February 13, 2025

BUHSD students receive MLK Scholarships

As the Sun rose over the West-Mec campus on Jan. 17, its auditorium was brimming with activity for the third-annual Passing on the Dream Breakfast. Hosted by Citadel of Praise Christian Church, the event serves as a primary fundraiser for the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship and as a community awards ceremony. 

While the scholarship funds have previously gone exclusively to West-Mec students, this is the first year that any Buckeye Union High School District student enrolled in a Continuing Technical Education program—regardless of if they attended West-Mec or not—was also permitted to apply. 

“We decided that CTE was the way to go, the way to help,” said Citadel of Praise Pastor Brian Wright. “Our goal is to remove barriers.”

Breakfast was catered by Fresh Fitness Kitchen. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
Local businesses, clubs and organizations showed their support by purchasing tables for the catered event and by making donations during the breakfast. Citadel of Praise conducted fundraising efforts throughout the previous year, donating $5,000 of its own funds toward the total goal of $10,000. At the start of the breakfast, the fundraising goal was approximately $3,200 short of that mark—which it reached at a total of more than $15,000. Donations are still coming in as of Jan. 22, said Ted Burton, a pastor at Citadel of Praise and vice president of membership services at the Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

Buckeye Union High School junior Lesira Kpea accepts her scholarship. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
Lesira Kpea, a junior at Buckeye Union High School, was the first BUHSD CTE student not enrolled at West-Mec to receive a scholarship since the inclusion change. She is the vice-president of community services and alumni relations for the Future Business Leaders Association of America. Her scholarship, still being calculated as of Jan. 22, will go to providing lodging and conference fees for a school-related event.

“Through the opportunity provided by CTE and FBLA, I grew as a leader when I realized the impact I could have on the community,” she said in her acceptance speech. “Dr. King once said, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?’ This question became my compass as I embraced leadership roles, facilitated workshops, and sought creative space where underrepresented voices like mine could flourish. This scholarship is more than just recognition, it is a call to action.”

Estrella Foothills High School student Sadie Hammond (pictured four from right) and Millennium High School student Micah Swain (pictured four from left) receive scholarships to cover admission fees to West-Mec. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
Sadie Hammond, a first-year student at BUHSD’s Estrella Foothills High School, also received a $150 scholarship to cover her West-Mec admission fees as she pursues studies in pharmacy science. She aspires to become a clinical pharmaceutical scientist. 

“[The scholarship] means everything, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to be here without it,” she told InBuckeye. “It’s just amazing to know that there are people out there who want to see you succeed, who want to have children be educated and I think that’s what it means to me the most.”

She said she has been inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be tenacious in pursuing her goals: “It’s always been my dream to do more, it’s always been my dream to help people in patient care and in the laboratory, so I think just keeping the dream. Knowing you have one and keeping pushing. … There is always a way to do what you love, always.”

Micah Swain, of Millennium High School in Goodyear, studies water treatment at West-Mec and also received $150 to cover his admission fees.

“This is one of the best times of my life, I’m learning about chemistry, biology, using tools,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Thank you to Citadel of Praise for giving me this opportunity to be at West-Mec.”

Lifetime achievement award

Tuskegee Airman Richard Toliver, center, receives the Lifetime Achievement Award. He is pictured with Citadel of Praise Pastor Brian Wright, left, and Pastor Ted Burton, right. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
The MLK breakfast also included awards for outstanding members of the community. The Lifetime Achievement Award which was given to Richard Toliver, a Tuskegee Airman and retired United States Air Force colonel, from Litchfield Park who met Dr. King on three occasions.

“I met him for the first time while I was a student in Tuskegee,” he told InBuckeye. “I heard him speak, I shook his hand, looked in his face just like you and I are. He was almost my height and just a few years older than I was at the time, but he struck my life that night and, in September, 68 years ago, I saw him again walking from Selma to Montgomery. I saw him again, the last time, when my brother graduated in ’65. And I was serving nuclear alert on the day he was killed.”

Approximately 30 years later, Toliver worked directly with Dr. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“Dr. King had a mantra: He loved God, he loved his family and he loved people and the world,” Toliver said. “He served in that manner. So, I try to follow after that since I got to know him and later as I really did get to know him from his wife directly. … That man affected my life from the time I was 18. He’s still affecting me today. I’m going to be 87 this year. I’m still trying to follow after him.”

Community awards

Robiah Nelson, principal of Sundance Elementary, receives the Living the Dream Award. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
The Living the Dream Award was given to Robiah Nelson, Buckeye Elementary School District’s first Black principal at Sundance Elementary. Sgt. Kimberly Love-Ness was presented with the Trailblazer Award as the only Black woman in the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center Watch Center/Duty Office of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. 

“I’m currently the only one, but don’t want to be the only one,” Love-Ness said. “If you want to make a community impact, one way is to protect the community.”

Sgt. Kimberly Love-Ness receives the Trailblazer Award. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
Among the event’s attendees was Anola Scott Hubbert, who was a community award recipient in the first year of the Passing on the Dream Breakfast. She was the first Black person in her community to attend college on a tennis and academic scholarship, become secretary of the student council and member of the National Honor Society at Buckeye Union High School. She was a school teacher for 33 years and also served as a school administrator. Additionally, she was the first Black teacher at Liberty School and is the niece of Jack Land, the first Black person to move to Buckeye. 

“As the recipient, I am very proud to see and hear about all the students who have received scholarships through West-Mec and what the Citadel of Praise Church is doing to raise money for the scholarship,” she said. 

Joshua Gunn delivers the keynote speech. [Hanna Ghabhain, InBuckeye]
Joshua Gunn, president and CEO of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, was the event’s keynote speaker. He discussed how civic and economic rights are ultimately two sides of the same coin, with access to economic justice being one of the cornerstones of equality. He described this as “the power to shape the table you’re at” to create an ecosystem of success for future generations of Black students. This future requires a dream, he said, and it also requires action.

“I see leaders, I see dreamers, I see doers and I see believers,” said Gunn. “It is all of our collective responsibility. … How am I living the legacy, how am I living the dream?”

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