Zendaya took boyfriend Tom Holland to her hometown to tour a local middle school and give the students something to smile about.
The couple visited West Oakland Middle School on Friday, August 25, to check out the school’s recent renovations and visit the students alongside several organizations, including HoopBus, Project Blackboard and Oaklandish.
Zendaya, 26, posted a photo of Holland wearing an Oakland Roots shirt from Oaklandish, a B Corp-certified company that focuses on civic pride. She posted a rack of shirts from the company earlier that day, also tagging Project Blackboard, a nonprofit focused on renovating public basketball courts to strengthen communities. Holland, 27, who reposted the photo, was posing in front of the HoopBus, which helps promote good health and team building through basketball.
The HoopBus visited West Oakland Middle School as part of its Back to School tour across the country.
“I just came to say ‘Hi’ to all of you and see your beautiful faces, and let’s have a great time playing basketball!” Zendaya told students, before quickly noting she hasn’t played basketball in years. “Well, I’m not going to play basketball, because I haven’t played basketball since I was young. We’re not gonna do that because I might twist an ankle.”
She wasn’t exactly dressed for a game. The Emmy winner wore khakis with a white top under an oversized blue dress shirt.
Zendaya “lobbed” a ball into the net with the help of actor and basketball pro Elvin Rodriguez, earning her plenty of cheers from the kids. Holland, meanwhile, got a lesson on spinning a basketball from one of the other Hoop Bus helpers.
The Euphoria star also sponsored the renovation of a basketball court at the nearby Lowell Park. Artist Adia Millett designed the colorful space (as well as Holland’s multi-colored basketball and the middle school’s new mural), which Zendaya helped paint earlier this month. It officially opened on Saturday, August 26, and Zendaya donned a jersey and denim shorts as she helped with the “inaugural dunk.” Holland sported a matching jersey, which read “Zendaya All-Stars” on the back.
Holland has previously visited his girlfriend’s hometown. They were spotted visiting Oakland School for the Arts — Zendaya’s alma mater — in December 2022.
The couple like to keep their romance low-key, but fans have been seeing them out and about more and more recently. “It’s about protecting the peace and letting things be your own but also not being afraid to exist,” Zendaya told Elle in her September cover story, released earlier this week. “You can’t hide. That’s not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now.”
An insider exclusively told Us Weekly last month that the two “preferred to keep to themselves” and even “bonded” early on in their relationship over how private they like to keep their personal moments. However, since their relationship was confirmed in July 2021 after they were photographed kissing in a car in Los Angeles, the duo have relaxed a bit.
“They acknowledge that everyone knows they’re together,” the source told Us. “So Tom is proud to call Zendaya his girlfriend and express how much he loves her because he wants the world to know.”
