Prior to Saturday afternoon's Afro-Academics, Cultural, Technological, & Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) award ceremony, several of the medalists talked about the impact the recognition is having on their academic outlook.
Angel Holloway, 16, will be a junior at Pine Bluff High School this fall, and he earned a gold medal for his wooden and painted sculpture, which he developed as a video game character.
He hopes to produce video games in the future. Angel was encouraged by the recognition and his family's support.
"I'm pleased. It changed how I see my art," he said.
The second annual youth competition was sponsored by the Pine Bluff Branch of the NAACP and honored five area high school students for their work in the areas of the visual or performing arts or the humanities.
The awards program was held at the Bethany Chapel Missionary Baptist Church at 1923 S. Olive St.
The winners were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals, with the gold awardees eligible to compete at the national competition and ceremonies, held in conjunction with the NAACP National Convention in July in Boston, Mass.
"The public often focuses its attention on African American students who are excellent in sports, not in academics," said Mary Ann Lee, competition committee chair.
This program gives high school students who excelled in the arts and humanities an opportunity to receive the accolades they deserve, Lee said.
Zach King, 18, graduated only a few days ago from Watson Chapel High School and will be studying physics at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the fall.
He performed an instrumental version of John Coltrane's "My One and Only Love" on his saxophone for the competition. He won a gold medal and is excited at the chance to compete at the national level.
While music isn't always held in high regard, King, who also plays piano and trumpet, said his medal changed others' opinion of his talent and its value.
Felicia Jones, a WCHS senior, earned gold medals in the painting and drawing categories, and Emarie Mahogany, a WCHS senior, earned gold medals in the poetry and short story categories.
Sylvana Burgess, 16, will be a junior at Pine Bluff High School this fall and earned two ACT-SO awards -- a silver medal for photography and a bronze medal for painting.
Sylvana described her art as having been a hobby in the past, but, she said, "I will now try harder."
While Sylvana will not go to the national competition this year, there's always next year, she said.
For more than 40 years, the NAACP's ACT-SO program has helped shape some of the nation's celebrated young African-Americans.
These include the movie producer John Singleton, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and comedian Anthony Anderson, Lee said.
The Pine Bluff NAACP is asking the public to help with the cost of sending these contest winners to the Afro-Academics, Cultural, Technological, & Scientific Olympics competition this summer.
Checks can be made out to the Pine Bluff NAACP, write ACT-SO on the notation line, and mail it to P.O. Box 9064, Pine Bluff, AR 71611 or drop a donation at the Indigo Blue Coffeehouse, 212 W. Barraque St.
Sylvana Burgess
Felicia Jones
Angel Holloway
Emarie Mahogany
NAACP President Ivan Whitfield and Mary Ann Lee, chair of Afro-Academics, Cultural, Technological, & Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), talk to students on Saturday at an awards ceremony. (Special to The Commercial/Andrea Cline)