KALAMAZOO (Mich.)-When the Student Senate of Kalamazoo Central decided to write essays to President Barack Obama, they needed some quick thinkers. They would join thousands of other students across the country who would submit four essays from their school to petition President Obama to speak during their school’s 2010 commencement address.
They invited Nicole Allen to write one of them. On May 8, Allen and other students from Kalamazoo Central were interviewed on the CBS Early Show on Saturday morning to tell the world how excited they are to be the one school who won the White House sponsored contest.
Allen, a senior, said it has all been amazing to see how all their hard work paid off. She said everything about the contest went so fast that she still can’t believe it.
“I wasn’t a part of the Student Senate, but they wanted me to help, so I did,” said Allen, who has generations of Kalamazoo Central alumni in her family. “I wrote about the culture of our school and how The Promise is inspiring many of us to prepare even harder for college.”
Allen said when they learned their essays had made a final round, they soon were met by government officials for the next task. Like a scene from Donald Trump’s Apprentice, the students were given 10 hours to create a video with equipment the officials provided. Allen too helped in the effort.
“I worked behind the scene as a production assistant,” said Allen. “I was running around all day helping set up shots.”
It was then Allen wished them luck during the editing process which she was not a part. Once the video crew finished editing with the supervision of officials from the government, it was out of their hands. They learned soon that their video would be one of three from across the country to make the final round. It was up to the communities and nation to vote.
In the meantime, Allen would continue to prepare for her freshman year at Western Michigan University in the fall. She would receive 55 percent of The Promise (having left Kalamazoo Public Schools for two years), and a WMU Dean’s Scholarship and others to supplement her tuition and fees. She wants to become an entertainment attorney.
On May 4, the day of the results, Allen and other students waited to watch the announcement on a laptop.
“For some reason, every time we went to play the video of the announcement, it wouldn’t work. We kept pressing, play,” Allen said. “Then, one of our student’s parents texted her to say, congratulations. When she called him, at the same time, we heard screams from Principal Von Washington Jr.’s office and we just jumped up so high.”
For Allen, all the hard work of the students, the support of the teachers, parents and community, all made the effort worthwhile. It was now a reality. President Obama would speak at their graduation.
“I just cried, it was so intense,” Allen said. “President Obama will speak at my graduation. All that hard work paid off.”
