Contact: Dana M. Jones
UPO Chief Executive Officer
(202) 238-4692 (direct) - E-mail: djones@upo.org

Cynthia Y. Johnson
Customer, Volunteer Services and Scholarship Coordinator
(202) 238-4629 (direct) - E-Mail: cjohnson@upo.org

Harvey N. Johnson III
UPO Public Awareness Director
(202) 238-4696 (direct) - E-Mail: hjohnson@upo.org

June 16, 2006

Tradition Continues as UPO Awards $27,000 in Scholarships to Deserving District of Columbia Students

The United Planning Organization (UPO), Washington, DC’s longtime community action agency, today awarded six scholarships to deserving Washington, DC high school graduates under its UPO/Joseph A. Beavers Scholarship Fund, an activity endowed by the agency’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast held yearly in January.

Each student receives a $3,000 award which is used for tuition, books, lab fees, and other education essentials. One student was selected to receive $12,000 ($3,000 per year for four years).

Reginald Acevedo
Dunbar Senior High School
Wesley College, Dover, Delaware

Janet Bdomope
Roosevelt Senior High School
Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland

Alvin Brown
Marriott Public Charter
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

*Jasmine Stith
Cardozo Senior High School
Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia
(Receives $12,000 award)

Solomon Chaison
Dunbar Senior High School
Savannah College of Arts & Design, Savannah, Georgia

Bisodum Joyce Ishola
Dunbar Senior High School
Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia

Selections were based on academics, writing skills, community interests, personal need, and other factors. Each applicant participated in an intensive interview process conducted by the Joseph A. Beavers Scholarship Committee of UPO’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast Committee. The Executive Committee of UPO’s Board of Directors unanimously voted final approval.

UPO has awarded scholarships to 111 deserving District of Columbia high school and G.E.D. graduates since the Fund’s 1990 inauguration. The UPO/Joseph A. Beavers Scholarship fund is named for the late DC labor, civic, community leader, and for many years a member of the United Planning Organization’s governing Board.

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