YPSILANTI, MI - Five-year-old Ziare Gunn didn't hesistate when asked to recite a poem at a meeting of Ypsilanti's board of education.

Ziare had memorized the words of the poem "Hey Black Child" by Useni Eugene Perkins as part of a Black History Month activity.

His presentation of the poem to the school board at Ypsilanti Community Schools on Monday, Feb. 5, moved people to tears and received a standing ovation.

"Hey Black Child, be what you can be, learn what you must learn, do what you can do, and tomorrow your nation, will be what you want it to be," Ziare said, his voice rising as he reached the final stanza of the poem. He repeated the performance on Wednesday at his school, Ford Early Learning Center in Ypsilanti.

It's clear Ziare has taken the words to heart, said his teacher, Anita Smith.

"One of the things we've always talked about with him is that he can do anything he wants to do if he puts his mind to it," said Smith, a 30-year veteran teacher.

"It's hard for little African American boys and girls - and especially the men - and we've told him he has to make that difference and show other boys and girls that they can do what they want to do," Smith continued. "So when his mom taught this poem to him, I just cried, because it's the stuff we've been working on for the last two years."

It took Ziare a couple of days to memorize "Hey Black Child," said his grandmother, Yvonne Fields. The idea to learn the poem for Black History Month came from his family's church, Greater Fountain Church of God in Christ, in Ann Arbor.

Sharzay Fields, Ziare's mother, started working on the poem with him, thinking he could learn it by the end of the month, Yvonne said. When he memorized it quickly, the family began looking for an opportunity for him to share the poem.

They decided to "go see Ms. Smith's friends" at the school board meeting and have Ziare speak during public comment, Yvonne said. She accompanied him to the school board meeting because his mother, a nurse, was working at the time.

Video of Ziare's presentation for the school board has garnered thousands of views on social media in the past two days.

"Sometimes something happens at a school board meeting that reminds you of why you're there. Tonight was one of those nights," Trustee Meredith Schindler wrote on her public Facebook page where she shared a link to the video.

Five-year-old Ziare Gunn Recites Hey Black Child. This 5 year old Henry Ford Early Learning Center student was amazing tonight! He recited the poem “Hey Black Child” by by Useni Eugene Perkins. Tears. #ycsdynamic #blackhistorymonth Posted by Ypsilanti Community Schools on Monday, February 5, 2018

Video courtesy of Ypsilanti Community Schools.

Smith is proud of the progress Ziare has made this year in her Young Fives class. He was in her preschool class last school year, and Smith is glad the school added a Young Fives option in the 2017-18 school year for students like Ziare who could benefit from another year of school before they start kindergarten.

Ziare is smart, Smith said, but he needed more time to develop socially and emotionally before starting kindergarten. With the support of Ziare's mother and stepfather, Aaron Stephenson, Ziare's behavior in class has improved this school year and he's made progress academically, Smith said.

"I think he didn't really know what it meant to believe in himself. And now he really believes in himself," Smith said. "He'll come in and say what kind of day he's going to have. ... He's filled my world. I'm glad I got to keep him, and I'm glad to keep watching him grow."

Ziare is eager to share what he has learned: He can count higher than 100, knows all 52 upper and lowercase letters and he said Smith is teaching him how to sound out words.

His vocabulary homework from the day before hung in a place of honor on the board at the front of his classroom on Wednesday.

"I learn about being an important man," Ziare said. "So when I grow up I can be a police officer or a doctor or a nurse or a construction worker."