Young scientists, artists winners at NAACP contest

WASHINGTON – Pride filled the air of the Washington Convention Center ballroom Sunday as the NAACP’s Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, or ACT-SO, came to a close.

Thousands of spectators watched as high school students filed in, carrying their ACT-SO branch’s banner. Eventually, all 900 students sat, anxiously waiting for the announcement of the 75 national gold, silver or bronze medalists. Medalists received wireless laptop computers and scholarships.

“These students are a testament to the talent and abilities that exist in every community across the nation,” said Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s National Board of Directors.

ACT-SO is a yearlong enrichment program designed to encourage academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. The 25 competition categories are in the sciences, humanities, visual and performing arts.

Danielle S. Gibbons, 18, of Yorba Linda, Calif., won the gold medal in drawing for her color pencil illustration of her younger sister Michelle, 12.

“I didn’t think I was going to win compared to the other students’ amazing work, but I did and it was all exciting,” she said.

Gibbons will be a freshman at California State University in Fullerton in the fall with a major in studio art. She said she worked hard to capture her sister’s innocence with the use of black, blue and honey brown, which Gibbons said is the color of her sister’s skin.

“I have a lot of contrast and colors in my picture, with a lot of texture because of my sister’s really curly hair,” Gibbons said.

Joi Hayes, 18, won a gold medal for her biology research into cartilage repair. To avoid ethical questions surrounding stem cell research, Hayes used mesenchymal stem cells, or bone marrow cells from goats.

She said her project is aimed at people who have osteoarthritis, sports-related injuries or normal wear and tear on their joints.

“If we can actually find a method to take your stem cells and grow cartilage for you so your body doesn’t reject it, that’s a wonderful thing, because a lot of times the surgeries are very, very painful and sometimes it doesn’t work,” she said.

Hayes graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a high school. She plans to major in mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia.

Justus Roberts II, 18, won the bronze medal for his biology submission. For four years, he has studied the possible benefits of human umbilical cord blood on stroke victims. He injected the white umbilical blood cells into rats, after inducing strokes, and then dissected the rats.

“I found that, once the cord blood cells are injected into the stroke rats, that inflammation decreases and that apoptosis, or cell death, decreases, therefore benefiting the stroke victim,” he said.

Roberts is a recent graduate of Wharton High School in Tampa, Fla., and has appeared on “Oprah,” “Good Morning America” and “Inside Edition,” with his 13-year-old sister, Jasmine, to discuss their research projects.

Roberts, who wears a bow tie, said he hopes “people will remember who I am, as someone who can be himself and be silly and classy, and I take that fun into science and learning as well.”

Britni Lonesome, 18, won the bronze medal in the chemistry competition with an analysis of the benefits of polymer implants for people with tuberculosis.

“The problem with tuberculosis treatment now is that patients have to take four pills every day for 6 ½ months, and that’s a high dosage,” she explained. “People in third-world developing countries, where tuberculosis has been, they can’t do that because resources are limited.”

She found that a dime-size polymer implant can provide the most consistent and safe delivery of medicine for tuberculosis patients for more than three months, which for many patients could be the full treatment.

Lonesome also graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. During her senior year, she spent three hours a day at Johns Hopkins University doing research. She has accepted a full-tuition scholarship at the Baltimore university and plans to major in chemical engineering and play basketball.

Past ACT-SO participants include rapper Kanye West, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, filmmaker John Singleton and comedian Anthony Anderson. The ACT-SO competitions preceded the NAACP’s 97th Annual Convention in Washington, which runs through Thursday.