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Detroit teen accepted to prestigious art school thanks principal with Tik Tok

Published  July 24, 2020 5:33pm EDT
Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A Detroit teen will soon be living his dream to attend a prestigious art school - and he has Tik Tok to thank for helping him make a good first impression. 

Thirteen-year-old King Moore's has been accepted to Detroit School of Arts High School, a dream for him, and one he made come true with his talent. 

Detroit School of Arts High School student sends special thank you to principal

A Detroit teen who had just been accepted to a prestigious art school wanted to send a special thank you to the people who made his dream come true.

"After I got my letter saying I was submitted I super excited and I was just happy because it's usually two to three weeks before it comes in and it was earlier than that. So I was like, wow, I already got submitted in. So I just wanted to say thank but I didn't know how to say thank you, really," he said. 

So, to thank his new principle, King got on the video app Tik Tok to send a message.

"Now that was the best," Dr. Mayowa Lisa Reynolds - his new principal - said. "King was the only one that did that. The Tik Tok video, it really warmed my heart because you don't know. This is the first time this has ever happened so we're only communicating with the children through video, through internet. And so, to get the Tik Tok video, I was like - it had an impact. It made him smile. So I sent it to the teachers immediately."

She has known King For a long time so she knew he already had an impressive resume.

At 10 years old, King made history as the youngest recipient of the Knight Arts Foundation Award for a 12 and Under Super Cool Poetry Open Mic Program that he created. 

He's a violinist, pianist and poet, taking after his mother Jessica Care Moore, who's an internationally recognized poet and playwright herself. She said she's always seen something special in her son.

"Around 7 or 8 I saw that he was writing in his journal kind of really deep things that normal 7- or 8-year-olds really wouldn't normally be writing about, deep things about how he felt about the world," she said. "And I just encouraged it."

"I want to be somebody not necessarily known, but the work that I make is an impact. And that's the "King" I want to be," he said.