MURFREESBORO,
Tenn. — Signing Day wasn’t just for athletes at Blackman High School
this year, and Middle Tennessee State University was on hand to help the
Murfreesboro school recognize graduating members of its Collegiate Academy who
plan to become Blue Raiders this fall.
MTSU rolled
out the True Blue carpet for about a dozen prospective students during BHS’s
inaugural Academic Signing Day for its Collegiate Academy graduates.
Held
April 12 in the BHS cafeteria in conjunction with athletic scholarship signings
that day, the new event allowed academy scholars to be recognized publicly for
their academic excellence and resulting scholarships to their school of choice
as family, friends, supporters and teachers looked on.
MTSU
entered into a special partnership with the Blackman Collegiate Academy
in 2015 in which juniors and seniors who meet eligibility standards can take up
to six hours of university courses taught by MTSU instructors at Blackman at no
cost. The credits will count on high school and college transcripts.
The recent
signing day included 13 scholarship-eligible academy students heading to MTSU,
the highest representation among the group of just over 60 academic honorees.
Those prospective MTSU students are eligible for $112,000 in guaranteed
scholarships once enrolled, according to Joey Clark, MTSU Admissions
counselor for Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson counties.
Clark
was on hand along with transfer coordinators Shayna Kyle and Zach
Thompson, who pulled double duty as Blue Raider mascot Lightning, to staff
a special table for MTSU signees. As BHS Assistant Principal Ken Reed
called out each honoree, the students, joined by those parents able to attend,
were photographed signing a special certificate and also received an MTSU
banner and a True Blue pledge poster.
“They’ve
worked just as hard as any athlete, just in the classroom,” Clark said. “It’s
something for them to be excited about. … It’s neat to be a part of this
process to promote these students, to encourage these students to continue
their excitement about coming to MTSU.”
BHS
Principal Leisa Justus said BHS plans to hold the academic signing day
annually.
“We just
wanted to give them the celebration just like we do with our athletic
signings,” she said. “Today, we happen to have both going on at the same time,
so there’s a lot of energy. … We really appreciate the support.”
BHS
senior Dominique Diallo, who plans to major in public relations and
advertising at MTSU, said she became interested in coming to the university
during a language competition she attended on campus a few years ago and became
further impressed through the academy’s dual-enrollment classes.
“I feel
honored to be recognized in this way because I actually chose to focus on my
academics,” she said, “so being recognized for being in the Blackman Collegiate
Academy and working hard, I really appreciate that.”
Her
parents Mohamed and Roma Diallo, were all smiles as she
signed the certificate, with mom later echoing her daughter’s feelings about
the signing day as “a wonderful idea to showcase academics.” She’s thrilled
Dominique plans to join the Blue Raider community this fall.
“I
really like it; it’s a really good school,” she said, before another smile
sprang forth: “And I kind of wanted her to go close to home … we’ve moved a
lot.”
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