Two Plainfield East High School students and another from Plainfield North High School won top prizes for their fine arts talents in the DuPage County ACT-SO (Afro-American Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics) program held March 17.

PEHS senior Hakeem Howard won a gold medal in the Vocal Music/Classical category and a bronze medal for his performance in the Music Vocal/Contemporary category. PEHS junior Olajawon Howard also won a bronze medal in the Drawing category. 

PNHS junior Carli Battle won a gold medal in the Painting category. PEHS senior Imani Hughes also participated in the event but did not win a medal.

The gold-medal winners each will receive $150 and an expense-paid trip to the national ACT-SO competition in July in Houston, Texas, where participants will compete for scholarships.

About 60 students from about 25 schools took part in the competition.

ACT-SO provides career exploration in 25 different subject areas encompassed by the sciences, humanities, business and the visual and performing arts.  It is the NAACP’s principal youth initiative. 

Eligible participants must be of African American descent, enrolled in grades 9-12, a citizen or legal resident of the United States, and an amateur in their scholarship category.

More information on the ACT-SO program can be found at www.dupageact-so.org.

Information for this story was provided by Plainfield School District 202.

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