As the board chairman for District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP), I am fortunate enough to be part of an organization geared towards providing access and opportunities to under-resourced students. I have had the privilege to meet many talented high school and college students as they collaborate with the DC-CAP team. Our goal is to be a resource and help empower them to achieve their dreams.
Recently we held our ninth-annual DC-CAPital Stars event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. DC-CAPital Stars is our major annual talent competition fundraiser and this year’s theme was The Music of Prince. High school students from all around the city had an opportunity to participate. We began our city-wide talent search with a series of more than 250 auditions in fall 2016. In December 2016 we posted the top 40 auditions on DC-CAP’s website for the public to view and vote for their favorites in vocal, instrumental and dance categories. We selected the top 10 finalists based on the tally of nearly 4,000 online votes and input from a local panel of independent professional vocalists, dancers, musicians and educators from the metro area. We invited the 10 finalists – singers, dancers and musicians ages 16-17 – to perform live and compete for college scholarships.
Overall we raised $750,000 to support DC-CAP’s services. These funds will help us continue to provide individual and group counseling, college application assistance and financial aid counseling for students and parents at the high school level. Additionally, we will continue to deliver individual, academic and mentoring services at the college level as well as provide college scholarships so that every D.C. public and public charter school student has a chance to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.
Pianist Andrew Price, a 17-year-old senior at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, won the $10,000 college scholarship grand prize. Vocal-rap artist Myah Parker, a 17-year-old senior at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School, won the second place $6,000 college scholarship. The third place $4,000 college scholarship prize went to steel pan player Niara Lara, a 17-year-old senior at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. We also awarded each remaining student performer a $2,000 college scholarship.
We had appearances from many celebrities. Emmy Award-winning journalist and newscaster Leon Harris was the Master of Ceremonies. Celebrity judges – Patti Austin, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter; Hinton Battle, Tony Award-winning dancer, singer, choreographer, producer, writer; Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer, Lyricist, DJ, Hip Hop pioneer, inspirational speaker; and Donnie Simpson, Radio One disc jockey, TV personality, R&B Music Hall of Fame inductee – headlined the idol-style competition between the finalists. Our winners were determined 50% by judges input and 50% by audience vote. Audience members voted using handheld devices and the celebrity judges commented on each performance.
Our annual talent competition was a success and we couldn’t have done it without the dozens of local corporations, foundations and individuals who helped sponsor our cause. Two major sponsors were The Boeing Company and His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States. I was happy to present The Boeing Company with DC-CAP’s 2017 Corporate Champion for Education award for their commitment to education and D.C. students. I presented the award to Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg and thanked him and the entire Boeing team for their commitment to education and the tremendous support they have given DC-CAP throughout the years. If you don’t know, DC-CAP is a privately funded nonprofit organization dedicated to helping all of the nearly 18,000 D.C. public and public charter high school students prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college. In 1999 we partnered with the D.C. public and public charter school system, and since then have helped double the number of students who enroll in college and tripled the number of those who graduate. Our direct work and impact can be seen through the 38 DC-CAP College Information Resource Centers, located in the schools, where DC-CAP advisors mentor students and families every step of the way to and through college.
We are celebrating 18 years of changing lives by making college a reality for many D.C. students. Throughout the years we have helped 27,000 students enroll in college, we support 7,300 students currently enrolled in more than 600 colleges and universities across the U.S., have awarded nearly $37 million in scholarships and have celebrated the success of 8,200 (and counting) college graduates who otherwise may never have had the opportunity for higher education. We’ve helped break the cycle of poverty for thousands of District families by giving every D.C. public and public charter high school student a chance at a college education. Many students we serve are the first in their family to attend and graduate from college.
If you would like to learn more about the event, DC-CAP, or donate to our cause, visit http://www.dccap.org
