2019 MEMORIAL AWARDS HIGH BRIDGE FOUNDATION, INC. 2019-2020 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES The 2019 Memorial Awards are in honor of friends and support- ers of High Bridge Foundation, Inc. who had passed on. It is our Dieudonne Kazzembe was born in Congo (DR). When he was a hope that the way they lived their lives will inspire others, espe- toddler, he lost both his parents in the violent rebellion that gripped his country. With his siblings, uncle, and grandmother, cially the recipients. he headed to Uganda, where they were refugees under the care of the United Nations for seven years. He received his early educa- tion in the refugee camp and arrived in the U.S. in 2014. He en- Isaac Agboola, Ph.D. was born in Nigeria; he became Deaf at the rolled at Cardozo Education Campus in Washington, DC, where he has main- tained the first position in his graduating class. He served as captain of age of 10. With very limited educational opportunities for Deaf stu- Cardozo’s Varsity Soccer Team and participated in student government, track, dents at the time, he did a lot of studying on his own. His hard work and Project Lead the Way innovative competitions. Outside of school, he was and ambition paid off. He went on to earn a bachelor's and master's involved with Cathedral Scholars, DC Scores Alumni Club, and St. Albans Ear- ly Childhood Center. A poet and writer, he published his first play King Dieo degree at Gallaudet University and a doctoral degree at the Universi- on Amazon in April 2019. Dieudonne will attend Arizona State University and ty of Maryland, College Park. He became the first Black Deaf per- major in Aeronautical Management. son to become a professor, department chairperson, and dean at Gal- Margareth Mbea was born in Cameroon and immigrated to the laudet University. United States at age twelve. She attended middle school at Tako- ma Educational Campus and there discovered her love for bas- ketball. She pursued this passion at Benjamin Banneker Aca- demic High School, where she played one year of Junior Varsity Lourdes (Lulu) B. Alexander was born in La Union, Philippines. basketball and three years of Varsity basketball, all while receiv- She came to the U.S. in 1972 and combined her teacher training and ing Principal Commendations and academic honors. As presi- business acumen by successfully operating a licensed childcare busi- dent of the International Club, founder and president of her school’s African Student Association, as well as Captain of her basketball team, she hoped to ness for over 30 years. Mrs. Alexander dedicated her life to service foster diversity and inclusion within her school. She helped her team win the and led many initiatives that improved the day-to-day lives of people DC Regional Ethics Bowl Championship and advance to the National Ethics in her community. Bowl, where her team earned the Spirit of Ethics Award. Her basketball team was runner-up in the state basketball championship finals. Margareth complet- ed over two hundred hours of community service with Bruce Monroe Elemen- tary School and non-profit organizations Just Imagine and Sankofa Cafe. She Vicky Samson Calizo’s struggles with cancer did not dampen her will attend Xavier University of Louisiana to pursue a degree in Chemistry Pre- passion for service to her church community and the Filipino Ameri- Med in order to become a dermatologist and cosmetic entrepreneur. can community in the Washington, D.C. area. She founded the Fili- Elijah Scott Fu Solomon was born in China and moved to the pino-American Heritage Ministry which incorporated Filipino cul- U.S. in 2006 at age 4 when he was adopted by a wonderful fami- ly. He graduated from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf ture in the Holy Family Church’s worship liturgy. With her trade- in Washington, DC with a Merit Diploma. There he was induct- mark charisma, she mobilized young people to sing in the choir and ed into the National Honor Society and excelled in sports. He to be altar servers. She will always be remembered as a courageous was in the starting line-up on the Varsity baseball team for four years and received a number of awards, including the Gold person who cheerfully served others in spite of her own illness. Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. On the wrestling and football teams, he earned first place in the 152-pound weight class and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Eli spent his summers volunteering at the NYC Deaf Camp. He also worked at the MSSD Tutoring Center as a math tutor. His dream is to be- come a math teacher and baseball coach and to give back to the Deaf communi- ty. He will attend Gallaudet University in the fall. 12 9 2019 MEMORIAL AWARDS Esmerando O. Juanitez, M.D was born in Pangasinan, Philip- pines. He joined the U.S. Navy soon after obtaining his Biology degree and was stationed at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. He went back to the Philippines to pursue his true passion and earned his Medical Degree in four years, traveling back and forth to HIGH BRIDGE FOUNDATION, INC. Maryland during school breaks to be with his wife and two daugh- 2019-2020 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES ters. He opened his private practice and specialized in Geriatrics. Whether he was ministering to his elder patients, volunteering for medical missions, or preparing and serving food to the homeless, he Enyce Fairbanks graduated from George Marshall High had a true servant’s heart. School in Falls Church, Virginia. As President of the Black Student Union, she organized fundraisers, community service activities, and other club events. One of these events was a panel on racial segregation in the school systems. Her interest Dorothy Harris King was born in Fort Barnwell, NC. In 1972, she in biology motivated her to create a native species garden as relocated to Maryland with her husband and began her 43-year ca- part of her Girl Scouts Silver Award. She planned, budgeted, fundraised, and designed the garden so that it could be self- reer as a math educator in the D.C Public School System, where she sustaining. She was a member of her school’s Active Minds, which raises taught at Carter G. Woodson Junior High School and H.D. Woodson awareness about mental health issues and available resources for her school Senior High School. She earned her B.S. in Secondary Education and in the community. Enyce will major in Biology at George Mason Uni- from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, an versity in the fall. Her career goal is to become a pathologists' assistant, and M.A. in Teaching from Trinity College, and an M.Ed. from Strayer her philanthropy goal is to establish a non profit to help those who are diag- nosed with PTSD and unable to afford treatment. University. Ever committed to continuing education, she established the Harris Family Reunion Scholarship. She will be remembered for Jennifer Hernandez graduated from Thomas Jefferson High her strength, faith and tenacity. School for Science and Technology. In high school she par- ticipated in varsity field hockey, student government, Model United Nations, and College Partnership Program. She was also a student representative on the Fairfax County Public Marcelina Sapla Rozal lived a humble yet extraordinary life. She Schools Minority Student Achievement Oversight Commit- was born in Ilocos Sur, Philippines and obtained her B.S. in Elemen- tee. However, she counts as her most significant achieve- ment co-founding and becoming president of her school's tary Education degree. She and her husband, Juan Rozal, were mar- Spanish Culture Club, which focuses on the representation and study of His- ried for 70 years and had four children. They also fostered many panic culture in her high school community. Jennifer was nationally recog- nieces and nephews who they loved and raised as their own. She nized as an Alexander Hamilton Scholar and received a book award from taught second grade in her barrio until she retired. She immigrated George Washington University for her leadership in the community. Her to the US in 1983 to help care for her grandchildren. Through her poem “Cambio” won a silver medal in the regional scholastic arts and writ- ing competition. Last summer, she worked as an intern for the Democrat- actions she embodied the meaning of generosity, humor, kindness, ic Party in Fairfax County. She will attend Williams College to study politi- devotion and friendship. cal science or economics and eventually attend law school. Her inspiration stems from her parents, who immigrated from El Salvador to give their chil- dren a chance at a better life. 8 13 HIGH BRIDGE FOUNDATION, INC. 2019 BOOK AWARDEES She is a member of the Pre-Med Club, a dedicated volunteer working with elderly patients at INOVA, and a community advocate at the Arling- ton Partnership for Affordable Housing. Rozina will attend Virginia Commonwealth University. Nicole Panebianco graduated from Saint Vincent Pallotti HIGH BRIDGE FOUNDATION, INC. High School, where she maintained a 4.28 GPA. She par- 2019 BOOK AWARDEES ticipated in the National Honors Society, Union Leaders, Student Ambassadors, Spanish Honors Society, Gaming Adelina Decius graduated from W.T. Woodson High Club, and Arts Academy for Visual Arts. In her school’s School in Fairfax, Virginia, where she excelled academically theater program, she took both onstage and offstage roles despite being a transfer student in her junior year. Her school activ- in Narnia, FAME, The Glass Menagerie, and Once on ities included serving as class secretary of the Student Council and This Island.