South Bay

JACKSON MOTIVATES: “Your mind is a pearl; you can be whatever you want to be, you can be somebody,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson told more than 400 Hawthorne eighth-graders Tuesday. Jackson stressed the importance of staying in school, the dangers of drug abuse and making responsible decisions. He encouraged students to rise to the top by talking about his own experience of growing up poor.

“His speech was very inspirational,” said Hawthorne schools Supt. Don Carrington.

Jackson’s 45-minute speech at Hawthorne Intermediate School was part of a motivational program sponsored by the Hawthorne mayor’s office and the Brotherhood Crusade.

Mayor Larry Guidi said he hopes to bring in several big-name speakers throughout the school year to motivate the school district’s 7,706 students.