Mathews-Dickey “The Sky Is The Limit” Turns 17

Maritz’s Debbie Schirmer offers the welcome at the Women in Careers Workshop.
Mathews-Dickey VP, PR & Special Events Barbara Washington (front row, lower right) and keynote speaker Susan Wilson Solovic with the 2011 “The Sky is the Limit” scholarship slate.
Author and media executive Charlotte Ottley provides the workshop career presentation.
KTVI Fox 2’s Shirley Washington and Actress Anna Maria Horsford announce the 2011 scholarship winners.
Mathews-Dickey President & CEO Martin Luther Mathews and VP, PR & Special Events Barbara Washington presents flowers to luncheon keynote speaker Susan Wilson Solovic.

The Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club 17th Annual “The Sky is Limit” career-readiness luncheon was a power-packed event on May 6, at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark.  The program was headlined by “Amen” TV star and movie actress Anna Maria Horsford and keynoter Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO and co-founder of Its Your Biz, powered by SBTV.com, and an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, attorney and media personality with Fox 2 and ABC.  Fox 2’s Shirley Washington moderated, as 29 graduating seniors were presented with 1,000 scholarships and 300+ young women from 20 school districts were paired with mentors.

“Often times, our mentors are the only source in fulfilling a mother’s nurturing guidance, the churches’ moral direction and the schools’ over-stretched resources,”  said program founder and Mathews-Dickey VP, PR & Special Events Barbara A. Washington. 

The 2011 scholarship slate included:

DISTRICTS
LaTasha Smith —Belleville
Kelly Haywood —East St. Louis #189
Kristi Strobbe —Ferguson-Florissant
Briona Perry —Francis Howell
Kristen Jones —Hazelwood
Brittany Jones —Kirkwood
Rim Hadgu —Ladue
Brittany Brookins —Lindbergh
Johnita Brown —Normandy
Desiree White —Parkway
Domonique Taylor —Ritenour
LonTisha Farmer —Riverview
Adeola Adewale— University City
Jasmine Ross —Webster Groves

MATHEWS-DICKEY
Dahlia Dyson —Fort Zumwalt West
Ashley Fantroy —Webster Groves
Trudi Gatteys —Lutheran High School North
Emily Hammerman —Ladue Horton Watkins
Sabrina Harris —Hazelwood East
Monyai Chavers McCluer —South Berkeley
Suaddah Irvin —St. Elizabeth Academy
Sunni Johnson —Lutheran North
Taylor Jones— Hazelwood West
Lavetta Lewis —St. Elizabeth’s Academy
Chaquill Merriweather —Gateway Institute
Kimisha Robinson —North County Technical
Kendal Rothschild —Lafayette
Tiffanie Toles —Hazelwood Central

Program  participants hail from Belleville, Cahokia, Clayton, East St. Louis, Ferguson-Florissant, Fort Zumwalt, Francis Howell, Hazelwood, Kirkwood, Ladue, Lindbergh, Normandy, Parkway, Pattonville, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens, Rockwood, St. Louis Public Schools, University City and Webster Groves school districts and several parochial, private and charter schools. 

On April 16, the students converged upon Maritz for the Women in Careers Workshop, where Fox 2 Reporter Bonita Cornute presided.  Remarks were offered by Maritz Community Affairs Manager Debbie Schirmer, City of St. Louis License Collector’s Director/Communications & Special Initiatives, Charlotte Ottley, former Macy’s executive Pam Younger, NV Showroom Owner Nikole Perkins, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch fashion editor Debra Bass.
Breakout seminars were led by successful business executives, entrepreneurs and community leaders: Beyond the Numbers: Accounting Careers, The Communication Professional, Careers in Conservation, The Cost of Cool, Engineering: A Successful Career Path, Hospitality Plus: The Meetings & Events Industry, The International: Global Ways of Doing Business, Keep Them Flying: A Career in Aircraft Training Systems, Money Talk: A Career Spreadsheet, Paging Doctor You, The Scientific Path: Imagination & Innovation and The Verdict: A View of the Legal Profession.

In 17 years, “The Sky is the Limit” has awarded $400,000 in college scholarships and created 4,000 mentor-student pairings.   Major sponsors are Maritz, Anheuser-Busch, BJC HealthCare, Citi, Edward Jones, Ernst & Young and Monsanto.  Honorary chairs are Philanthropists Barbara Brack and Sue Engelhardt, Attorney Virginia Busch, BJC’s Debra Denham, Citi’s Melanie DiLeo, The Monsanto Fund’s Deborah Patterson, and Club Board Members Delores Mars and Dr. Anne Price.