Adele Johnson RPS Education Foundation 301 North 9th Street, 17th Floor Richmond, VA 23219 Richmond Public Schools 804.780.8623 [email protected] Education Foundation Press Release RPS Living Legacies Varied and Victorious Honoring alumni of Richmond Public Schools who are leading extraordinary lives

Richmond, VA February 24, 2014 – Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation prides itself on reaching out to the vast community of the district’s graduates to learn about those who meet their definition of living legacy – an RPS alumna who is living an extraordinary life as an inspirational leader. At the Pride of RPS: Living Legacies Breakfast to be held April 24, 7:30 AM at The Jefferson Hotel, eight alumni will be honored as family, friends, and the general public join in the celebration.

This is the fourth commemoration and each year the event is a festive combination of family delight, high school reunion, and community pride. The attachment offers a quick overview of the fascinating stories of RPS alumni who will be honored this year. The Pride of RPS: Living Legacies Breakfast was created by Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation to recognize and applaud alumni of RPS who have great accomplishments both in their personal and professional lives. They are all grateful for the education and opportunities afforded by Richmond Public Schools and can easily correlate their success to those formative years.

“These individuals represent the phenomenal community of Richmond Public Schools alumni who are enriching the communities they touch in Richmond and beyond. Their achievements are not only a tribute to their personal dedication and commitment to excellence, but to the wonderful academic foundation they received while attending Richmond Public Schools,” said Adele Johnson, Executive Director, Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. # # #

Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization established to support educational enrichment opportunities for students in Richmond Public Schools. Over the past five years, Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation has partnered with local businesses, foundations, the City of Richmond and individuals to raise more than $4.4 million dollars to support our students, teachers and schools.

Students only pass through the halls of their schools once, and they need the support of their community to achieve the success demonstrated by this year’s Living Legacies Honorees. With strong community support, Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation strives to ensure every student in Richmond Public Schools receives an education that sets them on a path for future success. www.RPSeducationfoundation.org 2015 Living Legacies Honorees

Reverend Donald L. Coleman Chairman of Richmond School Board - 7th District Lead Pastor of East End Fellowship Armstrong High School

William Russell Flammia Retired Teacher and Volunteer Richmond Public Schools Thomas Jefferson High School

James “Saxsmo” Gates National Jazz Recording Artist and Director of Billy Taylor Jazz Studies Program Virginia State University John F. Kennedy High School

Reginald E. Gordon Chief Executive Officer American Red Cross of Virginia Thomas Jefferson High School

Vita M. Harris Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer Foote, Cone and Belding Advertising Agency Thomas Jefferson High School

The Honorable Anne B. Holton Secretary of Education Commonwealth of Virginia Open High School

Florence Neal Cooper Smith Retired Executive Director Sickle Cell Awareness Program Armstrong High School

Sabrina Squire News Anchor WWBT/NBC12 Huguenot High School

Overview of Honorees

Donald Coleman is a community leader who passionately cares for the City of Richmond. Don understands the challenges of coming from a disadvantaged background. He grew up in a foster home in the East End of Richmond, graduated from Armstrong High School and still lives with his wife and daughter in the East End. After attending Virginia Commonwealth University, and earning a certificate of ordination from Church of the Nations International, he has dedicated his professional and personal work to ensuring that success is possible for EVERY child. Don continues his connection with Richmond Public Schools through his service as a Chairman of the RPS School Board, having served students and families in District 7 as a member since 2009.

William Russell Flammia is a proud product of Richmond’s Thomas Jefferson High School. His commitment to his alma mater has spanned more than 50 years; first as a student, then teacher and now as a dedicated alumnus and volunteer. After graduating from Frederick College in 1966, Flammia returned home to Thomas Jefferson High School to teach social studies and served in that role for the next 34 years. In 2000, just prior to his retirement, Flammia was honored as Teacher of the Year by Richmond Public schools. Flammia has been instrumental in establishing the TJ Vikings Fund, an alumni association which has raised over $150,000 for the school. Although he’s been retired for fifteen years, in many ways he never left. Most days you can still find Mr. Flammia at TJ preparing students for the SOLs or giving tours for returning alumni.

James “Saxsmo” Gates is one of the most passionate and prolific musicians in Virginia. Gates received his first saxophone in 3rd grade, where his musical talent was nurtured by family, community jazz mentors and dedicated music teachers, right here in Richmond, where he graduated from JFK High School. Gates went on to earn a degree from North Carolina Central University, and returned to Richmond to share his musical talents and appreciation for Jazz. He founded and served as director of the Jazz program at Maggie Walker Governor’s School from 1993-2001, later serving as adjunct faculty at the , Virginia Union University and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. He is currently the Coordinator of the Billy Taylor Jazz Studies program at Virginia State University. Gates has recorded four CDs, performed with an impressive list of nationally renowned artists and garnered multiple Grammy nominations.

Reginald E. Gordon is an innovative leader and an alumnus of Richmond’s Thomas Jefferson High School. Following graduation, Gordon went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law, coming back to Richmond to serve the people of this community for the majority of his career. For close to 30 years, Mr. Gordon has served as an innovative non- profit leader for organizations such as, William Byrd Community House, Homeward and the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg. Throughout his career, Mr. Gordon has also served on many boards, sharing is talents and experiences to lead organizations through change and create transformative strategic alliances in our community and is currently the CEO of the American Red Cross of Virginia.

Vita M. Harris graduated from Richmond’s Thomas Jefferson High School and went on to earn her B.B.A. and M.B.A. from Howard University. Since then, Harris has had a successful career working with several premier advertising agencies. Her client roster has been very diverse including several Fortune 500 companies. For the past nine years, Harris has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Foote, Cone and Belding Advertising Agency in New York. Harris was recently featured in Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the top women in marketing and advertising. Harris is very active in her church and community.

Anne Bright Holton is a life-long advocate for children and families in Virginia and a product of Richmond Public Schools, having attended Mary Munford Elementary, Mosby Middle and Open High School during her formative years. After graduating from Princeton and earning a Harvard law degree, Holton worked as a legal aid lawyer serving low-income families and later as a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge. During her tenure as Virginia's First Lady, Holton advocated for improvements in Virginia’s foster care system. Holton continued this work in 2013 while she served as Program Director for the Great Expectations Program under the Virginia Foundation of Community College Education. Holton continues to show her deep commitment to children and education, in her current role as Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Holton is the recipient of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Life Award of Distinction and the Richmond YWCA Outstanding Woman in Law award in 2006 among other honors. Sabrina Squire credits Richmond Public Schools with igniting her lifelong passion for learning. Squire attended Binford Middle School and began her high school career at John Marshall. But in 1970, as part of the first wave of students who were bused, she found herself graduating from Huguenot High School. Following her time in Richmond Public Schools, she attended Howard University and Virginia Commonwealth University, where she realized that journalism allowed her to combine her love of reading, writing and working with people. Squire is the evening anchorwoman for Richmond’s top-ranked news operation, WWBT/NBC12. Squire has been recognized for many honors; including the Greater Richmond YWCA’s Outstanding Woman Award for Communications, the Richmond Urban League’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Distinguished Performance Award from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Readers of Virginia Living Magazine, Style Weekly and Richmond magazine have voted her as best news anchor and/or best media personality.

Florence Neal Cooper Smith says that knowledge is power, but in reality knowledge is of no value unless it is put into action and that’s just what she did. Smith became the first African American student admitted to the Medical Technology School in New Jersey and then served as Supervisor of Microbiology and Deputy Assistant of the Blood Banking and Serology at McGuire Veterans Hospital. After her research indicated that only 10% of African Americans surveyed in the Richmond area were aware of the Sickle Cell disease, Smith became a pioneer in the field of Sickle Cell Anemia and Disease Awareness. Leaving her job of 17 years she dedicated her adult life to bringing awareness to this disease. Smith served as the executive director of the Virginia Sickle Cell Awareness Program at MCV which brought screening, research and education to Richmond residents.