The Zion Ministries’ Voices of Prayer’ choir performed before breakfast.
The annual Scholarship Breakfast in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was held at the Edward Connolly Center on Monday, January 21 at 9 a.m. and honored two students, Everett High School student Hantzley W. Audate and the Zion Church Ministries’ Jasmyn L. Nelson, who was not able to attend.
The breakfast, as always, was the place for local elected officials and members of the school department to be on Monday, as those who gathered memorialized the life and teachings of Reverend King and paused to recognize the young people who embody those lessons. The Zion Ministries awards are presented each year to one student of the Everett School system and one from the Zion Ministries, who have shown commitment and dedication to service across the community.
This year’s recipients, like those of past years, have been recognized for their work on behalf of the community at-large.
The guest speaker for the event was Everett native Walter C. Carrington, who is a graduate of Everett High School in 1948 and has twice served as a U.S. Ambassador on the African continent, first from 1980 to 1981 as Ambassador to Senegal and then from 1993 to 1997 as the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. He is a noted specialist in African Affairs. After returning from Nigeria in 1997, Ambassador Carrington was offered a resident fellowship at Harvard University’s W.E.B. DuBois Institute, where he is an associate.
Among the distinguished local officials present at the breakfast were Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Aldermanic President Sal Sachetta and Councilor Wayne Mattewsky, who each addressed the crowd.
Also in attendance were Aldermen Michael Mangan, Robert Van Campen and Joseph McGonagle, former Mayor John Hanlon and Councilors Catherine Hicks, Cynthia Sarnie and Sergio Cornelio and City Clerk Michael Matarazzo.
Representing the schools were Superintendent Frederick F Foresteire, assistant superintendents Dr. Thomas Stella and Charles Obremski and Assistant High School Principal Omar Easy, as well as School Committee member Bob Carreiro.