As Oprah Winfrey has coined the Ron Clark Academy, “The Best School in America”; the 2017 Graduation ceremony which was held at The Tabernacle on Friday, June 9th became much more than a ceremony but a live concert and incredible party for the graduating class and the 1,800 family members that attended.
The Ron Clark Academy Graduation once again partnered with long time community partner, Saving Our Daughters on coordinating the special surprise artists, as in past years, who have included, Erica Campbell, Angie Stone, Diggy Simmons and Kelly Price, just to name a few.
This 2017 Graduation Ceremony, received an overwhelming surprise when Ron Clark announced the four time Multiplatinum certified selling group, TLC. The auditorium stood up throughout the entire performance of “Scrubs” and “Waterfall”, two of the songs that helped make the group the Bests selling American girl group of all time.
After TLC’s amazing performance, and to the delight of the graduates, group members T-Boz and Chili posed for photos with girls from the graduating class. WOW!!
Later in the evening and for the finale, Sierra McClain, who plays Nessa on the FOX hit series EMPIRE, a dynamic, multitalented character arriving to season three as a hot, new R&B artist, also wowed the graduation class and audience with “Ill Be Everything”, a powerful song that was featured on the 3rd season. Sierra’s song brought so much emotion, as the graduating class clapped and cried throughout her emotional performance.
Also R&B soul singer, Andra Day sent a special congratulations video message that was featured on the big screen during the ceremony as well.
“The performance by TLC was an epic moment for the graduates and their families that we will never forget. All 1600 audience members leapt to their feet, overcome with joy. We are so grateful for the music they performed, the words they shared, and the hugs they gave. It was truly magical”.-RCA Co-Founders, Kim Bearden and Ron Clark
Definitely was a RCA Graduation that truly will be remembered and treasured by the 2017 class and families for a very long time.