The Poinciana Council chapter of The Osceola Chamber awarded $1,000 college grants to local graduating seniors at the annual council Scholarship Luncheon Friday at Poinciana High School.
It was a day for Poinciana High to show off a pair of its special programs. Its Culinary Academy, which operates the school’s Café ’91, provided an Oriental-themed lunch for the event. And the Osceola Business Academy, the hosts for the award ceremony, has been in existence for two years now, and teaches components and 21 Century workforce skills that bridge the gap between theory and practice for the next generation of entrepreneurs and business innovators.
And a Poinciana Eagle, Noah Crandall, was one of the scholarship honorees. Crandall has overcome living with autism to earn a place at Florida Southern College, where he’ll major in Computer Game Design to help create the next generation of video games, which he hopes to design and market to older family members.
The plan is to bring families closer together,” he said. “I’ve been able to overcome those barriers and become more than a diagnosis and show both to myself and others that life is limitless.”
Shenica Jerome of Liberty High School will be a first-generation college attendee, heading to the University of South Florida to work toward a career in obstetrics. She laid out her path through medical school Friday.
“Presently I am informing myself on topics to educate myself on issues affecting the health of women worldwide,” she said. “I want to use my passion to speak up troubling injustices, and be a representation of little girls who look just like me — a message of courage, hard work and hope.”
Xiomari Legarreta attends Osceola County School for the Arts, plans to major in journalism, using her written word to inspire, while also studying musical theater.
“There are so many ways to have an impact on others,” she said. “My shyness has been overshadowed by my willingness to tell stories from a different perspective.”
She shared how, while taking online classes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote a short play, with parts performed by other digital-learning students.
“Being part of this taught me understanding of the world through the eyes of another is a step toward empathy, and the value of our differences,” she said.
Anthony Polanco is part of NeoCity Academy’s first graduating class. He plans to major in finance in college with an eye on becoming a financial advisor.
“Achieving this goal will allow me to teach the community how they can achieve financial independence without being dependent on others. This will help our community escape the cycle of living in poverty, many do not have that advice growing up, going off to college without a plan to stay out of debt or become financially independent.”
Chundra Evens, the Osceola County School District’s Assistant Superintendent for High School Curriculum, noted how the recipients had not let obstacles get in the way of their plans.
“They have exemplified character and pure grit to accomplish goals, maintained laser-sharp focus and gone above and beyond as stellar students and community members,” she said.
County Commissioner Brandon Arrington, whose district 3 includes Poinciana and Liberty High Schools, matched the Council’s scholarship funds. He encourage the scholarship winners to enjoy their future journey — whatever it looks like.
“Make sure you grab opportunities that present themselves. They may not be the form you think it should be,” he said. “You may find different things you really love and are passionate about. Baby Boomers are retiring at a historic clip. That means lots of opportunities for upward mobility for young people.”
