WORTON — Kent County High School’s chapter of the Minority Scholars Program inducted 13 new members, including 10 freshmen, Wednesday night, Feb. 11 in a ceremony conducted in the school auditorium.
Elissa G. Andrade, Ed.D., an educator with more than 20 years of experience serving diverse school communities, delivered the keynote address.
She told the students, and their families, that it’s important to know who you are and whose you are. The latter are “the people who make your journey possible,” said Andrade, who currently serves as an instructional specialist in the Department of Systemwide Equity for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Wednesday’s program included a welcome in Spanish by sophomore Dylan Morales Peralta and soloist Sherissa Brooks, a KCHS alumna who sang “The Greatest Love of All” and “I Believe.”
Senior officers Kamari Hoxter [president] and Aniyah Tue [vice president] explained that there are four key initiatives that all MSP programs have in common: community outreach, peer-to-peer tutoring and mentoring, college visits and a speaker series. These key initiatives and all other MSP efforts are aimed at positively changing the various school cultures so that success and achievement are no longer predictable by race, class, ethnicity or gender.
KCHS inducted its inaugural class of the Minority Scholars Program in February 2019.
From the beginning, Michelle Phillips has served as the advisor.
She helped to draft the oath where students of color promise to “push for continuous improvement for fair representation in the classroom, on the playing fields, on the stage, in clubs, and in the community to support innovation and progress.”
KCHS is following the Minority Scholars Program movement that started at Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County in 2005 to address the lack of minority students in rigorous classes and extracurricular activities.
The program is student led, student based and student driven with the primary objective of closing the achievement gap.
MSP students at Kent County High School are enrolled in accelerated classes, more than half of them have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and again this year they conducted a winter coat drive as a service project as well as providing holiday gifts for less fortunate families.
Wednesday night’s ceremony began with a processional. In pairs, much like the annual high school graduation ceremony, inductees and the other chapter members walked into the auditorium. Each wore black clothing. Those who had been inducted in prior years wore their black- and gold-trimmed stole.
Once seated each of the seniors was asked to stand as Phillips read a brief biography that included their future aspirations after graduation from KCHS — college, trade school, the military or the workforce. The seniors are Juliana Carranza, Aaliyah Dawson, Christopher Gonzales Lopez [treasurer], Ke’yare Hawkins [public relations], Kamari Hoxter, Love Jackson, Laila Johnson [secretary], Trent Johnson, Michelle Menequin, Zulieka Nava, Kelly Sengprasert Galan, Aniyah Tue, Asia Wilson, Elijah Wilson and Rah’Zir Wilson,
Then, one by one the new inductees were called to the stage to receive their stole, which was ceremoniously draped around their shoulders by Phillips. Also, they each were presented a certificate of induction from Mary Jones-Hill, a founding co-advisor along with Phillips.
The 2026 inductees are: freshmen Nathaniel Copper, Alijah Floyd, KiTray Jackson, Alexis Freeman, Ayryonna Roberts, Paul Roberts, Sarai Thomas, Devynn Wiggins and E’Niyah Wilson; sophomores Noelle Demby and Dylan Morales Peralta; junior Jayla Lewis; and senior Elijah Wilson.
Principal Kris Hemstetter gave the closing remarks.
