Celebrating the 18th Annual Rosa Pryor Music Diversity and Scholarship Awards

By Gwendolyn J. Lloyd The Rosa Pryor Music Scholarship Fund held its Black and Gold Banquet on October 24, 2009. The evenings event included Master and Mistress of ceremonies Arthur Hoffman and Eleanor Janey and was hosted by James Hamlin. The programs message from CEO and founder Rosa Pryor stated, since its inception in October 1991, the mission of the Foundation has been to help as many musically gifted children as possible. Pryor said the Scholarship Foundation has proven to be the perfect vehicle for providing financial assistance to children in Maryland between the ages of five and 17. Unsettling was the report that confirmed fundraising efforts as challenging due to recent economic downturns. Pryor said the Foundation endures because of contributions, donations, ticket purchases and advertisements. To date they have presented 88 scholarship awards to three commendable young musicians. Each year we send out information about the auditions to many organizations and churches around the State affirmed Dr. Donna Hollie who is Executive Director of the Childrens Scholarship. This years recipients were: Chelsea Greeneclassically trainedwill use her scholarship to further her dle of talent is a student at Hyattsville Middle School. She is a singer, dancer and a writer of jazz songs. Kayla plans to attend Julliard and appear on Broadway. She too will use her scholarship on music lessons. Twelve-year-old Christian Stewart, the only male of the contestants, bellowed out a heart-wrenching What about the Children. The song brought down the house with tears and cheers. Christian has performed throughout Maryland and The District of Columbia. He has also been the lead singer for Howard Universitys Gospel Choir. Christian says he wants to become a professional gospel singer and will use his scholarship to fund music training. The tribute was also paid to an extraordinary group of musicians: Benjie Porecki, organist; Earl Wilson, guitarist; Carl G. Grubbs, internationally renowned saxophonist and composer; John R. Lamkin, II, Ph.D. trumpeter and educator; Robert E. Shahid, percussionist; and Greg Hatza, organist. Another year, another job well done by Mrs. Rosa Pryor, Mr. James O. Pope Sr. and the entire Scholarship committee for the first-class handling of our most beloved commodities Our Children. For tax deductible contributions, please visit www.rosapryormusic.com.

Chelsea Green, Kayla Dixon and Christian Stewart are the 2009 Rosa Pryor Music Diversity and Scholarship Awards. The foundation aims to help children who are musically gifted. Courtesy photo musical studies at Peabody Institute, and Carver for the Arts and Technology. At 17 Chelsea is focused and plans to study abroad, following the paths laid by Leontyne Price, Denyce Graves and Audra McDonald. Fourteen-year-old Kayla Dixon is consistently on the Honor Roll. Kayla declared, Just a little bit, when asked if she was nervous about performing. The buning the future. The 2010 Census objective is to count all living residents in the United States. The 10-question survey is one of the shortest in history, and only asks basic information such as name, gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship and whether one owns or rents his/her home. Additionally, questionnaires in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian as well as language guides in almost 60 languages will be available on request. Walk-in centers will also be accessible for those who speak little or no English to complete census questionnaires. Its about making it efficient for everyone, said Locke. It all comes down to who is counted on April 1, 2010. Brian Eggleston, a senior at DHHS with the highest grade point average advised his colleagues on the benefits of the census. The census is taking account of everyone so that the

Census Bureau launches 2010 Census in schools

By Zaina Adamu The federal government noticed a troubling problem when they received the results from the 2000 census nine-and-a-half years ago. The number of U.S. citizens who participated in the survey dropped ten percent from the total number who were counted in 1990. The outcome led to an unintentional misappropriation of funds for some city and state governments. To bring awareness to Baltimore residents on the importance of the Census, Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown; Congressman Elijah Cummings; U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves and the Department of Commerce SecPage 10

retary Gary Locke visited Digital Harbor High School in Federal Hill to encourage students to spread the message. We want [students] to understand that this is very important, said Cummings to the students in their library. The count will affect them greatly. It will even affect children who are not even born. 2010 Census: Its About Us is a new program created by the U.S. Census Bureau that will provide educators with resources to teach the nations students about the census. The programs goal is to have children deliver its significance to their families. It will also engage youth to help ensure that every household member is included in the survey. The Census gives our community a stronger voice and provides planners with necessary information on services and programs that ought to be delivered, said Brown. Its a vital tool for shap-

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves answers student questions during the national Census In Schools launch at Digital Harbor High School in Baltimore. Md. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Congressman Elijah E. Cummings also answered questions. The Census In Schools program will help educate young people about the importance of the census. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office

government can give funding to everyone who needs it. It will also help some of us get scholarships. Responses to the 2010 Census are required by law. All responses are used for statistical purposes

only and are strictly confidential. The Census Bureau will deliver results to President Obama next December. it is estimated that there will be 310 million residents in the U.S. in 2010.
Positive stories about positive people!

The Baltimore Times, November 13 - 19, 2009 (www.baltimoretimesonline.com)