The STEAM Bus project is finally underway after delays due to the pandemic: Mrs. Leslie’s science classes @ GES-Gordonsville Elementary School enjoyed time on the STEAM bus learning about food webs in ecosystems. They did a great job building energy pyramids!
Introducing our 2021 Yohan Abraham Memorial Scholars @ Middle Tennessee State University
This year we awarded two scholarships of 5000 USD each to two juniors in Accounting @ MTSU. Both have very impressive resumes and we are delighted to share their stories and aspirations with you!.
The Yohan Abraham Scholarship!
This memorial plaque hangs on the wall in the Department of Accounting office @ MTSU.
Grace Smith, Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipient
Grace Smith went to school at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Tennessee participating on the soccer team. While in school, she worked diligently at Chick-fil-A since she was 15 and continues to work there full-time as a supervisor for the 5:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. shift.
Working full-time and attending school full-time, Grace enrolled at Cumberland University, a local private college, then Volunteer State Community College where she earned her Associates Degree. Seeking more opportunities, she transferred to MTSU as a marketing major. She really loved Dr. Sarah Garven’s Principles of Accounting I course and with Sarah’s persuasion changed her major to accounting. Grace was no stranger to accounting as her mother works in accounting for PFG. An outstanding junior, Grace is enrolled in Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting currently.
Grace attended Elliott Davis’s Summer Leadership Program “Energize” last summer and was offered a full-time internship in audit for Summer 2022.
Grace loves how accounting builds on each topic and says Professor Rebecca Foote is her favorite as she is very helpful and personable. She really likes MTSU and appreciates that everyone is so helpful and wants you to get a job.
Grace has another responsibility this year – planning for a September wedding! Her fiancé is a construction apprentice and will be going into MTSU’s acclaimed Construction Management Program in the future.
Congratulations Grace on your Yohan Abraham Scholarship!
Cierra Thomas, Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipient
Cierra Thomas grew up in Woodbury, Tennessee and went to school at Cannon County High School. In high school she was involved in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) which turned into Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). She participated in enterprise competitions in New York City and Pigeon Forge, TN. Her group developed an internet business called Freedom Trail Outfitters where they served as an intermediary for high quality camping gear. She also worked in a bakery and waited tables at a local restaurant which has since closed due to the pandemic.
She is currently interning at a local Murfreesboro CPA firm, Grannis & Associates, since August and works about 20 weekly hours. She is excited about the upcoming busy season and says they have been preparing her well.
Cierra started MTSU as a business administration major. She really loved Jacobs Chair Tom Walker’s Principles of Accounting I course and with Tom’s persuasion changed her major to accounting. An outstanding junior, Cierra is enrolled in Intermediate Accounting II and Accounting Information Systems currently.
Cierra likes accounting for its organization, numbers and detail-orientation. She also likes the variety of opportunities it provides.
Cierra is very involved in community service. She helps her mom a lot who is employed by Murfreesboro City Schools, with her church group distributing baskets for the elderly and with community groups that help provide assistance to domestic violence victims.
Congratulations Cierra on your Yohan Abraham Scholarship!
Yay!. The STEAM Bus has been inaugurated!
We've got great news to share! The STEAM bus project we undertook a while back was finally inaugurated by Smith County for students in summer classes! The project adoption had been delayed by Covid-19 and other setbacks, but we are happy to share pictures of this fun mobile classroom and lab at work this summer, providing Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics education in Smith County School District, in TN. These are your donations hard at work and we are humbled by the generosity of all who donated! . It is truly our mission to promote STEM education in Smith County School District, where Yohan lived. Thank you to all of our supporters for making this possible and thank you Ms. Angel W. and Ms.Kristi W. of Smith County School District for making this happen!
“Yesterday the younger grades did a "fossil dig" and learned about archaeology. Today my students learned about vital signs and how to take blood pressure.” - Mandy Uhles @ Forks River Elementary School
2020 MTSU Scholarship recipients →
This year the award ceremony at MTSU was conducted remotely via you tube. Two Accounting students earned the Yohan Abraham Memorial Scholarship to continue their educations. They are:-
Daniel K. Diaz-McFarland Junior in the Accounting Program at MTSU
Lillia G. Hendrickson Senior in the Accounting Program at MTSU
Lillia G. Hendrickson was last years Junior scholarship recipient. Both are also ROTC cadets at MTSU. Click here for the brief student “thank you” video featuring a few grateful scholarship recipients.
Jones College also created a video scholarship recognition that you can view by clicking here. Each scholarship is announced along with the recipient’s name. The Yohan Abraham Memorial Scholarships are announced around 9:42. The recipients also receive a printed certificate and Yohan’s bio.
Introducing Daniel Diaz-McFarland
The STEAM Bus project
We were making good progress on the STEAM bus before the pandemic hit. Presently schools are closed and all work at a standstill. However we were able to get the bus wrapped and ready. The interior wiring work is remaining. Hopefully life will get back to normal soon and we will have the bus ready for AY 2020-21
2019 Yohan Abraham Foundation Newsletter
One more year has gone by since we lost our precious Yohan. However, we did not let this time pass without pushing a little harder and a little stronger on the work that Yohan Abraham foundation is involved in and the causes close to his heart. We report to you in our enclosed newsletter; our humble efforts and fruits of our labor for 2019.
Recently one of Yohan's supervisors remarked to me, when i thanked him for his ongoing support to our cause year after year: "Those of us who knew Yohan will never forget him". In that instant, I understood what service unto others means: Why our young men and women go and join our armed forces in service of their country and do great things for us.
It is about soldiering on, to make right the injustices that have crept in to our world, to even the playing field so others get their fair share as we have. To never forget our countless blessings, our departed loved ones, our fellow citizens of this planet. This is how ordinary folks can achieve extraordinary results!.
Recipients of the 2019 Yohan Abraham memorial scholarship
For the academic year 2019-2020 we awarded two scholarships of five thousand each to a junior and senior in the accounting program at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). The senior recipient was Areez Sadiki who was the recipient of the junior scholarship last year. She continued to impress her professors with her hard work and excellence leading them to reward her this year with the same scholarship. Our junior recipient this year is Lillia Hendrickson. She is a scholar in the accounting department and a cadet with the ROTC (Army). We are delighted the accounting department decided to award the scholarship to her. A $5,000 scholarship is one of the largest given to an MTSU student. Over 90%of MTSU students receive some sort of financial aid so an opportunity for this kind of help is not taken lightly.
The Department of Accounting awards several much smaller scholarships each year to applicants in February for the following academic year. We encourage all accounting majors to apply and try to reward each capable student. A committee of Department of Accounting faculty members review the applications looking for potential professional success, financial need and community service. For the Yohan Abraham Scholarship, the committee tries to find a military veteran that is involved in the community. If no veterans are in the pool, the committee looks for the next applicant who has made the most significant contribution in community service with the greatest academic achievements. We have also been fortunate to make two awards the past two years – Blake Hise in 2017 and Areez Sadiki in 2018. Both students are paying their way through college. Blake is now a graduate assistant in the Master of Accountancy program, and has accepted a tax position with Ernst & Young in the Fall of 2019. Areez is a highly recruited student who will soon be seeking internships.
Lillia Hendrickson with Elizabeth and Mandy from YAF
Areez Sadiki with Cathy from YAF
Our Foundation Newsletter for 2018 →
Here is our newsletter for 2018. In it you will find a summary of the years activities and all who contributed. A very big thank you to Mandy, Jeannie, Melinda, Cathy, Stefan and Elizabeth who helped put together this news letter.
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