Release Date: 7/11/2012 Contact: Diana L. Spencer, 410-887-8905

Three Carver Center students win gold medals at national ACT-SO competition

TOWSON, MD— Three George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology students earned gold medals in visual arts categories at the 34th Annual NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competition, held July 5-8, 2012, in Houston, Texas. Kevin Cobb of Overlea won in painting, Dylan Guest of Woodlawn won in sculpture, and Kylia Jackson of Owings Mills won in photography. Cobb and Guest, 2012 Carver Center graduates, will both enter Maryland Institute College of Art in the fall. Jackson is a junior at Carver Center. As national gold medalists, each received an iPad from State Farm Insurance and a $3,000 award. Designed to raise and celebrate the academic and cultural achievement of African American high school students, ACT-SO includes 26 categories of mentoring and competition in the sciences, humanities, business, and performing and visual arts. The 700 participants in national competition were all gold medalists at local and regional levels. “The level of talent at the national competition is fierce," said Marietta English, chair of Baltimore County Chapter of ACT-SO. “Qualifying to participate at this level is already impressive. The recognition young people receive from being there and the connections they make are priceless. Walking away with a gold medal proves that you are at the top of your field. The young people from Baltimore County made us proud." Amarachi Korie of Owings Mills and Tres McMichael of Pikesville, both also Carver Center students and local level ACT-SO gold medalists, had featured roles at the national competition. Korie, a Carver Center junior, was a highlighted dancer in the event’s closing awards ceremony, and McMichael, a Carver Center sophomore, was a soloist in the singing of “Lift Every Voice."

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