The Cleveland affiliate of Granville Academy hosted the Granville Academy Annual Youth Conference, March 25-28, 2010, at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Attendees arrived Thursday evening and participated in an ice-breaker led by Tish Norman, an award winning speaker and founder of Transforming Leaders Now, Inc. Friday, students visited Case Western Reserve University, and attended a panel discussion on entrepreneurship; Dr. William H. Crouch Jr., President of Georgetown College spoke to the attendees; participated in an alumni panel discussion; heard a presentation on Notre Dame College, and attended the Buckeye FIRST Robotics competition. At dinner the keynote speaker was LT Antonio Donis, the Coast Guard’s COMPASS Diversity Outreach Manager, and currently serves as a White House Social Aide where he assists the President and Fist Lady in their duties as official hosts of the United States. The day ended with Cosmic Bowling.
On Saturday, students presented two projects. The student group projects are always a highlight of the conference. This year was no exception. This year, under the guidance of Stella Christian, the presentations topics were “Standardized Tests and Our Community” and “Executive Leadership Council and Our Community.” Students also participated in a jeopardy style game book review of The Pact. At lunch the students heard from Mr. Tim Roberts, founder of B.R.I.C.K. an acronym for Brotherhood, Respect, Intelligence, Conduct and Knowledge. After lunch students rotated between three sessions, Financial Literacy by Cameron Afzal; I am In Charge! Five Empowerment Strategies for Teens by Tish Norman; and Navy Careers by Captain Scott L. Hawkins. The awards dinner keynote speaker was popular speaker and author, George C. Fraser. Mr. Fraser, Chairman and CEO of FraserNet, is the author of two books: Success Runs In Our Race; The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African American Community and Race for Success: The Ten Best Business Opportunities for Black in America (selected as one of ten best business books of the year by Booklist). Entertainment after the dinner was provided by The Distinguished Gentleman of the Spoken Word, a character- based performance arts troupe
Several Granville alumni, with the help of sponsors, returned to participate in the conference this year. North Carolina A&T sponsored two students from Waterbury, CT who are seniors; and Georgetown College sponsored two students who won full scholarships two years ago. Dr. Couch offered two new full scholarships to Granville students. In addition, Notre Dame College offered to cut the tuition in half for any interested Granville student. The conference ended on Sunday with church service led by Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong, Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton, NJ., and Rev. Henderson Deal Jr., member, Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Cleveland, OH,
The 2011 conference, hosted by the Baltimore affiliate, will be held in Washington, DC February 17-20, 2011 in conjunction with the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference.
Granville Academy is a national after school program that prepares youth for success in the global marketplace by teaching the foundations of business, finance, technology, entrepreneurship, character building and community service. The Northern Virginia affiliate meets on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
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» 2010 Granville Academy Awards Dinner
» 2009 Granville Academy Graduation
» Granville Youth Conference 2009
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Granville Academy Northern Virginia
Michael Artson, Pres., & CEO
Post Office Box 505
Occoquan, VA 22125-0505