Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Founder/President
Rainbow PUSH Coalition

As I talk with young people these days, I am convinced that they are crying out for moral leadership and discipline. Their cry is evident in the schools, as it is on the streets and, most disturbingly, in the home. The moral vacuum in which our children are living and growing up breeds an environment of disorder that makes it difficult, perhaps impossible, for many of them to define and achieve excellence in their lives.

We need to provide for them a total refocusing of values away from nonproductive distractions and other elements of temptation. Rather, they must focus on those disciplines that will permit them to reach for and obtain the critical goal of academic excellence. This refocusing of values—the PUSH for Excellence—calls for greater commitment from teachers, greater involvement from parents, and greater discipline and harder work from students toward academic excellence.

PUSH for Excellence (PUSH Excel) brings together key stakeholders who affect the quality of education under the most likely roof — the schools. Successful implementation of the PUSH for Excellence philosophy will have far-reaching impact on every aspect of family and community life. It will unite the disparate elements of the community in pursuit of a common goal — better learning.

This national refocusing of our attention and energy on reclaiming our youth is imperative. The PUSH for Excellence multi-faceted approach has several key elements: Parent Power for Excellence; school adoption; Ora Lee Sanders Memorial Scholarships; Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tour; Tutoring; Academic Basketball League; Project S.O.A.R. (Schools Offering Academic Resources); and so much more.

Please join PUSH Excel’s crusade to save and empower our youth.

Rev. Dr. Janette Wilson, Esq.
National Director of Education
PUSH Excel

If one questions the power of words, ask Muhammad Ali, President Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou, Michael Jordan or Marva Collins. The power of words, along with a vision to succeed, will overcome any odds.

We must thrust into the minds of students that whoever they are and wherever they live, they can achieve quite literally whatever they can dream, no matter what anyone else may say to the contrary. When one considers that the future of our nation is being forged in today’s classrooms, it is clear that our education crisis is the single greatest issue we face. There never was a time in our national history when the need to improve our educational institutions was as desperate as the present. With facilities that are frequently unequal and inadequate, and with students and parents sometimes uncertain of the value of education, the prospects for the future are all too often bleak. Yet this is not a time to go back or give up. To do so would be to deny our children the rich and rewarding future that they deserve.

America can no longer tolerate failure, rampant mediocrity and the tragic loss of potential brain power. Dr. Ben Carson stated it best when he said, “I’ve come to have great respect for the brain and its capabilities. The brain can process two million bits of information per second, It remembers everything you’ve ever seen, everything you’ve ever heard, and with brains like these, we really shouldn’t be wandering around talking about what we can’t do; we should be trying to create an atmosphere that helps our young people realize that, whatever they can imagine, they can achieve.” If all young children were told that whatever they believe they can achieve, where would we be as a nation?

Education is fundamental to human progress but so is the belief that every child is “Somebody.” PUSH for Excellence (PUSH Excel) is committed to providing arenas where young people dream big dreams and live to see their actualization.