Civic Coalition for Minority Affairs to Honor 77 African and African-American Students

The Civic Coalition for Minority Affairs will honor 77 African and African-American students in its 25th Annual Awards Ceremony at 7 p.m. on Thu, May 4 in the main auditorium of the Career Center. (816 South Walter Reed Dr.)

The keynote speaker is Marietta Jones Tanner, a native Pennsylvanian and a relatively new arrival to Northern Virginia. Tanner was an early environmentalist and social activist along with being a lifelong educator. She has managed a NYC Board of Education consortium of five colleges with four public school districts. Tanner became fascinated with the United Nations, has organized seminars and film festivals for students who are unaware of the UN. She has written two books; Children are the Barometers which is about the survival of teens during drug wars in Bronx, New York and Driving in Second which is about a trip through the south testing the Supreme Court decision of 1954 (Brown vs Board of Education).

The Civic Coalition for Minority Affairs is a council of representatives from civic, religious and social organizations of Northern Virginia. Committed to excellence in education, the group endeavors to foster high academic achievement through its annual awards ceremony honoring high achieving African and African-American students in grades 5, 8 and 11 in the Arlington Public Schools.

Member organizations include: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc., Langston Civic Association, Lomax A.M.E. Zion Church, M.t Salvation Baptist Church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Our Lady Queen of Peace.

This year’s honored students include:

Fifth Grade
Elida Abera; Hawani Asfaw; Eyuel Berhanu; Achsah Bisrat; Moses Boyd;Britney Danso; Blen Eshete; Azmera Gebre; Michaela Marshall; Bethanya Mekedim; Solianna Gabriel-Meskel; Emily Mulumba; Hiyab Mussie; Henok Sentayhu; Kaleb Sisay; Daija Stewart-Simmons; Gloria Fosso Tchana; Lulya Tekie; Rebecca Tekle; Demarco Teixeira; Sara Tewelde; Timothy Walker II; Leoul Zewdie; Moya Zouhon 

Eighth Grade
Stephanie Achugamonu; Ze-Nable Adisalem; Sara Alemayehu; Najla Ali; Arron Birhanu; Janaiya Brown; Celeste Clark; Lino De Ros; Jessica Fields; Abel Geleta; Selamawit Ghide; Malina Goodwin; Lina Gtsadik; Alexander Hall; Kira Harrison; Aysha Hussen; Quincy Jackson; Ja’von Jones; Julia Joseph; Nawal Khalil; Abena Konadu; Sophia McMahan; Sesen Meaza; Michael Mitchell; Maajid Mohamed; Elena Ogbe; Elijah Pinckney; Rylei Porter; Gideon Samson; Desta Sahle; Jalisa Smith; Eryka Staren-Doby; Sequioia Swails; Sara Tefera; Belen Tesfaye; Liya Tessema; Yasmeen Tinsley

Eleventh Grade
Leonie Alder; Christopher Ansah; Nicole Asinugo; Annabelle Bailey; Claire Baptiste; Mattie Diarra; Malcom Douglass; Abrham Gebeyehu; Cayla Harrison; Bryanna Jones; Mansour Najah; Anore Pedalino; Radwa Salem; Bezawit Shimeles; Stephen Sydnor; Lidya Woldeyesus