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The students of J.P. King Jr. Middle School recently received encouragement and exhortation from New Life Church Global Senior Pastor and successful entrepreneur Dr. Eric Majette, who was invited to speak during Black History Month.

Frank Davis extended the invitation given Majette’s background as a Franklin native and as one who has experienced success in a variety of endeavors.

This variety was reflected in the introduction that a JPK student read out before Majette spoke, noting that Majette has held many roles, such as marketplace ambassador, entrepreneur, author, realtor, consultant and educator.

He is also president of the Virginia Beach chapter of the NAACP.

In 2019, he returned to his family’s hometown and was appointed to serve as the senior pastor for New Life Church Global, which is based in Franklin.

His special visit to JPK took place on Feb. 26, and he noted that it went very well. The centerpiece of the experience was his opportunity to speak to all of the students in the building across two sessions, one with the sixth graders and the other with the seventh graders.

“It was exciting to be able to talk to the kids and share with them certain topics about life and encouraging them that they could dream big and that they could have much success in life,” he said. “It was just really, really a good experience. Took me back to when I was in the sixth grade in Franklin, seventh grade in Franklin.”

The topic of Majette’s message to the students was “Find Your Purpose and Dream Big.”

Following are some of the concepts he addressed during his speaking sessions:

• The importance of making sure you get a good education;
• Making good choices in life while you are young;
• Understanding your talents and gifts and how to effectively use them;
• Not being easily influenced by your peers and friends;
• Being the creative you;
• Understanding the impact of Black history over the years;
• Being the leader and not the follower;
• Look ahead to the future;
• Nothing can stop you from being successful in life but you;
• Always respect the leaders above you (parents, teachers, etc.); 
• Enjoy life and always stay encouraged and positive; and
• Learn to communicate effectively.

“I talked about my role as the president of the Virginia Beach NAACP, talked about that and gave them a little history about the NAACP — who we are, what we do, how it was formed back in the early 1900s,” Majette said.

He indicated that after his speaking sessions, “I had the pleasure of being able to judge the Black History Month posters that the kids had put together, so that was awesome.”

Prior to his speaking and judging duties, he was able to walk the hallways, go to each classroom, talk to the students and take pictures with them there and talk to the teachers as well.

Majette viewed the visit to JPK as an opportunity to give back to the community.

“I was telling some friends of mine it was probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in a long time,” he said. “I do a lot of stuff, but that was just like wow… really making a difference, really impacting our children.”