INSPIRED LIFE

Viral story leads to donations of $1 million for coach of underdog debate team

By Cathy Free
Yesterday at 6:00 a.m. EDT



Jonathan Conyers, holding Jonathan Conyers Jr., visits his high school debate coach, K.M. DiColandrea, at New York City's Stuyvesant High School on May 10. (Gabriel Taliaferrow)

It wasn’t until Jonathan Conyers was an adult that he realized how much his debate coach helped him as a struggling high school student with two parents addicted to drugs. And also how much his coach, K.M. DiColandrea, must have been silently struggling with his own issues.

So when Conyers, now 27, recently pitched a story about his life to Humans of New York, a blog with 20 million social media followers that tells the stories of everyday New Yorkers, founder Brandon Stanton wanted Conyers to tell his own story, he said.

“I said, ‘You know what? I think I’d rather honor my teacher. How about if I talk about DiCo?' ” Conyers said in an interview with The Washington Post, using his coach’s nickname.

And that’s how last week, millions of people hung on Conyers’s every word as his story unfolded on Instagram — and then donations of more than $1.2 million started pouring in for DiColandrea to fund his debate club. ... “It’s been overwhelming in the best possible way, but this is much bigger than me or Jonathan,” said DiColandrea, who had just spent his savings — $6,000 — to fund the team.

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By Cathy Free
Cathy Free is a human interest reporter who specializes in stories of humanity. She has contributed to The Washington Post's Inspired Life blog since 2018. Twitter https://twitter.com/cathyjfree