Nick Johnson - "I have a Dream"

The following speech was given by Nicholas Johnson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Nick was one of Student U.'s five winners it the annual D.C. speech writing contest.

I have a dream to be free and to be myself.
I have a dream to see good cards and ideas dealt.

I have a dream to keep hope alive.
I have a dream to pursue happy vibes.

I have a dream to see world change.

I have a dream to better my community.

I have a dream to bring nations together to fellowship as one.

I have a dream to succeed and to see others succeed as well.

I have a dream to be remembered for greatness.

I have a dream to see today and not yesterday.

I have a dream to be equal.

I have a dream to dream higher than Dr. King.

I have a dream to know why the caged bird sings.

I have a dream to be a leader and not a follower.

I have a dream to see justice.

I have a dream to see my dreams come true.

I have a dream to see you change the world too.

I have a dream to change the world through you.

Yesterday - Today - Tomorrow

Three months ago Student U. Summer 2008 came to an end as 102 middle school students from all over the Durham Public Schools, 32 teachers from NCCU, UNC-CH, and Duke, families, friends, and community members piled into a packed Kenan Auditorium at Durham Academy to celebrate a wonderful summer. The summer was filled with learning, laughter, and love. In English class, our sixth grade students explored race relations in our country through reading and analyzing Leon's Story. Seventh grade Global Connect students were exposed to the horrors of genocide and then had to opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. Sixth grade students discovered the building blocks to all matter with their study of atoms and the nucleus. Seventh graders partnered with Habitat for Humanity and designed a roof using the Pythagorean Theorem. When students were not in their academic classes, they were engaged in electives about the city of Durham, changing the world, song writing, or running around outside playing soccer and crazy kickball during Cheza Time or in Family Time, having important conversations about the dangers of peer pressure in Middle School.

Each Friday students applied the knowledge they gained inside the classroom on a special field trip. Students created art in the Duke Gardens after a tour of the Nasher Art Museum, practiced their interview skills at corporations, non for profits, and governmental agencies during Career Day, got dirty at the Beaufort Marine Lab and declared their power on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Although it is impossible for one moment to capture a summer filled with so much energy, witnessing Nick Johnson sharing his dreams for the world in the same spot Dr. King himself stood 40 years ago, is a moment our students and our teachers will never forget.


Everyone was sad three months ago at Celebration as we said goodbye to the summer. However, this marked the beginning of our exciting year round program. Unlike last year when all of our students participated in one on one tutoring, this year we offer a menu of options for students and families to chosen among. Some students gain important skills through our remedial math and remedial reading program. Others participate in a Leadership Club, Literary Society, Science Rocks Club, or an Odyssey of the Mind Team. Still others meet with teachers once a week and simply talk about life and pressures of being in middle school. Regardless of which activity a family has chosen to participate in, all students have contact with at least one Student U. teacher for a minimum of an hour and a half a week.

Every month the whole Student U. community gets together for a big mentoring event. Last month Student U. hosted a carnival and tomorrow students will be testing their teamwork skills at a low ropes course. Every time the community reunites it feels like a big family reunion with students and teachers sharing stories from school and already looking ahead to next summer.


We are now starting our recruitment of students and teachers for next summer. Joining our 102 current students will be another class of 50 rising sixth graders from the Durham Public Schools. These 150 students will be taught by 48 college students from all over the Triangle Area. With new programming in place, a new campus to call home (we will be moving to Durham Academy's Middle School Campus), and the same Student U. spirit spread throughout all of our participants, it is sure to be another incredible summer.