John Legend’s “Why I Care” in People Magazine

“When I was around 10, my parents got divorced. It was a pretty traumatic and important moment in my life, and it was important to have teachers who gave that emotional support. They were concerned about my well-being, took the extra time to hold me accountable and made sure I wasn’t wasting my potential. Study after study shows how important teacher quality is when it comes to a student’s outcome, so I was very interested in working with Turnaround for Children to improve public schools. Teachers have such influence over kids’ lives, but sometimes they don’t have all the training they need to do the job, particularly in low-income communities, where a lot of issues kids deal with aren’t academic. Turnaround for Children gives teachers a full toolbox for understanding their students’ social and educational needs and finding ways to use a school’s resources to meet them. I’ve been to several of the schools that Turnaround has worked with, and it’s exciting to hear that the students are really happy and feel like there was more support for them at school. It’s important to know that somebody cares about your future.”

Legend is a great friend of Turnaround for Children. He was honored at the 2011 Turnaround Impact Awards for his commitment to education through the Show Me Campaign and performed at the 2013 Turnaround Impact Awards Dinner.

You can read more of John Legend’s conversation with People Magazine on People.com.