Nearly 200 high-achieving students from Raines and Ribault high schools will be honored by their Northwest Jacksonville community Friday night.
Eunice Barnum, president of the Sherwood Forest/Paradise Park Community Association, is organizing the event at the Legends Center on Soutel Drive.
She said she got the idea after she was introduced to one student in particular.
“This student has been an honor roll student from elementary, middle and now in high school and I really wanted to tell her story,” Barnum said. “But as I really started to look into it, I found out that there are many stories like hers that just haven’t been told.”
And, she said, she also wants people to know that all students can do well, even those who face obstacles.
“Despite the odds, despite not having a newly built school or the best technology or whatever they may be lacking, these children are still excelling," she said.
Barnum said a number of Raines and Ribault alumni have been invited to help celebrate the top-performing students, including former state Senator Tony Hill, Duval County School Board member Warren Jones and School Board Chair Paula Wright.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews
