If you saw a party bus Friday escorted by motorcycle clubs and D.C. cops through Southeast and downtown, it meant Ballou High School’s Essay Contest was back for the first time since COVID.
We met one of the winners, Jonathan Steele with his date Tyler Hardy, as they waited for their ride to the prom.
“I’m looking very forward to spending my prom night with this lovely lady right here,” said Jonathan.
He won the ride by being one of the winners of the essay contest on the importance of a father in the home. It’s the idea of Metropolitan Police Department Officer Edwin Buckner, known as Officer Buck at Ballou High where he created the contest in 2007 when he was head of security there.
“When a child would get in trouble, I would always see a mother, big sister, aunt,” said Officer Buck. “I know men I can sit down to know there are some strong Black men who are doing the right thing.”
He started the contest and then got MPD officers, his fellow Shriners, and motorcycle clubs to participate. Every year, until COVID struck, there would be a contest. They would rent a party bus, to pick up the winners and their dates escorted by 50 or more motorcycles.
It wowed the neighborhood and put big smiles on the high schoolers' faces.
Jonathan said he had a relationship with his father but did not live with him and he was often absent. He talked about father figures and mentioned Ballou’s Band Director Darrell Watson. He noted with some emotion, that Watson had helped him buy his prom suit.
Jonathan and Tyler were the first couple picked up as they stood in front of a house on 5th Street SE. They posed for photos with police officials, Shriners, and motorcyclists, and then they were off. The bus made two more stops before arriving at the Embassy Suites Hotel downtown at dusk.
Most of the attendees were about two years old when Officer Buck started the essay contest, but it still brings joy to Ballou High School seniors.