LeBron James celebrates Anthony Claytor becoming Kent State's first 'I Promise' graduate
LA Lakers star LeBron James celebrated the graduation of Anthony Claytor from Kent State University, which marks the LeBron James Family Foundation's first graduate from its 'I Promise' program. James took to X, formerly Twitter, to reshare his organization's post and congratulate young Anthony Claytor for his achievement.
"CONGRATULATIONS ANTHONY!!!! SO PROUD OF YOU YOUNG 🤴🏽!!!!!!!" James tweeted.
The 'I Promise' initiative began in 2011 with third-grade students from James' hometown of Akron, Ohio, and now educates 1,100 Akron public school students across the district in grades six through eleven, as well as 343 students in grades three through five at the I Promise School.
Kent State University partnered with the foundation in 2020 to collectively invest their time, talent, resources, and attention for the kids of James’ hometown. The university guaranteed free tuition for four years and one year of room and board for the first class of I Promise students who started their journey in 2011.
LeBron James makes surprise visit to I Promise School
LeBron James made a surprise visit to House Three Thirty to speak to the I Promise School students. The LeBron James Family Foundation took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a clip of his talk to the students.
"You guys give me so much inspiration on a day-to-day basis," James said at the event. "No matter if I'm here in Akron, no matter if I'm traveling the world, no matter if I'm in Los Angeles, I think about you guys every single day. Everywhere I go in the world, I'm always representing you guys."
James opened up about bringing a school to Akron at the opening of the I Promise School in 2018. The LA Lakers forward addressed the troubles of the kids in his hometown, citing his own childhood struggles having grown up without a stable home with him and his mother having often lived far away from his school with no car or bus route.
“People ask me, ‘why a school’? And the reason is, I know exactly what these kids are going through … I know all the dreams they have—the nightmares that they have—and that they just need to feel like someone cares about them. Kids just want to know that we care about them,” James said.
The four-time NBA champion elaborated on his mission to uplift his hometown in a video by Nike last year:
LeBron James has had a huge impact on his hometown's community and is on a mission to bring the people of Akron up with him.