Martessa Hudson, 2016 Ace winner.

Martessa is from Harding High School in St. Paul and is undecided about her college choice. (My father Ace was Assistant Principal at Harding for most of the 1970s.)

Here is an excerpt from Martessa's winning essay:

“Education is important to me because I know this is my ticket to a better way of life. I want the opportunity to start a career in doing something I love. You cannot put a price tag on knowledge because knowledge is sustainable, durable and strong. I want to use my mind to overcome obstacles and use my hands to create masterpieces. Being educated allows me to think with greater depth and to find deeper meanings. It helps me to think in different ways to understand what I once did not. Education is important and without it, I would not have made it as far as I have.”

Look for an update soon on Martessa and her pursuit of higher education.

Yemi on climate change.

Yemi Fadahunsi was the Ace winner in 2014. Really proud of her news. YEMI: "I want to share with you the blog I wrote through my D.C internship this summer at Global Witness. I wrote about my experience/research at COP21 in Paris in 2015. This is very exciting because it is my first piece of published work so far in my academic career."Link: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/climate-change-front-line-why-marginalized-voices-matter-climate-change-negotiations/ 

The 2017 winner: Kaitlyn Gonzales.

Proud to present the latest winner of the Ace. Kaitlyn is graduating from Johnson High in St. Paul and off to the University of Wisconsin/Eau Claire in the Fall. She aspires to become an elementary school teacher. Special thanks to everybody who applied this year to the scholarship. Would also like to extend gratitude to Samina Ali, Kaitlyn's collage advisor at Johnson. Stay tuned to hear more from Kaitlyn and the all the previous Ace winners.