AKA Sorority Chapter hosts successful MLK STEM Day
Published 6:34 pm Friday, February 17, 2023
From left, Amy Baker, Doris Artis, Patricia Sowell, Diane Harris, Alfreda Talton Harris and Franklin City School Board Chairman Robert Holt package juices for families that attended the event. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Samuel P. Morton Elementary School fifth graders are involved with their activity, “A New Podium for Dreams.” (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Audrey Graham, far left, registers for the MLK STEM event Jan. 16 at S.P. Morton Elementary School. She is accompanied by her mother, Heather Graham. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority members Sabrina Lee, left, and Keisha Nichols assist students as they line up for lunch. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
AKA Sorority member Alfreda Talton-Harris introduces FCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter to the MLK STEM Day at S.P. Morton Elementary School on Jan. 16. FCPS co-sponsored the event with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Lambda Psi Omega Chapter in Franklin. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
FCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter stands with several of the S.P. Morton Elementary School students who participated in the event. From left are Aireyanna Artis, Serenity Blount, Malia Binns, Ma'Kiya Newsome, Tyla Turner, Sophie Carter and Anthony Carter. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Dr. Carlton Carter, interim superintendent of Franklin City Public Schools, stands with, from left, S.P. Morton Elementary School students Ari-Yana Mason, Henry DeGroff, Audrey Graham and Camron Bottoms. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Franklin City Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter stands with S.P. Morton Elementary School students who participated in the event, and those students are, from left, Cassidy Flythe, Ty’Keryia Hicks, Cali Jones, Jy’Najah Brown, John Scales and Joshua Bradshaw. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
In the Parent and Sibling Activity Room, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member Rhonda Chambliss tells a story. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member Yvette Davis helps third graders with a project during the MLK STEM Day on Jan. 16 at S.P. Morton Elementary School. The students constructed an MLK monument in a marshmallow STEM challenge called “What’s Your Life Blueprint?” (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
Keisha Nichols helps some fourth graders with their activity of “Bridging the Gap to Freedom,” which employed straws to build a Pettus Bridge. (Courtesy of Frank A. Davis)
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In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and their commitment to provide “Service to All Mankind,” the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Lambda Psi Omega Chapter in Franklin, partnered with Franklin City Public Schools to present an MLK Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Day to kick off the Youth Leadership Institute portion of the sorority’s “Uplift Our Local Community” Initiative.
An FCPS news release noted that just less than 100 third, fourth and fifth grade students, their siblings and parents attended the MLK STEM Day held at Samuel P. Morton Elementary School on Jan. 16.
Attendees were greeted by FCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter and members of Lambda Psi Omega Chapter. As an icebreaker, students were rewarded for responding correctly to MLK and STEM trivia questions. Afterward, the students participated in MLK Day-themed STEM projects.
The third graders constructed an MLK monument in a marshmallow STEM challenge called “What’s Your Life Blueprint?” The fourth graders engineered a straw bridge using the Edmund Pettus Bridge as a reference in an activity called “Bridging the Gap to Freedom,” and the fifth graders constructed podiums in an activity called “A New Podium for Dreams.” First, second and third place awards were distributed for the creations from each class, and each participant received a certificate of participation. The three grade-level activities were led by Lambda Psi Omega Chapter members: Yvette Davis with the third graders; Keisha Nichols with the fourth graders; and Natasha Myrick with the fifth graders.
While the third through fifth graders completed their activities, their siblings and parents circulated through activity rooms that featured MLK coloring, stories, creative writing of their own “I Have A Dream” speech, and a Just Dance interactive activity. The students observed free time in the gymnasium where they enjoyed music from the DJ, Southampton High School Band Director Xavier Fain, and snacked on popcorn and cotton candy. Each student, sibling and parent left the event with a to-go lunch, consisting of a hot dog, chips, a healthy snack and a drink.
Students and parents were also given the opportunity to “shop” for free snacks and drinks thanks to a generous donation from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Lambda Psi Omega Chapter would like to extend its gratitude to the Foodbank, to the two private individuals who donated the hot dogs and hot dog buns for the to-go lunches, and to the support staff of S.P. Morton Elementary School.
To aid in the success of the MLK STEM Day, members of the Franklin/Southampton Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi were present to provide support to the 2022-23 Debutantes and Beaus who
volunteered in the STEM classrooms to earn community service hours. The Debutantes present were Zakiyah Smith, Katelin Dawson, Kameile Carrington, Iyana Taylor, Mia Ricks, Shaimeer Shearin, Jamiya Walker, Shavaria Hillard and Kiersten Nichols. Beaus present were Alvin Hicks Jr., Travian Wilkerson, LaVonte Evans, Shawn Battle and Justin Preau.
The Lambda Psi Omega Chapter, under the leadership of its president, Renna Ebron, embarked upon this MLK STEM Day to initiate its “Uplift Our Local Community” Initiative in which the chapter has partnered with FCPS to aid in the success of the S.P. Morton Elementary School third, fourth and fifth graders over the next four years through continued exposure to STEM, field trips, tutoring and mentoring.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. is an international service organization that was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1908. It is the oldest Greek-lettered organization established by African American, college-educated women. Alpha Kappa Alpha is comprised of nearly 300,000 members in 1,024 graduate and undergraduate chapters in the U.S., Liberia, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Germany, South Korea, Bermuda, Japan, Canada, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
