3 Local Medalists Honored in NAACP’s ‘Olympics of Mind’

Three area teen-agers who won gold and bronze medals in the NAACP “Olympics of the Mind” were honored Saturday during a national broadcast of the 1992 competition.

The Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics is a showcase for African-American youths that rewards brains and talent with gold medals and college scholarships, said spokesman James Jones.

The Beverly Hills/Hollywood chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People sent 21 youths last year to compete in theater, art, dance, filmmaking, oratory and music, said Jones, who is the chapter’s volunteer Olympics chairman. The competition was held during the NAACP’s 82nd Annual Convention in Nashville last July.

Eric Jones, a 10th-grader at Crenshaw High School, brought back a gold medal for a solo dramatic performance of his original play. Daniel Ingram, a 10th-grader from Los Angeles High School, earned a gold in filmmaking. Arron Howard, a University High School senior who now attends UCLA, won a bronze in playwriting.

More than 200 applicants from 120 public, private and church schools throughout Los Angeles County competed during qualifying competitions hosted by the branch last January, March and May, Jones said.

The Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch offers high school students from Point Hueneme to San Pedro and Santa Monica to San Fernando the opportunity to compete in 24 categories. Since the chapter began sending contestants in 1978, Los Angeles competitors have consistently brought back honors in architecture, biology, dance, filmmaking, drama and poetry, he said.

Recruitment and fund raising to send youths to the 1993 Olympics is already under way, Jones said. This year’s competition will be in Indianapolis.