Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James‘s charter school in his native Akron is getting a new gym, thanks to a $1 million contribution from the DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation.

Students from the one-year-old I PROMISE School were visiting James’s high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary, when the four-time NBA MVP made a surprise appearance with a ceremonial $1 million check.

‘To my kids, this is more than a gym,’ James told the students, as quoted by Akron’s WKYC. ‘The DICK’S Sports Matter program is helping us provide even more opportunities. An opportunity to play and learn in a safe place that many don’t have access to.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’s charter school in his native Akron is getting a new gym, thanks to a $1 million contribution from the DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation

‘I can’t imagine where my friends and I would be if it weren’t for the coaches and teachers who cared about us and the opportunities we had.’

Through a partnership between Akron Public Schools and the LeBron James Family Foundation, the I PROMISE School was launched in 2018 and serves 240 of the district’s most at-risk students in the third and fourth grades.

According to WKYC, all of the students attending the school were in the bottom 25th percentile in their classes, but in less than a year, 90 percent are now meeting or exceeding goals in reading and math.

‘I believe the sky is the limit for these kids and the results we’re seeing are just the beginning,’ James said. ‘The benefits of playing sports can extend to every aspect of your life, and I’m excited we’re able to provide a space for that growth at the I PROMISE School.’

By 2022, IPS hopes to teach students from first through eighth grade.

IPS has a longer school day and a longer school year, which is why it opened in July, but those who complete the entire program will be offered free tuition to the University of Akron, starting in 2021. And in addition to receiving two healthy meals every day, students are given free bikes, helmets, school supplies, and even some IPS clothing.

Students from the one-year-old I PROMISE School were visiting James’s high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary, when the four-time NBA MVP made a surprise appearance with a ceremonial $1 million check. ‘I can’t imagine where my friends and I would be if it weren’t for the coaches and teachers who cared about us and the opportunities we had,’ he told the students 

For James, who recalled missing 83 days of school as a fourth grader while he and his mom Gloria ‘looked for stability,’ the opening culminated years of planning by his family foundation.

‘This means everything,’ James told The Associated Press in an interview before the public event.

‘I think this is the greatest accomplishment for me because it’s not just me. A championship is for a team, that’s for an organization and a city. But these kids, this is for generation after generation after generation and it’s for these kids, so it means everything.’

James recalled beating the odds of his youth when life was a daily struggle for him and his mom. Nothing was easy as the pair constantly moved and it was only with the help of others than James found structure.

Now, he’s giving kids with the same problems a path.

‘There is no way I could have imagined this,’ he said. ‘I remember our foundation having a bike-a-thon, and I never thought a five-mile bike ride would turn into a school. This is something I’m at a loss of words for.’

It was in the fourth grade when James’s mother Gloria allowed him to move in with a local family, the Walkers, who offered him a more stable living situation while she continued searching for steady work. He would go on to have perfect attendance in fifth grade.

‘LeBron missed a lot of school in the fourth grade. It’s well-documented,’ Michele Campbell, the executive director of James’ foundation, told USA Today.

For James, who recalled missing 83 days of school as a fourth grader while he and his mom Gloria ‘looked for stability,’ the opening culminated years of planning by his family foundation.

‘This means everything,’ James told The Associated Press in July.

Students were asked to make a pledge on the first day at the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio 

‘I think this is the greatest accomplishment for me because it’s not just me. A championship is for a team, that’s for an organization and a city. But these kids, this is for generation after generation after generation and it’s for these kids, so it means everything.’

James recalled beating the odds of his youth when life was a daily struggle for him and his mom. Nothing was easy as the pair constantly moved and it was only with the help of others than James found structure.

Now, he’s giving kids with the same problems a path.

‘There is no way I could have imagined this,’ he said. ‘I remember our foundation having a bike-a-thon, and I never thought a five-mile bike ride would turn into a school. This is something I’m at a loss of words for.’

It was in the fourth grade when James’s mother Gloria allowed him to move in with a local family, the Walkers, who offered him a more stable living situation while she continued searching for steady work. He would go on to have perfect attendance in fifth grade.

‘LeBron missed a lot of school in the fourth grade. It’s well-documented,’ Michele Campbell, the executive director of James’ foundation, told USA Today.

‘We all know which path he took. He took the right path with some very good people around him and now we know him as the world’s best basketball player. He could’ve taken the other road, and we would’ve never known LeBron James. He would’ve been a statistic like a lot of students who drop out of school.

‘Every one of these kids, maybe they don’t become LeBron James on the basketball court, but they become the LeBron James of their passion and dream in life. We’re coming to them at a time when people came to LeBron and Gloria and wrapped around them and believed in them before he was this great basketball player.’