Chaniyah Bell of Innovative High School and Devon Wells and Nadia Ayeni of Vel Phillips Memorial High School were honored at the annual Mann Scholars Celebration June 1 as the community came together to celebrate Madison-area scholars’ hard work and dedication.
“We have three amazing seniors who have done such wonderful things to keep on a lasting tradition of excellence through the Mann Scholars. We have a 100% graduation rate for the students that stay within our program,” said Joseph Conduah, the Mann Scholars board of directors co-chair, as he welcomed people to the annual event at the Tenney Park Pavilion on Madison’s East Side.
Conduah added that college can be a pivotal and challenging time, especially in today’s world with the current political climate, which often creates anxiety for young people..
(Photo by David Dahmer)
“College is about looking at the opportunities that are out there for you. It’s an opportunity to help with critical thinking and really building that environment that’s going to be around you and serve you for the rest of your career,” Conduah said. “So you start to develop that network of people that are out there and can be very positive influences on you, and you just never know when one of those connections is going to lead to something that you need in the future.
“So take those opportunities to really focus in on building relationships, building yourself and your character, and building upon what you want to help solve in life,” he added. “[Former House Minority Leader] Stacey Abrams said about our young people, ‘It’s your time to fight. You have to fight for what’s right, and you shall not be denied.’”
The Mann Scholars Program was created to provide mentoring and educational tools to students from the Madison Metropolitan School District who show potential for academic achievement but face significant challenges to reaching their full potential. Mann Scholars are picked every year based on their academic promise, their motivation, their financial need, and the willingness of their families to encourage participation in enrichment activities. They are primarily, but not exclusively, students of color.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
MMSD Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard was a special speaker at the event and mentioned that he has been back in Madison for a little over a year. Gothard had been superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools prior to returning to Madison. “I have to tell you all, I’ve had many different opportunities to reconnect with the community the time that I’ve been back and just walking along that table and seeing some familiar faces tonight, some former students here,” he said, “it certainly fills me with the reason why I came back to Madison.
“This is a special community, a community that cares about our children, a community that cares about their future,” he added.
Gothard said that he found amazing connections as he perused the Mann Scholar plaques and pictures and newspaper articles that lined the Tenney Park Pavilion.
“Anyone who gives to the Mann Scholars, anyone who gives to this community and who really focuses and centers our work on children, that’s what we can do when we come together,” Gothard said. “So it just gives me so many not only great memories, but also great hope and inspiration for you and all that you will become.”
The Mann Educational Opportunity Fund was started more than 30 years ago by a small circle of family friends, along with Mann children — to honor their parents, Bernard and Kathlyn Mann, who were long-time Madison African American parents and strong advocates for high-quality and equitable educational opportunities for all students enrolled in MMSD.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
At the graduation ceremony, Langston Evans, the director of College and Career Readiness for the Madison Metropolitan School District, said he was proud of the partnership between MMSD and the Mann Scholars Program.
“Being in this room, it feels like being in community and being in community and partnership is how we can design and achieve success in our community,” Evans said. “To the Mann family, starting with Bernard and Kathlyn Mann, that is the spirit that we continue on with. To the Mann Educational Opportunity Fund, it is the dollars that connect with a purpose that drives change in Madison
“Then for all of us, whatever your role is or the work that you do, we are laser-focused on the success of our future,” he added. “The success of our future is the success of the young people who sit here today. Our dreams and our hopes ride on the wings of their success and their flight into the future.”
Becky Mann, the youngest of the Mann siblings who has been involved in the Mann Scholars program for many years, gave Mann Family Reflections at the event.
“Mom and Dad were strong advocates for education, equity and equality, and they demonstrated this throughout their entire lives. Comments about leveling the playing field were not uncommon,” Mann said. “They wanted to make sure that their five children, as well as other children of color, had fair educational opportunities. When I tell you every teacher at every school we attended knew us, believe me, my parents were not background parents. They were front and center on everything.
“So this program is an example of community and family. Because of this loving example our parents set and the path they led us down, people noticed, and this was the birth of this program … when siblings, family and friends got together and decided to do this program,” Mann continued. “The conviction of my parents is present in every single student here today. Every student deserves an education that prepares them to fulfill their life goals, achieve a life of purpose and be contributing members to the community.”
(Photo by David Dahmer)
For entertainment at the annual Mann Scholars Celebration, graduating scholar Devon Wells sang his own version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They are a-Changin'” and current Mann Scholar Hezekiah Ward performed powerful spoken-word poetry titled “Black Man.”
Mann Scholars board of directors co-chair Marilyn Ruffin introduced the new Mann Scholars, who were just recently chosen to be a part of the program after going through an interview process.
The new scholars are Alicia Alexander of Black Hawk Middle School, who will be attending Madison East High School, Cherish Onyezuluba of Sherman Middle School, who will also be attending Madison East, and Javone O’Neal ofJames C Wright Middle School, who will be attending Madison West. A fourth student from Toki Middle School, whose family requested not to be published, will be attending Madison Memorial next fall.
Maia Pearson, the Mann Scholars program coordinator, presented awards to the graduating Mann Scholars and called each scholar, along with their parents, to the front of the pavilion to give each parent a graduation stole.
“These stoles represent the hard work and dedication that each scholar has put in. These sashes also represent the hopes and dreams that each scholar will achieve,” Pearson says. “It is imprinted on these stoles ‘Mann Scholar’ and you will be forever a part of the Mann Scholar Family, even after graduation. Wear this sash with pride, as you embody the vision of Bernard and Kathy Mann, as well as the wildest dreams of our ancestors.”
