DINING FOR EXCELLENCE
Eleven recent high-school graduates were presented scholarships at the Edwin L. Hawkins Scholarship Awards Program & Cooking for College Buffet, the annual fundraiser hosted by the Horace Mann Transitional Class of 1972. The event took place June 8 in the Family Life Center, Greater Center Star Baptist Church in Little Rock.
Hosted by KTHV’s Jurnee Taylor, the program featured a keynote speech by Orea Meeks, a recipient of a Hawkins scholarship in 2014. Dr. Betholyn Gentry, scholarship program chair, presented awards totaling $2,000 each to William Lewis, Nicolas Collier, Tytiana Muldrew, Julian Cooney, LaMiya Scott, Emory Moore, Teleia Montgomery, Sabrina Jones, DeMari Hollis, McKenzye Webster and Allison Belin. After the program, guests partook of a generous buffet meal — soul food, seafood, Creole cooking and more.
The Horace Mann Transitional Class of 1972 — a group of students separated prior to what would have been their senior year at the former Horace Mann Senior High School, which was closed due to school desegregation efforts — has given out nearly $100,000 in scholarships since 2002. The Hawkins scholarships are named after their principal at Horace Mann. This year’s scholarships included two sponsored awards: the Curtis Tate Memorial Scholarship, awarded to Collier; and the April Glover Memorial Scholarship, awarded to Lewis.
— Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams
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Helaine R. Williams is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Sunday Style editor, where her wit-and-wisdom column, Let’s Talk, can be found. She also lends her feature writing and photography skills to the High Profile section and, on occasion, other style sections. Her journalism career with the newspaper spans more than four decades.
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