From Wayne Law School report
First-year Wayne State University Law School student Shawn Blanchard’s life story illustrates just how much one person’s actions can positively impact the lives of others.
Blanchard spent the last five years as a high school math teacher at Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community Research in the South Bronx Hunts Point neighborhood. While there, however, he did a lot more than just teach trigonometry. Blanchard was a strong force in leading the math department to rank in the top 5 percent of New York City schools within the small school network in the South Bronx. He also encouraged students to start a student government and co-founded Men of Majesty, dedicated to mentoring at-risk young men at Rucker. He even opened his home to an Ann Arbor teenager he had mentored as an undergrad, bringing him to New York and seeing him through high school. That young man is attending Morehouse College on a full scholarship this fall.
“Being able to mold the minds of rational yet somewhat stubborn teenagers is very rewarding,” Blanchard said. “They are impressionable and yearning to find their place in the world. Providing them with a means to find...options for the future, and being a tangible role model, makes my heart leap.”
According to Blanchard, he was inspired by his Detroit Mackenzie High School counselor, whose attention and guidance inspired him to earn a degree from the University of Michigan and to pursue a career helping young people the way she helped him. “Her assistance had such a positive impact in my life that I made it my moral duty to return the favor to students who may need a similar push,” he said.
Now, Blanchard is extending his reach by attending Wayne Law so he can help others in his hometown community.
“I believe education is the catalyst for enabling better options in life for all people,” said Blanchard, who earned a master’s degree from City College of New York in 2009. “I need more knowledge and leverage because I aspire to provide a high level of assistance to a wider community. I chose Wayne Law because it gives me with the opportunity to be right back in the community that raised me. I am interested in pursuing business law, intellectual property and education policy law. I believe this combination will enable me ... to have more of an impact in fostering a better Detroit. I love my city and I am glad to be back.”
Blanchard, who aspires to one day become mayor of Detroit, has received national acclaim for his positive influence on Rucker students. He was awarded the Holcombe L. Rucker Founding Member and Legacy Award, and was featured on ABC News, in the Daily New York News, and recently interviewed for the website of the Today Show.
He recently was offered a book deal to highlight how his own coming of age compares to those he now mentors.
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