Y Achievers Success Stories
Student Success Stories
Anthony Sheperd-King
2009 Y Achievers Graduating Senior Scholarship Winner
Anthony Shepherd-King is an Abington High School Senior who has been involved in the Y Achievers program since he was in the 7th Grade. Mr. King has been a member of the Computers and Technology Cluster for the 2008-2009 program year, participating in such projects as video game development and technology research. Anthony also represented Y Achievers in the 2009 AEM/DestinationImagination Construction Challenge, held at Burlington County College. Overall, Mr. King has been a very active participant in the Y Achievers program.
During the 2007-2008 school year, Anthony had the opportunity to attend the
Y Achievers Black College Tour. As a result of the influence made by the trip, he applied and was accepted to four of the schools visited, including Hampton University, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University and Clark-Atlanta University. Anthony has made the choice to stay close to home by attending his mother’s alma mater, Temple University, this fall; there he will major in Biology, with the ultimate hopes of becoming a doctor.
Anthony Shepherd-King graduates with a 3.2 GPA; for his hard-work, academic achievement and commitment to the Y Achievers program he has become a 2009
Y Achievers Graduating Senior Scholarship recipient. Mr. King is a testament to the positive impact that the Y Achievers program has on its students; ultimately, he truly exemplifies what it is to be a Future Leader.
Shakeerah Plummer
2008 5-Star Ambassador Award Recipient &
2009 Y Achievers Graduating Senior Scholarship Award Recipient
Shakeerah Plummer is a 2009 recipient of the Y Achievers Graduating Senior Scholarship. Not the first program accolade for her, Ms. Plummer was the Outstanding Student Achiever for the 2007-2008 school year, and represented the Philadelphia Y Achievers program most prominently as the Northeastern Regional 5-Star Ambassador for the same year. In the summer of 2008, Shakeerah was one of only four young people selected to represent Achievers in Prague, Czech Republic as part of the YMCA Exchange program. Such outstanding accomplishments came less than two years after making the critical decision to change her life for the better; as Ms. Plummer notes, “…it was hard to stay on top of my studies…but the having the Achievers as my second family, [the program] really helped me out a lot.” Ms. Plummer attributes her success to the encouragement and sense of community received from Achievers Staff and Adult Achievers during her time with the program; from it, she acquired the motivation she needed to transform her grade point average from nearly all-Fs to Distinguished status, prompting her induction into the National Honor Society at her alma mater, Overbrook High School. In every sense of the word she has become an “ambassador”, never wasting an opportunity to promote the virtues of Achievers wherever she goes, even actively working to recruit new students to the program from her school.
Shakeerah will take her achievement excellence to the Department of Education at Cheney University this fall, pursuing her ultimate goal of becoming a teacher while developing her own youth development organization. In the spirit of service she’s already created for herself throughout high school, Ms. Plummer has already expressed her desire to return to the program as a Collegiate Achiever in the upcoming year as well. We look forward to celebrating her continued success.
Program Accomplishments
Nasha Bunch and Kalia Cole-Avery
She never imagined joining anything outside of school. Then Kalia had a talk with her mom. Turns out that Mrs. Cole-Avery had registered her very shy daughter for the YMCA Achiever’s program.
Initially, Kalia fought the idea. But as her first Achiever’s meeting turned into her tenth and then her twentieth, she realized that leaving the nest wasn’t so bad. Now Kalia is a second-year Drexel student, preparing to be a nurse anesthetist and with her sights set on an accelerated master’s degree.
A career-driven sophomore at Temple University, Nasha Bunch is studying finance, real estate, and communications. Her future plans include a job in broadcasting. Nasha learned about Y Achievers during religion class at West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Girls. With nothing to do on Saturdays, she figured it was worth trying out the program.
For both girls, Y Achievers has opened up a world of possibilities.
The college-readiness program is for youth of color, grades seven through 12. Participants come from all different backgrounds, but they share one thing in common—a desire to make good choices. Y Achievers exposes them to college life and careers through university and workplace tours.
According to YMCA Achievers Associate Director Avery Ross, students of color are not attending college at the same rate as some of their peers. “We give them the chance to have the same experiences—to advance to college or some type of post secondary education.”
The Adult Achievers, who help guide students like Nasha and Kalia, are “team mentors.” They lead career groups in business, entrepreneurship, engineering, science, technology, law and government, education, and the humanities. Y Achievers meet bi-monthly from September through June at Drexel University.
Program graduates are the best testament to the programs’ successful formula. “It changed my life and helped me to achieve my goals,” says Kalia. I will never forget that.”