Girls Inc. honors fabulous five, plus one

DANVERS – Five Lynn girls, all standout members of Girls Inc., received national and local college scholarships Thursday during a luncheon honoring their achievements.The event at the Danversport Yacht Club, themed “Dream Big and Bold”, was highlighted by the appearance of Keisha Nash Whitaker, a Girls Inc. alumna, mother of three, model, entrepreneur and wife of actor Forest Whitaker, who was also present.Click here to view a photo gallery of the Girls Inc. LuncheonThe National Girls Inc. scholarship for $2,500 went to Wiselene Dorceus, a Classical High School senior, and to Lise A. Wagnac, a senior at St. Mary’s High School.Another National Girls Inc. scholarship for $15,000 went to Jacklyn Crowley, a member of the Classical High School junior class.Girls Inc. of Lynn gave its $2,000 Girl Hero Award to Samantha Soto, a Classical High School senior, and to Andrea Idusuyi, a member of the St. Mary’s High School senior class.For Wagnac, the scholarship was the culmination of a personal sea change. As she put it, “Two and a half years ago, I lacked direction and was on the verge of following the wrong crowd. Thanks to Girls Inc., I was able to redirect myself with new goals.”Wagnac became an active member of the Substance Abuse Prevention Program and La Verdad at Girls Inc., while at St. Mary’s High School she emerged as a City Lab Scholar at Boston University and remains active in her youth group. She has been selected for a summer internship program at Harvard Medical School as part of a cancer research. Wagnac said she plans to earn a doctorate in molecular biology as well as become a medical doctor, specifically a pediatrician. “I am no longer the girl I once was,” she said.Dorceus has been active in many Girls Inc. programs, including Part of the Solution and the Substance Abuse Prevention Program. A member of the student council and a varsity cheerleader at Classical High School, she has been accepted at Denison University in Ohio as a participant in the Posse scholarship program.The Posse scholarship program provides students with a four-year paid tuition and puts them into groups of 10-12 students from their home state.Dorceus quoted Oprah Winfrey during her acceptance speech: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”Girls Inc. was instrumental in providing both, taking over each day where school left off, broadening her horizons and expanding her dreams. “Ignorance is no longer an excuse,” she said, making it clear she plans to return to Lynn someday as an inspirational success story.Crowley, a longtime Girls Inc. member, has actively participated in the School-Age child care program and volunteered over 90 hours of community service as part of the high school’s Volunteer Club. Girls Inc. helped spark her interest in mathematics and science and she plans on majoring in math or marine biology in college.”Receiving the scholarship was a big accomplishment and I felt like my hard work and perseverance had paid off,” said Crowley. “Girls Inc. has helped me to become bold by giving me the confidence to try new things, be persistent and keep trying whenever I meet a challenge.”Crowley said she was six years old when she first entered Girls Inc. “I would not be who or where I am today without it,” she said.Four years ago, Soto joined Girls Inc. as a member of its Odyssey group. She was in the eighth grade. She has since become an active member of the Sister-to-Sister program and the Teen Health Ambassadors program. A member of the Classical High School track team, she was nominated to attend the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Power Summit youth conference. Soto said she plans to study speech and language pathology in the fall at either Marymount Manhattan College or St. John’s University.Soto described herself as a formerly quiet and shy girl who, through Girls Inc., learned to break out of her turtle-like shell. “Girls Inc. has become my home,” she said.Idusuyi has had similar experiences at Girls Inc. and in her pursuits