12 named 2009 Young Scholars

By Harold Gwin

The students can get full college scholarships when they graduate from high school.

YOUNGSTOWN — A dozen city sixth-graders have made a long-term commitment to their academic future.

The 12 students have been named members of the Class of 2009 Pre-Young Scholars, a program run by Ohio State University.

If they fulfill certain academic and performance requirements over the next six years, they will be granted admission to the university upon graduation from high school. The Young Scholars Program will pick up the entire tab of their education, provided they maintain a 2.5 grade-point average at OSU, said Bernice Faseyitan, coordinator of the program for the city school district.

Right now, that’s worth $24,000 a year, she said.

The program was created by OSU’s Office of Minority Affairs in 1988 as a pre-collegiate and collegiate program designed to enhance the academic, personal and career development of young people.

That group includes low-income, inner-city children from Ohio’s largest urban school districts who are nominated by teachers, principals and guidance counselors.

It’s a competitive selection process open only to first-generation college-bound students who are accepted as they begin seventh grade.

The participants must sign agreements covering what will be expected of them and what they can expect from the university.

The Class of 2009 was introduced at the city school board meeting Tuesday, and the five graduating seniors who are members of the Class of 2003 were recognized as well.

All five say they will enroll at OSU this fall.

Amethyst Robinson, one of the five, said the program has offered more than she ever anticipated. It’s given her the opportunity to meet a lot of people, she said.

The Chaney High School senior said she plans to major in fashion merchandising.

“It’s a great program,” said Eric McDowell Jr., who plans to major in chemical engineering. He is also a senior at Chaney.

Sentenial Bunkley, a senior at East High School, will major in astronomical physics; Ricky LaVe, a senior now at Canfield High School, will major in criminology and sociology; and Aaron Torres, a senior now at Campbell Memorial High School and Choffin Career & Technical Center, will major in biology.

“Keep focused, and you will always come out on top,” Alida Treharn, supervisor of professional development for the city schools and liaison for the Young Scholars Program, told the seniors.

“Study hard, keep motivated and be determined to reach your goals,” she advised the sixth-graders.

Superintendent Wendy Webb told the Class of 2009 to “make up your mind to receive this gift.”

She called on their parents to be responsible and prepared to make sacrifices to help their children succeed in the program, even when their child may complain that the work is too difficult.

“Giving up should not be in your vocabulary,” she said.

Members of the Class of 2009 are: Steven Bennett, Roosevelt Cooper IV, Juan Davis, Jumarie Figueroa, Tyler Johnson, Taurean McCullough, Damon McDowell, Alexandra Montaz, Shakuilla Moore, Daiijah Peterman, LaQuashia Phillips and Tonneiqua Shade.

gwin@vindy.com