On the recommendation of my good friend Aliesh, I was privileged to be a judge at the 2011 NAACP ACT-SO National Competition, after a careful scrutiny of my background.
ACT-SO, which stands for the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, is a year long achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students.
ACT-SO includes 26 categories of competition in the sciences, humanities, business, and performing and visual arts. More than 260,000 young people have participated from the program since its inception.
It was extremely exciting and gratifying for me to chat with some of the most brilliant African-American young men and women, those on their way to Harvard, Morehouse, Stanford and other great US Universities.
If you have a child, or knows anyone, who is enrolled in the 9-12th grade, please encourage them to contact their local ACT-SO Chapter and pick up an application form. Students may enter up to THREE (3) categories. Information about these chapters are available online, or call the office and get the number of the contact person for your area. Here are the timelines for the ACT-SO Competition. Students have to compete at the local level and if successful, will qualify for the national competition.
The beauty of this competition is that it gives your child something to work towards, and keeps them focused. Not only does the project help them prepare for the competition, it also helps shape their thinking about possible college courses and career options. I STRONGLY encourage you to enrol your child and give them a good head-start for college!
Below are the categories in which your child can compete:
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Humanities |
Visual Arts |
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Business |
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have specific questions. Thanks!
