Zeke Baylor may have to take a backseat to his more popular friends, Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth at East High, but the actor who plays him got his own moment in the spotlight this week. High School Musical fans from Michigan were in for a treat when Chris Warren Jr. made appearances at four local schools in the Grand Rapids area. His visit was part of a grant program called the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids, which rewards excellent schools in the area. While visiting, Warren gave the students advice about life and also talked about everyone’s favorite subject, High School Musical.

"If my school won a good school award, I'd think that was really great, which is why I wanted to be here today to congratulate you," Warren told a group of middle school students. "I want you to stay in school and keep your focus." The High School Musical star visited several schools including Sherwood Park Global Studies School, Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy and C.A. Frost Environmental Science Academy.

Warren had another message for the students he visited: don’t be afraid to be yourself. "Zeke is a jock, but he's not afraid to say that he loves to bake, too,” he said of his character in the High School Musical films. “It's a good message about stepping outside a stereotype and being true to yourself."

Accompanying Warren on his trip were his parents, Chris Warren and Brooke Kerr. Kerr is an actress who stars on the soap opera, Passions. His parents said that they plan to post videos of their time in Michigan on Chris’s official website and expressed how proud they were of him. "I like it when he gets a big shrieking response like this,” his mother said. “I know I'm not the only one who sees how cool he is."

The 18 year old actor took time off of from filming High School Musical 3 in Utah to visit the Michigan students. The latest film in the Disney series will hit movie theaters nationwide this October.


- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: The Grand Rapids Press
(Image courtesy of Disney)