Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 8-28-18

Features
Student Presented Medal By U. S. Congresswoman
‘Souls To The Polls’ Initiatives Deemed A Huge Success
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last Thursday, N’Jhari Jackson had a busy day at Carrollwood Day School. He was the recipient of several awards.
“Congresswoman Kathy Castor presented me the Congressional Medal today at noon for citizen- ship, community service, setting and achieving goals. I was presented those awards were presented by the Upper School, Mrs. Sarah Rubinstein.
“I also received a com- mendation letter from Gov- ernor Rick Scott for winning a National Silver Medal in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a 4 times Commended Carson Schol- ars Trophy from the Carson Scholars Foundation, an Award for Excellence from the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, and the President’s Service Award, ” N’Jhari said.
He is well known in the community for his accom- plishments. He has received a National Silver Medal for poetry in the Scholastic Art and Writing Contest, a Re- gional Gold Key for poetry, a Silver Key for a Critical Essay, a Silver Key for Po- etry, and he has earned 4 Honorable Mentions for po- etry.
In addition, the 15-year- old has recently published several books. The proceeds
N’Jhari Jackson is shown during the presentation of the Con- gressional Medal. U. S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor is shown in the background.
from one of those books in- cluding “One Poke, Two Pokes, Three... Yo This Is Not Joke,” will be do- nated to the Dick Vitale’s V Foundation. The book focuses on children who are fighting pediatric cancer.
N’Jhari knows about this first-hand. A few years ago, he was diagnosed juve- nile idiopathic arthritis, an autoimmune disease. N’Jhari and his mother, Ms. Lashina Lewis, were told that he would not be able to play football again. But, after several surgeries, he can participate in all of the sports he enjoys.
N’Jhari is a member of both the football team and lacrosse team. An Eagle Scout, N’Jhari has ob-
tained all 23 Eagle Scout Palm Awards and 139 out of 139 BSA Merit badges. He recently earned his Bugle Merit Badge.
N’Jhari began his com- munity service at the age of 6 with the creation of his “Pajama Buddies” Program. It provides stuffed animals to sick children to comfort them during their hospital stays. It began while he was at Shriners Hospital For Children undergoing a sur- gical procedure. A nurse gave him a stuffed animal to comfort him. And, when he encountered another child experiencing the same anxi- ety that he had, he gave the stuffed animal to that child.
He has continued to demonstrate his concerns in various other programs. He was presented the 2017 Na- tional Caring Award. The award was presented by the Caring Institute at their 30th Annual Caring Award Cere- mony.
As part of his journey to become an Eagle Scout, he created the “NJ’s-Love- To-The Rescue” project to reduce Sudden Cardiac Ar- rest in student athletes and youth in the community.
Since creating the proj- ect, hundreds of teachers have been trained to use the AED (Automated External Defibrillators).
As part of his “Kool Sox,” Program, N’Jhari has given more than 1,200 pairs of “Kool Sox” to underprivi- leged children.
On Sunday, August 26th, the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP, in conjunc- tion with the Tampa Bay Coalition of Clergy, and oth- ers hosted two “Souls To The Polls” initiatives. The joint venture encouraged more than 700 people to cast ballots.
Ms. Yvette Lewis, Pres- ident of the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP said, “We had a record number of people at Cyrus Greene Com- munity Center. The churches really did good, we had about 500 people turnout.
“We had more than 250 turn out at the West Tampa Public Library. But, we can do better. We are going to start planning now for the General Election in Novem- ber. Our goal is to get people out to vote.”
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Supervisor of Elections Office, 501 people voted at Cyrus Greene Com- munity Center on Sunday. A total of 272 people cast bal-
lots at the West Tampa Pub- lic Library on Sunday as well. Sunday was the last day that individuals could vote at any of the 19 designated Early Voting sites. Anyone who has not voted must re- port to their assigned voting poll on Tuesday, the day of
the Primary Election.
Written by IRIS B. HOLTON, Sentinel City Editor
MS. YVETTE LEWIS President, Hillsborough County Branch NAACP
TODAY!
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2018