Tadiwa Zinyongo was the last member of Walton High School’s large graduating class to receive his diploma Wednesday during commencement exercises.
As shouts of joy rank out from this year’s seniors at the KSU Convocation Center, Zinyongo shook his head a little, smiling.
Like many of his Walton classmates, he graduated with honors. But beyond the world of academics, Zinyongo stood out in many ways during his high school career.
He’s among the “inspiring seniors” chosen by the Cobb County School District from a number of high schools, whose graduations concluded on Friday.
They were chosen not only for their success in the classroom and in extracurricular and community activities, but also in how they perservered and helped impact other students.
Zinyongo, who will be attending Boston University as a Posse Foundation Scholar, has been vigorously involved in campus activities at Walton.
He was a member of the Raiders track and field team, the Walton Robotics Club and was president of the Walton Debate Club.
As a junior, Zinyongo honed his debate skills by taking part in debate tournaments in the Harvard Diversity Program. When he returned, he developed a debate curriculum and led outreach to other high school debate clubs.
But in the community, he has been just as busy, co-founding a non-profit called The Fight for Freedom, which raises money and awareness for sex trafficking and advocates for increased funding and services for sex traffic survivors.
Andrea Garzon Pena moved from her Venezuela in 2017 and attended Palmer Middle School and Mabry Middle School as she and her brother lived with a family friend until their mother arrived.
After starting at Lassiter High School, some stability arrived, and she eased into a number of academic and athletic pursuits.
“She has always worked hard and challenged herself in the classroom by taking upper-level Honors and Advanced Placement courses,” Lassiter counselor Liz Clarke said.
An honors graduate, Pena played varsity volleyball and was involved in chorus, the Step Team and Project HOPE. She will be attending Wingate University on a full-ride scholarship.
While he was in the 8th grade, Amblessed Nzenwata moved with his family to the United States from Nigeria, and suffered a loss in the family due to an airplane crash.
He was motivated to become an aeronautical engineer as a result, and as a student in the AVID program at Wheeler High School (previous post here) he received the support to excel in his studies.
Nzenwata took many AP and Honors classes at Wheeler, played three varsity sports, held down a part-time job and was on the co-ed cheer team with his twin sister Blossom.
They were named Wheeler’s homecoming king and queen. More than 40 colleges have offered him acceptance.
The Cobb school district said this week, as graduations ended, that its Class of 2022 of more than 8,000 students earned more than $106 million in scholarships.
More than 78 percent of graduates will be attending college, and combined the senior class logged more than 100,000 in community service hours.
Related posts:
- Cobb schools announced 2022 valedictorians and salutatorians
- Cobb school board approves FY 2023 budget, Wheeler renovations
- Preliminary work underway for new Walton sports complex
- 4 East Cobb students earn $2.5K National Merit Scholarships
- U.S. News ranks 6 East Cobb High schools among nation’s best
- 13 Wheeler HS students win scholarships in AVID program
- Kell HS senior earns $30K ‘For Atlanta’ scholarship
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