My APS

I entered the doors of Grove Park Elementary as a kindergartener in 1981. I was a student at Grove Park Elementary School until 1986 when I moved on to middle school. I remember Alonzo Crim being our Superintendent. He was always at our school visiting and making sure that we were committed to excellence.

I loved coming to Grove Park every day to see our principal Mrs. Jones. She was tall and beautiful and always called me a “handsome young man”. Something as small as that made me want to be the best student that I could be.

Our field trips at Grove Park were amazing. Every year, we would attend the Center for Puppetry Arts, High Museum and the Fox Theatre. My second grade year, Mrs. Jacobs took us on a plane ride to North Carolina.

I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur after Career Day in the 5^th grade. There was a man that came into our classroom that had so much confidence. He was speaking my language because I always wanted to be a business owner. Now I knew the route to take to accomplish my goal.

I remember taking my peach-colored Quotable Quotes book from Benjamin E. Mays. We read quotes from this book everyday as a school. I still have that book today and the quotes are still empowering.

I am the leader that I am today because of my APS experience. The entire school system embraced me and I felt like an asset of the Atlanta. APS provides much more than an education. It is all about being prepared for the rest of your life.