LeBron James Makes Huge Surprise To ‘I Promise School’ Students

LeBron James appeared at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. His presence was the real surprise for the students of his I Promise School. It’s a public school founded in partnership with Akron Public Schools and the LeBron James Family Foundation.

The best part came when LeBron brought a $1 million check with him. The money will be used to build a new gym at the school for about 240 3^rd and 4^th graders. It was funded by a grant from the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation.

“It’s an unbelievable day for all of us at the IPS school,” LeBron said. “Everyone here that has anything to do with the Dick’s Foundation we just want to say ‘thank you.’ We didn’t set out to have donations like this. We didn’t set out for recognition. We just set out to do something great for our kids.”

LeBron said his success started in the gym. This place is really important for his friends and classmates.

“I don’t want you guys to think that the gym that we’re putting up is just correlated behind sports,” LeBron added. “It’s also another safe place for our kids. Another place where our faculty members and our teachers and everyone associated the place can still have hands on with our kids.

“The word sport is definitely a huge thing because it’s basically where I come from,” LeBron told the students. “I understand we preache education everyday day and we’re going to continue to preach education every day because it means so much not only where you are today, but going on for the rest of your life.

“The word sport and sports in general can help you get to so many different places in life just because of the comradery and brotherhood and sisterhood that you encounter throughout playing sports.”

According to the LeBron James Family Foundation, all students started the school year in the bottom 25^th percentile and performed below grade level. Latest report shows that 90 percent met or exceeded individual goals in reading and math.

The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation said students who are active have high scores in tests and get better grades.