One student asked him if he was the president, but Ron Kirk’s reply was that he had once worked for President Obama and also served as the mayor of Dallas.
“I can’t believe I’ve seen a real live mayor with my own eyes,” the student gasped.
Kirk was touring Dallas ISD’s Robert E. Lee Elementary on Friday, Feb. 19, to get a firsthand look at curriculum in action, brought by Junior Achievement of Dallas. The “JA for a Day” program, which teaches basic concepts of business and economics to students in kindergarten to fifth grade, was facilitated by volunteer Nokia employees. Officials from the company also joined the tour.
Junior Achievement of Dallas will honor Kirk in April as one of its 2016 JA Dallas Business Hall of Fame Laureate inductees. He is currently Senior of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Kirk served as the first African-American to serve as Texas Secretary of State, from 1994 to 1995; and the first African-American mayor of Dallas, from 1995 to 2002. President Obama nominated Kirk to serve as U.S. Trade Representative, and he served in that role from 2009 to 2013.
