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Celebrating Excellence In Education
EDUCATION=EXCELLENCE!
This simple yet powerful equation for success is a banner message of the Missouri City Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. The respected civic organization encourages area youth to continue a lasting legacy of leadership in their respective communities, while setting a foundation of learning for the future leaders.
As part of this ongoing mission, Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen and Councilman Don Smith, who is the founder and chairman of MCJCF, recently honored five college scholarship winners at a special ceremony held in the Wells Fargo Bank on Texas Parkway.
“The City of Missouri City is proud to once again be involved with the Juneteenth Celebration and especially with our contribution toward the scholarship program,” Owen said. “These young people are the future leaders of our community and it is important that we all do what we can to help them with their education plans. They have earned these scholarships through a lot of hard work and dedication.”
Owen and Smith congratulated the scholars for their academic excellence and presented each with a $1,000 scholarship on Aug. 11. The honorees, selected from a total of 15 applicants, are pictured above after the check presentations. From left to right are: Councilman Smith; Mayor Owen; Wayland Breaux, who will attend Tuskegee University; Carlos Mavins, who will attend Texas A&M University; Cynthia Green, a two-time recipient who attends the University of North Texas; Ashlee Sherman, who will attend Prairie View A&M University; Janay Brooks, who will attend UT-Dallas; and Ron Jenkins and Mona Rasmus, with the Missouri City Juneteenth Foundation Selection Committee.
This is the fourth year of the MCJCF scholarship program and the criteria to win are academic achievement, admittance to a college or university, extracurricular involvement, community involvement and evidence of leadership. Goals for this year’s high achievers run the gamut from computer programming and engineering to television production.
Record numbers turned out this year to commemorate the 8th Annual Missouri City Juneteenth Celebration. From hitting the links to touching a historic tree, they braved the heat to enjoy the annual week-long celebration of cultural diversity. Funds from the gala awards dinner and the golf tournament at the Quail Valley Golf Course went toward the college scholarships. Also a hit this year was the new Community Health Awareness Exhibit, held on June 19 at Covenant Glen United Methodist Church. Thousands attended and received free screenings and medical advice.
The celebration will continue next year with the Show Me City’s 9th annual observance of the nation’s oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery.
