Chester Seniors Win $6250 in Regional Essay Contest

National Freedom Day Association, Inc. Photo

Pictured left to right: Educator Christopher Dowling, Martina Irving, Kiara Castro Sepulveda, Principal Constance McAlister, NFDA Board Member and Educator Dr. Delores Y. Wright and Associate Principal Linda Hargrow. 

By Dr. Delores Y. Wright

Five seniors from Chester High School won $6250 worth of scholarships in the annual essay contest sponsored by the National Freedom Day Association, Inc. (NFDA). In their essays entitled, “What Freedom Means To Me,” seniors La’Neair Bennett, Kiara Castro Sepulveda, Martina Irving, Ashane Jacobs and Ishanti Wilson each won $1250 to be used towards their college education.

The awards ceremony was held on February 1, 2015 at the 3801 First District Plaza in Philadelphia. The keynote speaker for this special event was Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., President and CEO of Amachi, Inc. and former mayor of Philadelphia.

NFDA was founded in 1941 by Major Richard Robert Wright, Sr., a former banker and the first president of Savannah State University. NFDA’s current president is Lorenzo Cruger. Its essay chairperson is Patricia Sawyer. The purpose of the organization is to commemorate every February 1^st, the passage of the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th amendments of the United States Constitution.

The students were supervised by educators Reginald Springfield and Christopher Dowling. They were accompanied to the luncheon by family members, Principal Constance McAlister, Associate Principal Linda Hargrow, NFDA board member and educator Dr. Delores Y. Wright and educator Dowling.