Page 9 - 4-24-15 Friday's Edition

Local
2015 ACT-SO Competition, Awards And Press Conference Held In Tampa
Row 1 from left: Pat Spencer, Natalia Alonzo, Carlea Boswell-Edwards, Persys Fernandez-Diaz, Au- tumn Pedder, Maurice Jackson, Libbi Ponce, Naomi Mendez, Sofia Pena, and Dr. Carolyn Collins. Row 2 from left: Nynchoyha Pitt, Shennell Spencer, Sara Midence, Charity Franks, Kalima Ujaama, Anna Castillo, Victoria French, and Tatiana Larry. 3rd row from left: Alejandra Gomez, George Seits, Joshua Ingram, Kameron Lewis, Nana Kusi, Pierre Alsint, Garrett Messineo, and Alonso Jackson.
Students from six Hills- borough County Schools took home all the medals at the ACT-SO Awards Ceremony of the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP.
The event was held in the Ybor Room at Hillsborough Community College (Ybor Campus) on Sunday, March 22, 2015.
The students who took home the medals earned them, a day earlier, at the An- nual ACT-SO Competition at George S. Middleton High School.
Mr. Maurice Jackson,
ACT-SO Chair stated, “Thanks to my remarkable team – the supporters, par- ents, volunteers, judges, and school and college adminis- trators – this year's ACT-SO was one of the best ever.”
At this year’s competition, the gifted Arts and Science students competed for medals in 15 competition areas. The four categories were the Sciences, the Hu- manities, the Visual Arts, and the Performing Arts. Eleven students received Gold Medals and earned scores high enough to advance to the National ACT-SO Com- petition, to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this summer.
All participants were treated to breakfast and lunch on the day of the com- petition. At the awards pres-
entation, on the next day, each of them received a framed certificate, acknowl- edging their participation, and were the guests of honor at a dinner reception follow- ing the ceremony. Daymond Catering supplied the meals both days.
The following students were the recipients of the 2015 Gold Medals: The Sci- ences — Charity So- journer Franks, Middleton High School, Architecture; Joshua Ingram, Middleton High School, Engineering; Anna Castillo, Middleton High School, Health and Medicine. The Humanities – Kalimah Ujamaa, Univer- sal Academy of Florida, Original Essay, Short Story and Poetry (written); The Vi- sual Arts – Shenell Spencer, Blake High School, Drawing; Victoria French, Blake High School, Painting; Naylea Ruiz, Blake High School, Photogra- phy; and Naomi Mendez, Blake High School Sculpture; The Performing Arts – Kar- lea Boswell-Edwards, Blake High School, Music Vocal (Classical) and Music Vocal (Contemporary); Pierre Alsint, Steinbrenner High School, Oratory; and Nynchoyha Pitt, Riverview High School, Poetry (spoken word performance).
Recipients of the Silver Medals were: Persys Fer-
nandez-Diaz, George Seits, Alonzo Jackson (2), Nana Kusi, Victoria French (2) and Garrett Messineo.
Natalia Alonzo-Diaz, Kameron Lewis, Tatiana Larry, Libbi Ponce and Sofia Pena all received Bronze Medals.
The 2015 panel of judges were: George Robinson, La Shon Lofgren, Freder- ick Harris, Angela Thornton, Desiree Jack- son, Cassandra Anthony, Ayanna McDonald, Richard Robinson, Austin Toussant, Joann Lewis, Ersula Odom, Helen Young and Tanya Johnson.
NAACP Branch officers present were: Area Director, Pat Spencer; Dr. Carolyn Collins; Pat Cruse; and Yvette Lewis.
As a follow-up to the Competition, a Press Confer- ence recognizing the STEM students was held at Middle- ton High School.
Plans are currently being made for ACT-SO's major fundraiser, “ACT-SO SUN- DAY,”onMay3,2015–4P. M. at Beulah Baptist (see today's ad).
Donations and student sponsorships are welcome and needed. Volunteers and ACT-SO Alums are also needed. For additional infor- mation call 813.830.1450.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A