There's been so much going on in the world
lately that I appreciate those making a difference now
more than ever.
Our next guest is doing just that.
He's an incredible principal at Bruce Elementary
in Memphis, Tennessee.
He is shaping young minds in this community every day,
and he is someone we can all learn from.
Please welcome principal Archie Moss Jr. Hi.
Hello, Archie Moss Jr.
How are you?
I'm OK.
How are you?
I am freaking out right now.
But other than that, I'm going to calm myself down.
I'm making the best out of every experience
and every moment, yes.
Well, all right, so you work at Bruce Elementary.
I want you to tell--
I know about the school.
But explain, tell everybody about the school.
So I am the proud principal at Bruce Elementary School, which
is located in Memphis, Tennessee.
We are a title one school with about 600 students.
About 80% of our students are African-American,
90% of my staff are African-American as well.
We also have 10% of my population
who are temporarily displaced or homeless.
So we know that our kids have a lot of needs.
So we really pride ourselves on being a family
and making sure that we provide everything for our scholars,
so making sure that they need food.
We provide them with the food.
If they need clothes, we have a clothes closet.
If they need school supplies, we provide them.
So really, a school committee that
works together to give our kids the best experience ever.
Incredible.
I want to tell everybody what an amazing person you are, OK?
Just some of the things that you do.
You coach the school's basketball and step teams.
You read bedtime stories to your students every night.
You run a mentorship program for at risk youth.
Every parent has your number, and you accept
calls all hours of the night.
Yes.
You buy students technology, clothes, food,
basic necessities.
I mean, since becoming principal,
your school has gone from the bottom 10% to one
of the top performing schools in the state.
I mean, that is quite an accomplishment.
That's because of you.
I appreciate that.
I really do.
But I honestly will just say, this all
came true because I have an amazing staff,
and amazing kids, and amazing community that
supports me in all that I do.
Well, the kids support you, because you're awesome.
And you know, you have earned their respect and their love
by everything that I just mentioned.
So you wrote a letter to your students and staff
about everything that's going on.
Will you share a little bit of what you wrote right now,
and why?
Yeah, so it's been a really rough and difficult couple
of weeks for me dealing with everything
that's gone in the world.
And as a black man, first and foremost,
I thought it was so important for me to say something
to my community.
I don't travel throughout the city without my work badge
on, because I still operate in fear as a black man
that, if I'm pulled over, something could happen to me.
And I try to use my badge as a shield.
And if I feel that way as an adult,
imagine the emotions that my students are going through
and the confusion.
So we see when we turn on the news,
we see the negative stereotypes, the negative images
about black boys, black girls.
And we have a president who's not supporting and not
protecting them.
I sent that letter off as a glimpse of hope for them,
so that they can understand that I see them.
I see them as who they are.
They matter to me.
Their voices matter.
And I just want them to understand
that we can work together to come up
with some sense of healing, sense of understanding,
and ultimately, make sure they know their feelings
and emotions are validated.
So important.
That's so important that you did that.
I know that your students need connection, especially
during this time.
You have incredible teachers who volunteered
to help throughout summer.
I don't know how you're going to do that right now.
How are you going to do that?
So that's been a very difficult challenge
in the era of COVID-19 with social distancing.
My staff, they're off work, you know?
They're not required to provide any additional support
over the summer, but myself and my school community
knew how important it was to try to make some type of contact.
So my teachers have agreed that they're
going to continue doing some online learning
with our students over the course of this pandemic.
Well, I want to help you stay connected to your students
during this difficult time.
I've partnered with Box Tops for Education
to celebrate amazing educators, like yourself.
And they want to give Bruce Elementary School $25,000,
so that should help.
To help educators at your school,
download the Box Tops for Education app on your phone.
We will be back.
Thank you so much for everything you do.
You're great, and keep it up.
And I hope to meet you in person.
Thank you.
And when we go back, we want to invite you
to the show, all right?
Yes, I would love to.
Thank you.
Oh my goodness.
On behalf of everyone on my staff, thank you.
Thank you.
This is going to be so helpful to my kids.
Thank you so much.