Most people know LeBron James as the greatest basketball player in the game today. However, what hoops fans may not realize is that the King had a drive like no other at a very young age.
As a six-year-old kindergarten student at Crosby Elementary in Akron, Ohio, James was faced with several outside adversities, including neighborhood violence, the absence of his biological father, and growing up in the Springhill projects. The Kid from Akron pressed on, though. In fact, teachers noticed his strong drive and solid work ethic right away.
Believe it or not, James’ kindergarten teacher, Edith Bowers, named him Student of the Month in January of 1991. Mrs. Bowers, who is still teaching today, took the liberty to post James’ photo and a personalized note on the school’s bulletin board.
“Lebron is always a polite and courteous young man in our room,” Bowers indicated on a flash card. “Crosby School is very fortunate to have a student who tries his best every day.”
The note resurfaced last spring, having been held onto for all these years by one of Bowers’ former coworkers at Crosby Elementary, Ernie Sigler. As it turns out, Mr. Sigler was in his first year of teaching second grade when the note was crafted. Sigler tells Bob Dyer of the Akron Beacon Journal that he has kept all sorts of souvenirs from that time in his life, including every Student of the Month post.
“Edith made no mistake identifying the character traits of LeBron that really count,” Sigler said of his former coworker.
