SANTA ANA : Black Educators to Honor 19 Students

The Santa Ana chapter of Black Educators of Orange County will honor 19 outstanding black students tonight at its first annual Academic Achievement Awards dinner.

The students represent 26 elementary schools, seven intermediate schools and four high schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District. They will be honored at an awards dinner at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim, with Jerome Hunter, president of Miramar College in San Diego, as keynote speaker.

“This is our way of saluting the children that we feel exemplify the best in the district,” said Mae Ussery, the group’s scholarship co-chairman. “We wanted to reward the kids who are taking the right path because that’s not always applauded by their peers. We wanted to tell them that it’s OK to be bright.”

The organization asked schools in the district to nominate students for the awards, which include partial college scholarships for the four high school winners. The others will receive certificates of achievement.

Duran Williams, Brent Kelly, La Tonya Tims and Alexia Planks are the high school seniors who will each receive a scholarship to their prospective colleges.

Williams, a 17-year-old senior at Valley High School, will leave for a summer initiation program at Cornell University in June. “At this point I have interest in so many different things I couldn’t put down a major when I applied,” said Williams, who scored 970 out of a possible 1,600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. “I like biology and love film, which meant the only thing I was really sure of was that I wanted to attend Cornell.”

Tims, 17, a Santa Ana High School senior who has a passion for singing Italian opera, will major in English and math at Cal Sate Fullerton this fall. She said she eventually plans to attend medical school.

Kelly, a professional actor since age 13 with credits including television guest appearances and a key role in Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker” video, said he loves performing before the camera, but the 17-year-old Saddleback High School student has opted to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, with aspirations to become a pilot.

“I’ve always wanted to fly,” said Kelly, who scored 1,050 on his SAT. “I haven’t done a lot of it, but it’s a big interest of mine. Of course, it would be nice to stay in acting, but I can’t deal with the instability of it all. I need to know I am going to a have a check coming in each week.”

Planks graduated from Mountain View Continuation High School in December and is now attending Cal State Fullerton. She plans to major in criminal law because she wants to help teen-agers who get into trouble.

“I just want to help kids that have nowhere to go and no one to turn to,” said Planks, who maintained a 4.0 grade-point average while attending Mountain View. “A lot of them get into trouble with the law and need help.”

The intermediate level winners who will be honored with certificates of achievement tonight are: Brian Bell, Tamia Thomas and Lucinda Watson, all of MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School; Jessica Graham, McFadden Intermediate; Jermaine Robinson, Spurgeon Intermediate; Erinn Sampson, Aracelis Girmax, Sierra Intermediate; Dion Smith, Willard Intermediate, and Peter White, Carr Intermediate.

On the elementary level, the winners are: Dominique Abrams, Monte Vista Elementary School; Charles Crook, Muir Fundamental; James Farmer, Greenville Fundamental; Denise Hampton, John Adams Elementary; Angelia Jefferson, Martin Elementary; and Jason Williams, Lincoln Elementary.