Perri Jones, a brave little girl, is determined to rise. She has set goals and has the strength and will to hold her head up high and reach for the stars. With such determination and conviction when she says, "I am free! I am free to be me! I can be anything I want to be!", I have no doubt that Perri will rise. She will rise and hopefully many other little ones in our schools will rise to great heights along with her.

Most of us have heard about George Washington Carver and his remarkable development of the peanut, (how many peanut butter sandwiches have you eaten?) but it is not as well known that he also developed hundreds of other products too. Some of us have heard that Dr. Charles Drew pioneered the idea for the first blood bank. But did you know that his work was the model for The Red Cross’ system of blood banks, and that he was the first director?