Banquet honors record 23 students
A record-setting 23 African-American high school seniors were honored at the ninth annual African-American Athletic and Scholarship Banquet held at the Civic Center Saturday night.
Banquet coordinator Donna Martin, who began the event in 1996 upon discovering that year’s graduating class contained only five African-Americans, expressed her delight with the drastic increase.
Highlighting the banquet was the awarding of the Christopher Todd Boyd Scholarships. This year’s recipients are Courtney Martin and Michaela Martin, who each received $1,000. Since its reception, the scholarship fund has provided $22,000 to 29 promising African-American students.
The night’s keynote speaker was Keith Dean, head coach of Murfreesboro Blackman High School’s boys and girls track team, and assistant coach of its girls basketball team. He encouraged those students in attendance to have faith in God’s power.
“Don’t forget: you have purpose. He knew that purpose before you were even in existence. We all need to work God’s plan,” he said. “Don’t listen to the devil, who will tell you you’re dumb and stupid. Remember that through Christ all things are possible.”
McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport and Warren County Mayor Kenneth Rogers both encouraged the students to continue their educations, as higher education is becoming more and more a necessity in obtaining well-paying jobs in today’s economy.
The Saturday night event also saw middle school student Krystal Richmond take home the Young Academic Award and First National Bank honored as Business of the Year.