a cafeteria worker at the elementary school, took a few minutes to watch her 10-year-old daughter, Danaja, sing with the choir from the campus in Woodridge in Northeast. Miss Cook said the charter schools offer unique opportunities and advanced courses to students.
A health and fitness teacher Grace Bell said that in the past, students in areas like Southeast have been denied the right to quality education, but the nearly 500 students at the Southeast Friendship branch are at a great advantage.
David Williams, 8, is a third grade “star student,” meaning that daily good behavior allows him privileges like attending yesterday’s event.
“It was awesome,” he said, adding that “Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader and made a change in our world.”
David said that to change the world, he’s going to first get an education and go to college.
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