Respect, Responsibility, Effort and Achievement are the elements students need for success. Mega Mentors fills the bill for those in need of some guidance. Mega Mentor Phil “Philly Phil” Daniel stressed these four words about the Mega Mentors program in his opening statement at the Mega Mentors’ fourth annual banquet and awards program on May 28, at the Chesterfield Technical Center.
Under the leadership of Greg Cummings, Mega Mentors is an all-volunteer organization where 98 percent of the contributions go toward providing materials, field trips, grants and recognition awards for the students. The organization’s mission it to teach life skills, provide meaningful learning experiences, and build leadership skills for African-American and other underrepresented Chesterfield County Public School students.
A Former Clover Hill High School alumnus, Ron Forbes, founder of Omega Entertainment, was the guest speaker, offering three stories of his success in the business world. The Virginia Tech graduate said you must find what you love to do, give it a purpose, and understand that the tragedy of death may come at anytime, as it engulfed his campus in 2007.
Cummings presented the school awards to Falling Creek Middle, Providence Middle, Carver Middle, Thomas Dale High, Community High, Meadowbrook High and the Chesterfield Tech Center.
Student awards went to Elie Alamada, Leanna Patterson and Genesis Haskins, Falling Creek; Dale Kennedy, Lena Lee and Vongai Zhondira, Providence; Jordan Williams, Alyana Soto and Savannah Williams, Carver; Ce’Tia Thomas, Carrie White, William Williford and Vernisha Benson, Community; Jayondrey Giles, Cierra Elder, Jeffrey Depaula and Kaytlin Nickens, Meadowbrook and Victoria Easley and Jonah Hamlin of Chesterfield Tech Center.
Coordinator and mentor awards were presented to Jorli Swingen of Falling Creek, Linda Thomas and Phil Daniel were awarded Mega Mentors of the Year, the IBM Tech Grant went to Falling Creek, and John Tyler Community College was named the Mega Mentor Community Partner.
Along with comments from School Board Member David Wyman, Cummings presented over $7,500 in grants to graduating Mega Mentor seniors.
