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Anonymous donor pays college tuition for Georgia black athletes who get straight As

Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As.

Anonymous donor pays college tuition for Georgia black athletes who get straight As

Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As.

bring southeast Georgia and the low country. This is W. J. C L 22 morning news. See us now right now on W. J. C. L 22 morning news at six Savannah's mask mandate expires what this now means for the hostess city plus our first look this morning at three men, investigators will believe opened fire at a Miami concert and also making headlines, Atlanta braves, outfielder Marcell Ozuna accused of domestic violence this morning. He's out on bond. You want to thank you so much for starting your day with W. J. C L 22 Morning news. I'm Ashleigh Garrett and I'm chris tatum and let's check in with Jonathan Myers Right now today is june 1st. It's also the first day of hurricane season and it's a little cooler than what we're used to this time of year. Yeah, for sure. Chris, we're seeing temperatures outside in mid upper fifties for most of us. A nice and pleasant start to the first day of june and we're gonna see clear skies, grab the sunglasses, you'll need them again today with plenty of sunshine, patchy clouds through the afternoon at lunchtime today, close to 80 most of us probably about mid eighties where we'll top off our highs and upper seventies there by six o'clock. And you see, well, we've been almost three weeks now with not a whole lot of rain phone, not a whole lot at least widespread rain. But that's gonna change as we get closer toward tomorrow, but especially by the end of the week. So more nice weather today. Much needed range, especially on thursday. And friday is looking like the greatest threat that we'll see some rain. I'll detail that and also talk about the first day of hurricane season less than 10 minutes. Speaking of hurricane season, Jonathan, the 2021 hurricane season is underway, as you just mentioned and now is the time to get prepared even though a storm is not headed our way, experts say they don't want you to wait to the last minute to get ready for the 2021. Hurricane season runs june 1st. That's today through november 30th, Experts say they believe this season could be an active one. So make sure your evacuation plan is in place and make sure you have plenty of batteries and flashlights and we can't say this enough. W. J. C. L. Wants to make sure you're prepared for this hurricane season. We're airing in Ankara presentation of our special from the Eye of the Storm. It will air this saturday at seven in the evening. Today is the first day since last july, the city of Savannah is without a mask mandate, W. J. C. S. And the Hamilton joins us live and she shares what this means for the host of city and a good morning actually. Good morning. We haven't heard much from the mayor on this, but with his mask mandate expiring last night and no word of extending it, we have to fall back on the CDCs guidance, which says that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask meaning that this, it's no longer needed here in the city of Savannah over the holiday weekend, we saw a few still abiding by that mandate, but many choosing not to spans mask mandate was the last one still in place here in our area. Mayor Van johnson extended the mandate in the beginning of May and tells us it's a day by day approach right now. I went in, our indicators are positive on the other end were not vaccinated the way we should be. So I'm purposely being vague because I don't want to um, move too fast. When I directly asked the mayor a few weeks ago what it would take for him to eliminate the mask mandate. He told me higher vaccinations, a lower community transmission index and the advice of local health experts. Over the weekend. Mayor Johnson said only 31% of Chatham County residents are fully vaccinated. Now to put that into perspective for you, it means two out of every three people are still not vaccinated while 36% are partially vaccinated. Actually, we've still got a long way to go and I did want to know when we will find out if the mask mandate going away is permanent. Yeah, actually, we will hear from the mayor later this morning at his weekly press briefing and of course we will keep you updated on what he says, both on air and online at our website at W J C L dot com. Ashley back to you. Thank you so much on Tybee masks are still required and starting today, City Hall is Getting back to its normal operating hours. People will now be able to walk inside between the hours of eight and 5 monday through friday. I want to give you a time check this morning at 604 and there is still opportunity to get vaccinated. Today is the last day to get a covid 19 vaccine at Georgia, Southern Armstrong Center on savannah south side. That's open from nine am until four and an update this morning on a deadly crash. We were the first to tell you about Savannah. Police say it happened just before seven yesterday morning near Capricorn and middle ground road O'brien Graham was driving his motorcycle when a car trying to turn hit him. Police say Graham was thrown off his motorcycle and later died at the hospital right now. No charges have been filed against the other driver. Well, new this morning, we're getting our first look at the men, Miami Dade police say, opened fire at a concert venue, killing two people. Look at this Ashley, that's the suv investigators say those memory and you watch it pull into this little area outside that concert venue where that shooting happened, three men carrying what appeared to be either automatic or semi automatic rifles jump out, They run out of that camera's range just for a few seconds when they run back, they hop in that SVV and speed away. While investigators now believe those men could be anywhere in the southeast, two people died in that shooting. By the way, at least 20 others hurt. Investigators hope somebody somewhere will recognize one of those faces and call them. This resulted from an ongoing rivalry from two different groups. This is a day that we should be with our loved ones. We should be remembering those who are lost, who have served our country and instead here we are standing once again for a terrible tragedy. Well now let's talk about that Suv you saw in that video a moment ago that those men were driving. That is it right there. Investigators found it yesterday, submerged in a canal. They are now combing it for any clues they can. And of course they have no idea at this point what kind of getaway car those three men might now be driving if they have indeed left the Miami Area thing is actually right now, investigators say those men are not just armed and dangerous. They believe they are desperate and would do anything just about to get away and stay away from the clutches of law enforcement and of course they just wanna get them off the street. Uh chris thank you so much. And police also saying that At least 20 people were hurt in that incident. Hurt at least it's awful to report. But we thank you so much for that update. Meantime, deputies in texas have arrested a man they believe planned to carry out a mass shooting at walmart. Care County Deputies arrested 28 year old Coleman Blevins. Last week, investigators found a social media message about his planned attack after his arrest in a parking lot. Deputies found guns, ammunition and other evidence in his apartment. The Care County sheriff says the situation was a close call. We weren't able to, something would have happened very soon. I think nothing happened like this, but really woke our eyes up. You know here little kerrville texas. Well, the suspect is still in jail this morning on a $250,000 bond. He's charged with making a terroristic threat and we understand he could also face federal charges. It is 607 Now right now, charleston police looking through neighbor security cameras in an effort to learn who vandalized Congresswoman Nancy Mace is Home police say the graffiti was found yesterday and as of now, most of the spray paint has been removed. Well, May says this situation makes her incredibly sad. 12 people arrested in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol expected in court today, we're told they took part in the riot with the far right extremist group, the oath keepers. So far, federal prosecutors have charged 16 people accusing them of planning the attack beforehand. I want to know why what happened in minimum are can't happen here no reason. You should have no reason for context. A military coup overthrew the government of Myanmar this year. Flynn's former attorney said Flynn didn't encourage quote any act of violence and we could learn today when texas Governor Greg Abbott plans on recalling the state legislature, He announced on twitter, he plans on calling a special session to approve a new voting rights bill. Sunday night texas democrats walked off the house floor. The bill would have put new limits on early voting and curbside voting as well as band around the clock voting centers and new I. D. Requirements. Lawmakers for both parties see this legislation differently. We are no longer going to stand and allow them to continue to push measures that disenfranchise our voters. There should be consistency between the counties whether you live in Fort Bend county, Harris county, Montgomery county, Dallas County. This legislation follows similar laws passed in Georgia and florida. This, just in Major League Baseball is facing a new lawsuit. A small business advocacy group is suing the league over its decision to pull the All Star Game from Atlanta. The game was supposed to be played at Truest Park next month. In the suit, the group demands the immediate return of a game or a payment of $100 million Cobb County tourism leaders say they believe it will lose because of the venue change. The MLB moved the All Star Game to colorado after Georgia passed new voting laws earlier this year. Meantime, Atlanta Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna is out of jail this morning. He's accused of grabbing his wife by the neck and throwing her against the wall over the weekend. Ozuna was given bond during his first appearance yesterday, According to court records, the fight started over an affair while out on bond. Ozuna is now allowed to possess any weapons or have contact with his wife, not allowed to possess any weapons.
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Anonymous donor pays college tuition for Georgia black athletes who get straight As

Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As.

Above video: Your Tuesday headlines (CNN) -- Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As.The donor, a community member who didn't want his identity revealed, was inspired to make change after realizing the lack of diversity in Centennial High School's athlete scholarship.He reached out to the school's athletic department with a concern about their program, which required student athletes to have a cumulative grade point average above 90."When we tweeted out a photo of these scholar athletes after one of our banquets, it was like 16 kids from the football team, and all but one was White," Centennial High School athletics director Jeff Burch told CNN. "Our football team does not look like that, our team is predominately African American, and he said 'That needs to change.'"The donor decided to find a way to offer Black students an incentive to focus on their grades as much as they did sports.While Burch said he expected something like an iPad, TV, or paying off football fees, what the nameless philanthropist offered was far more generous.For every semester of straight As a Black athlete gets, they will receive a semester of college paid in return."It blew my mind," Burch said. "Many kids thought this was unattainable, they thought they couldn't do it, but they did. And when they realized what they were capable of, that they can reach the goals they put in mind, it changed their lives."'The scholarship changed my life'Five students have so far received the scholarship since the launch of the Centennial High School African American Football Scholar Athlete Scholarship in 2019. The school, part of the Fulton County Schools, is located in Roswell, a northern suburb of Atlanta. The school has 1,950 students.One of the students is Evan Walker, an 18-year-old lineman for the football team. Walker was never one to get bad grades, but they weren't always As."The scholarship changed my life and changed the way I view life totally," Walker told CNN. "It pushed me into a different mindset. Either I can be average or be above average, and this made me realize I can get all As, just to prove to myself I can get what I want."The opportunity motivated the new graduate to see how far he can push himself academically.And his hard work paid off. Walker, who is choosing between pre-law at Purdue University and civil engineering at Georgia Southern, will receive three semesters of his college tuition paid off.While the scholarship will help alleviate the financial burden of going to college and having to choose between a dream school or somewhere more affordable, Burch said the impact goes beyond that."The financial gift is obviously unbelievable, but the dedication, work ethic, and study habits it takes to get that 90 is going to serve them so well moving forward and preparing them from life after high school," he said."It really has the potential to spark generational change for those students as they have their own families and kids."Once preoccupied with the worries of how or where they would be able to attend college, Walker and his four winning peers are now all one step closer to their goals."I don't want to be the person who sees someone doing well and say, 'I wish that were me.' I'm going to make sure that is me," Walker said."To any kid who feels like they can't compete with other White kids that get scholarships they don't receive, don't let that stop you from being the best in or outside the classroom, even if it takes all your life."

Above video: Your Tuesday headlines

(CNN) -- Black athletes at a high school in Georgia received the gift of a lifetime when an anonymous donor offered to pay their college tuition if they made straight As.

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The donor, a community member who didn't want his identity revealed, was inspired to make change after realizing the lack of diversity in Centennial High School's athlete scholarship.

He reached out to the school's athletic department with a concern about their program, which required student athletes to have a cumulative grade point average above 90.

"When we tweeted out a photo of these scholar athletes after one of our banquets, it was like 16 kids from the football team, and all but one was White," Centennial High School athletics director Jeff Burch told CNN. "Our football team does not look like that, our team is predominately African American, and he said 'That needs to change.'"

The donor decided to find a way to offer Black students an incentive to focus on their grades as much as they did sports.

While Burch said he expected something like an iPad, TV, or paying off football fees, what the nameless philanthropist offered was far more generous.

For every semester of straight As a Black athlete gets, they will receive a semester of college paid in return.

"It blew my mind," Burch said. "Many kids thought this was unattainable, they thought they couldn't do it, but they did. And when they realized what they were capable of, that they can reach the goals they put in mind, it changed their lives."

'The scholarship changed my life'

Five students have so far received the scholarship since the launch of the Centennial High School African American Football Scholar Athlete Scholarship in 2019. The school, part of the Fulton County Schools, is located in Roswell, a northern suburb of Atlanta. The school has 1,950 students.

One of the students is Evan Walker, an 18-year-old lineman for the football team. Walker was never one to get bad grades, but they weren't always As.

"The scholarship changed my life and changed the way I view life totally," Walker told CNN. "It pushed me into a different mindset. Either I can be average or be above average, and this made me realize I can get all As, just to prove to myself I can get what I want."

The opportunity motivated the new graduate to see how far he can push himself academically.

And his hard work paid off. Walker, who is choosing between pre-law at Purdue University and civil engineering at Georgia Southern, will receive three semesters of his college tuition paid off.

While the scholarship will help alleviate the financial burden of going to college and having to choose between a dream school or somewhere more affordable, Burch said the impact goes beyond that.

"The financial gift is obviously unbelievable, but the dedication, work ethic, and study habits it takes to get that 90 is going to serve them so well moving forward and preparing them from life after high school," he said.

"It really has the potential to spark generational change for those students as they have their own families and kids."

Once preoccupied with the worries of how or where they would be able to attend college, Walker and his four winning peers are now all one step closer to their goals.

"I don't want to be the person who sees someone doing well and say, 'I wish that were me.' I'm going to make sure that is me," Walker said.

"To any kid who feels like they can't compete with other White kids that get scholarships they don't receive, don't let that stop you from being the best in or outside the classroom, even if it takes all your life."