When Covington Independent Schools Superintendent Cortnei Flucas stepped up to the mic for her keynote speech, she pointed out all the possibilities in the room.
“We are living in a future our ancestors had the courage to imagine,” Flucas said. “We have the opportunity to imagine something even greater for those coming after us.”
She asked tables of public officials, community fixtures, educators, administrators and families gathered last Friday for the Northern Kentucky NAACP Branch 26th Freedom Fund Gala to participate in building up the younger generation — even for a future that seems out of reach.
“Imagine being a young person surrounded by adults who knew your potential and expected you to use it. Adults who could say through their words and their example, ‘There is so much you can become.’ Those educators help generations of students see a future worth preparing for,” Flucas said.
A native of Indianapolis, Flucas relocated to Covington in July, becoming the first Black female superintendent in the district’s history.
She comes from a family tradition of treasuring education and attending historically Black universities. On Friday, Flucas described growing up with high expectations of success and helping others, both things rooted in love.
“Many of us in this room know that kind of love. Take a moment and think of someone who saw something in you before you could see it in yourself. Whatever we have achieved, somewhat of their care is still at work in us, and we get to offer that gift to someone else,” Flucas said.
She called it not only a gift, but a commitment with deep roots, describing how Black people found ways to learn and teach their community, even when denied education.
“They preserved knowledge, they nurtured hope, they helped one another see possibilities beyond the circumstances immediately in front of them. Imagine the faith it took to teach a child about a freedom you had never experienced yourself, to prepare that child for a world you might never live to see,” Flucas said.
Flucas asked the group to invest in the next generation in the same way.
“You do not need a teaching license to encourage a student. You can share what you know, make an introduction, or offer an opportunity. And sometimes your most important contribution is your consistency. A young person learns they can count on you when you continue to show up. That is how a community becomes a part of a child’s education,” Flucas said.
Earlier in the evening, Lloyd Memorial High School and Bellevue High School students echoed her request: asking for more, not perfect, role models.
“Seeing your role models stumble and fall, but never break, fills others with resiliency,” said Dante Hall, a Lloyd Memorial High School junior. Hall is also part of the Young Scholars Academy, an immersive dual-credit program at Northern Kentucky University where he’s on the pre-medicine track.
“In fact, this is what makes them more relatable,” Hall said.
Bellevue High School student Derisay Eversole agreed.
“We need more people who are willing to lead by example, encourage others, who can show the next generation what’s possible, especially people who look like me,” she said.
