T.C. Williams High School hosted "The Poverty Tour" with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West on Thursday morning, with some students participating in the production of broadcasting the program.

Smiley is host of public television late night talk show Tavis Smiley, and West is an author of 19 books who made his film debut in The Matrix.

Smiley and West have been going on a road trip across the country in an effort to “highlight the plight of the poor people of all races, colors, and creeds so they will not be forgotten, ignored, or rendered invisible during this difficult and dangerous time of economic deprivation and political cowardice," reads the mission of the show.

The duo took its tour to Alexandria City Public Schools, which has the highest rate of Free and Reduced Lunch in Northern Virginia with 58 percent and the highest percentage of English Language Learners at 24 percent.