Freedom Middle’s Booker Awards
As part of an annual celebration of Black History Month, Freedom Middle School will honor four local African Americans during the Monroe and Mary Booker Awards Day, which will be held at 1:00 p.m. on February 27, 2009, at the school. The 3rd annual Booker Awards are a testament to the ideals that the Booker family holds so dear – education, community spirit, deep faith and strong moral conviction.
The award day is a collaborative effort between the school and the 12 children of Monroe and Mary Booker, lifelong Williamson County residents who knew that education would take their children to places they could not, and whose children never gave less than their best effort when it came to school. The Booker Awards honor one student and three community members who are living examples of what the Bookers modeled in their own lives – the value of an education and the obligation one has to make their own community a better place.
Monroe (1921-2006) and Mary (1926-2004) Booker’s 12 children attended Franklin Special School District schools. Affirming their parents’ strong belief in education, all 12 of the Booker children attended college – six of them at Fisk University, two at Vanderbilt, and one each to Harvard University, Spellman College, Tennessee State University and Concordia College. They now lead successful careers in law, social work, civil engineering, banking, teaching and coaching.
This year’s recipients are Mercedez Moore, an 8th grade Freedom Middle School student, and community members Terrance Haynes, Anthony Johnson and Dr. Reggie Mason, all three of whom attended FSSD schools and went on to become school leaders and positive role models for the youth in their community.
The Booker family provides each year’s student recipient with a college scholarship fund, which is endowed each year of high school until graduation.
Freedom Middle School is located at 750 Highway 96 West in Franklin and is part of the Franklin Special School District. The school, under the leadership of Principal Kristi Jefferson, serves approximately 650 seventh- and eighth-grade students.
