Students at E. K. Powe Elementary School bubbled with excitement Thursday as Martin Luther King, III, son of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., toured their school as part of Duke's Neighborhood Partnership Initiative.
As King walked around the school, he met with students and talked to administrators and teachers.
Three fifth grade student leaders escorted him through the halls.
Among the stops King made at E. K. Powe was a third grade science laboratory that the University helped design and develop.
E. K. Powe Principal Brandon Patterson said he hopes the visit will help children have a concrete vision of someone who symbolizes the ideals teachers try to reinforce at the school.
"We hope this experience becomes a conversation point for children and their parents at home," Patterson said. "If families start talking about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s message, they will ask themselves, 'What are we doing as a family?'"
E. K. Powe is one of four elementary schools that has become a partner with Duke University as a result of the Neighborhood Partnership Initiative. The NPI was developed in 1996 to coordinate Duke's often inconsistent efforts in Durham. The initiative now streamlines Duke's aid and advice through one main office and focuses on 12 nearby neighborhoods and seven schools within the areas closely surrounding the University.
Last year, Duke helped coordinate with local museums to help build a science courtyard at E.K. Powe, which is located on Ninth Street.
Two of the classes with whom King visited had been studying his father's work. He received letters from fifth graders who explained what they were doing to make the world a better place.
Before visiting E. K. Powe, King participated in the Coach K and Fuqua School of Business' Conference on Leadership as one of 12 speakers. He spoke on a panel focusing on corporate responsibility.
John Burness, who oversees the Office of Community Affairs, led King on a tour of affordable housing in Walltown and the West End.
"As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Mr. King is very passionate about affordable housing, and he wanted to see what Durham was doing in the area," Burness said.
"His visit to E. K. Powe was mostly to let him see what Duke had been involved in. Seeing the school made him feel good, like Durham was making real progress."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.