🌟 Alumni Spotlight: LaKyi Herring-Jackson, Class of 2025 🌟

My name is LaKyi Herring - Jackson and I am a 2025 graduate from James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy. I attended JRP from 2023-2025 and in such little time being there, I became class president, top of my class, as well as an assistant in various fields throughout the school when needed. I can say that in my time there, it became like a second family to me. My PLA family has helped me grow through many challenges, learn from every experience I had, and continuously helps me strive to become the best version of myself! They have taught me what it means to care about my community, my future, and especially how to be a leader who can make a difference.

Phalen Leadership Academies aren’t just schools, and JRP isn’t just a place I came everyday to learn– it is the place that has helped shape me into the young adult that I am now. The staff don’t care about grades and you as a student, but who we are as people personally. They have given me tools to succeed not just in academics, but in my life. They have taught me discipline, leadership, and the importance of using my voice. Through the values of excellence, service, and leadership, PLA is helping shape futures each and every single day. PLA continues to show that they are a community that inspires you to lead your life with a purpose! I am currently a freshman at Indiana University Bloomington where I am pursuing a degree in Psychology. I plan to take everything that I have learned at JRP into the next 4 years of my life and become the leader and mentor I know I can be for the next generation. I truly thank PLA and all their staff for making my high school experience worthwhile! PLA has helped me see that I am in control of my life and the future is in my hands. I cannot wait to see what is next in store for the PLA network!