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College Bound hosted its 22nd Annual End of Year Celebration on May 16, 2013 at the historic Lincoln Theater. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Set Sail for a World of Wonder: Preparing Our Students for a World of Opportunity”, which captured the essence of the road ahead for this year’s graduates. The evening opened with the processional of the Class of 2013. The seniors entered with much excitement waving their senior gift, College Bound pennants, to always remind them of their time with College Bound. The hosts for the evening, Mulu-Tsega Senshaw and Shaan Taylor are both members of the Class of 2013.
Daron Hilton, Class of 2013, performed the opening selection “Wake Up Everybody” which was originally recorded by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes and recently popularized by John Legend. He brought an energy and excitement to the event which celebrated the success of him and his fellow classmates. Executive Director, Kenneth Ward gave his welcome to event attendees and expressed his excitement and pride in the Class of 2013.
Christiana Hammond, a junior at Old Dominion University, delivered the alumni greeting for the evening. As a College Bound scholarship and Juliette Tyler Lewis Award recipient, she was able to speak very compellingly about the importance of staying involved with College Bound after graduating from high school, and welcomed the Class of 2013 into the distinguished group of College Bound alumni.
Board Chair Rita Kirshstein brought greetings on behalf of the College Bound Board of Directors. She gave words of encouragement and advice to the graduating seniors for the year ahead. College Bound junior, LaNae Kearse introduced our Keynote Speaker for the evening, Mr. David Johns. Before he spoke, College Bound students, Jessica (’14) and Beatrice Smoot (’13), performed two musical selection on the violin and viola for the attendees. The sisters both attend our Chavez site.
Our keynote speaker, Mr. David Johns, is the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He talked about educational opportunities for minorities and the deficits of the public education system. He hailed the students of College Bound for their commitment to their education and the many accomplishments they achieved while in the program. Mr. Johns also accepted the 2013 Community Leadership Award on behalf of First Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama. Deloitte, a long-time supporter of College Bound, received our 2013 Hall of Fame Award. Deloitte has provided SAT courses, essay writing workshops, and most recently helped the College Bound Board with our strategic plan.
The 2012-2013 Site Recognition Awards, presented by the College Bound Site Coordinators, included Outstanding Partner, Team Work, Most Committed Student, and Exemplary Student for each site.
The highlight of the night was the awarding of the College Bound scholarships. Each year, eligible juniors and seniors apply for this scholarship, and traditionally 10 have been awarded. This year, College Bound awarded a total of $80,000 in scholarships to deserving students. The final scholarship recipient for the evening, College Bound senior Chabeli Arroyo, performed a Special Tribute to the Class of 2013.
Closing Remarks for the evening were given by Executive Director, Kenneth Ward. He reflected on his time with the program, and the growth he has seen in the Class of 2013 from when they started in 8th grade. He also congratulated all of the scholarship winners and wished all the students the best in their bright futures.
