The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree is a saying that applies to a good number of the high school seniors that will be presented at the 25th Beautillion staged by Denver chapter of Jack and Jill of America.
Their parents are successful and prominent members of the community, and it’s apparent that the teenagers will be, too.
Take Kendall Early, for example. His father is former Denver District Attorney Norm Early and Kendall is hoping to either follow dad’s footsteps and become a lawyer, or enter the field of medicine.
Kendall soon will be starting his senior year at Kent Denver School, where he has a 3.84 grade point average, and is hoping to be accepted by Stanford University. At Kent, Kendall plays footballl, basketball and lacrosse and is a member of several student organizations.
His summer activities include conducting a sports camp at St. Anne’s Episcopal School, babysitting and staying in shape for football.
His mother, Adrianna Early, accompanied him to the garden party that June and Dr. Johnny Johnson had at their home to announce the 2008 Beaus.
June Johnson is chairing the Beautillion with Vanessa Jamison and Faye Wilson Tate and it was she who introduced the Beautillion to Denver chapter of Jack and Jill.
A former Miss Black Teen America, Johnson has been a Beautillion escort in Texas and had been looking for a meaningful way to bring public attention to all of the good things African-American teenagers were doing. Twenty-five years ago, she noted, the only publicity the teens were receiving was negative.
Eriq Shipp, another of the 2008 Beaus, will be president of his senior class at Overland High School. The day before the announcement party, he received a letter of acceptance from Harvard.
In addition to being senior class president, Eriq, who is hoping to become a dentist, is president of the DECA and Future Business Leaders of America clubs at Overland and vice president of several others. He also created “from scratch” a group that promotes leadership skills for fellow African-American students at Overland.
Rangeview High’s Adrian Lockett said he was “very surprised and happy” to have been asked to be a 2008 Beau as it had been a goal of his since eighth grade. “When I opened the invitation, my mom was so happy and I said ‘yesssss!’ ”
Lockett, who plays soccer and football for Rangeview and is a member of its Rowdy Raiders spirit club, is working at a daycare center this summer. While he has not made a specific college choice yet, he does know that he’d like to major in communications or education and become a teacher.
Gamachu Said, who’ll be a senior at East High School, had just returned from Colorado College, where he was part of a summer program to acquaint outstanding high school seniors with college life. This week he leaves for a Rotary Youth Leadership camp, where he’ll serve as a counselor.
Gamachu is third-youngest of seven siblings; his father came emigrated to America from Ethiopia 19 years ago.
At East, Gamachu plays soccer and “studies hard.” He’s a former member of the Young Americans Bank youth advisory board and has his heart set on becoming an international business major at Columbia University.
Volunteering for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is a highlight of Beau Michael Davis’ summer, and he’s hoping that his efforts will enable him to be in the audience at Invesco Field when Obama delivers his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination.
A senior at Thomas Jefferson High School, where he’s a member of the National Honor Society, DECA and the Interact Club, Davis is also active in King Baptist Church, where he’s president of the youth choir.
As for college, he has his fingers crossed that Colorado School of Mines will accept him as a computer science major.
Another East High School student in the Beautillion Class of 2008 is Marcus Flowers. He’s holding down two jobs this summer — data processing in the Denver Elections Division and various responsibilities at the Harkness Theatres in Northfield — and looking forward to his senior year.
Marcus is a member of East’s national champion Constitutional Scholars team, president of the Black Student Alliance and a member of the poetry and hip-hop clubs. He also is a member of the track team, and is considering a career in entertainment law.
Aaron Hill is quarterback of the Smoky Hill High School football team, and hopes to help lead it to a championship season. He is also one of those happiest to receive an invitation to become a Beau.
“I attended the Beautillion last year and was overwhelmed by how nice and how positive it was,” he said. “I knew right then that I had to be part of it.”
In addition to playing football, Hill is a key member of The Brotherhood, a mentoring and accent-the-positive organization for African-American high school students. “It started at Smoky Hill and is now going worldwide,” he said.
Hill is hoping to attend the University of Hawaii or Colorado State University, majoring in zoology.
Beaus to be presented at the Dec. 21 ceremony are: Kevin Patterson II, Taylor Johnson, Terrance Walker, Marcus Flowers, Brandon Miller, Ethan Rice, Nathan Brown, Philip Jones, Michael Marshall, Kendall Robertson, Aaron Giron, Valerian Riddle, James Bryant, Joshua Martin, Michael Davis II, David Jones, Bradley Steward, Micha Green, Deion Hardy, Kahler Billinghurst, Kendall Early, Adrian Lockett, Aris Molock, Jervae Roquemore, Greyland Howell, Travis Smith, Eriq Shipp, Benjamin Madry, Kendall Gregory-McGhee, Edward Harlan Jr. and Marray Napue.
Denver chapter member Sarie Patterson, wife of Denver School Board member Kevin Patterson and mother of Beau Kevin Patterson II, is charing the service project in which each Beau must participate: volunteering for four hours at Rainbow House.
Operated by Volunteers of America, Rainbow House serves low-income families affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the service project is to learn more about these viruses and how to nurture those living with it.
The chapter is also encouraging Beaus to participate in the 9News school supply drive on Aug. 9.
Pictures taken at the announcement reception can be viewed at denverpost.com/seengallery
Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com
