Press release from MLK Association:
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Achievement Awards and Scholarships will be presented at an event on June 16 at 5:30 p.m. at Ferguson Auditorium on the A-B Tech Campus.
The high school graduates nominated for the 2016 Youth Award and Scholarship include three from Asheville High School (AHS), two from Charles D. Owen High School, and one each from The Asheville School, Enka High School, A.C. Reynolds High School, and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences (SILSA) housed at AHS.
The Asheville High nominees are Saim Alam, the son of Irrun and Imran Alam, who will attend Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City; Raekwon Griffin, son of Vernette Griffin, scheduled to enroll at historic Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.; and Kai Lendzion, son of Kriya Lendzion, who will attend the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.
The nominees from Owen High—Lizzeth Flores-Gonzalez, daughter of Yolanda Gonzalez-Loza, and DeMarcus Harper, grandson of Mary Harper and nephew of Jamal Harper—will both stay closer to home in the fall: Ms. Flores-Gonzalez will enroll in classes at A-B Tech, and Mr. Harper will attend Appalachian State University in Boone.
Holt Mettee, daughter of Jeff and Anne Mettee, is a graduate of The Asheville School. She will spend a “gap year” with Global Citizen in India, working with Teach for India and living with a home-stay family for eight months. She has committed to return home and study at UNC Asheville beginning the fall of 2017.
Two of the MLK Youth Award nominees will be attending UNC Chapel Hill this fall: Enka High graduate Brandon Dillingham, son of Chris and Damette Dillingham, and SILSA graduate Sebastian Elie-York, son of Caroline Elie.
Nallah Muhammad, an A. C. Reynolds graduate and the daughter of Jason and Tina Muhammad, will attend one of North Carolina’s renowned historically black colleges, NC A&T University in Greensboro.
At the awards ceremony, all nine outstanding graduates will be recognized for their high school accomplishments, community service, and personal character, and two will be named as recipients of scholarships from the MLK Association.
The event is free and open to the public; everyone is invited and encouraged to applaud and support these young men and women as they take the next step into the adult lives and careers. For more information, contact Chairperson Oralene Graves Simmons at 828-281-1624, or ogsimmons@att.net
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.