The Roanoke Branch NAACP is proud to announce the NAACP ACT-SO (Afro-Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics) National Medal winners from Roanoke. Congratulations to London Paige for winning a National Bronze Medal in Biology/Microbiology. Last year, she won a Bronze medal in the category of Chemistry/Biochemistry.
The branch also congratulates Uyen Tran for winning our first National Gold Medal in the category of Chemistry/Biochemistry. These young ladies are rising seniors at William Fleming High School and the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School for Math and Science.
In addition the Branch is also proud of local gold medal winners: Dylan Tran, Elyse McFalls, Kameron Washington-Brown, Lynn Parks and Janiah Merchant for their participation in the 42nd National NAACP ACT-SO Virtual Competition. Over 350 Olympians from across the country competed in the 33 categories, August 12 -15, 2020 and everyone was outstanding!
With the theme “Believe,” the Awards Program, hosted by Youtuber Kalen Allen, was held on Wednesday, August 19. This virtual production used the Perigon platform and showcased special presenters who announced National Bronze, Silver and Gold medal winners. The excitement was high as family and friends gathered electronically to hear the names of the winners at the Awards program that unfortunately was postponed 3 times due to technical difficulties.
Last year, Roanoke was the only Virginia branch to have a medal winner in any category. This year, Roanoke was joined by the Virginia Beach Branch who won a National Bronze in Painting and Norfolk Branch who won a Gold Medal in Poetry Performance. The Virginia State Conference NAACP salutes all Virginia ACT-SO teams representing Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Richmond and Roanoke Branches. These young Olympians displayed tremendous enthusiasm and excitement as they persevered in preparation for this exciting virtual event, from participating in the local competitions, becoming local gold medalists, to preparing to compete in the National ACT-SO Competition.
The Roanoke Branch hopes that members of the Roanoke community, especially our youth, were able to watch the various competitions. This provides an opportunity to see the caliber of competitors, their performances, and presentations. It also allows our youth to see that they can do the same thing.
When committee members begin ACT-SO recruitment in September, they will be looking for youth who are willing to showcase his or her skills/talents and compete in the 2021 competition.
The categories are: STEM- Architecture, Biology/Microbiology, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Computer Science, Earth& Space Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine & Health, Physics; Humanities- Music Composition, Original Essay, Playwriting, Poetry-Written, Short Story; Performing Arts- Dance: Ballet, Dance: Contemporary, Dance: Modern, Dance: Traditional, Dramatics, Music Instrumental/Classical, Music Instrumental/Contemporary, Music Vocal/Classical, Music -Vocal/Contemporary, Oratory, Poetry Performance; Visual Arts-Drawing, Filmmaking, Painting, Photography, Sculpture; Business-Entrepreneurship, Hospitality Management; and Culinary- Culinary Arts. Each student may compete in 3 categories.
Special thanks to Roanoke Co-Chair, Sheila Herron, and faithful members – Don Wages (STEM coordinator), Dawn Bryant, Patrick Curtis, Marylen Harmon, Anita Wilson, Lorena Wilson and Branch President Brenda Hale for supporting and believing in our young people. They Are All Winners!
Gloria Randolph-King is the ACT-SO chair.
