Malachi Gates is a 5th grader at KIPP: Durham. She brings nothing but joy to the halls of KIPP, as she is always smiling from ear to ear or laughing with her friends. She not only brightens the days of everyone around her, but also works as hard as she can, driven to one day graduate from college and fulfil her dreams of becoming both an artist and a doctor. With the structure and support provided by the KIPP Pride, Malachi is thriving. She wakes up excited to go to school, as KIPP sparks her intellectual curiosity and makes school a place she wants to be.
Malachi's mother told me that she thought I had been assigned one of the best kids to do my project on, as Malachi is an awesome girl. As I got to know her throughout the course of this semester, I came to see just how special she is. I am so thankful to have the privilege of telling Malachi's story and revealing just a hint of the light inside her.
I would also like to thank the teachers and staff at KIPP for graciously accommodating me and my classmates as we completed our projects. As someone who is interested in education, I learned so much from my time in your classes.