On January 17 and 18, the GFA community welcomed Connecticut's own, Anthony Valentine, as a special guest speaker to commemorate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Valentine is a multi-talented author, director, writer, and motivational speaker with a degree in Biology (he serves part-time as an EMT/Emergency Medical Technician). In fact, his most memorable experiences as an EMT are the foundation for his engaging, heartfelt, captivating, and relatable engagement with students. As someone who has faced many challenges in his own life, Valentine's motivational speaking has the power to heal. He says his main focus is to save student lives, one story at a time, and Valentine has done so with over 30,000 students across 50+ high schools, middle schools, and college campuses.
Valentine visited the Lower School where he was interviewed by fourth-grade leaders as the "Spotlight" guest of the week. Valentine talked about his passion for helping others and reflected on GFA's motto and what it means to "live lives of purpose." Afterwards, he asked Lower Schoolers to think about what their own "big words" would be in connection to their reading of the book on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, "Martin's Big Words." He reminded students to "Be Kind" to others as well as themselves.
Middle and Upper School students had an opportunity to hear from Valentine during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Assembly. Valentine asked students "Who are you beneath your skin? Who would you say you are?" Through video and personal narrative, Valentine instructed students to once again lead lives of purpose by tearing down walls, building bridges, and being true to themselves and others in the community. Afterwards, Valentine dined with students and visited classrooms before leaving GFA. Students shared their takeaways after spending time with Valentine and hearing his message, and Valentine's own takeaway from his time spent at GFA was, "GFA is such a joyful place. You all are remarkable."