A staff member and a student from Newport Independent Schools were honored during the Jan. 16 Northern Kentucky Branch of the NAACP’s Annual Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Community Outreach Luncheon.
Coordinator of the Newport Intermediate School Family Resource Center, Marshelle Watkins-Blackwell, was honored with the Northern Kentucky NAACP Outstanding Community Service Recognition Award. She was nominated for the award by Newport High School Youth Services Center Coordinator Donna Watts.
As the coordinator of the Newport Intermediate School Family Resource Center, Watkins-Blackwell’s role is to tackle the daily challenges of food disparities, health disparities, finding mentors for students, and other problems that occur when working with students and families. She also sits on local and state boards that help in her advocacy for students and families.
Newport High School senior Jacyn Harvill-Greene also received an award at the event. She was awarded a St. Elizabeth Healthcare scholarship. Harvill-Greene plans to study nursing at Northern Kentucky University.