Pathways To Success Summit Highlights Take Stock Success

MIAMI, Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Take Stock in Children, a non-profit organization in Florida that provides scholarships, mentors and hope to at-risk students, recognized its top champions during its 2014 Leadership Summit: Pathways to Success held February 12-13, 2014 in Tallahassee.

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Honoring excellence in mentoring, alumni activity, corporate citizenship, student leadership and national leadership in education, Take Stock honored the following individuals and organizations: Rita Kirkland of Nassau, 2014 Mentor of the Year; Wilnic Gideon of Palm Beach 2014 Alumni of the Year; and 2014 Champions of Education Helios Education Foundation and the Tampa Bay Rays. Also included in the awards program were the six new Leaders 4 Life Scholars. Recognized students were Jovani Hernandez and Lucero Torres of Highlands; Jorden Holland of Okaloosa; Daniella Rossi of Martin; Jacquelynn Shelton of Pasco and Kevin Tierney of Volusia. Each of these students received a $40,000 fellowship through the Asofsky Family Foundation to assist with college-related expenses.

"The Board of Directors was very pleased to recognize the Leaders 4 Life awardees, Mentor and Alumni of the Year and our Champions of Education," said Ted Carter, Board Chairman for Take Stock in Children. "The Leaders 4 Life Fellows are young people whom have demonstrated academic and community excellence as well as perseverance and commitment that exemplify the emerging model of citizenship. We are also grateful to the Tampa Bay Rays and Helios Education Foundation for their investment in our scholars and their belief that Take Stock is a model central to our country's economic prosperity and community empowerment."

Ernest Green was recognized as Take Stock in Children's 2014 Lifetime Champion of Education recipient. Green was the first African-American to earn his high school diploma from Central High School and at the age of seventeen was awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, as one of the Little Rock Nine

"We have been building pathways for success for Florida's deserving and low-income students for almost 20 years," said Madeline Pumariega, President and CEO of Take Stock in Children. "We congratulate Ernest Green for his lifetime commitment to education. His courage and determination to make education a right for all Americans has paved the way for our program to  provide access to college to more than 22,000 students since 1995.

Held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tallahassee, the annual leadership summit focuses on advocacy, recognition and leadership. Event sponsors included Comcast, Florida Power & Light, Staples, Microsoft, the Stanley Tate Florida PrePaid Foundation and the Florida and United States' departments of education.

About Take Stock in Children
Take Stock in Children, a Florida 501(c)3 non-profit organization, provides mentors, scholarships and hope for Florida's low-income and deserving students. Incorporated in 1995 and maintaining a 92 percent high school graduation rate, TSIC is Florida's flagship and most successful mentoring and scholarship program. In every Florida county, TSIC scholars in middle and high school pledge to meet regularly with their mentor, maintain academic standards, and remain drug and crime-free on the way to achieving a high school diploma. The reward for fulfilling these commitments is a scholarship to a Florida state college, university or vocational school. To donate, volunteer or learn more about Take Stock in Children, please call 888-322-4673 or visit www.takestockinchildren.org.

SOURCE Take Stock in Children