GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (GRPS) – Emry Herring will spend the summer at the XQ Institute in Oakland, California, continuing a journey that started inside the classrooms of Grand Rapids Public Museum High School.
The eight-week internship builds on years of involvement with XQ, a national organization that works to rethink the American high school experience. Herring began working with XQ while still a student at Museum High School, one of the original XQ Super Schools. He graduated from Museum High School in 2022 and will begin his senior year at Michigan State University in the fall.
“When I was still in high school, I learned of opportunities like this at XQ,” Herring said. “When I was in 10th grade, I joined an XQ student advisory council. That council created a network of students to collaborate and amplify youth voice.”
Herring’s leadership within XQ quickly expanded. He was part of the student team behind Graduate Together, the virtual graduation ceremony hosted by LeBron James and featuring President Barack Obama during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
“I worked on Graduate Together for the Class of 2020,” he said. “It was incredible to be part of something that impactful.”
Since then, Herring has traveled to Washington D.C. for XQ events and to Denver for the City Summit of the Americas. Now, for the first time, he’ll travel to XQ’s headquarters. “I’m excited to see where I am at the end of this internship,” he said.
“I'm certain this opportunity will get me fired up about how we rethink high school. I’m very, very excited.”
At MSU, Herring is studying marketing and organizational communication. He is also a cheerleader and powerlifter for the Spartans. His brother Zander, who is part of the graduating class at Museum High School this year, will join him as a cheerleader at MSU in the fall.
Herring hopes to stay connected to education and nonprofit work after graduation.
“I really like rethinking secondary education,” he said. “I hope that I can stay in the realm of education.”
He credits his path to XQ to the support he received from his school and mentors, particularly XQ Youth Engagement Director Nytesia Ross.
“Every opportunity that I’ve been offered has been because of her,” he said. “XQ does a great job developing their alumni network.”
Herring praises the project-based learning model at Museum High School.
“Museum High School is one of the best high school opportunities in the State of Michigan. When you’re going to a high school like Museum, where they are pushing what it means to be a life-long learner, you are building these competencies,” he said. “You don’t leave a graduate, you graduate a learner.”
For current Museum High scholars, Herring offers this advice: “If you want to get involved, just ask the leaders at Museum High. You are one conversation away from being connected to opportunities and such a great network of resources.”
