For Immediate Release

Sixteen teens from the New Brunswick Area Branch of the NAACP medaled in the NAACP’s ACT-SO competition

Seven gold medals awarded

(New Brunswick, NJ) April 13, 2010 – Sixteen teenagers from New Brunswick and the surrounding communities placed in the NAACP’s ACT-SO competition on this past Saturday.

Hundreds of high school students from across the state converged Saturday on Central High School in Newark to compete in 26 different categories from biology & earth science, poetry & playwriting to dance & oratory and architecture & sculpture. The competition, spearheaded by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has given New Jersey students an outlet to showcase their talents since 1989.

The state was divided into the North and South, so technically, six students could have walked away with medals from each category. Only the gold medalists will compete on the national level in Kansas from July 8-12.  Students will compete on the national level for $50,000 in prizes.  Shaun Adams, chair of the New Brunswick ACT-SO Branch, hopes to raise enough money to take all of his students to nationals, so even the ones who didn’t receive a gold medal can experience the national competition.  

This year, the ACT-SO New Brunswick program partnered with First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens where Deforest B. Soaries, Jr., is he Senior Pastor

The following are the winners from ACT-SO New Brunswick:

• Queena Bergen – silver, poetry  (Franklin High School)
• Angelique Chandler – silver, dance; bronze, contemporary vocals  (Piscataway High School)
• Jalyssa James – gold, contemporary vocals  (Franklin High School)
• Tyler Glover – gold, oratory  (South Brunswick High School)
• Chloe Hall, gold, architecture  (South Brunswick High School)
• Tyler Jackson, bronze, music composition  (Franklin High School)
• Zaire Julion – gold, original essay  (New Brunswick High School)
• Dante Laughlin – silver, oratory; silver, drama  (Piscataway High School)
• Jarred McGriff – silver, filmmaking, silver, photography  (Franklin High School)
• Jasmin Neal – silver, sculpture  (The Pingry School)
• Alyea Pierce – gold, poetry  (Franklin High School)
• Brandi Pinnix – bronze, dance  (Franklin High School)
• Frederick Philip – gold, drama  (Franklin High School)
• Monique Robinson – bronze, drama  (Franklin High School)
• Malika Walker – bronze, oratory  (Timothy Christian School)
• Carl Wright – gold, mathematics  (Franklin High School)

About ACT-SO

ACT-SO, a program by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is an acronym that stands for Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics. It is a student enrichment program that culminates in a local and national competition where students compete for awards, and prizes totaling over $50,000.

Contact:
Shaun Adams
ACT-SO New Jersey
Public Relations Chairperson
(973) 508-8888
http://www.actsonewjersey.org
shaun@actsonewjersey.org

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Archived Releases

07/16/10 - Silver Medal Awarded to Franklin High School Graduating Senior
04/06/10 - 21st Annual NAACP ACT-SO New Jersey Youth Academic Olympics to be Held