Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative
02-04-2009
Forty-Three Urban Student Leaders Earn Full Act Six Scholarships To Five Washington Colleges
In the midst of a steady stream of harsh news of the deepening economic crisis, families of 43 diverse urban student leaders have fresh reason for hope and celebration this week.
The Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative announced today that 43 emerging urban leaders across the Puget Sound region and in Spokane will receive full-tuition, full-need scholarships to Whitworth University, Pacific Lutheran University, Northwest University, Gonzaga University and Trinity Lutheran College. Collectively, the scholarships will provide nearly $5.5 million in financial aid over four years.
The newest Act Six scholars will be recognized in community celebrations in Spokane on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at Lewis and Clark High School, and in Seattle on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Cleveland High School. Sponsors of the Tacoma-Seattle celebration include REI and State Farm Insurance. The press and public are invited with RSVP.
Launched in 2002 by the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) in Tacoma, Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities. Since the program’s inception, six cadres of ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholars from urban Tacoma and Seattle have enrolled at Whitworth. PLU joined the initiative last year and the first cadre of scholars enrolled at PLU this fall. Today’s announcement is the culmination of this year’s Act Six expansion that added three new partner colleges, a Spokane office, and a new track to a four-year degree.
Act Six develops leaders through a simple, but powerful, four-step strategy:
- Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of Washington’s most promising emerging urban leaders.
- Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically, and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
- Send and fund the teams together to select faith-based colleges in Washington on four year, full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
- Support and inspire by providing strong campus support and ongoing leadership development to nurture these young people as they find their vocation and grow into the next generation of community leaders.
To date, 91 percent of the scholars in the first two cadres have graduated. Overall, 90% percent of the 67 scholars originally selected for the program have graduated or are still enrolled – reflecting graduation and retention rates that far exceed national averages. Act Six scholars have been elected student-body presidents two of the past three years at Whitworth and have been involved in numerous other leadership roles on and off campus.
“The Act Six program has brought to Whitworth an extraordinary group of students who have enriched our campus through their leadership and service, even as we have taught and mentored them,” says Whitworth President Bill Robinson. “The program requires big investments, but it also delivers big rewards. So, it would be irresponsible and morally unacceptable if we didn’t explore ways to expand Act Six to other schools.”
“Our scholars are having a profound impact through their leadership on campus, and as they begin to graduate we look forward to their impact in the community,” says Tim Herron, founder and national director of Act Six. “This is what we envisioned when we launched Act Six and what we are now seeing replicated around the state and nation.”
Nationally, Act Six affiliates also have been established at Crichton College in Memphis, Tenn., and George Fox University in Newberg, Ore.
The following is a list of this year’s Act Six recipients:
Whitworth University (Cadre Seven)
Joseph Lawyer, III, Life Christian Academy
Jessica Pearson, Lincoln High School
Marisol Rosado, Highline High School
Meklit Kalebessa, Lewis and Clark High School
Darrien Mack, Rogers High School (Spokane)
Taylor Powell, Shadle Park High School
Jaime Rebuelta, Riverside High School
Pacific Lutheran University (Cadre Two)
Yesenia Arellano, Clover Park High School
Gabriel Gabriel Farías, Stadium High School
Darla Garcia, Henry Foss High School
Marvin Gold, Washington High School
Mikéla Villagomez-Morales, Lincoln High School
Justin Pascual, Mount Tahoma High School
Micah West, Mount Tahoma High School
Northwest University (Cadre One)
Augustine Ajuogu, Chief Sealth High School
Nancy Atondo, Mount Tahoma High School
Romece Barnes, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Grace Brigham, Clover Park High School
Markese Brown, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Jalisa Harris, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Janita Harris, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Larisa Kotilevskaya, Wilson High School
Nicholas Nair, Foster High School
Elizabeth Perkins, West Seattle High School
Donisha Robertson, Mariner High School
Gonzaga University (Cadre One)
Ylisse Bess, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Mercedes Hayes, Kent Meridian High School
Anna Hester, Washington High School
Rachel Ku, Henry Foss High School
Jasmine Linane-Booey, Shadle Park High School
Oscar Marmolejo, University High School
Edwin Torres, Gonzaga Preparatory School
Thuy-Anh Vo, Gonzaga Preparatory School
Trinity Lutheran College (Cadre One)
Passia Abraham, Henry Foss High School
Jerram Daise, Wilson High School
Kimberlie Hanes, Clover Park High School
Kristin Manning, Clover Park High School
Daesha Richard, Spanaway Lake High School
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Clover Park High School
Samuel Smith, Clover Park High School
Sarah Solorzano, Henry Foss High School
Jordan Trapps, Henry Foss High School
Nicolette Viken, Gates High School
Following next week’s celebrations, scholars begin an intensive seven-month training program that involves weekly meetings with Act Six staff, retreats and campus visits. Whitworth, PLU, Northwest and Gonzaga scholars are participating in the traditional Direct-Four Year Track and will enroll at those colleges in fall 2009.
Trinity Lutheran College scholars were selected as part of the new Act Six Urban Service Track. They will undertake two years of street-level urban service experience with local non-profits in Tacoma while earning an associate's degree at Tacoma Community College before transferring to Trinity Lutheran College in fall 2011 to earn their bachelor's degree.
Learn more about Act Six online at www.actsix.org.
Those wishing to attend next week’s community celebrations should RSVP with Crystal Ben, Act Six assistant director, at (253) 272-0771 ext. 111 or cben@northwestleaderhip.org.
The Northwest Leadership Foundation is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Tacoma, Wash. Since 1989, the foundation has worked to move individuals and organizations from good intentions to effective outcomes in its effort to encourage, strengthen and develop leadership for the spiritual and social renewal of the city.
Contacts:
Tim Herron, Act Six national director, Northwest Leadership Foundation, (253) 272-0771 ext.109 or therron@northwestleadership.org.
Rodney McAuley, Act Six Spokane director, Northwest Leadership Foundation, (509) 953-8003 or rmcauley@northwestleadership.org.
Esther Louie, assistant dean for intercultural student affairs, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4572 or elouie@whitworth.edu
Karl Stumo, vice president for admission and enrollment
services
Rose Smith, assistant vice president for enrollment, Northwest University, (425) 889-5598 or rose.smith@northwestu.edu
Raymond Reyes, associate mission vice president for intercultural relations at Gonzaga University, (509) 313-3667 or reyes@gu.gonzaga.edu
Jeff Mallinson, academic dean, Trinity Lutheran College, (425) 249-4766 or jeff.mallinson@tlc.edu
© 2012 Act Six Central Office. All rights reserved.