Leading a pep rally for learning, Adolph Brown made two things clear to parents and students Saturday: Education starts at home, and just because you mess up doesn’t mean you give up.

The event was meant to get students excited about going back to school and help them see education as the gateway to success. In his speech at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Brown talked about growing up in a single-parent home in Virginia Beach.

While in school, his brother was killed, and Brown was labeled a “juvenile delinquent.”

He overcame that and became the first in his family to graduate from high school and college. He now travels the country as a motivational speaker, giving about 100 presentations a year, according to his website.

Throughout his speech, he led students and their parents in dancing to songs including “Started from the Bottom” by Drake, Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight.” Few kids seemed to recognize the latter two.

Regardless, students and parents cheered and danced for almost two hours at the pep rally, held by the Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation. They took breaks tovisit tables around the room, including a face-painting stand and a photo booth. A cluster of students huddled in the front of the room to dance as a steel-drum band played. At the end, each of the 300 students got a free backpack stuffed with supplies.

“I had a good time. It’s really cool,” said Billy Fosket, 15, who’ll be starting his sophomore year at Western Branch High School in the Fall. He was one of the students chosen to dance with Brown.

“I loved seeing him dance on stage,” his mom, Shante Fosket, said. “It’s pretty inspirational, I think.”

The nonprofit Community Development Corporation manages over 400 units of affordable rental housing around the city that serve low- to moderate-income families, veterans, the elderly, the homeless and people with disabilities. It provides property management and maintenance services and host events for residents. This was the first back-to-school pep rally, though.

“Everything VBCDC does is always great, because they push you forward, not backward,” said Maureen Howard, who came with her friend Ayanna Forrest and their young kids.

Kate Mishkin, 757-222-5124, kate.mishkin@pilotonline.com