George Guy Keeping King's Dream "Alive and Vibrant" in Cherry Hill

It’s been 50 years since the March on Washington, 50 years since Martin Luther King. Jr. delivered the “I have a dream” speech atop the Lincoln Memorial steps, and George Guy, principal at A. Russell Knight Elementary, has watched those decades stretch the connection between students and King’s legacy thinner and thinner.

To keep that connection strong, Guy started a volunteering project 10 years ago, when he was a science teacher at Beck Middle School, to remind them of the call to service advocated by King and others like him.

“I’ve always thought that, as an educator…the holiday would come around, and every year, the kids would get farther and farther away,” Guy said. “They really never connected his life with service and service learning.”

That program grew over the years, bringing dozens of students to the Jewish Geriatric Home on Chapel Avenue on Martin Luther King Day, and Guy took it with him when he became an administrator in the Mt. Laurel school district, connecting students there with Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, before bringing it back to Cherry Hill when he took over as principal of A. Russell Knight.

That work is part of the reason Guy, along with 20 other recipients, will be honored with Camden County’s Freedom Medal, which honors those who embody King’s spirit, later this week.

“I feel it a great honor…for myself, personally, and for my family,” Guy said of getting the award. “I think it says something about what we try to represent from service learning and connecting that to Dr. King in the public schools.”

Guy, who was nominated by Lawyer Chapman, the district’s assistant superintendent, said he’s proud of the difference he’s been able to make, keeping King’s work “alive and vibrant” in Cherry Hill.

The volunteering effort now gets many of A. Russell Knight’s students involved in creating placemats for Cathedral Kitchen, and a dozen fifth-graders at the school work with artists from the Philadelphia Mural Arts program to create a piece of artwork themed around a quote from King.

“This gives them some tangible opportunities to work on service and service learning in the framework of what Dr. King would’ve wanted,” Guy said.

Guy, who also serves on the state Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission, will head to Cherry Hill West Monday to speak with students there, who will be in session for a half day.

He’ll be one of several people with a Cherry Hill connection honored at the annual Freedom Medal award ceremony, which is Friday at the Camden County Boathouse in Pennsauken.

Also being honored are Cherry Hill residents Dr. Alex M. Cueto, Lewis E. Gorman III, Leena M. Lari, Neil Levine, Gaye Pino and Dr. Rommel Rivera.