The NAACP Roanoke Branch ACT-SO Committee is proud to announce the winners of our Local ACT-SO 2026 Competition that was held Saturday, April 25, at the Charles W. Day Technical Education Center (DAYTEC).
ACT-SO, (Afro-Academic Cultural, Technical, and Scientific Olympics) program, is an enrichment and competition initiative designed to inspire young Black students and/or students of color to expand their horizons, sharpen their skills, and celebrate excellence. ACT-SO is more than a competition. It is a transformative experience where talent can be seen, supported, and celebrated and provides six different categories in the areas of STEM, Business, Culinary Arts, Humanities, Performing, and Visual Arts, and up to thirty-three competitive fields for 9-12 graders to showcase their limitless potential. For ACT-SO Olympians to advance to the National NAACP ACT-SO competition, they must score as a Gold medalist (1st place).
This year, our NAACP Roanoke ACT-SO Local Competition Gold Medalists are: Myles Venable, Visual Arts: Painting; Brenasha Devlin for Performing Arts: Poetry Performance-Spoken Word and Humanities: Written Poetry; and Misheel Yondonjamts for Performing Arts: Dance-Traditional. These Roanoke ACT-SO Olympians are all headed to Chicago, Illinois, for the National NAACP ACT-SO Competition July 15-19, 2026.
We would like to extend a huge congratulation and express how proud we are of our winners and of every ACT-SO Olympian who participated. They all shine because they took the courage to showcase their scholastic and artistic excellence in their talent field or area of interest. We ask that you support our NAACP Roanoke ACT-SO program because this opportunity helps build confidence, provides mentoring, helps develop skills, and offers pathways for growth and opportunities.
For ways to contribute or make any type of donation, please contact Monique Randolph, Roanoke ACT-SO chair; Jamoria Pughsley, and William Smith, co-chairs, along with Dr. Brenda Hale, NAACP Roanoke Branch president, at [email protected].
