Royal Oak Schools

On January 17 Royal Oak Schools partnered with Berkley Schools, the City of Royal Oak, and the City of Berkley to present "A Day On, Not A Day Off" at Royal Oak Middle School. The day started with a virtual program launched on social media that included messages from community leaders, a keynote speech, and songs by the Detroit Youth Choir. Use this link to view the program.

At 11 AM, in person, at the middle school, hundreds gathered to honor Dr. King with a freedom walk. They also brought in donations - hundreds of items for Redford Brightmoor Initiative, Cass Community Social Services, the Judson Center, and 684 pounds of food for Gleaners Community Food Bank. Volunteers sorted the items after the walk and filled their vehicles to deliver the much-needed items to those organizations.

The walk was kicked off by a greeting from Superintendent of Royal Oak Schools Mary Beth Fitzpatrick as she welcomed in the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, via a live Zoom. "We have a lot of work to do to build a state that's worthy of our kids, every one of our kids, and we have to tackle injustice everywhere," Whitmer said. She wished us all to have "infinite hope" before we started the walk. "I have infinite hope for our future because our kids are stronger, kinder, and more resilient than we often realize, and I have infinite hope because I know when we work together we're capable of greatness."

Local and state representatives joined Fitzpatrick and the Superintendent of Berkley Schools, Scott Francis, in leading the walk. Thank you to Mayor Michael Fournier of Royal Oak, Representative Andy Levin, Senator Mallory McMorrow, Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg, Berkley PD Detective Lt. Andrew Hadfield, and School Resource Officer Joe Yerke for joining us.

Click below to watch "A Day On, Not A Day Off," a program about the event.

And thanks to the following who supported the event as well: Royal Oak Education Association, Royal Oak Schools Foundation, and the Royal Oak Woman's Club. And special thanks to all of you who attended or donated at the event. Thank you for helping us achieve a day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.