Manasota ASALH Presents Scholarship Awards

BY C.S. HOWARD

Manasota ASALH awarded a total of $42,000 in scholarships to 20 Manatee and Sarasota High school graduates. Shown with students, bottom row from left: Leslie Por ter, scholarship committee, Dr. James Stewar t, President, Bernadine Rice, chair scholarship committee, and Kate Harris, scholarship committee.

Manasota ASALH, the local branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, awarded scholarships to 20 graduating high school seniors of Manatee and Sarasota schools on May 25, 2018. The event was held at the Library and Learning Center at State College of Florida. The speaker for the scholarship award program was Booker High School principal, Dr. Rachel Shelly. A passionate leader with a “heart” for students, faculty and staff, she is dedicated to helping every student succeed, either if they are college or career bound upon graduation. Dr. Shelly was recently honored as 2017 Florida Principal of the Year. The 2018-2019 Manasota ASALH scholars are Jalynne Brown, Daisha Mann and Gianna Hager, Manatee High School; Amara Merritt, home school; Dequontez Lavender, Kenya Woodward and LeAsia McNeal, Booker High School; Kiarra Louis and Gabyrelle Francois, Southeast High School; Brinittee Johnson, Isis Madden, Kenyvon Anderson and Shaleiya Lee, Lakewood Ranch High School; Serenity McNair and Nicholas Bratton-Cox, Braden River High School; Macee Boyd, Venice High School; Tavares Campbell, Riverview High School; Alexis Dorrell, Bayshore High School; Zaira Moore, State College of Florida Collegiate School; and Makayla Murrell, Bayshore High School. The scholarship awards are based on very rigorous criteria, including academic achievement, community service, extracurricular activities and a personal interview. Individual awards ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 and total $42,000 for the 2018-2019 academic year. Funds for the scholarships are raised primarily from the annual Randy Rankin Scholarship Golf Classic. Other funds are provided by contributions from members and nonmembers of the Manasota branch of ASALH. Generous multi-year contributions were also received from the estate of Patricia Lynch-Pepin, and her brother Danny Lynch, in memory of his sister, a dedicated and tireless volunteer with the Friends of the North Sarasota Public Library. The Ambassador Joseph M. Segars Scholarship is also a multi–year fund provided in his memory by the Segars and Bornstein families. A retired Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Segars also served as Chair of the Randy Rankin Scholarship Classic, and the Scholarship Committee. Also, in 2017 new ASALH member Morrie Tharps and family made a generous pledge of $10,000 to the ASALH Scholarship Fund in honor of his late brother, Vernon Tharps. Since 2000/2001 Manasota ASALH has awarded a total of more than $370,000 in college scholarships to 217 Manatee and Sarasota county high school graduates. Scholarship committee members included Bernadine Rice, chairperson, Joan Byrd, Garvey Clarke, Eleanor Merritt Darlington, Kate Harris, Vivian Johnson, Delores Jean Penn, Leslie Porter, and Enid Stewart. ASALH was established in 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and is the founder of Black History Month. The mission of the organization is to promote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community. The Manasota branch is the largest in the national organization. Dr. James Stewart is President of the Manasota Branch of ASALH.