The Decatur Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated awarded over $28,000 in scholarships and book stipends to area students at its Annual Scholarship Recognition Breakfast at Beulah Missionary Baptist Church. More than 40 high school seniors from DeKalb County and surrounding areas competed in this year’s scholarship competition.

Top honors went to the following winners:

1st Place – Christina Lynne Evans of Druid Hills High School: $5000.00

2nd Place – Teryn Thornton of Chamblee Charter High School: $3500.00

3rd Place – Henderson Johnson of Chamblee Charter High School: $1500.00

Additionally, the following 26 students who qualified as finalists will receive a $500.00 book stipend. Jalal Abdul-Azeez, W. D. Mohammad High School; Jasmine Bailey, Southwest DeKalb HighSchool; Johnna Bateman, Columbia high school; James S. Brown, Southwest DeKalb High School; Sydny Caldwell, DeKalb School of the Arts; Austin Copper, Clarkston High School; Jesse Harris, Parkview High School; Shannon Hodge, Druid Hills High School; Kierra Jarman, Druid Hills High School; Daria Johnson, Druid Hills High School; Jabari Kilcrease, Dunwoody High School; Deric Long, Jr., Westminster High School; Elandra Loyal, Chamblee Charter High School; Kamry Mack, Dunwoody High School; Valentine Mba, Chamblee Charter High School; Gabrielle Miller, Lakeside High School; Elaine Mills, Southwest DeKalb High School; Breyanna Morning, Chamblee Charter High School; Sakinah Muhammad, Druid Hills High School; Danielle Reed, Chamblee Charter High School; Kayla Rhynes, Druid Hills High School; Taylor Saab, DeKalb School of the Arts; Jordan Smith, Chamblee Charter High School; Roshaud Turner, Whitewater High School; Tony Weaver, Greenforest Christian Academy High School; Erica Williams, Chamblee Charter High School.

As part of the sorority’s continuing commitment to education, the top winners from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 competitions are also eligible to receive a continuing book stipend in the amount of $500. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded on the campus of Howard University on January 13, 1913. Since its inception, the sorority has been involved in providing service and support to local communities, leading the dialogue on public policy issues, supporting quality education, providing scholarships, sponsoring artistic innovation, creating positive opportunities for the development of youth, and producing new projects to stimulate current and future growth. The Decatur Alumnae Chapter was chartered in 1973 to expand the sorority’s mission, including a commitment to providing public service to the DeKalb County community.

For further information regarding upcoming scholarships or other chapter programs, please visit the Decatur Alumnae Chapter website at http://www.dstdac.org.

The Central State University Board of Trustees announced today Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond as the 8th President of the University.

Dr. Hammond has built a distinguished career in higher educational leadership. Under her guidance as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Coppin State University, she guided six prominent initiatives: the reformation of the General Education core curriculum, establishment of the Center for Undergraduate Research, 2010 strategic planning, development of the First Year Experience program, designed and received external funding for the Advisement and Retention Center for the School of Education, and development of tenure criteria. Most recently Dr. Hammond served as a lead consultant for H&H Educational Consultants specializing in strategic planning, curriculum design, accreditation, and standards-based assessments.

We are very excited about our selection,” said Gary Dowdell, Chair of the Central State University Board of Trustees. “Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond has a demonstrated leadership background and comes to Central State University at a time when we are poised to make great strides in building for the future.”

Cynthia Jackson Hammond holds a Doctorate of Education from Grambling State University, a Masters of Education from University of Louisiana in Monroe, an Education Specialist degree from University of Louisiana in Monroe, and an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree also from Grambling.  Dr. Hammond is an outstanding and sought after speaker on issues related to cultural competency, the unique contributions of HBCU’s, and global education.  She has a number of publications to her credit and is a Harvard Fellow and a 1987-89 Louisiana State Board of Regents Fellow.

“I am extremely thrilled and honored to be named the next President of Central State University. This institution has a 125-year history of academic excellence and transforming the lives of students. I look forward to joining the campus community of administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, and students to continue this great legacy and lead the University toward meeting the needs of an ever-changing society and a global future,” said Dr. Hammond.

“From a total of 51 candidates, Dr. Hammond was one of four presented to the Central State University Board of Trustees in late April by the Presidential Search Advisory Committee.  The Committee was comprised of faculty, students and alumni,” according to Dowdell.  “Our goal was to select a leader who would build on the accomplishments of John W. Garland who led the University for 15 years.”  Garland announced his retirement from his alma mater last September and will leave Central State University June 30.

Dr. Hammond is a native of Monroe, Louisiana and is married to Dr. James Eric Hammond Sr.  The couple has three children; James Eric Jr. married to Sylvia Woodard, Christopher Adam, and Erin Jenea.  The Hammonds are the proud grandparents of Alexander age 6 and Franchesca age 2.  Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond’s appointment as President of Central State University is effective July 1, 2012.

Since 1996, the Alpharetta-Smyrna Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi has conducted its mentoring and tutorial program with the goal of making a positive impact among male middle school students. Since then, over 350 youth have been guided to more positive social interactions and higher scholastic pursuits.

Today, the Kappa collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute is conducting a special seminar for 43 middle and high school students enrolled in its Guide Right Program on Robotics Technology at the Food Processing Technology Division (FPTD) at Tech.

Most students come from Cobb schools.

FPTD develops next-generation technologies for processing efficiency and operational enhancement in the food processing and general manufacturing industries and works collaboratively with university and industry partners on projects involving advanced robotics and automation, imaging and sensing, environmental, energy, and worker and food safety technologies.

The demand for science and technology literacy of students coming out of high schools has never been higher, but school systems struggle to produce the science literacy required. Georgia students’ preparedness in science and math education achievement is not much better than many states across the nation.

Educators and industrial leaders warn that our way of life and national security is at risk because we are in danger of falling further behind in science, technology, engineering, and math, the disciplines that have powered American prosperity for decades.

This collaboration between Georgia’s leading engineering research university and the Alpharetta-Smyrna Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi will expose a group of middle and high school students historically underrepresented in science and engineering careers to leading edge research being conducted in fields such as advanced imaging and sensor technology, robotics and automation systems, and food and product safety research.

The students will have opportunities to interact with scientists in small groups, and to ask questions which will enable them to understand how mechanics, physics, chemistry, mathematics and other sciences they will learn can be put to work in exciting and rewarding applications.

Lawrence King, Kappa coordinator for the event, says, “Our hosts have designed a set of project learning team exercises that will challenge these youngsters to work in teams and apply their math and reasoning abilities.”

The Guide Right Program conducted by the fraternity’s men have incorporated STEM learning into its mentoring and intervention activities conducted during each school year to improve the life potential and outcomes for these challenged African American male students. The Alpharetta-Smyrna Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi is a member of Partners in Education in Cobb County along with Marietta City Schools, Cobb County School District, and the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.

For more information about this community organization, visit www.asakappas.org.

Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards is a man of his word. And because he is, 100 students are going to college on his dime. In 2007, Edwards promised 100 Cleveland high school students that he would pay for their college tuition—a total value of $1 million—if they maintained grade point averages at 2.5 or higher and performed 15 hours of community service. The students lived up to their end of the bargain, and now Edwards is living up to his end, according to CBSSports.com and the Detroit Free Press.

“As the 2nd most hated man in Clev & a man of my word, today I will honor a promise made to 100 students in Cleveland years ago,” Edwards tweeted. “The last of my Advance 100 students will graduate from my program and head off to college on scholarships that I will provide them with. Guys, enjoy and embrace your new beginnings and remember your promise to me, to reach back & help someone else along the way.

Edwards, who caught 53 passes for 904 yards and seven touchdowns last season, is currently unsigned but says he would like to return to the Jets.

The Braylon Edwards Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing and meeting the needs of under-served youth in the concentrated area of education. The Foundation’s goal is to emphasize the importance of education by providing scholarships and incentives to youth who demonstrate strong commitment and effort to excel in academics, conduct and community volunteerism. The Foundation also supports and contributes to organization’s whose programming includes health and hunger prevention. “It is in our service to others that we achieve true greatness.” – Unknown

http://www.braylonedwardsfoundation.org/home

Ariel Bushel, Adrienne Boone and Ebonie Coley were three of many Wake County high school juniors named Kappa Scholars this spring by the Kappa Charitable Trust of the Raleigh Alumni Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

The Kappa Scholars program recognizes 11th-grade African-American students who have maintained a 3.0 or better GPA.

The awards ceremony took place at the Raleigh Marriott City Center in conjunction with the Raleigh Alumni Chapter’s 26th Annual Beautillion Militaire.

]]> http://progressivegreek.com/organizations/kappa-alpha-psi-fraternity/raleigh-alumni-chapter-names-kappa-scholars/feed/ 0 http://progressivegreek.com/organizations/zeta-phi-beta-sorority/brooklyn-zeta-phi-beta-foundation-to-provide-10000-scholarship-to-worthy-student/ http://progressivegreek.com/organizations/zeta-phi-beta-sorority/brooklyn-zeta-phi-beta-foundation-to-provide-10000-scholarship-to-worthy-student/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:30:26 +0000 kevin1914 http://progressivegreek.com/?p=6392 BROOKLYN FOUNDATION WILL PROVIDE A $10,000 SCHOLARSHIP TO A WORTHY NYC STUDENT

Brooklyn, New York - Today, The Extolling Excellence Foundation for Service and Scholarship, Inc., (EEFSS), a philanthropic arm of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter (Brooklyn, NY), is excited to announce the launch of our Extolling Excellence Scholarship.  The Extolling Excellence Scholarship winner will receive an annual $2500 award renewable over a four year period for a cumulative award of $10,000. The scholarship is open to the following minority female who are New York City residents:  high school seniors or students who are entering or enrolled in their freshman year of full-time undergraduate studies at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States.  The scholarship is created largely through grassroots fundraising efforts.  The scholarship will be awarded based on the merits of the student’s GPA, community service and extra-curricular activities, as well as a competitive written essay.  The essay will require applicants to examine and reflect on how our theme “Extolling Excellence and Discouraging Satisfaction with the Second Rate” applies to their lives and could prepare them to take on the challenges of post-secondary education.

The scholarship was established to provide essential support and encouragement to impressive minority females, by easing the tremendous financial burden of higher education and aiding in their quest for greatness.  Our future is inextricably linked to the education of our children and their collegiate years are often the most transformative period of their lives.  It is this premise that drives our commitment to ensure that each of our Scholarship recipients has access to the best post-secondary education, which is imperative to their ability to meet the needs of an increasingly global economy, said Beverly Tatham, Esq., Chair, The Extolling Excellence Foundation for Service and Scholarship, Inc.  Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter (Brooklyn, NY), is a community conscious, action oriented organization.  Paramount to our existence is giving back to our community.  We are both honored and empowered to know that our philanthropic arm will be providing a deserving female student of color an opportunity to not only extol excellence in her academic career but we also recognize the powerful impact that obtaining a college degree will affect her community, said Karen Gooden, President, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter (Brooklyn, NY).

Scholarship application forms are available online at www.facebook.com/zphibskz by clicking on the Scribd tab located on the left side of our Facebook page or by copying and pasting   http://scr.bi/iHb0Bb in your internet browser. Entries must be received before September 30, 2011, and the winner is required to attend Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter’s (Brooklyn, NY) Extolling Excellence Black-Tie Scholarship Gala which will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2011, 6pm, at The Riviera, 2780 Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11224. http://on.fb.me/iTNsX0

About The Extolling Excellence Foundation for Scholarship and Service, Inc.

The EEFSS was established in 2008 to award scholarship grants to worthy young NYC women completing their senior year of high school or entering a four year accredited college or university; assist students in pursuit of higher education; conduct community  programs which will aid in the  improving in individual and community living standards; engage in activities which will aid in the educational development of all women; and  in any appropriate research related to the purposes of the Foundation. For more information, please email eefssinc@gmail.com

About Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter (Brooklyn, New York)

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter (Brooklyn, New York), chartered on September 7, 2011 by 11 professional women graduates from various colleges and universities throughout the United States.  Currently, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Kappa Zeta Chapter has established itself as a culturally competent chapter recognized throughout Brooklyn, New York State, and the Atlantic Region, as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s preeminent chapter in service to women; as a result of its demonstrated commitment to effecting positive changes in the station of women in the Brooklyn community, its ability to obtain sufficient resources to support its efforts, enabling the provision of quality services, its commitment to the empowerment of women and children, and its vision to improve the educational and economic stations of its beneficiaries. For more information, please visit http://www.zphibskz.org, www.facebook.com/zphibskz or email at sigmakappazeta@onebox.com

The neighborhood surrounding the Peninsula Park Rose Garden is about to look a lot greener. Neighbors of the June Key Delta Community Center, located on the corner of N Albina and N Ainsworth, have watched the Living Building Challenge remodel of the gas station since last August, but on May 29 neighbors noticed hard hat-clad volunteers preparing the land for a garden on the lot adjacent to the ongoing project.

The garden won’t be plotted out and sold to the community. Instead, Delta Sigma Theta, the organization that owns the gas station and the land, will use it as a tool to teach healthy eating habits, urban agriculture and sustainable living practices. The June Key Delta Community Center says the garden will “serve as a demonstration of how African-American communities heavily burdened by health disparities such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity can work together.”

According to The State of Black Oregon, a report by the Urban League of Portland, death rates from diabetes among African Americans are considerably higher, at 73 percent, than among whites, at 29 percent. The occurrence of high blood pressure among African Americans is 42 percent compared to 25 percent for whites. The organization employs these statistics for service activities that aim to improve the health, both mental and physical, of community members suffering from such disparities.

Irene Schwoeffermann, gardening coordinator, says the garden is “a way for us to teach [neighbors] how to garden and also help them have a better understanding of where their food comes from.”

Kaiser Permanente, Multnomah County, and other organizations that specialize in health disparities donated materials for Delta Sigma Theta to use in educational programs about healthy eating.

Supporters and volunteers included members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and Greek organization, members of the community and neighbors, and Hands on Portland. Friends of Trees, Portland Nursery, Naomi’s Organic Farm supply and many other donors supplied the plants for this community garden.

Schwoeffermann says that the garden can serve as a demonstration for those whose don’t currently garden but observed gardening in the generations before them.

“A lot of members of the African-American community here, they have roots that aren’t that many generations back from somewhere else in the county where their family was sharecropping or lived on a farm or gardened regularly, so what we’re really trying to do is encourage people to readopt those practices,” Schwoeffermann says.

Working on the Living Building project corresponds with Schwoeffermann’s studies in sustainability at Portland State University and allows her to participate in community building as a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

“It’s been amazing to be around and have people come through and talk about being raised in Alabama and everything they were able to get from their family’s garden, and they’re excited about seeing that connection being built back,” Schwoeffermann says.

Call former Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards what you will, but make sure you call him extremely charitable and a man of his word, too.

CBSSports.com reports that Edwards, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2005, followed through with a promise he made four years ago through his foundation.

In 2007, he promised 100 Cleveland students he’d pay for their college tuition — a value of $1 million — if they performed 15 hours of community service a year and kept a grade-point average of at least 2.5.

Well, they did. So he did.

Here’s what Edwards tweeted: As the 2nd most hated man in Clev & a man of my word, today I will honor a promise made to 100 students in Cleveland years ago … The last of my Advance 100 students will graduate from my program and head off to college on scholarships that I will provide them with. Guys enjoy and embrace your new beginnings and remember your promise to me, to reach back & help someone else along the way.”

To say that Nicole Carmona is a hard worker is an understatement.

The Sleepy Hollow senior and second-year Culinary Arts student at the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services has literally been working overtime to balance academics (she’s an AP Honor student) and her training at BOCES with the after-school tutoring she gives middle school students, community service projects, and her dinner shift job at a Tarrytown restaurant – all while maintaining a 3.9 grade point average.

In the little spare time she has, Carmona has managed since September to apply for up to three scholarships a week to help fund the $36,000 a year tuition she’ll need to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New Hyde Park, N.Y., where she will begin a 38-month baking and pastry arts course in September. At the completion of the program, Carmona will earn a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree.

At the CIA, she’ll learn how to create hearth and specialty breads, desserts, pastry, pâtisserie and confections, as well as practice basic cooking methods, explore nutrition, menu development, food safety and cost control, and learn how to operate and manage a profitable baking and pastry business. The program also weaves in lessons on baking and pastry traditions from around the world, foreign languages, communication, psychology, ethics and business management. In her third year, Nicole will have an opportunity to do a paid six-month “externship” at a baking establishment in the United States or abroad.

With her high grades, intelligence and capability, Carmona could succeed in any career field she chooses, so it was natural when family members began to question her decision to become a baker.

“Since I was little,” she said, “I always enjoyed baking. And when I came to BOCES, I just fell in love with it.”

She credits her beloved godfather, Richard Nadal, who passed away in February, with encouraging her to stay true to herself and follow her dream. Nadal stepped in as a father figure to Carmona and her older sister Jennifer at an early age, and it was with him that Carmona developed her love of baking. The two would watch cooking shows together and then experiment in the kitchen.

“He wasn’t that good at it,” she said with a laugh, “but we had a lot of fun with my Easy Bake Oven and Betty Crocker.”

Once Carmona made up her mind to go to the CIA, she went to town to find ways to help pay for her education and lighten the financial load for her mother, who suffers from multiple-sclerosis.

Carmona began searching Sleepy Hollow High School’s bulletin board for scholarship application notices and applying for others she found on Fastweb, an online scholarship matching service.

With the help of a guidance counselor at Sleepy Hollow High who still is affiliated with her college sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, Carmona applied for and won a $2,000 ZPB scholarship after writing an essay about her godfather’s encouragement of her career aspirations.

She also received a $2,000 Abigail Kirsch scholarship through Westchester County’s Women’s Hall of Fame, for which BOCES English teacher Chris Kincart wrote a recommendation. Carmona, Kincart said, “is a highly motivated individual who will succeed in attaining her goals.”

Kirsch, founder of Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships, presented the Culinary Caring Award to Carmona at a luncheon in April.

On the heels of these came two larger scholarships: a $5,000 award from Verizon, where Carmona’s mother works. The award is renewable for three years if Carmona maintains a grade point average of 2.0 or higher. She also received two awards from the CIA — a High Impact Leadership Scholarship valued at $10,000 to spread out over the duration of the course and a work-study award of $2,000 per semester so she can work on campus.

Carmona is still waiting to hear about some other scholarships and is keeping her fingers crossed. Among the most interesting scholarships she applied for is the $10,000 Dr. Seuss “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” award. Applying the themes of the book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”, applicants had to write a letter to a person they know who needs inspiration in his or her life.

Carmona chose to address the letter to her sister, a recent journalism school graduate who was having a tough time finding her first job. Jennifer eventually found a position and is now a journalism graduate student at Columbia University.

For Carmona, the future holds more hard work that she knows will ultimately lead to a fulfilling career packed with adventure. She wants to travel, and fittingly is considering working as a pastry chef on a cruise line when she graduates and specializing in designer cakes.

“Nicole has a lot of potential and ability,” said her Culinary Arts teacher Peter Tomaskovic. “She could really excel in this industry as she matures in the profession.”