The Charles County Branch of the NAACP will host an orientation and kickoff event for its Academic, Cultural, Technological, & Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) on Saturday, Oct. 19. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Space by LBI Collective in Waldorf, Maryland.
ACT-SO, a national program sponsored by the NAACP, pairs high school students with professionals in specific areas of interest, offering opportunities for mentoring, academic enrichment, and career development. The program is open to students of color who are U.S. citizens, amateurs, and currently enrolled in Grades 9 to 12.
The Charles County NAACP aims to encourage students to showcase their talents and achievements across multiple disciplines, including STEM, business, humanities, performing arts, culinary arts, and hospitality management. This year’s kickoff event will offer more information on how students can get involved.
Competition and Prizes
ACT-SO is a community-based enrichment program that offers local, regional, and national competitions. Local competitions provide students the chance to present their work and projects, with winners advancing to regional and national levels. Participants may compete in up to three categories from 33 different areas of interest.
Local ACT-SO competition winners are awarded medals and prizes sponsored by local businesses and organizations. Students who win gold medals in the local competitions move on to the national competition, which is held during the NAACP national convention. At the national level, students have the chance to win scholarships and other rewards provided by national sponsors.
Last summer, several Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students earned national recognition at the ACT-SO competition. Mohamed Keita, a 2024 graduate of North Point High School, won a gold medal in the Medicine and Health category. La Plata High School senior Isaiah DeLeonard took home a silver medal in Music Composition, and Haili Powell, a 2024 graduate of La Plata, was awarded a “Write Your Future” $10,000 scholarship from Lancôme for her work in the competition.
Areas of Interest
The ACT-SO program offers a wide range of categories for students to explore. In the STEM field, students can compete in architecture, biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and space science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and physics.
Business competitions include entrepreneurship and hospitality management. Visual arts options cover drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, and sculpture.
Students interested in the humanities can participate in music composition, original essays, playwriting, written poetry, and short stories. Performing arts categories include ballet, contemporary dance, modern dance, traditional dance, dramatic arts, classical and contemporary instrumental music, classical and contemporary vocal music, oratory, and poetry performance.
Additionally, there is a category for culinary arts, where students can showcase their skills in food preparation and presentation.
National Competition
Students who excel at the local level will be eligible to compete in the national ACT-SO competition, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, next summer during the NAACP’s annual convention. There, students will face off against the best from other local NAACP branches across the country.
Participants in the national competition compete for more prestigious awards, including scholarships, internships, and monetary prizes that could support their educational and professional pursuits.
How to Get Involved
The Oct. 19 orientation is an opportunity for students and their families to learn more about the program and the competition categories. The event will be held at The Space by LBI Collective, located at 2901 Festival Way in Waldorf.
For students and parents seeking more information, they can contact Yolanda Felder, the ACT-SO chairperson for the Charles County NAACP, via email at ccnaacpactso@gmail.com. Nevery Berry, co-chairperson of the program, can also be reached at nevery.actso@gmail.com.
Further details about the local competition, including the registration process and category descriptions, can be found on the Charles County NAACP website under the ACT-SO section.
