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Holt Students Earn Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarships
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity event took place at Holt High School once again on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a program to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As part of the celebration, the WSD offers a scholarship competition and awards a minimum $500 scholarship to high school seniors who keep Dr. King’s legacy alive through their actions. This year’s winners are Holt senior Jamal Rice and early 2020 Holt graduate Aidan McCarthy.
“We had several students from across the district submit entries for our annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship,” Holt Assistant Principal and one of the event’s organizers, Dr. Amanda Shelmire, said. “This year, we were able to award two deserving seniors $500 scholarships based on their resume and explanation of how their school and community leadership activities have supported or promoted the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here in Wentzville.”
Jahmal Rice was named the winner of the Ceclia Luckett-Crumes Scholarship sponsored by North Star Insurance Advisors. Luckett-Crumes was the mother of Barbara Love, the community member responsible for starting the WSD MLK walk and the Unity Ceremony over 15 years ago. Rice has long been participating in CUSA (Culturally United Student Association), the student-run organization that seeks to educate the school community and community at-large about minority culture, as well as to open a dialogue over what may divide cultures in a community–and how to bridge those divides. Events that Rice has organized or helped organize, such as a well-attended Soul Food Night at Holt, have sought to spread awareness and helped to form bonds between students of all cultures.
Aidan McCarthy, an early graduate of Holt this year, was named the winner of the scholarship sponsored by the Wentzville School District Foundation. McCarthy, who completed the Missouri A+ Mentoring/Tutoring Program, has dedicated more than 150 hours to service in the community at various places, including the Salvation Army, several area churches, and the Wentzville School District.