A young
African-American lady took the podium with command and a beaming
smile.
“font-family: Verdana;”>“Generations of my family have been part of the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club – my mother, my grandmother and even my uncles,” said Chaquill Merriweather, the 2011 “The Sky is the Limit” scholarship winner.
On May 6,
she spoke to a banquet hall of about 300 high school students, like
herself, and their professional mentors at The Sky is the Limit
luncheon, a mentoring and networking event for young
women.
“font-family: Verdana;”>Merriweather said one of her fondest memories has been being part of the Mathews-Dickey cheerleading program. When Merriweather paused and began to choke up, Barbara Washington, who founded The Sky is the Limit program, jumped up and hugged her.
“She’s
been with us since she was a baby,” Washington said.
“font-family: Verdana;”>Merriweather was the last person to take the stage, following several moving and heartwarming presenters that included journalist and best-selling author Susan Wilson Solovic and actress Maria Horsford.
The Sky is
the Limit career-readiness program couples young women with role
models, scholarship funds and skills they need for the workforce.
At the luncheon, 29 graduating seniors
were presented with 1,000 scholarships and 300 young women were
paired with mentors.
Over 17
years, Washington has led the expansion of the program from eight
schools to 20 school districts and a total of $400,000 in
scholarship funds.
“When I
started the Sky is the Limit 17 years ago, there was a lot of
thoughts in my mind,” Washington said. “When I was a girl growing
up in rural Mississippi, there weren’t any avenues for me to have
mentors who are lawyers, who are PhDs, who are marketing execs, who
are community leaders.”
However,
one of her teachers who she admired greatly gave her a lesson plan
that became a life plan.
“You can
choose whatever career you want and you can go for it,” she said to
the mentees in the room. “There are women in this room who are
making the kind of salaries you would like to make.”
“font-family: Verdana;”>
Throughout
the years, 4,000 mentorship pairs have been completed, largely from
the support of generous women, she said.
One of
Washington’s fundraising efforts has been her gospel CDs, coupled
with gospel concerts in town. Before she left the stage, she sang
“one note.”
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>Give me flowers while I can see them.
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>So that I can feel the beauty,
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>I want to see what they bring.
Listening
in the audience was one of Washington’s nieces, River Fronczak. As
a former student who participated in the program, she remembers
being eager to meet her mentor at the luncheon. “It was exciting, I
remember,” she said.
Now as a
mentor, she said, “I’m proud to be able to represent Mathews-Dickey
and to help a young lady. It makes me feel good.”
Fronczak’s
mentee this year was Hazelwood High School student Sharnae Parker,
a future certified public accountant.
“The
speakers are inspiring,” Parker said. “They motivated me. To my
peers, I would say take this great opportunity because you never
know who can help you get to where you want to be.”
In her
keynote speech, Solovic echoed Parker’s thoughts.
“mso-spacerun: yes;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>“Everything we do in this world is built on relationship,” said Solovic, also the CEO and founder of It’s Your Biz, powered by Small Business Television, a multi-million dollar enterprise.
“The
connections you made will be your biggest asset for the rest of
your life. Stay connected with people. Always be the one who gives
first,” she said.
She also
encouraged the women to continue supporting each other.
“A success
for one of us is a great success and joy for all of us,” she said.
“The only limits that will hold you back are the ones you
create.”
Actress
Maria Horsford, known for her role as Thelma Frye on the sitcom
Amen, introduced the
scholarship awardees. She reminded them to remember the power of
dreaming. Her dreams to become an actress started with a pair of
pink slippers.
“I would
practice going down the steps in those pink slippers,” Horsford
said. “My mother would tell me, ‘Take off those shoes.’ I’d say,
‘No these are my Hollywood slippers.’”
