I believe that knowledge can change the world. Education provides access to a fulfilling life. We owe our young people the opportunity to excel academically.
The Flossie M. Cannady Scholarship
I started the Cannady Scholarship in 1985 as a way to recognize the African-American male and female student with the highest GPA in their graduating class at Clayton High School in Clayton, North Carolina. The scholarship is named and given in honor of Mrs. Flossie M. Cannady, a life long educator in the public schools of Johnston County.
Mrs. Cannady taught when the schools were segregated but never allowed separate but unequal education to diminish her expectation of academic and personal excellence of her students. Mrs. Cannady was a strong advocate for quality education. I spent two years under her guidance and tutelege in the sixth and seventh grades at Cooper School and was forever changed by her belief in my potential. The scholarship is a small way to acknowledge this wonderful woman and to "pay it forward".
