Community banquet honors LHS student

Over 100 people sported their best attire to the fifth annual Rosa Parks scholarship banquet Saturday night at the Seward County Community College/Area Technical School.

The banquet, sponsored by the Black History Committee, awarded an $800 scholarship to Liberal High School senior Yahaida Zubia.

Yahaida Zubia smiles from the VIP table at the Black History Committee's Fifth Annual Rosa Parks Scholarship Banquet Saturday night. Zubia, an LHS senior, was awarded the committee's scholarship for an essay on Maya Angelou. Photo by Christina Maness

"I thought everything went well," said Lawrence Johnson, president of the Black History Committee.

Johnson said the committee was impressed with the number of people and diversity of the crowd that came together to support the scholarship. Zubia, who learned she would receive the scholarship more than a week ago, said she did not expect to win.

"It felt really good," said Zubia. "I was kind of surprised because other people write better than me."

The committee awarded Zubia the scholarship for her essay on author Maya Angelou. As a senior, Zubia recently performed with Southwest Kansas Music Educators Association's high school choir and acted in LHS's production of "Seussical, the Musical." Zubia said her passion for the arts motivated her to learn more about Angelou for the scholarship essay.

"I just really like her poems," said Zubia. "I didn't know all of that stuff about her until after researching her."

Zubia said she was surprised to learn about the trials of Angelou's life. Angelou, most famous for her book "I Know why the Caged Bird Sings," grew up facing racial discrimination.

Zubia, who is also a member of LHS's chapter of the National Honor Society, hopes to attend William Jewell College to study clinical laboratory science. She says winning the scholarship reinforces the notion that success can be achieved through hard work.

"If you strive for what you want, you can get it, but you have to take the initiative to go for it," Zubia said.

The banquet also featured former Liberal mayor Ivanhoe Love Jr. as a guest speaker. Love gave attendees his suggestions for financial success while speaking on the committee's theme of "Black Economics."

Former Liberal mayor Ivanhoe Love Jr. spoke about "Black Economics" at the Fifth Annual Rosa Parks Scholarship Banquet Saturday night at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School. Photo by Christina Maness

Love encouraged people to be frugal with money and to be diverse in their savings and investment plans. During his speech, he stressed the importance of discipline in living within one's financial means. Johnson said he thought Love's speech was especially critical for the younger generation at the banquet.

For full story please see Wednesday's Times

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