Change doesn’t come often to events as steeped in tradition as the Owl Club Debutante Ball. But when it does, it can be sweet – like this year, when instead of describing honors and achievements, narrator Deborah Blair-Minter shared what each of the 30 debs had written “In Their Own Words.”
The brief essays revealed the girls’ deep faith, love of family and a fierce determination to succeed. Some of the debs, like Vienna Marie Beanum, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Outstanding Senior Girl at East High School, predicted that having “the patience of my mother and the devotion of my father” would serve her well as she heads to Northeastern University in Boston. Shaterri Shree Brown, a Daniels Fund Award recipient from George Washington High, poignantly revealed that “Words can’t express how blessed I’ve been to get this far and accomplish so much, yet my soul still yearns for more.”
Eaglecrest graduate Ashura Noles recognizes “I am who I am because my parents decided to get a divorce when I was 6 (and) I’ve admired both their maturity and their commitment to making their children a priority.” Ashura graduated with an academic letter, an honors diploma and at least two scholarships; she’ll major in accounting at Texas A&M.
Thirty recent high school graduates – how recent? Tiyana Janelle Hardney received her diploma from Adams City High School the morning of the June 3 ball – were presented at the Owl Club’s 55th Debutante Ball. The dinner-dance was chaired by Marvin Pierce and Skip Riley and held at the Marriott City Center.
“Quality, like cream, always rises to the top,” observed club president Penfield Tate III as Owlettes Gwen Brewer, Rosalyn Smith, Dorothy Pratt and Norma Riley prepared the debs for their walk down the white carpet runway. “We choose our debutantes as a way to encourage and reward the behavior we want to see in our community.”
Keyana Yvette Brown, salutatorian for Manual Educational Complex’s Millennium Quest High School, graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and awards of excellence in math, science geography and physics. She’ll attend Tuskegee University.
In her native Ethiopia, Miletazega Gebre-Michel pointed out in her essay, women aren’t encouraged to seek college degrees or careers outside the home. Thus, she wrote, “I see the Owl Club Debutante Ball as a ceremony that allows me to break away from the traditional view of the woman’s place being in the household.”
Kendall Liann Evans was raised by her father, Kevin Evans, after her mother died with Kendall was 11. “As an African-American living in a primarily Caucasian community, I’ve had to work extra hard” to achieve such honors as being named captain of Bear Creek High School’s cheerleading squad and captain of its track team. When she entered Bear Creek, Kendall was one of 20 African-American freshmen. Only four of them graduated with her on May 26.
Jessica Temeika Lee was rescued from an abusive foster home in Chicago and then raised in Denver by her great-aunt, Odessa Lee. Jessica made National Honor Society and National Honor Roll at East High School and will study nursing at the University of Colorado at Denver & Health Sciences Center.
Brittney Nicole Johnson let the words of Dr. Seuss – “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – guide her. After graduating from Grandview High, where she made honor roll and was a yearbook section editor, captain of the varsity tennis team and a regional oratorical contest winner, Brittney will be pre-law at Clark Atlanta University.
Scholarship Committee Chair Oscar Minter III presented Owl Club Scholarships of at least $1,000 each to debutantes Frances Annan, Ashley Cole, Brittany Crockett, Ashura Noles, Kendall Evans, Toni Gaunty, Jaimeni Halliburton, Kristin Mason, Christin Mitchell and Rachel Newton. Briana McLean received a $4,000 Silver Sponsor scholarship and Domonique Williams took home a $5,000 Presenting Sponsor award.
Bliss Davis graduated Eaglecrest with a 4.0 grade-point average and scholarships from Zeta Phi Beta, the Black Issues Forum and Colorado State University, and Camille Jones was on East High’s student council, mentored incoming freshmen and volunteered at Wyman Elementary School. Judith Osuala; twins Ashleigh and Brittany Owens; Bianca Ragin; Channing Roberts; Erica Walker, Lindsay Walker-Dunham and Hannah Madrid-Andrews also were presented.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, it incorrectly identified Keyana Brown as being a niece of the late Bob Patton, a past president of the Owl Club of Denver. Although Brown was introduced at the club’s ball as Patton’s niece, his sisters have provided The Post with published funeral notices that indicate that is not the case.
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1. The 30 young ladies who were presented at the Owl Club of Denver’s 55th Debutante Ball. The formal ceremony was held June 3 at the Marriott City Center. 2. Kristin Mason, who plans to major in English at Spelman College, graduated with an honors diploma from Eaglecrest High School, where she was secretary of the National Honor Society and a member of the Diversity Club, Link Crew and Speech and Debate club. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mason Jr. 3. Brittany Owens graduated from East High School with a 4.217 GPA and plans to attend the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In high school, Brittany earned a varsity letter for cheerleading, belonged to the Film Club and National Honor Society and appeared in the student production of “The Wiz.” Her guardians are Mr. and Mrs. Johnnie Lee Gillespie. 4. Bianca Ragin, left, lettered in academics all four years at Rangeview High and will study electrical engineering at CU-Boulder. Smoky Hill graduate Channing Roberts also plans to attend CU-Boulder, on a Women in Engineering Program Scholarship. 5. Hannah Madrid-Andrews, left, is a Daniels Fund Scholar from Bishop Machebeuf Catholic High School planning to study sports medicine at Colorado State University; classmate Lindsey Walker was one of Colorado’s All-Star Cheerleaders, selected by the National Cheerleaders Association; and Brittany Crockett, Thomas Jefferson High’s Outstanding Senior for 2006, is going to be a communications major at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. 6. Rachel Newton, front row left, graduated in the top 2% of her Thomas Jefferson High School senior class; Vienna Beanum earned three letters in varsity cheerleading from East High School. Kristin Mason, middle row left, received the Community Service Award for 2005 from Jack and Jill of America; Shaterri Brown, a Daniels Fund Scholar from George Washington High School, says she tries to “Live every moment like it was my last;” Frances Annan, who will be pre-med at Hampton University, says she knew at age 6 that she wanted to be a pediatrician; and Christin Mitchell, who graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, will be attending CSU on a $4,000 Sachs Foundation scholarship. Brittany Crockett, back row, left, a Thomas Jefferson High alumn, is the reigning Miss Centennial State in the Miss Teen African-American program; Lindsey Walker-Dunham was vice president of Bishop Machebeuf High School’s Black Student Alliance and is a radio personality at KDKO-AM; Hannah Madrid-Andrews also is a Machebeuf grad, where she played varsity basketball and was a Daniels Fund Scholar. 7. Jaimeni Halliburton, left, was a member of Mullen High’s 2006 State 4A champion girls’ varsity basketball team; Tiyana Hardney graduated in the Top 10 of her Adams City High School senior class and will study journalism at CSU; and Miletazega Gebre-Michael is one of 11 children from an Ethiopian family. She was on student council at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School and has volunteered for the Red Cross. 8. Jessica Lee, left, who will be a nursing student at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, was raised by her great-aunt in Denver after being rescued from an abusive foster home. She made National Honor Roll and National Honor Society at East High School. Ashley Cole is a graduate of George Washington High’s International Baccalaureate Program and will attend CSU with the help of a Sachs Foundation scholarship. At GW she belonged to Key Club and the Spanish Honor Society and was president of the International Black Baccalaureate Organization. 9. Bianca Ragin, left, lettered in academics and varsity cheerleading all four years at Rangeview High; Channing Roberts, a Smoky Hill alum, received scholarships from the Multicultural Engineering Program and Women in Engineering; Erica Walker was an AP Scholar at Cherry Creek High School, where she was on the High Honor Roll and president of the Diversity Task Force; and Brittney Johnson was Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s Outstanding Senior Girl at Grandview High School. There, she was a yearbook section editor and captain of the varsity tennis team. 10. Lowri Gray, left, who’d been on Eaglecrest High’s student council, earned a Distinguished Achievement Scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, where she will major in political science; classmate Kristin Mason was secretary of the National Honor Society and will be an English major and Banner Scholar at Spelman College in Atlanta. 11. Kendall Evans was captain of Bear Creek High School’s cheerleading squad and track team and will work toward a degree in criminal justice at CSU. 12. Briana McLean received a $4,000 scholarship from the Owl Club and will use that money to attend the University of Southern California. She is a June graduate of Denver School of the Arts, where she played varsity tennis and was president of both the Theatre Department and Thespian Troupe. 13. Domonique Williams, left, recipient of a $5,000 scholarship from Coors, was captain of Frederick Senior High’s girls varsity basketball team and the Gatorade Player of the Year; Briana McLean, a graduate of Denver School of the Arts, is one of only eight females accepted into the University of Southern California School of Theatre’s 2006 freshman class. She received the Owl Club’s $4,000 scholarship. 14. Frances Annan, left, was Thomas Jefferson High School’s female athlete of the year and a Mile High Scholar. Classmate Rachel Newton also was honored at the 2006 Tribute to Black Youth. Brittany Crockett, also a TJ grad, was named Outstanding Senior for 2006 and attended the Presidential Classroom program at Georgetown University. Christin Mitchell belonged to DECA and the Interact Club at TJ, where she received an academic achievement award at graduation. 15. Bianca Ragin, left, is a member of Top Teens of America and was vice president of Rangeview High’s Drama Club; Judith Osuala, also a Rangeview grad, graduated as the Outstanding Senior Girl and an award for academic excellence award. Toni Gaunty was a Rangeview Scholar all four years and plans to major in biochemistry at CU-Boulder. 16. Hannah Madrid Andrews sings in her church’s liturgical choir and has volunteered at Annunciation Grade School. 17. Brittany Crockett, left, has volunteered for Special Olympics Colorado; salutatorian Keyana Brown was the second-highest academic achiever in her Manual Millennium Quest High School senior class; and Kendall Evans earned a college scholarship from the Lakewood Police Athletic League. 18. Bianca Ragin also was a member of the Denver Symphony Debs. 19. Channing Roberts played volleyball for Smoky Hill High School, the Front Range Volley Ball Club and the Black Forest Volleyball Club. |
