“Let’s grow!”
You’ll hear this call throughout the halls of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and all over Baltimore City whenever 2016 OSI-Community Fellow Isa Olufemi and the group he founded, the Poet Pride Run Club (PPRC), are keeping the pace. Olufemi, who formerly worked in the school as a college access program specialist with the CollegeBound Foundation, founded the run club to combine physical fitness with school pride, personal growth, and college preparation.
For Olufemi, “Let’s Grow” applies to everything they do in the club and in life. Ultimately, the program’s goal is that the students get college acceptance letters, enroll and arrive on campus ready to grow; that they graduate from high school with a plan of action. “The PPRC is about the students’ holistic education,” says Olufemi. “It’s about constant development, so let’s grow!”
On December 26th, the first day of Kwanzaa, the Poet’s Pride Run Club (PPRC) and the Black Running Organization (BRO)—another organization Olufemi founded—held an Umoja (Unity) Run and Celebration. Seen here, left to right, are PPRC members Davon Bess, Kyree Bryant, Bryant Noakes, Keon Tucker, Marcel Connor, Kevin Barnes, Jr., and Kyleel Butler.
At the beginning of PPRC’s Kwanzaa gathering, local professional singer Omnia Azar, a supporter of the club, sings “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often described as “The Black National Anthem.”
The first day of Kwanzaa celebrates “Umoja,” Kiswahili for “Unity.” Before the run, in a display of cooperation and unity, members of PPRC work together to complete a jigsaw puzzle depicting African-American heroes.
Just before they head outside for their 5K Umoja Run, members of the Poet Pride Run Club and Black Running Organization huddle in another display of unity.
The 5K Umoja Run takes PPRC members from Dunbar High School to the Frederick Douglass statue in Fells Point and along the harbor. “A lot of the students didn’t realize how beautiful parts of this city were until they started running,” says Olufemi. “I’m always telling them, ‘This is your city!’”
Members of the Black Running Organization join the Poet Pride Run Club on their Umoja Run.
After the 5K Umoja Run, members of the Poet Pride Run Club and the Black Running Club return to Dunbar and have a Kwamzaa candle-lighting ceremony, followed by a film screening and meal. Leading the ceremony, left to right, are student Bryant Noakes, Black Running Club Marshall T Larkin, also known as spoken word artist Nfinitee Xcaliber, Isa Olufemi, and Black Running Club Marshall Inte’a DeShields.
Members of the Poets Pride Run Club do push-ups to prepare for their final run of the school year in June. All of the members will be entering either college or military programs in the fall.
The Poets Pride Run Club sets off on its final run of the 2016-17 school year, with great things ahead. Let’s grow!
