Jackson State University in Mississippi has announced that foster care youth from outside the state of Mississippi can now enroll at the university and pay substantially lower in-state tuition. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway has established an endowed fund at Jackson State to help these students pay for college.
Many students from the foster care system have great difficulty paying for college because once they reach the age of 18, they lose government benefits from the foster care program. Jackson State President Carolyn Meyers stated, “We want to remove as many barriers as possible so that students from all walks of life get the opportunity to succeed.”
In-state tuition for certain population groups outside of Mississippi was made possible by a new state law enacted last year. In addition to the new program for foster youth, Jackson State offers in-state tuition packages to high achieving students from urban schools outside of Mississippi, STEM majors, children of military families, and children of alumni donors.
article by jbhe.com
Posts published in “Teens”
Alvin Hill, Student Government Association vice president at Morgan State University. (Photo L. Kasimu Harris)
It was just a month ago when the board of regents of Morgan State University, the historically Black school in Baltimore, voted not to renew the contract of its president, David Wilson. Wilson had served as president for two years and his three-year contract was set to expire in June of this year.
But then something unusual happened. The board’s decision unleashed a torrent of criticism by the school’s faculty, staff and, most notably, Morgan State’s students, who held protest rallies on behalf of retaining President Wilson.
Since then, the board announced something of a reversal, saying it was reconsidering its initial decision. It agreed to negotiate a new one-year contract covering the period from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014. The terms of the one-year deal have yet to be negotiated.
Bre’Yahna Thompson, 15, of Bradenton, foreground, calls herself a “positive rapper,” and is very tuned in to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Behind Bre’Yahna is her father, Rodney Thompson. RICHARD DYMOND/Bradenton Herald
PALMETTO — Like other communities getting set to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 21, Manatee County’s religious leaders wonder if Dr. King’s message of brotherhood, nonviolence and persistence is getting through to the younger generation. One way that is working, say local pastors, is the recently completed Dr. Martin Luther King Speech and Essay Contest in Manatee County, which involved more than 300 young people writing essays and researching King’s life and work.
Another way is through church, where pastors say a moment of silence and some discussion will be the hallmark of services on Jan. 20 and where a local Jewish temple is holding an interfaith Shabbat service honoring the civil rights leader.
But one talented young local African-American woman is trying another way to share King’s ideals. She wants to use music to reach her generation. Bre’Yahna Thompson, 15, a Bradenton home-schooler who writes poetry, plays the violin and cello, and calls herself a “positive rapper,” is working on a rap song about King that she calls, “The Story of a Leader.”
Another way is through church, where pastors say a moment of silence and some discussion will be the hallmark of services on Jan. 20 and where a local Jewish temple is holding an interfaith Shabbat service honoring the civil rights leader.
But one talented young local African-American woman is trying another way to share King’s ideals. She wants to use music to reach her generation. Bre’Yahna Thompson, 15, a Bradenton home-schooler who writes poetry, plays the violin and cello, and calls herself a “positive rapper,” is working on a rap song about King that she calls, “The Story of a Leader.”
In December 2012, Polite Stewart Jr. earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While a very small percentage of bachelor’s degree awards in physics go to African Americans, Stewart’s achievement is all the more remarkable given that he is only 18 years old.
Stewart got offers from colleges and universities across the country but decided to attend college near his home, about 10 miles from the Southern University campus. When he was high school age, Stewart took college-level classes at Southern University’s Timbuktu Academy. He had been home schooled.
During college he conducted summer research at North Carolina State University. He plans to start graduate school in the fall and pursue a career in biological and physics engineering.
article via jbhe.com
Olivia Stinson, a sophomore at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina was recognized as a 2012 L’Oreal Paris International Woman of Worth. Stinson, a business administration major from Charlotte, was honored for creating the Peers Engaged and Networking (PEN) Pals Book Club for the children of incarcerated parents. At age 13, Stinson used a $500 grant to start the project for children aged 12 to 19. The PEN Pals Book Club has evolved into a full support group for the children of parents who are in prison. She has now added a Be a Reader (BEAR) Book club for children aged 2 to 11. The clubs now not only provide books and other school supplies, but also food and other support. Since the program was established, more than 4,000 children have received benefits from the program.
For winning the Woman of Worth distinction, Stinson’s book clubs will receive a $10,000 contribution from L’Oreal Paris. To learn more, check out Stinson’s Huffington Post blog here.
article via jbhe.com
Every year teens struggle to study and get through the nation’s most-widely-used college admission exam, the SATs, and only a small handful ever achieve a perfect score. Cameron Clarke (pictured), a senior at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pa., just happens to fall in to the category of “perfect scorer,” according to the Huffington Post.
Clarke scored 2400, a perfect score, this past spring, and according to SAT officials, out of the 1.6 million of its test-takers this year, a mere 360 were able to achieve the grade.
Brittney Exline is special, very special. She’s the Michael Jordan of intellectuals, and getting the attention that she deserves. Brittney has been named, according to Ebony.com and other sources, to be the young black engineer in the entire United States. At 19 years old, the University of Pennsylvania grad has achieved more than most will achieve in their lifetime.
In addition to being an extraordinary engineer, Brittney also speaks five languages. She graduated with minors in five different fields, including Math, Psychology and Classical Studies. She has worked on Wall Street and also participated in numerous beauty pageants.
Professor Andrea Taylor with members of the robotics group.
According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, only 25 percent of professional computing occupations in the US were held by women in 2011. Additionally, only three percent were African-American women, four percent were Asian women, and one percent were Hispanic women.
A Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization, DIVAS for Social Justice, is hoping to change those numbers with its programming, which encourages students to use multimedia projects to discuss social justice and other issues facing their communities. DIVAS, which stands for Digital, Interactive, Visual Arts, and Sciences, launched five years ago as a way to get students in underserved neighborhoods more interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, is expanding its digital platform. The nonprofit television network has announced the launch of Black Culture Connection, an online guide to films, stories and other resources about the black experience in the realms of history and culture. The website, currently in its beginning stages, will evolve into a larger digital resource over the course of the year:
“We’re committed to bringing you the best of PBS and helping you explore Black history and culture around the world through our award-winning programs, special online events, chats … and more!”
“We are in beta and continuing to grow, but invite you to join our journey over the next year. You will be able to connect with award-winning documentaries like Freedom Riders andThe Interrupters, new web original productions like Black Folk Don’t, live chats with your favorite filmmakers, and PBS member stations to help you explore black history and culture locally in your community.”
This is only the first phase of a larger online experience coming to PBS.org. We’ll continue to add new features over the next several months.
Read more about Black Culture Connection here.
article by Stacy-Ann Ellis via theroot.com
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLOLrUBRBY&w=560&h=315]
There are some pretty amazing kids out there doing the best they can with whatever circumstances were given to them. In areas of the world where little to no technological advancement has occurred, ideas are being born without any mentors, tools, and/or resources.
PRODIGIES is a bi-weekly series on YouTube that showcases the youngest and brightest as they challenge themselves to reach new heights and the stories behind them. Kelvin Doe is a 15-year-old Sierra Leone native who admittedly loves inventing. He’s taught himself how to make things like batteries, FM radio transmitter, and a generator out of need for these things in his community.
He said that his community doesn’t have much electricity. The lights come on at night in his area once per week and then they don’t have any lights for the rest of the month. That led to his battery invention, so that his neighbors and family could use the battery to light their homes.
He’s known as DJ Focus because of a valuable radio program that he broadcasts on FM radio. He was able to create his generator for his station by using scraps. He chose that name because he said:
“If you can focus you can do invention perfectly.”
He started the station to give “voice to the youth.”
Kelvin was discovered by fellow Sierra Leone native, David Sengeh, who is a Ph.D. student at MIT. Sengeh directs Summer Innovation Camp in Sierra Leone and that is where he discovered Kelvin and his talents. When he saw what Kelvin was able to create simply using spare parts from trash in his community, he knew he was someone special.