Free Beyoncé tickets for some Philly kids
At first, Richard Gordon didn't believe it.
Free tickets to Thursday's Beyoncé concert for some of the hardworking students at Robeson High, where he is principal?
"It sounded too good to be true. It wasn't. It's amazing," said Gordon, whose West Philadelphia public school enrolls 300 students.
In fact, the entertainment company Live Nation gave the Philadelphia School District enough tickets to allow 68 high schools to send a number of deserving teens.
How many tickets?
"A lot," spokesman Kevin Geary said.
Principals were given the tickets to distribute as they saw fit to seniors - Gordon chose honor students and English-language learners who had made great strides.
The giveaway has been in the works for months, but "it's not something that they wanted to publicize," Geary said.
Just try to keep thousands of delighted kids who just got free tickets to see Queen Bey quiet.
Gordon got 60 tickets to hand out to students and a few staff members. Combine this news with a smooth school opening at Robeson, which is open to students from around the city, and Gordon is having a very good month.
"It's very exciting," Gordon said. "I'm having the best school year so far in my 20-year career."
And the kids?
"Crazy excited," said Beyoncé-goer Marcel Johansen, a senior at Northeast High, where 12th graders with good behavior and a few select juniors were chosen to attend the concert. Teachers were chaperoning, and the school was sending buses to ferry the students to and from Lincoln Financial Field.
"Genuinely surprised," said concert-bound Brittni Pritz, another senior. "I thought, really, that can actually happen? Beyoncé?"
Junior Matthew Grant "lost his mind" when he learned he was being rewarded with a ticket, he reported.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, I get to see Queen Bey in person,' " he said. "Oh my God. This is the best."
Free tickets to Thursday's Beyoncé concert for some of the hardworking students at Robeson High, where he is principal?
"It sounded too good to be true. It wasn't. It's amazing," said Gordon, whose West Philadelphia public school enrolls 300 students.
In fact, the entertainment company Live Nation gave the Philadelphia School District enough tickets to allow 68 high schools to send a number of deserving teens.
How many tickets?
"A lot," spokesman Kevin Geary said.
Principals were given the tickets to distribute as they saw fit to seniors - Gordon chose honor students and English-language learners who had made great strides.
The giveaway has been in the works for months, but "it's not something that they wanted to publicize," Geary said.
Just try to keep thousands of delighted kids who just got free tickets to see Queen Bey quiet.
Gordon got 60 tickets to hand out to students and a few staff members. Combine this news with a smooth school opening at Robeson, which is open to students from around the city, and Gordon is having a very good month.
"It's very exciting," Gordon said. "I'm having the best school year so far in my 20-year career."
And the kids?
"Crazy excited," said Beyoncé-goer Marcel Johansen, a senior at Northeast High, where 12th graders with good behavior and a few select juniors were chosen to attend the concert. Teachers were chaperoning, and the school was sending buses to ferry the students to and from Lincoln Financial Field.
"Genuinely surprised," said concert-bound Brittni Pritz, another senior. "I thought, really, that can actually happen? Beyoncé?"
Junior Matthew Grant "lost his mind" when he learned he was being rewarded with a ticket, he reported.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, I get to see Queen Bey in person,' " he said. "Oh my God. This is the best."
