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In This Issue:
Graduation keynote speaker Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, MD, congratulates SSJP graduate Jazzmine Williams.
Since her sophomore year at Boston Latin Academy, Badewa Gladys Fashote has interned in BWH’s Microbiology Lab through the Student Success Jobs Program (SSJP).
“My internship has given me a step forward in the medical field, helping me gain experience ten years ahead of my time,” said Fashote, now a graduating senior at Latin, who was one of 42 graduates of SSJP this month. “I have been taught how determination, faith and perseverance with the thirst for academic success can help me realize my dreams.”
Fashote, who has overcome many obstacles in her personal life, dreams of becoming a pharmacist and establishing a pharmaceutical clinic in Nigeria. She is just one of SSJP’s many stories of excellence. The program, run by the BWH Center for Community Health and Health Equity, pairs 47 students from six Boston high schools with BWH mentors. The students earn money, shadow their mentor and get a head start in the health profession.
This year, two SSJP students were selected from an international pool of applicants to participate in XLab, a science camp for 36 high school and college students, held at the Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany. Mei Zhen Cao and Gernelly Torres, both high school seniors, left for Germany last week.
“This is the seventh year of SSJP, and it continues to grow each year,” said Amy Belyea, youth programs director for the Center for Community Health and Health Equity.
“Since 2003, 90 percent of our graduates have gone on for college education.”
Wanda McClain joins some of SSJP’s graduating seniors.
This year’s class had 18 This year’s class had 18 high school seniors, all of whom are going to college to study biology, nursing, social work, pharmacy, speech pathology, chemistry and community health among other fields.
BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, congratulated each student. “You make us so proud that you have chosen to be part of the BWH community,” he said.
BWH Board of Trustees member Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, MD, co-pastor of the Bethel AME Church and a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center, inspired the students with stories about her experiences as a pediatrician. “I challenge you to think in terms of healing,” she said. “Get into people’s lives and figure out what their needs are.”