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May 6 was the night of our Scholarship Banquet to honor our seniors.  Unfortunately we were unable to hold the banquet this year, but we wanted to let you know about our award winners. Three seniors are chosen to receive special awards each year.  The GRIT award recognizes a senior who has overcome hardship or disadvantage to succeed and has persisted in spite of obstacles and has not given up.   The JFG Award recognizes and Urbana High School graduate who has shown the ability to rise above expectations and is dependable and can be counted on to help.  The VISION award recognizes a student who has articulated a clear goal for their future and taken steps toward that goal.   The 2020 awards go to -

GRIT Award - Dayanna James, Centennial High School, nominated by her mentor, Julia Schmidt

                                                                              Dayanna began in the mentoring program when                                                                                    she was a 3rd grader at Robeson.  After two                                                                                          years, her first mentor moved away and she                                                                                          was rematched with a new mentor, who also                                                                                        moved away.  When Dayanna started 6th grade,                                                                                  she was matched with Julia Schmidt.  In  her                                                                                        nomination, Julia said, "I really admire Dayanna's                                                                                  stamina and persistence in the face of many                                                                                          life situations which could easily make a                                                                                                young person develop a bad attitude or just  give                                                                                  up.  She learned to walk away from bullies and                                                                                      became much more aware which associations were positives and which were bound to lead to trouble. She continues to make good decisions at work, school, and in her relationships in spite of bullying, loss of family and friends to gun violence, challenging family responsibilities, and changing living arrangements.  TRUE GRIT!
 

JFG Award - Christian Bautista, Urbana High School, nominated by his mentor, DJ Morton

Christian and his mentor DJ Morton began meeting
when Christian was an 8th grader at Urbana
Middle School. DJ says, "Christian has always 
been willing to take advantage of opportunities
that help him grow.  As a member of the National 
Kappa Instructional and Development League he
focused on college preparation, personal develop-
ment and academic achievement and then went 
on to coach others younger than himself.  He 
pushed himself to graduate early from high school
while maintaining a part time job and assisting
family members at home. Christian's hard work
and character exhibit a commitment to becoming
an upstanding future leader in his community."

VISION Award - Ashanti Thomas, Urbana High School, nominated by her mentor, Julia Shirley

                                                                        Ashanti began meeting with her mentor, Julia,                                                                                     when she was a third grader at Prairie                                                                                                   Elementary.  In Julia's nomination she wrote,                                                                                         "Over the last few years Ashanti has shown a                                                                                        solid determination to become a photojournalist.                                                                                    In addition to taking several photo arts classes in                                                                                  high school, she became a member of the                                                                                            yearbook staff, taking photos and writing copy
                                                                        for the yearbook.  Using money she saved from
                                                                        working a summer job for two years she                                                                                                purchased a camera, a real camera, a Canon                SL2 digital camera that she could use in her casses and at college.  That choice speaks volumes about how serious she is about her chosen path.  Ashanti will be in the Communications program at Eastern Illinois University this fall."
                                                      

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Award Winners and all  of our nominees!  

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And the Award Winners are...