Ypsilanti student earns scholarship as Black History Maker of Today – MLive.com

YPSILANTI, MI - Helping students to understand cultures they might not be familiar with and amplifying marginalized voices has been Sarafina Cheas passion since she began attending Washtenaw International Middle Academy in sixth grade.

Six years later, Chea has gained confidence in her voice as secretary of Washtenaw International High Schools Black Student Union, using Black History Month as an opportunity to put up posters around the school educating the rest of the school about prominent Black voices.

Her involvement in efforts to bring diverse perspectives to the school has helped her earn a $1,000 scholarship as one of McDonalds 2022 Black History Makers of Today.

The scholarship recognizes individuals who help uplift their peers or community through positive behavior or change, with dedication to strengthening their culture and inviting others to learn about it.

Chea, 17, was informed of the scholarship by her manager at an Ypsilanti McDonalds after learning of her involvement with the BSU and other culturally-centered clubs shes a part of at WIHI.

WIHIs diverse student population has an extensive range of identity and social clubs from the BSU, Asian Student Association and Hispanic Latinx Student Alliance to its Gay Straight Alliance and Amnesty International chapters.

Being in a leadership with the BSU over the past few years has helped Chea realize the importance of educating her fellow students about Black history and culture.

Not only are you are you educating people that you may not have any direct connection to, youre educating the community, Chea said. We want everybody to feel like they have a place here.

Washtenaw International High School Principal Nhu Do said Chea, whose father is a first-generation immigrant from Liberia, is the embodiment of the type of student and community member the school strives to help grow.

To see students not just learn the importance of being advocates for themselves and those who are from oppressed and marginalized communities, but to actually commit their time and their energy and their leadership toward making these changes is the whole reason I got into education, Do said.

What Im most impressed with the Serafina is not her not that she is a phenomenal academic student, which she is, but that she is deeply and sincerely committed to serving others, and to interrupting the injustices and the inequities that exist in the world.

Chea hopes her work educating others about Black culture can continue after graduation, with plans to attend the University of Michigan in the fall.

Chea said she plans to be a part of the Black Student Union and other cultural organizations at UM, while majoring in marketing.

Her hope is she can help be a part of helping bring more awareness in college as she has done at WIHI, inviting more students into discussions about marginalized communities.

When you have people that are listening in that may not be part of that community, its really powerful, she said. ... The way that we focus on race and diversity in this school - I think that it should be something other schools are doing.

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Ypsilanti student earns scholarship as Black History Maker of Today - MLive.com