Student Spotlight of the Week

Name: Elizabeth Ushi

Grade: 11th Grade

School: Booker T. Washington High School- Health Sciences & Nutrition

Elizabeth Ushi is an 11th grader at Booker T. Washington High School- Health Sciences & Nutrition. Elizabeth’s teachers describe her as a dedicated and hard working student. Time and time again, she has proven to be a take-charge person who is able to successfully complete her work on time.

Elizabeth also dedicates her time and energy serving within various leadership roles. She has served as President of the school’s health organization, HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), for the past two years, and she oversees and participates in State and National HOSA competitions.This star student is a wonderful leader who enjoys participating in a myriad of fundraising and volunteering opportunities.

Recently, Elizabeth participated in the HOSA competition held in Athens, Ga.  She was the only Booker T. Washington High School student to make it to the national level, and she plans to represent her high school in another health care competition in Tennessee later this year.

Name: Herchel Springer

Grade: 12th Grade

School: South Atlanta School of Health and Medical Sciences

Herchel Springer is a Senior at the School of Health and Medical Sciences at South Atlanta (HMS). Like all Seniors he is excited about his future, but unlike most 12th grade students, Herchel has received over $1 million dollars in scholarships to fund his post-secondary career. Mr. Springer will be attending Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana in the fall to pursue a career in Sports Medicine.

A deeply family oriented young man, Herchel, hopes to be able to give back to his mother who he says has been his main inspiration and drives him to be dedicated, hard-working and positive.

Throughout his career at HMS, Herchel has been a model student. “Herchel was an outstanding JROTC Cadet who set the bar very high for  both academics and leadership skills. He was the cadet who had the can do attitude and was always willing to put other needs before his own. He has demonstrated what a true younger leader can accomplished when you have a positive attitude no matter the obstacles in life.”, says Lieutenant Commander Johnson.

Herchel attributes his impressive scholarship count to taking the SAT and ACT in his Junior year and vigorously pursuing private colleges who tend to have school-based scholarships for upcoming Freshmen. He has received the HOPE Scholarship, the Project GRAD Brumley Scholarship,  and individual school scholarships from 13 colleges and universities, including Johnson and Wales, St. John’s University, Benedict College and Wabash College.

As his principal Dr. Patricia Ford states,”Herschel is a young man who has taken his future in the palm of his hand and making things happen!  He is a young man with a purpose and has done a great job mapping his journey.”

We cannot agree more.  Congratulations, Herchel.

written by Shanna Miles, Media Specialist at the South Atlanta Educational Complex

Name: Daniel Blues

Grade: 12th Grade

School: Grady High School

Daniel Blues is a three-time leukemia survivor and a winner of the 2013 Disney Dreamers Academy Essay Contest! He was among 100 students to attend Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine in Orlando, Florida. This special career workshop provides opportunities to work with celebrity mentors, and inspires students to pursue their dreams.

Daniel has a strong passion for music, and creates beats as a hobby. He was exposed to music since the age of four by playing piano and violin, and singing chorus. In 2012, he received a recording studio valued at over $7,000 from Make-A-Wish Foundation. He plans to attend Georgia State University to study Nursing with a Major in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and a minor in Audio Engineering.

Daniel fought with leukemia three times, and is now cancer-free! He was diagnosed in 2008, and relapsed in September 2010 and March 2012. He spent many months going in and out of the hospital, but he continued to fight with a positive attitude. He hopes that his story will encourage others when they face obstacles in life, and never give up on their dreams.

Through his experience, Daniel and his mother have founded a charity called Laughing with Leukemia. The mission of the organization is to provide educational, emotional, financial, and job related support to families of children diagnosed with cancer. For more information, please visit laughingatleukemia.org.

Name:  DaNeysha Wimberly

Grade: 9th

School: Coretta Scott King High School

She hasn’t been at the school a full year, but DaNeysha Wimberly is already making a splash at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (CSKYWLA).  Being a newcomer to the district has not discouraged DaNeysha from eagerly seeking out and diving in to the numerous and unique opportunities APS and CSKYWLA have to offer.

She satisfies her appetite for sports by playing on the CSKYWLA Eagle’s softball and tennis teams, and as a member of the school’s JROTC program, she is developing a a heightened sense of discipline and order.  DaNeysha says that in addition to the close relationship between the school’s staff and students, she really likes CSKYWLA because of the extracurricular activities and curriculum they offer.  She joined the environmental club at the beginning of the year, and she says it has enhanced her sense of responsibility when it comes to preserving the planet, her community and her school.  And consequently, she has developed a strong sense of school pride.

“We do a lot of school beautification projects, and that has made me much more sensitive to  things that make the school look bad.,” says DaNeysha. “When the school looks good, we all look good, and that makes me proud.”

Last month, during the district’s annual Shirley Frankin lecture series, DaNeysha  had the honor of not only introducing the guest speaker, but also interviewing her afterwards.

“It was an honor to have her at our school, and even more of an honor to talk to her personally; she shared a lot about who inspired her when she was young, and encouraged us to not be afraid to aim high and pursue our goals.”

DaNeysha says she would like to attend the University of Miami to major in Biology, and hopes to become a Marine Biologist when she completes her education.