frican-American students from around Lane County competed Saturday in the Afro-Academic Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) at Sheldon High School.
At the local ACT-SO competition student projects are judged by teachers and professionals from the community. Categories encompass a wide array of fields including, but not limited to, science and mathematics (biology, chemistry, physics, algebra, calculus), visual/performing arts (photography, dance, theater) as well as speech, poetry and essay writing. Students who receive 92 points or more are given a gold medal and go on to compete at the national ACT-SO competition, which is held during the annual convention for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This year it will be in Baltimore, home of the NAACP’s national headquarters.
Kawezya Hutchinson, an 18-year-old senior at South Eugene High School, competed in the ACT-SO drawing competition.
“Usually, you see Grace Kelly and Katherine Hepburn in American visions of elegance and grace, but this is different because even though it’s a village they have pride about themselves, they carry themselves in a manner that is really powerful and it speaks to you,” she said explaining an African scene she had drawn that used fluid colors to display thin, African women carrying pots on their heads. Arbrella Luvert, the ACT-SO chairwoman, said she believes the community needs to begin to discover the elegance and grace in those who are usually overlooked.
“We need everybody to recognize the various gifts that kids have,” she said.
The ACT-SO coordinator, Dr. Snell Fontus, is still looking to improve the program, but says it needs more community and University involvement. Many of the program’s mentors are University professors, but Fontus said he would like to see more student volunteers in the program.
“I would love to tap into the University because [it has] a whole bunch of equipment that we don’t have access to,” he said.
Luvert said Vernon Jarrett, ACT-SO’s founder, started the program “to counteract some of the negative press that was given to African-American students. So that every time that you look up, it’s not just a negative thing.”
Fontus said that recognition of students’ talents works to create leaders in the community. Previous ACT-SO participants have come back from national competitions to begin multicultural clubs in their high schools and many of them lead the NAACP Youth Council.
“For a kid from Eugene, it’s the first time that they’re in a convention center with 5,000 other black people, and we’re talking 5,000 talented black people — people who are professionals, movies stars go there, the heads of civil rights organizations go there,” Fontus said. “It’s a great experience.”
Luvert emphasized that she thinks kids will achieve if leaders cultivate their self esteem.
“The purpose of the program is not necessarily to cultivate a group of winners, but to really bring to the forefront that we have kids out there that we are not recognizing,” she said.
The ACT-SO meetings are held in conjunction with the NAACP Youth Council meetings at noon on every third Saturday of the month at the NAACP office at 44 W. Broadway. Those interested in donating time or money to ACT-SO can also call Fontus at 684-4716.