“Blackboard Wars” to Premiere on February 16

Marvin Thompson '92

2/14/13

OWN, Oprah Winfrey’s cable network, has announced a February 16, 2013 premiere for “Blackboard Wars,” a documentary series with EmpowerED’s President and Founder, Randolph-Macon College alumnus Marvin Thompson ’92, at the helm. The premiere will be shown at 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. Central Time).

“Blackboard Wars” centers on the dramatic transformation of New Orleans’ John McDonogh High School. With metal detectors at the door, brutal fights in the hallways and teachers getting pushed around by students, it is one of the most dangerous and under-performing high schools in the country. More than half of its students fail to graduate. In “Blackboard Wars,” cameras go inside the school and follow education maverick Steve Barr and Principal Marvin Thompson as they embark together on an unpredictable mission to reinvent and revive the struggling school.

EmpowerED is an international education consulting firm that provides educational training and leadership support to international, public and charter schools, private schools and education organizations. The ultimate goal is to assist schools and organizations in the acquisition of “capacity building” skills to develop sustained and long term improvement.