Girls dominate Golden Herald Awards

Young women dominated the stage Thursday night at the 40th annual Golden Herald Awards Ceremony.

In the 15 categories, 13 girls were selected as winners and 10 received honorable mentions out of 149 total nominees. Five young men received honorable mentions, including two being named category winners during the ceremony at State College of Florida’s Neel Performing Arts Center.

The awards honored student nominees in categories of art, athletics, business, citizenship, computer and technology, English and literature, foreign language, general scholarship, journalism, mathematics, music, science, social science, speech and drama and vocational.

Comments read aloud during the presentation of the winners shared each student’s passions, previous awards and volunteer opportunities. Each student has a long list of accomplishments that, as part of the standards for nomination, includes maintaining good grades.

As presenters announced the winner for the citizenship category, they spoke of a girl who drew from her own life experiences to guide her volunteer efforts. Manatee High School student Alysha O’Dell spent part of her early childhood going from house to house and didn’t always have food to eat. She was adopted by her aunt and uncle when she was about 6 years old.

“There were a lot of times where I had to go and find food and just the thought of other people having to go through that, it really breaks my heart because I know I can do something,” O’Dell said.

Over the summer, O’Dell attended a church camp where she said her heart was touched by stories she heard there, and she decided to “do something with my while” for her community. The award, she said, shows her she is doing something that touches hearts.

Now she takes money she earns at work, buys food and fills gallon-sized bags that she hands out to the homeless on weekends. It’s something she plans to continue while she’s taking college classes at SCF.

Dru Butler and Kofi Kwapong were the only two boys who took home top honors Thursday night, and did so in the mathematics and music categories, respectively.

Kwapong, a Southeast High School student, plans to study at Harvard, where he hopes to continue his musical aspirations --

He said the award, which includes a $1,500 cash prize, will help make his education more affordable while he continues to pursue his interests.

“I love to perform, so things like orchestras and competition, and that kind of thing, that’s something that’s really fun for me to do. In addition to that, I want to academically pursue the connection between music and medicine,” Kwapong said.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Girls dominate Golden Herald Awards."