DCCCD Foundation Awards Students Who Excel in Art, Music and Writing

3/10/04

2004 Recipients

(Dallas) - They study, they write; they sing, paint and sculpt. They also have jobs, commute and face the challenges of daily life. A dedicated group of 15 students from the Dallas County Community College District will be recognized for its talent and skills by the DCCCD Foundation on Fri., March 26, during a special program that will showcase each student's gift. The event will be held at El Centro College, beginning with a musical presentation from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. in the performance hall, followed by a noon luncheon, poetry reading and art exhibit in room C-100, El Centro's main dining room.

Each year, the Cecil Wallace Fordham Memorial Award in Visual Arts, the Alice Jones Berding Memorial Award in Music and the Eleanor Jones Award in Creative Writing are given to students from DCCCD's seven colleges who excel in art, music and creative writing. All three awards are funded through endowments administered by the DCCCD Foundation.

Each outstanding student receives a cash award of $400, made possible by gifts from the Jones family. The general public is invited to attend the morning concert or to view the visual arts exhibit after 1:30 p.m.

The Cecil Wallace Fordham Award in Visual Arts, made possible with a gift from Fordham's daughter, Eleanor Fordham Jones, and her family, was created to remember Mr. Fordham's love of visual beauty. The following students, who must be enrolled in the visual arts field at one of DCCCD's campuses, will receive that award: Grant MacManus, Brookhaven College; Jessica Norrod, Cedar Valley College; Saranna Yuthiwattana, Eastfield College; Jackie Lewis, El Centro College; Bart Hubbard, Mountain View College; Jena Rushing, North Lake College; and Joemaine Perry, Richland College.

The Alice Jones Berding Award in Music, made possible with a gift from Berding's late brother, George Rather Jones, honors Ms. Berding's years of teaching in the Dallas schools as a piano instructor and as a private teacher as well. Awardees must be enrolled in music, and preference is given to students who are studying piano. The recipients are: Jessica Bracks, Brookhaven College; Cesar Jesus Anguiano, Cedar Valley College; Jaime Casarez, Eastfield College; Juan Medrano, El Centro College; Luis Rodriguez, Mountain View College; Doo Hyun Baek, North Lake College; and Hyunjoon Park, Richland College.

The Eleanor Jones Award for Creative Writing was established in 2002 by Mr. Jones' sons, daughter and grandchildren to honor her birthday. The award is presented annually to an outstanding student who excels in the composition of prose or poetry at one of the seven DCCCD colleges which offers creative writing. This year's winner, Lucien Rene Nanton, will recite a selection of his works.

"Through these scholarships, we honor the lives of Alice Jones Berding, Eleanor Jones, and Cecil Wallace Fordham," said Betheny Reid, executive director of the DCCCD Foundation. "Their dedication to music and the visual arts survives in the work and dreams of 15 outstanding students. Gifts such as these are a lasting legacy honoring both the benefactors and recipients."

Fordham, born in Ohio, was a mechanical engineer who worked in the automotive industry for 40 years for both General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. In his spare time, he enjoyed building furniture and appreciated the creations of others. He also was involved in a number of major engineering projects during his career, including the construction of the Alaskan Highway in early World War II. Fordham earned the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and also served on active duty as a sergeant during that war. When he died in 1962, he left one daughter, Eleanor Fordham Jones, and seven grandchildren.

Mrs. Jones and her husband, the late George Rather Jones, awarded the first Alice Jones Berding Memorial Award in Music in 1977, in honor of Mr. Jones' sister. Mrs. Jones, her children and her grandchildren continue to attend the awards ceremony each year. The first Cecil Wallace Fordham Memorial Awards in Visual Arts was given in 1979.

"Mrs. Jones has a great heart," added Reid. "She is a wonderful example of a person who gives back to the community, and she is one of the first of our long-time donors who gave to the Rising Star scholarship program. Donors like Mrs. Jones inspire others to give." Her son, Robert Jones, is a member of the DCCCD Foundation's board of directors.