Jaydon Phillips has a huge task in front of him.
In seven years, Jaydon, 11, will be heading to college like his big brother, Joshua Phillips, 18. Jaydon’s task on Friday night, then, became earning more money in scholarships than Joshua, who walked away with $20,000 from the Education Create Innovate Entrepreneur Relationship Scholarship dinner at Art House A Social Kitchen June 22.
“No problem,” he said as the boys’ dad, Shawn Phillips, continued to beam with pride.
Twenty-six Gary seniors walked out of the celebration with an ECIER scholarship. Most got one-year scholarships in the $2,500 to $3,000 range, while higher-amount scholarships will be spread out over two or, in Joshua Phillips’ case, three years, ECIER Executive Director Chareice White said.
Other scholarship recipients included Thea Bowman valedictorian Langston Stalling, who received a Lilly Endowment to attend Valparaiso University; and twins Tara and Tiara Shorter, graduates of Lighthouse Academy.
Tiara Shorter, who received a $5,500 scholarship, has already started college at IVY Tech in its ASAP Program, where she’ll earn an associate degree in business before getting into architectural engineering; Tara, who received $5,000, plans to finish her bachelor of science in mathematics in three years at Bethel College in Mishawaka and hopes to then attend to either Notre Dame or Trine University to work toward a biomedical engineering degree that she plans to bring back to Gary in some capacity, she said.
The Shorters’ plans to return home, as well as the plans of other recipients to return, pleased Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson. She recalled her own experience, where if someone would have told her she would be back in Gary, she wouldn’t have believed it.
“At first, you think, ‘OK, I’m ready to leave Gary and I’m not coming back.’ But when I hear a biomedical engineer wanting to bring back, you see that they see something in this community,” the mayor said. “One of the things these kids understand is that there is a place for you to contribute and grow.”
But it was Joshua Phillips, also of Thea Bowman, who caught the eye of the nominating committee. Fifth in his class, the young man endured hardship while getting through school, according to his father, Shawn.
Joshua’s mother, Toya Phillips, died unexpectedly of an asthma attack when Joshua was 14, Shawn Phillips said. Before she died, Joshua said he’d called her from school because he was having a rotten time in gym class.
Her last words to him: “Hang in there,” a mantra the young man says keeps him going in any situation.
“My family saw me through it. I forced myself to keep focus,” Joshua Phillips said. “I couldn’t let grief stop me from being who she wanted me to be.”
Students participating in the ECIER program are scored on a point system that requires them to write an essay and book report as well as attend all the workshops held throughout the year, White said. The $118,000 in scholarship money was underwritten by Majestic Star Casino, IVY Tech, Indiana University Northwest and Purdue University Northwest.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
