A 34 composite on the ACT and full ride to Harvard, three Gates Millennium finalist, 12 Scholastic Art awards and a major in Medical Illustration and $925,000 in scholarships have been awarded to Cass Tech’s Senior Scholars.
Detroit Public Schools was established in 1842, now in 2016 DPS isn’t nearly the system it was years ago. Even though the district is facing appalling conditions, it is still able to produce future leaders of tomorrow.
Potentially, DPS could be closed by fall and a new Community Schools of Detroit will be instated. Could be the last of of Detroit Public Schools’ success stories as the State tries to reinvent the wheel?
As the end of high school looms for seniors, many Technicians are off to accomplish great things post-graduation. Often seniors credit their large scholarship offers to the opportunities given from receiving a Cass Tech education, from dedicated teachers to rigorous classes, to the plenty of extracurricular and community service activities they were able to participate in.
Senior Cherai Laster has received over $925,000 in scholarships. She obtained most of her scholarship money from the University of Michigan H.A.I.L. Scholarship, Wayne State University Gold Scholarship, and the Detroit Chief of Police Scholarship. She was also awarded full rides scholarships to several schools, two of them being the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Johnson C. Smith University. After applying to over 25 colleges and universities, Laster has chosen to attend University of Michigan.
“I chose U of M because it’s close to home. My step-dad went there and was a lecturer there as well, so I would be familiar with it,” said said.
She also gave advice on how to obtain so many scholarships.
“Just find as many as you can and apply to basically all of them, because the money does add up,” Laster said.
With a composite score of 34 on the ACT, senior Redwan Binrouf has received college acceptances from schools such as Michigan and Princeton. This fall, he will be attending Harvard on a full ride scholarship. Binrouf attributes his success to teachers such as math teachers Mr. Abdun-Noor and Mr. Collins, as well as out-of-school internship opportunities.
“They really made me want to challenge and apply myself. I always liked how they believed in me and that really made me want to aim high and make them proud,” Binrouf said.
Binrouf, along with three other seniors, had the opportunity to participate in an eight-week chemistry research program at Michigan this past summer.
“The summer internship gave me a great opportunity to do research and get exposed to the college experience while I stayed on campus,” Binrouf said.
After 16 years, this was the final year of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which awarded scholarships to 1,000 high school seniors across the U.S.
Two of those recipients this year are Cass Tech’s Tre Lee and Makaila Jackson. They are able to receive their undergraduate degree from any U.S. college or university of their choice with paid tuition and room-and-board.
Lee, a football and track athlete, will be attending Michigan State University in the fall. Like many athletes, he had to learn how to balance sports along with his academics and social life.
“At Cass, who really inspired me was my teachers [Mrs. Patterson], my coaches who kept me on track, and athletes [whom] I looked up to in track and football because I aspired to get a scholarship in sports, but I knew I had to work hard in school and in those sports…” Lee said. “My mother played a big role in preparing for everything. She made me do the scholarship last minute and she definitely [helped] me for life after college.”
“Upcoming seniors need to make sure they take scholarships and school seriously and apply to every dream school even if it’s not realistic.”
“I’d tell the juniors that anything is possible if you really want it.” Binrouf said. “There are challenges and when you find yourself struggling just remember and have your end goal in sight. You have to motivate yourself.”
Jackson, who is a member of National Honor Society and Medical Careers Club, shared her experience with applying for the scholarship.
“You get from August to January to write the essays, so procrastination was the hardest thing. You have to make yourself do it because it’s easy to say ‘I won’t get picked because it’s thousands of people doing it and I can just give up’, but you have to have motivation.”
This fall, Jackson will be attending Spelman College, majoring in Biology.
“I thought that Spelman was the best option for me because they have a great education program where the sciences are highlighted and they send a lot of women to medical school,” she said.
After she finishes her undergraduate studies, Makaila plans to go on to graduate school. The Gates Millennium Scholars Program will pay for that as well.
“I went to DPS schools throughout my whole life, so from kindergarten to now, I feel I am very prepared for the future.”
