Sunday May 18th, 2025
Chabot College | Hayward, CA
Program Contents
Calling
of the Drums
The Black National Anthem
Welcome Awards Presentation
Performance
Awards Presentation
Senior Celebration & Blessing
Closing Appreciations & Acknowledgments
welcome and Congratulations!
Welcome to the 21st Annual Student Achievement and Excellence Awards, proudly presented by the African American Regional Educational Alliances® (AAREA®) in proud partnership with the Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc.
Today, we gather to honor you—our brilliant, resilient, and strong scholars— whose determination, leadership, and academic excellence light the path forward for generations to come. Your achievements are not just personal milestones; they are powerful reflections of your family’s love, your community’s hopes, and our collective commitment to a future filled with promise and purpose.
For over two decades, AAREA has been rooted in a vision: to uplift, affirm, and champion the academic excellence of
African American students across the Bay Area. What began as a call to action has become a regional movement—one that has ignited hope, built power, and created space for our students to thrive. And as we mark the 20th anniversary of the Choose College Educational Foundation, we are reminded that every scholar has a future worth fighting for—and a community ready to stand behind them.
Our forever theme—Building a Brilliant, Resilient, and Strong College-Going Culture—echoes not only who you are but also who you are becoming. You represent the excellence that lives in our past, thrives in our present, and propels us toward the future. We are proud of you, we believe in you, and we will continue to walk beside you as you rise.
The Awards Categories
Academic Excellence
This category recognizes students who have demonstrated excellence in academics through achieving and maintaining a minimum 3.5 grade point average (or the equivalent Proficiency Level for elementary students).
Academic Potential & Success
This category recognizes the drive and determination needed to improve one’s academic experience and recognizes the student who has demonstrated resilience, growth and commitment to higher academic performance. Students nominated in this category show progress improvement in at least one academic area.
Cultural Leadership & Civic Involvement
This category recognizes the student who demonstrates an intangible quality which uplifts their community and is engaged in various leadership and/or civic activities in their school, church or community.
Visual, Graphic & Performing Arts
This category recognizes the student who has made a contribution to the visual/ graphics and performing arts in their school or community. In addition to the traditional visual and performing arts, this category also includes: videography, photography, graphic and web design.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a beloved poem and song penned by Harlem Renaissance writer James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. It speaks joyfully about the hope and resilience of Black people transcending the enslavement and discrimination of the past and celebrating freedom. The song was first publicly performed by 500 children for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12th, 1900, at a Jacksonville,
Florida school where James Weldon Johnson was principal.
In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” the “Negro National Anthem,” for its power in voicing a cry for liberation and affirmation for African American people. Its lyrics not only honor the triumphs and sacrifices of the past, but also inspire collective action and progress for the future.
Pictured above: Augusta Savage, a prominent Harlem Renaissance sculptor, working on a piece commissioned by the Board of Design for the 1939 World’s Fair. The sculpture, titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing” or “The Harp,” honors James Weldon Johnson, who passed away in 1938.
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our God,
True to our native land.
The Awardees
Bayhill High School
N’Gai Washington
Berkeley High School
Ryann Brown
Sophia Castillian
Myles Hale
Zariyah King
Manuel Lane-Scott
Mariah Lillard-Richner
Emily Pajarillo Kifuthu
Zoe Patterson
Isabella Sinclair
Sydney Taylor
Berkeley Technology Academy
Jackarie Evans
Kahlil Powell
Tahirah Jones
Nasir Smith
Longfellow Middle School
Fatimah Abimbola-Baham
Taiy Abimbola-Baham
Ataji Albert
Amina Armas
Maleika Brown
Tiana Carter
London Cook
Nigel Davis
Amare Davis Foster
Michael Ellison lll
Persephone Emmanouel
Mateo Gillum-Brown
May’a Hawkins-Owens
Jadyn Junior
Nolawit Ketema
Mason Kim
Jeremiah Lewis
Ja’Bari McCowan
Megan-Elizabeth McCoy
Khatima Mujahid
Zahra Muwwakkil
Rylin Newman
Jeremiah Pope
Christopher Quinonez
Kobe Robinson
Leandrew Robinson
Wilson Rodriguez
Elijah Shareef
Sydnee Welch
Deandre Weldon
Travyvieana Wilkerson
Dior Williams
Enzo Willliams
Patrick Williams III
Mikaelo Williams Bonilla
Ylan Witts
Levi Woodard
Vinh Woodard
Malcolm X Elementary School
Heru Pelley-Tawiah
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Arielle Daniel
Rosa Parks Elementary School
Mya Garrett
Sylvia Mendez Elementary School
Amirah Adkiknson
Joaquin Avila-Jones
Mateo Gurley
Graciela Jackson
Imani King
Ja’Nylah Lee
Cataleya Oliver
Isabel Olivier
Kenyatta Roberson
Ja’zel Whitworth
Valentina Wilson-Pacheco
Bishop O’Dowd High School
Taylor Chaplin
Jamilla Cooks
Canyon Middle School
Joshua Abraha
Tianah Alicea Rubio
Olivia Balmir
Adrian Banks
Ariana Bass
Ava Brown
Ja’Dyn Brown
Aria Bryan
Gabriel Buffington
Isaiah Dotson
Lucy Edwards
Gurion Fowler-Jones
Zoe Garrett
Anthony Geddings
Ziva Gorski
Micah Graham
Sean Guerrero Locklear
DaLashia Jones
Kayla Kagai
Emerii Kent
Eyimofe Lajuwomi
Eric Ling
Robert Lucero
Anakalia Maggay
Maliyah Maldonado
Zion Marshall
Valentina Martinez Bello
Ilias Mayar
Jade Mayfield
Travis Moten
Jedidiah Murphy
Miracle Okacha
Oluteniayo Olujide
Onyekachi Onuoha
Makaio Pak
Soleil Powell
Jazlyne M. Reyes-Neil
Shyanne Rideaux
Jasmine Riley
Nya Skye Robertson
Aubreyana Smith
Maleah Sparks
Awa Traore
Sophia Wilson
Creekside Middle School
Vera Bukh Ford
Mathews Estiphanos
Alena Haile
Yoel Haile
Adriano Harlan
Josiah Knight
Daniel Llorah
Samiah Meece
Julius Omelagah
Marcos Parra
Tobias Yoseph
Yoel Yoseph
Jensen Ranch Elementary School
Matthew McCloud
Palomares Elementary School
David Atcherson
David James
Dublin High School
Iyana Erwin Harris
ELITE Public Schools
Destine Ofah Aziwo
Jade Bess
Ayden Isom
Kimani Kashaka
Marquis McCleod
Quincy McCray
Zamir Polk
Baelon Russel
Devin Simpson
Mahlia Valesquez
City Arts & Leadership Academy
Aalisha Harper
Envision Academy of Arts & Technology
Hailey Aaron
Queen Dupree
Stephen Easley
Zariah Henry
Katana Jones
Christian Moss
Bradley Nelson
De’sean Savage Barnes
Elita Young
Impact Academy of Arts & Technology
Amara Anderson
Centerville Middle School
Chikaodinaka Igbonacho
Sophia Osanyinjobi
Bret Harte Middle School
Zariah Allen
Clement Ani
Kalia Ani
Amelie Atako
Leonard Canty
Sienna Cobb-Thornhill
Hunter Crittendon
Mya Gray
Troy Green
Kalynn Hamiton
Jaden Hector
Aliyah Hogans
Anaya Hunter
Sheila Ibironke
Pamela Ishema
Greer Johnson
Ramya Langston
Mahkai Mayo
Tianna Ngumezi
Aziya Palamore Goodman
Emanuel Stewart
Danaii Taylor
I’Liyah Thompson
Juma Walker
Ahmir Williams
Jessi Young
Cesar Chavez Middle School
Dominique Gomez
CaShawn Smith
East Avenue Elementary School
Naima Kimathi
Savannah Sewell
Terr’Mari Smith
Fairview Elementary School
Steven Diaz
Ava Figueroa
Amani Forte
Ava Jarquin
Derrick Johnson
Kaliah LaChaux
Lesedi Modise
Hayward High School
Ryan Collins
Eriel Goward
Faith Linzie
Dionne Powell
Anthony Wadley
Marihanna Wolfe
Longwood Elementary School
Jasper Burton
Lorin Eden Elementary School
Anaya Amos
Ezekiel Davis
Denzeah Fleming
Makanaonalani Lupenui-Loggins
Naomi Yohannes
Martin Luther King Jr.
Middle School
Aden Akinsanya
Atticus Akinsanya
Mateo Davis
Ziva Ehigiator
Emma Gaines
Lawrence Gegner
Brandon Jaquin
Deon Joiner
Siafa Jeremy Kawolo Jr
Serenity King
Taliya Konna
Genesis Lelea
Kalani Lewis
Kai Owens
Dreylon Rosemond-Towers
Elijah Sanders
Riley Tigner
Nivaya Tobin
Storm Upshaw
Bilen Wejebo
Jadyn Williams
Seth Williams
Mt. Eden High School
Layla Black
Tokiyo Chin
Josiah Ehigiator
Aamira Fairley-Williams
La’Nya Friday
Trinity King
Alexis Mitchell
Noah Moran
ShelbyAnne Newcomb
Kiontae Packnett
Amayah Patterson-Jones
Erica Robinson
Naima Sapenter
Alyiah Slocum
Palma Ceia Elementary School
Ava Gant
Quan’son Harris
Park Elementary School
Meyonna Milligan
Malaysia Roberts
Kavari Williams-Wilkerson
Ruus Elementary School
Brailey Williams
Schafer Park Elementary School
Eva Ayers
Harmony Johnson
Tate Johnson
Cyd-Cristine White
Southgate Elementary School
Zayden Balajadia
Carter Wiggins Williams
Stonebrae Elementary School
Sariah Gaines
Tennyson High School
Trinity Baynes
Sean Curtis
Jerome Davis
Tyra Drake
Demouria Hogg
Demarko Jackson
Makayla Johnson
N’Dya McDougle
Riley McKnight
Pramiss Miller
Elliott Noble
Cheyenne Ryan
Jasmine Smith
Winton Middle School
Queen Bolbert
Sanaiya Butler
Elyon Kalonji
Rodney Morgan
Lailah Nelson
Kameron Pruitt-Jarrett
Kahlia Williams
Kipp King Collegiate High School
Simone Alexander
Yosan Gebreab
Jordan Hicks
Orlando Johnson
Annabelle Kinyanjui
Tahje Kittle
Lodestar High School
Jorgina Hernandez
East Avenue Middle School
Raziah Mckelvy
Granada High School
Soren Bumpus
Isabella Hawkins
Aidan Ofori
Isaiah Wyatt
Livermore High School
Malik Lawyer
Vex Moore
Kaitlyn Nelson
Faith Ogunfunmi
Brenda Sawyerr
Alvarado Elementary School
Natalie Christian
Brooklyn Dangerfield
Orion De Los Reyes
Izabella Jones
Samaya Morris
Zaine Ramos
Kaiden Ross
Tommie Rouzan-Miller
Nalani Trahan
Jordan Washington
César Chávez Middle School
Illiana Stephens
Itliong Vera Cruz Middle School
Akaiyah Basey
Leilani Prater
Na’ima Ratliff
James Logan High School
Kemi Adediji
Collin Nelor
Micah Wallace
Oakland Unity Middle School
Marie Lopez
Alexa Mitchell
Anthony Williams
Jaden Woods
Our Lady of Grace Catholic School
Nathaniel Williams
Millennium High School
Axé Johnson
Meykeda King-Polk
Shakila Zuberi
Piedmont High School
Justin “Mello” Dowdell
Piedmont Middle School
Kelsey Coleman
Akunna Iroh
Nylah Kasaun
Victoria Mbise
Angelette Moore
Amador Valley High School
Leena Besh
Foothill High School
Taylor Boudoin
Timothy Williams
Thomas Hart Middle School
Ehtan Atkinson
Bancroft Middle School
Isabella Aguirre
Andrew Alexander
Kendel Bell
Damariah Blackwell Plousha
Ronique Campbell
Charli Rose Chambers
Karter Collins
Jourdyn Davis
Jahsiah Demry
Tatiana Dejohnette
Kai Drayer
Lily Drayer
Liam Dunn
Lyric Dunn
Zoe Egu
Ameline Ekoto
Toni Jenkins
Kristofer JohnEtebom
Dewayne Little Page Ryans
Zy Manceau
Lucien Moore
Kalani Ordonez
Alessa Romero
Lillian Simmons
Zavier Sterling-Smith
Don’Ta Stevenson Clarks
Destiny Taylor
Randy Taylor
Londyn Wilson Scott
Halkin Elementary School
Khali Henry
Demiko Knowles
James Madison Elementary School
Justin Cornelius
Nala Gulley
Reina Nutting
Jordynn Mickles
Jefferson Elementary School
Kali Price
John Muir Middle School
Alani Brown
Jaden Conerly
Michele Cope
Stephanie Emesi
Alasia Fallon
Edison Gladney
Gia Goodlow
Keniyah Jenkins
Jaavayah Jones
Kimberly Mensah
Kamal Olasile
Anthony Payne
Elon Robinson
Brandon Smith
Uziah Smith
Heidi Stone
Makayla Walker
Noah (Justin) Zeigler
McKinley Elementary School
Kristin Johnetebom
Sydney Texson
Monroe Elementary School
Devan Aranda
Emily Gayle
Ja’Nyah King
San Leandro High School
Nasir Adams
Desmond Akoto
Emmanuel Ampofo
Kessiah Brembry
Yumiuz Cobbs
Jada Davis
Cayla Donawa
Zoe Gaffney
ShaKiyah Glover
Damaya Harrison
Symaia Jacobs
Denzel LaBrie
Ravyn Martin
Davion Miles
Aniya Murphy
Michael Nwanosike
Blessing Okoronkwo
Angel Onyerika
Gianna Owens
Leah Paulos
Khensani Pienaar
Darby Rease
Ziaira Redd
Lemaj Roach
Eric Jamison Stowe
Feyisara Sule
Jada Williams
Soliana Woldetsion
San Leandro
Virtual Academy
Jaliyah Bankhead
Olivia Green
Annaliyah Hines
Amaya Irby
Gabriella Jones
Washington Elementary School
Anthony Johnson
Aria Sizemore
Arroyo High School
Samari Jones
Bay Elementary School
Aayden Jordan
Bohannon Middle School
Ishmael Banks
Raymondq Chester
Sierra James
Nadirah Jordan
Justin Konaris
Cougar McClinton
Blake Rayburn
Ar’Nae Reed-Causey
AnaKaren Sigur
Jalina Simmons
Alexia Walker
Serenity Walker
Corvallis Elementary School
Zyuir Dunson
Dayton Elementary School
Janine Casselberry Wyche
Del Rey Elementary School
Joshua Jordan
East Bay Arts High School
Sariyah Bishop
Syla Layne
Edendale Middle School
Terrayl Bailey
Iyanna Barrow
David Boone
Kaleea Bradford
Nailah Cook
Sanai Cook
Kavion Hull
Kalynn Martin
Laiyah Morganstein
Jalon Murchison
Zac Penelton
Elon Roberts
Atreyu Shirden
Caleb Therence Palmer
Grant Elementary School
Marlyke Rubio
Lorenzo Manor Elementary School
Aurelius Martin
Emmanuel Sankoh
Alexis Ward
San Lorenzo High School
Eberechukwu Aladi
Jazmyn Ellison
Mariona Evans
Za’Niyah Foster
Taylor Rene Harrison
Dylan Hunter
Mariah Jack
Chaz Jackson
Heaven Lawson
Jazmyn Young
Washington Manor Middle School
Miryana Ahmed
Isaiah Anderson
Joshua A. Hill
Kamryn Kirkland
Rhakiya Lewis
Wud Mohammaed
Sydney Steward
Stagg High School
Savanna Dupart
Everest Academy
Sy’mere McGilberry
Middle College High School
Victoria Ames
The following honorees have received a heartfelt congratulations from the supporters in their lives!
Amaya Junior
Congratulations, Akaiyah Basey, on receiving the Academic Potential and Success Award at the 21st Annual Achievement and Excellence Awards! Your hard work, dedication, and passion for learning have shone through.
We are so proud of your remarkable achievements and bright future ahead. Your commitment to excellence and unstoppable drive inspire everyone around you. Keep reaching for the stars.
Grandma and Papa Basey
family is proud to be able to share this wonderful achievement with her and wishing that she forever shoots for the stars to make her dreams come true!! Keep shining!!
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it.
Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today!!
–Malcolm X
Congratulations to all 2025 awardees for your brilliance and accomplishments!
–Maya Angelou
Kimani Kahsaka’s
aarea would like to thank and acknowledge the following partners, sponsors, and donors:
about aarea
The African American Regional Educational Alliances® (AAREA®) is an initiative of the Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose overall goal is to emerge, sustain, and grow a regional collaborative network that designs and implements innovative educational services targeting the needs of African American youth and their families in various East Bay Area regions, by engaging in meaningful
conversations and reviewing best practices for improving the academic success of African American students.
AAREA programming includes the Annual Student Achievement and Excellence Awards, Annual Professional Development Summit, Educational Travel Program across the African Diaspora, networking events, and ongoing professional development opportunities.
AAREA Board
Educational Travel Program
Professional Development Summit
The Student Achievement & Excellence Awards: a 6:3 Media production
