Girls at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy got a star-studded surprise visit from Lupita Nyong’o and anchor Robin Roberts earlier this week. The “Black Panther” star made an appearance at the all-girls STEM school in Atlanta to congratulate students on their community efforts, according to Good Morning America.
Nyong’o was awarded the title of “Most Likely to Succeed” from the GMA Yearbook and shared words of inspiration to girls who were also selected as most likely to succeed in their class.
“When I look into this room I see problem solvers. I see creative thinkers. I see activists, but most importantly I see women who are learning how to learn and learners change the world,” Nyong’o said to the student body. “I feel like I’m looking into the faces of the future and it gives me deep hope to see how open, how alive and how positive that future could be.”
In addition to speaking to the students, Nyong’o gave the academy a $25,000 check from DonorsChoose.org to go toward school supplies, classroom tools and more. The organization is a nonprofit organization that helps fund classroom projects.
GMA visited the Leadership Academy after learning about the students’ “Quail Guardians” initiative, which helps feed the local community with quail eggs and fresh produce.
“The ability to learn is what will get you through school but it’s also what’s going to get you through life,” Nyong’o said to the Leadership Academy.
Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy is the first STEM-certified all-girls school in the state aimed at diversifying the science and tech industries with an entire student body of girls of color.
Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice, was also in attendance for the event.
“My mother would be super proud today because she said ‘women are the soul of the nation and to be saved you must become a soul’ and these young ladies are the soul of our nation,” King said.
