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Monroe Academy of Business and Law Graduate Jemima Asamoah shows off her Remarkable Achievement Award
They are high school seniors who are graduating this month in the face of extraordinary obstacles.
There is Bronx Theatre High School graduate Obbie Mojica whose mother died of AIDS when she was only ten, and whose grandparents passed away two years later; Far Rockaway High School graduate Rodney Gantt, born with cerebral palsy and who has been in and out of foster homes for most of his childhood. Monroe Academy of Business and Law graduate Jemima Asamoah, who emigrated from Ghana as a sophomore in high school, and quickly became a top student in her class.
Obbie, Rodney, and Jemima were among nearly 200 high school seniors honored at the Tweed Courthouse this week for persevering despite these challenges.
"It feels great to be honored like this," said Jemima Asamoah, who will study nursing at SUNY Canton in the fall. "It makes me feel like I’m respected."
"Every adult in this room can learn a lot from you," Chancellor Joel Klein told the crowd of students, their families, teachers, and peers. "Your hard work and commitment to learning are humbling. But let me tell you something: the history of the world was written by people just like you, people who beat the odds."
The Chancellor asked principals from every City high school to nominate one student for the honor. Most of them are going on to college in the fall, including Harvard, Amherst, Skidmore, and CUNY Honors College.
"I’m overwhelmed, but proud," graduate Richard Santiago said," because, after all, I am great!"
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