FRIENDSHIP COLLEGIATE ACADEMY Lorem ipsum SEVENTEENTHNINETEENTH ANNUAL ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY FRIDAY, MAY 28,FRIDAY, 2021 | 10MAY A.M. 31, 2019 | 9 A.M. PEGGY JONES, PRINCIPAL | DONALD L. HENSE, CHAIRMAN | PATRICIA BRANTLEY, CEO AUDI FIELD & FRIENDSHIPGEORGE VIRTUAL WASHINGTON AUDITORIUM UNIVERSITY LISNER AUDITORIUM | WASHINGTON, D.C. 20Congratulations Class of 2021 21 from the Chairman Congratulations Class of 2021 Year after year, I watch our impressive graduates walk across the stage with proud, beaming smiles to receive the diplomas that you have justly earned. The opportunity to present these diplomas is a highlight of the year - for me, your teachers, your families, and the Board of Trustees of Friendship Public Charter School. Even though that is not happening in person this year in the unsettling times that have affected the whole world, we celebrate this important moment in your life with the same pride, optimism, and joy. You are graduating in a time of uncertainty. That means it is also a time of opportunity. Your next steps will require more of you – more effort, more creativity, and more leadership. But you will persevere because you have persevered and you will succeed because, as this special day acknowledges, you have succeeded! The day will come some years in the future when you will say that you were part of the historic class of 2021. It will happen as part of the recognition as to how the world had to adjust to a pandemic, to tragedy, and to unrest. And you will be among those celebrated as the ones who launched a new era of peace and prosperity. We celebrate you with congratulations for today and with confidence for the future. The road forward will not be easy but we are in a time of renewal. We want you to know how very much your lives matter to all of us. Sincerely,Sincerely, Donald L. Hense Founder and Chairman from the CEO Be the Change We Seek Friendship Collegiate Graduates: True greatness calls for courage and good judgment. Sometimes it seeks patience, sometimes speed. It always requires respect and deep determination. The graduates you see before you today know something about greatness. Each one of them has earned his or her way to the podium, through no easy path but by learning, understanding and practicing the principles of greatness. At Friendship, our graduates have had the opportunity to see the world through many lenses. They have been exposed to the extraordinary and the uncomfortable. They have learned to communicate, both by speaking up and by listening. They have built bridges they had never imagined and built bonds for life. Always, they have had to work hard. And along the way, these young men and women have laid the foundations for a lifetime of learning and leadership. Knowledge is power, never more so than in the hands of the bright, fearless, educated leaders who stand before you today. Friendship has prepared these graduates not just for college but for all that lies beyond — careers of their choosing. Confidence to face challenges head-on. Contributions to their communities. Most of all, the passion, courage and capacity to chase their dreams. And that is truly great. Congratulations Collegiate Academy 2021 graduates. We applaud YOU! Patricia Brantley CEO from the principal Graduate, Parents, Members of the Board, esteemed Faculty & Staff, and Guests: It is my greatest pleasure to welcome you to the 19th Annual commencement exercise for the Friendship Collegiate Academy Early College Campus. I have had the awesome task of sending our young people into the world with what I hope is practical advice, words of hope and optimism that carries the weight of the daunting responsibility that lies ahead. It is a privilege and honor for me to be one of the last voices that our scholars will hear as high school students, because this year graduation is in fact a celebration of our scholars’ entrance into college and the adult world. Although it came neither quickly nor easily, and although our scholars ended this school year with many unprecedented challenges, there is no moment more valued than that which comes with tireless dedication and resilience in the face of hardship. On behalf of the Friendship Collegiate Academy Early College Campus faculty, please allow me to extend my warmest congratulations to the graduates and their families as you celebrate the successful completion of your high school career. I applaud you for the consciousness and dedication, while I commend the commitment and perseverance you have shown throughout the last four years and in ending this school year strong even in a virtual space. Though I applaud your accomplishments and encourage you to savor the sweet moments of your success, I do not in any way believe this ceremony symbolizes the pinnacle of achievement. Rather, this ceremony inaugurates you into the demands of the adult world and hand you the mantle of leadership for which your instructional leaders have spent four years grooming you. My charge to the Class of 2021 scholars is to take the eight essential core values—persistence, commitment, patience, compassion, responsibility, confidence, integrity, and respect—the values that you have spent the last four years mastering, and let them guide you during your successes and your failures to come. Demonstrate to the world the raw intellectual and ethical power a Collegiate Academy Knight scholar holds: Remember what we have taught you about patience, persistence, commitment and responsibility when you are struggling with a course or a concept as you adjust to the rigors of university; exercise compassion, patience, and respect when you are faced with challenging people and unfamiliar circumstances; show confidence and integrity when confronting difficult moral quandaries and ethical dilemmas. This is the path that you have been groomed to follow; this is the path you must choose to create your most authentic life. It is the gift you must give to yourself and then to the world. As Barak Obama has taught us, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” So in this rich and troubling world, in this time of inequality and disparity, hope and fear, in this time of a pandemic, I ask you who will you be? How will you serve? How will you use the education that transformed your life to transform the world? As you look toward this iconoclastic future and all the rewards it offers, I encourage you to cast a glance backward to see all that you have become here at the Friendship Collegiate Academy Early College Campus- and the legacy of achievement you leave in your wake. “Collegiate – You Know Knights!” Dr. Peggy Jones Principal commencement speaker Tyrell Holcomb, ANC Commissioner Commissioner Tyrell M. Holcomb is a fourth generation Washingtonian and proud alumnus of HD Woodson Senior High School. A devoted uncle, activist, and change agent, Commissioner Holcomb began his legacy of service at an early age, as a participant of the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute, he’d go on to serve as Youth Mayor of the District of Columbia & Chair of the DC Youth Advisory Council. Defying the odds of a broken home, poverty, and an absentee father, Commissioner Holcomb learned the value of mentorship, service, and being a change-maker. Over the years he’s served as a mentor to many and on various local boards. Commissioner Holcomb has quickly established himself as a progressive voice in Ward 7 serving the constituency of the Minnesota Ave (Downtown Ward 7) corridor, championing advocacy for jobs, economic development, responsive government, equity in education, an equitable health care system East of the River, eliminating Ward 7’s food desert, and issues effecting youth and seniors. Commissioner Holcomb was first elected in 2016, since 2018 he’s served as Chair of ANC 7F, under his leadership to date the Commission has put over $75,000 toward community initiatives, grants and scholarship and negotiated over $500,000 in community benefit investment funds. Of note is his work to hold Safeway accountable for their Ward 7 stores and his advocacy in opposing a Church’s Chicken from opening on Minnesota Ave. Commissioner Holcomb’s unwavering commitment to public service is evident through his current work in non-profit leadership as he currently leads Advocacy efforts for Don’t Mute My Health a movement in DC to reclaim community health from outside influences and interests. When not fighting to end food injustice or working for his constituents; Commissioner Holcomb enjoys a good run in his neighborhood and rooting on his hometown sports teams. Most importantly Commissioner Holcomb is dedicated to building a #SAFER7 for all who live, work, shop, or worship in Ward7. NINETEENTH ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY Mistress & Master of Ceremonies Lauren Johnson, Upper School Academy Director & Darryl Womack, Dean of Students Class of 2020 Processional “Pomp & Circumstance” The National Anthem | Gabriel Quick, Class of 2012 Welcome | Qitorah Washington, FCA Senior Guidance Counselorr Introduction of Speaker | Cierra Wright, Class of 2021 President Commencement Address ANC Commissioner Tyrell Holcomb Musical Tribute | Vivian Onyeka-Ben, Class of 2021 | FCA Faculty Knight Forever Recognition | Darryl Womack, Dean of Students Community Spirit Award | Dr. Calvin Green, FCA SSST Coordinator Perseverance Award | Dr. Peggy Jones, Principal Presentation of Valedictorian & Salutatorian | Dr. Peggy Jones, Principal Valedictorian