Friday, April 24, 2009

RCA Students Invited Back to Washington, DC

For More Information Contact:

Staci Lynch

404-693-4692

ynch@ronclarkacademy.com

RON CLARK ACADEMY STUDENTS RETURN TO WASHINGTON, DC

Speaker Nancy Pelosi invites students to participate in special event to honor Sojourner Truth

WHAT:

Twenty-five students from The Ron Clark Academy are headed to Washington, DC to perform in a special event honoring Sojourner Truth, famed advocate of women’s rights and black freedom. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office invited the students to be a part of this special occasion– where a bust of Sojourner Truth will be unveiled to sit, a first time honor that is shared by no other African American woman.

Ron Clark Academy students will perform an original song, “Sojourner’s Truth”, which they wrote for this occasion. Hundreds of Washington guests and dignitaries are expected to attend, including: First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senator Arlen Specter, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Actress Cicely Tyson is on program to perform “Ain’t I A Woman”.

WHEN:

Tuesday, April 28^th at 11 AM is the performance. Students fly out of Atlanta via Delta Air Lines on Sunday, April 26^th and return the evening of April 28^th.

WHERE:

Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.

WHY:

Sojourner Truth was one the first people in the country during the mid-1800s to link the oppression of black slaves with the oppression of women. A bipartisan bill was passed to bestow this honor to Truth, who is celebrated as a phenomenal woman in American history.

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About The Ron Clark Academy

The Ron Clark Academy is a private, nonprofit SACS CASI accredited middle school in Southeast Atlanta that promotes innovation and inspires its students through energetic teaching balanced by a strict code of discipline. Each year, 3,000 educators from around the world visit the Academy to learn how to replicate the school’s style, philosophy and success in their own classrooms. The Academy currently relies on outside funding to provide scholarships to students from varying academic backgrounds.