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Grammy winner Keys delights school

CHICAGO, April 1 (UPI) -- About 300 students at Chicago's Betty Shabazz International Charter School were star-struck during a visit by nine-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys.

The 24-year-old singer, a former child prodigy raised in a single-parent home in New York's tough Hell's Kitchen, visited the school as part of a program encouraging adults to mentor inner-city youth.

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The Afrocentric charter school is named after Betty Shabazz, the late widow of Malcolm X.

"I'm so happy to be here. Your beauty shines so brightly," said Keys, who is visiting five schools while on tour to promote her award winning second album, "The Diary of Alicia Keys."

Keys' three Chicago concerts are sold out. She plans school visits in New York, Atlanta and Washington, the Chicago Sun-Times said.

Keys, who graduated from high school as valedictorian at 16 with a chance to attend Columbia University, said she would like to create a charter school in New York.

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