By Enterprise Staff
February 7 was already an exciting school day for Simone, 10, as she gathered with members of the Baltimore Women’s Network mentoring program in the auditorium at William Pinderhughes Elementary-Middle School in Baltimore. They were getting ready to go on a field trip to the American Visionary Art Museum.
What Simone didn't realize, however, was that Principal Federico Adams and Tina Hike-Hubbard, Enterprise’s director of education for the Mid-Atlantic market, had a big surprise in store for her. They were announcing to the crowd of about 50 mentors, students and school staff that Simone was the winner of a $3,000 scholarship through Enterprise’s “What Does Home Mean to You?” Multimedia Contest for Youth.
Keeping the surprise under wraps for as long as possible, Principal Adams made general announcements before turning it over to Tina Hike-Hubbard. Tina read the winning contest entry, a poem entitled “Peace Home,” and asked the young poet to please come forward. First scanning the crowd, Simone timidly came forward to accept her award.
David
Bowers, Enterprise’s Vice President & Mid-Atlantic Market Leader –
Solutions, was there to
present Simone with an award certificate and some
Enterprise goodies. After congratulating Simone, David said, “This is what
Enterprise is about – making home a better place. We were all so inspired by
your poem.”
Principal Adams added his congratulations, saying he just wanted Simone to know “how proud you’ve made us, how proud you’ve made the entire school.”
While Simone appeared a little overwhelmed and very humbled, her mother Valerie had no problem bragging about her daughter. Valerie recalled reading the poem as Simone was working on it and thinking “that is our home at the holidays. My aunt does all the cooking, and I do play my music very loud.”
Over 40 young people participated in Enterprise’s “What Does Home Mean to You” Multimedia Contest. Many of the essays, drawings and photos that were submitted evoked a sense of safety and love that can only be found at home, reminding us how special that feeling is and why Enterprise is working to provide opportunities for everyone to live in a safe and healthy home.
Congratulations to Simone and to the three $500 scholarship winners: Cyprione, 13, of New Orleans; Jasmine, 14, of Oxnard, Calif.; and Tim, 19, of Auburn, Ala., on their winning entries.
Congrats to Simone on winning the scholarship. What an awesome poem...true to the soul of the heart. This is also a great step towards her education and creativity. I'm very proud of the EWN Mentoring Program for all the great work they do for our youth (the girls). I am as equally proud of Enterprise for this type of platform/opportunity for the youth to benefit from. Keep up the great work!!!
Posted by: Tachelle | March 6, 2013 at 05:39 PM