PIQUA — The winners of scholarships awarded this year by the Xi Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. can choose any path they want to take in life and be successful.
So said the Rev. Staccato Powell, of Hallsboro, North Carolina, the guest speaker at the chapter’s recent Achievement Week Celebration in the Piqua Country Club. Powell is the grand chaplain of Omega Psi Phi.
He talked about the sacrifices that are a part of servant leadership and about how the students, one each from Sidney, Troy, Piqua and Lima Senior high schools, have prepared themselves with their strong academic backgrounds and extra-curricular activities.
Kelton Stockton, 18, son of Cara Stockton and Henry Stockton, all of Sidney, was surprised to learn he had been selected for the $1,000 savings bond award.
“It’s an honor being recognized by all these men that I didn’t even know existed,” he said. “But I think it’s pretty neat that they were watching me.”
Stockton, a senior advanced placement student, has also taken classes at Edison State Community College. He has earned varsity letters in football, basketball and track, been a member of student government for four years, is in the National Honor Society, is a member of the Link Crew, tutors at Emerson Elementary School, was on the homecoming court and has been president of the FFA. He placed first in his class in showing pigs at the 2017 Shelby County Fair and placed third in 2015 in a statewide agricultural and food science competition. He carries a 4.27 grade point average and plans to attend the Ohio State University to study landscape architecture.
The event, which also celebrated the 106th anniversary of the fraternity, was attended by mayors, several school superintendents and other local dignitaries, as well as area fraternity members.
Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst was recognized as the Xi Iota Iota Chapter Omega Psi Phi Citizen of the Year. Barhorst, who is completing his sixth term as mayor, was thanked for his “dedicated service to the community and his outstanding contributions to mankind.”
Powell earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of Divinity from Duke University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from North Carolina Central University.
He is a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and an adjunct professor in the Doctor of Ministry program at Hood Theological Seminary. He is the presiding prelate of the Western Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Powell was previously appointed president and chief executive officer of Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America and served as deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches. He is a former member of the National Board of the Interfaith Alliance, Balm in Gilead Religious Advisory Board, the National Conference of Community and Justice and the World Methodist Council.
Other scholarship winners were Cameron Brown, of Piqua; Cayshon Huggins, of Lima; and Elijah Sadler, of Troy.
Troy State Farm Agent Lisa Cano was presented Business of the Year honors.
