All graduates at this Dallas ISD school earned a college scholarship
All graduates at DISD school earned scholarship
All 54 seniors at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas are headed to college and each one of them has earned a scholarship.
DALLAS - All 54 seniors at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas are headed to college and each one of them has earned a scholarship.
Success for All
What we know:
It’s rare for a graduating class to have 100% college acceptance for all seniors. It’s even more rare for scholarships to be offered to 100% of the class.
But that’s exactly what the Class of 2026 at Dallas Independent School District’s all-male school has done. All 54 seniors have earned scholarships totaling a little more than $15 million.
What they're saying:
Principal Derek Thomas, who is in his second year at the school, explained that learning at the academy is special and success is baked into each young man.
"One, our brothers are motived. They understand that there’s a higher expectation beyond just high school itself. But we also have an advantage that we get to keep our brothers from sixth grade all the way through their graduation year of 12th grade. And so that’s a great privilege as well," he said.
Principal Thomas refers to the students as brothers and said they speak to each other that was as well. The idea is that they are all brothers who lift, support, and encourage each other to reach a common goal of success for all.
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Looking to the Future
What we know:
FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb got the chance to talk to two of the young men who will get a higher education experience on a full ride scholarship.
Brandon Hawkins received a scholarship to the University of Chicago with a focus on finance and real estate.
Angel Velasquez is the valedictorian. He’s headed to Princeton, where he plans to study computational biology and bioinformatics.
Both are choosing career paths that will lead them to help others based on their own life experiences.
What they're saying:
"It all stems from an eye disease that I have, a degenerative eye disease called keratoconus. It’s a very rare eye disease but somehow I got it. So that disease really has caused me to focus on genomics, researching ways to help my community, help anyone that’s been affected by eye diseases like keratoconus," Velasquez said.
"I moved around a lot as a kid. I’ve been to I think four different elementary schools growing up and I know that impacted me both in my development and my emotional skills. So I just want to make sure that any family that’s in the same kind of economical situation that I was in, I want to make sure that they have the help and resources they need," Hawkins said.
Graduation Day
What's next:
On May 30, 54 very proud families will celebrate as their sons walk across the stage, some with full rides for their higher education future.
The Source: The information in this story comes from the Dallas Independent School District, the principal at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, and interviews with graduating seniors.