IOET

Importance of Education Tour

 

Mr. Jarrell Jordan is a senior political science major and religion minor at Morehouse College from Birmingham Alabama. He was selected as a White House HBCU Ambassador for the White House HBCU Initiative in August of 2016 under President Barack Obama. Mr. Jordan is one of 73 White House Ambassadors representing over 63 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Mr. Jordan currently serves as the White House HBCU Advisor. Mr. Jordan is also a 2015 Bill Gates Scholarship Recipient. 

 

In December of 2016, Mr. Jordan created the Importance of Education Tour to educate students, parents, educators, and the greater community in the City of Birmingham on the importance of education. In December of 2017, Mr. Jordan brought the tour back to the City of Birmingham. Mr. Jordan is expanding the tour to this year and creating a six-state tour in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Illinois and Washington D.C. 

 
Mr. Jordan created the Importance of Education Tour because when he was young and in school, he only saw negativity in his community. Mr. Jordan only saw people making the wrong decisions and no one was choosing education as their gateway out of their bad situations. Mr. Jordan attended Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. People would talk about his school and say that his school did not produce any type of greatness and he wanted to be the person to change that stereotype.  Three years ago, he graduated from the school with a 3.8 grade point average, was accepted to over 6o colleges, and was offered over 1.75 million dollars in scholarship money. Outside of this, he has also worked for the Mayor of Birmingham and now works for the White House. Mr. Jordan wanted to show the students in his hometown that if he was able to achieve all of these things in such a short time then they can do it as well. 

The mission of “The Importance of Education Tour” is to inform middle and high school students about the importance of education and to teach them about the culture of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. During the tour, Mr. Jordan will travel to schools and churches in the cities of Birmingham & Atlanta where he will motivate students about the importance of education, speak about his experience at Morehouse College, give out scholarship information, college tips, and provide information on the college application and financial aid processes from the Department of Education and the United Negro College Fund. 

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Mr. Jordan is now bringing some of the brightest students who understand the Importance of Education on tour with him. Most of these students are from the area in-which he is speaking and attend a Historically Black College or University. With the help of these amazing students, we can share our stories with thousands of students in Birmingham and show them that education is truly important and show them where an education can take them in life.