Riders in the News

Bianca Edwards a.k.a. Miss B performs her new hit single No Lip Gloss Baby, at a block party near Howard University.

The national and local news media have often been criticized for only publicizing negative stories about DC public schools, but this school year has been an anomaly with respect to that type of coverage, at least for Theodore Roosevelt High School. Positive stories about the accomplishments of students and staff at Roosevelt have appeared numerous times on WJMAL (ABC) news, in the Washington Post, the Washington Informer, Digital Sports and other national publications.

Roosevelt senior Betika McKeever poses with actor Nate Parker (The Great Debator) after a debate in Chicago.

Senior Betika McKeever made news when she earned the right to compete in the Chase Urban Debate National Championship held in Chicago in April. She teamed with Angela Lubkeman from Mckinley Tech and they were the subject of an article in the Washington Post written by Timothy Wilson (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/ar200804091474.html). The DC team won three out of five matches.

Rough Riders Veronica Torres (softball) and D'Angelo Johnson (basketball) were selected by ABC news as Athlete of the Week for their performance in the classroom and in their respective athletic sports. Their stories were aired on ABC's 5 o'clock news show. For Veronica's story see http://cfc.wjla.com/searchvideos.cfm?k=Veronica+Torres+x=16+y=7. In order to see D'Angelo's story go to http:cfc.wjla.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=9010. D'Angelo was also the subject of another feature on ABC news which highlighted his ability to overcome adversity and still achieve academically. This gripping story can be obtained by going to http://cfc.wjla.co/videoondemand.cfm?id=9341.

Bianca Edwards is making a name for herself in the music industry. She has been accepted to Belmont University, which is one of the best music schools in the nation as well as Syracuse University. She has published her first CD entitled "Miss B" and her first music video (One Step Away) can be seen on the Washington Post's online site.

Darin Drakeford

Junior scholar Darin Drakeford has been selected as one of the nation's highly talented prep stars by an organization called Collegiate Sports of America (CSA). He is being recruited for football by schools like the University of Maryland, the University of Illinois, Michigan State University just to name a few. His biography will appear in CSA's national publication next month. Darin was also the subject of an interview that can been seen on the Washington Post's online web site (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/video/2008/04/23/VI2008042301880.html?referrer=emaillink).

Roosevelt's Digital Sports web site has been selected by the managers of Digital Sports, Inc. as the best sports web site on the "East Coast". An article was written in the Washington Informer about our own Dr. Maurice Butler and his indefatigable effort to get his students to write and publish (http://washingtoninformer.com/sproosevelt2008mar20.html).

Juashuanna Kelly has been the center of a firestorm when she was not allowed to participate in a track meet in Maryland because of her uniform. The news media jumped all over this story because of Juashuanna's religious beliefs and it received national coverage. She was also the subject of a story in the Washington Post that related to her participating in track while fasting. The web sites are too numerous to list here so in order to read the coverage you should just Google her. She has recorded the fastest time in the District this season and recently won the gold medal in the 3200, 1600, 800 and 400 meter run at the DCIAA East/West Championships. She has committed to run for Coppin State University next fall.

Juashuanna Kelly

By Maurice Butler |  May 11, 2008; 2:06 PM ET
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