By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
In April, the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce awarded its Brent VanderKolk Scholarship to four area high school graduates.
VanderKolk was a chamber member and the chamber’s legal council along with being a freind to many, said Bob O’Callgahan, President/CEO of the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce. VanderKolk passed away in 2011 at the age of 37. The chamber decided to honor VanderKolk by naming the annual scholarship award after him.
This year’s award recipients are: Maria Aguirre from Godwin Heights High School; Adriana Sanchez-Parada from Lee High School; Shontiana Jackson from Wyoming High School; and Allison Biss from East Kentwood High School.
We were able to catch up with two of the students before they walked down the graduation aisle. These students offered a few words of wisdom to those coming into high school and to the Class of 2019.
Adrianna Sanchez-Parada
Lee High School
Godfrey Lee Public Schools
Parents: Gallina Parada and Alejo Sanchez
When Adrianna Sanchez learned that one out of three freshmen at her school were failing one to two classes, she decided to do something about it.
“That was a big number of students failing,” Adrianna said. “When I was a freshman, there was a freshman transition class that was helpful to me so I decided to bring that program back.”
Adrianna pulled together members of the upper classes to serve as mentors, offering words of advice and to be there to help guide the freshmen.
“I’ve learned a lot about leadership especially through band,” Adrianna said. “I’ve been a drum major and have gone to a leadership conference where we learned about leadership through service. Through this program, our upper classes were able to show a different type of leadership through service.”
Adrianna has loved being involved at Lee High School and admits her involvement has prevented her from having a job. She has participated in soccer, National Honors Society, Spanish club, drama club, and student council, where she served as president. She plans to attend Western Michigan University in the fall.
Her advice for those entering high school: Try different clubs that you have never thought of and do not be afraid to be different.
Her advice for next year’s seniors: Don’t stress about the little things but also don’t let the assignments slide because it will come back at you. And lastly, watch out for every opportunity that you might have.
Allisson Biss
East Kentwood High School
Kentwood Public Schools
Parents: Cheryl and Brian Biss
“Some people have sports, but I am not the sporty type,” said Allison Biss when thinking about her search for a high school activity that encourage her creativity. She was not a performer and some hobbies she didn’t felt she had started early enough to participate in. But once she discovered film and video, she knew she had found the passion that allowed her creativity to shine.
“You could be given a video and create five clips with the end product being different depending on lighting or how you edit it,” she said.
A WKTV intern, Biss was awarded Central Michigan University’s Lem Tucker Scholarship for broadcasting and journalism, which covers a 100 percent of her tuition, room, and board.
At school, Biss participated in the broadcast program serving as an anchor and primary editor. Outside of broadcasting, Biss has been very active serving as a class officer for three years, on the National Honor Society, Student Council, and JV sideline and competitive cheerleading.
Her advice for those entering high school: It is not as bad as it seems. Always introduce yourself. Be that someone who cracks the joke and eats lunch with new people. Also don’t be afraid to try new things because high school is short.
Her advice for next year’s seniors: Don’t think of the moments as being the last ones, but new beginnings. Enjoy the moments while you have them because it goes by super quickly.
