DuPage County ACT-SO Shines at 2025 NAACP National ACT-SO Competition

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recognized nine DuPage County ACT-SO students at the 48th Annual National ACT-SO Awards Ceremony. The event was held on Sunday, July 13th, at the Charlotte North Carolina Convention Center and included more than 600 students from across the country.

Established in 1978 by journalist Vernon Jarrett, the National ACT-SO program has influenced approximately 300,000 youth in over 200 communities throughout the United States, providing a significant platform for cultivating future leaders.

ACT-SO offers structured mentorship and exposure across an extensive range of disciplines, supporting African American high school students in their pursuit of academic and professional achievement. The program features competitions in 33 categories, under the broad headings of STEM, Business, Culinary Arts, Humanities, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts. Local gold medalists progress to the national competition to contend for awards and prizes. Through its sustained commitment to youth development, ACT-SO continues to deliver significant opportunities for high school students across the country.

DuPage County is one of the most respected and longstanding ACT-SO programs, offering an intensive seven-month enrichment experience designed to equip high school students for top-tier competition and academic success. Through professional mentorship, college and career guidance, and robust preparation for contest events, the program cultivates academic excellence and cultural pride while empowering African American students to reach their highest potential.

About DuPage County ACT-SO

Established in 1979, DuPage County ACT-SO provides African American youth with enrichment programming that builds leadership, academic excellence, and cultural growth, helping to prepare the next generation of future innovators and changemakers.

A cornerstone of the program is the belief that African American students are supremely talented and deserve access to the highest quality resources to develop their innate gifts, interests and abilities.

This year, DuPage County ACT-SO students demonstrated exceptional performance, earning ten medals, the highest number awarded among all participating programs. Dr. Leslie Ford, Chair of the DuPage County ACT-SO program, remarked, “The outstanding achievements of our students at the 2025 National Competition reflect their unwavering dedication and perseverance. These results highlight our organization's ongoing commitment to developing future leaders who embody hard work and excellence.”

The 2025 DuPage County ACT-SO national medalists are:

• Delia Akyea – Oswego East High School (12th grade). (Silver medal- Earth & Space Science); Project Title: “Soil Monitoring: Using Arduino Technology to Monitor Soil Moisture, pH, and CO2 Levels with Agricultural Contaminants.”
• Chandler Brady – Timothy Christian School (11th grade). (Gold medal- Chemistry/ Biochemistry); Project Title: “A Way of Anesthetic Drug Discovery: Optimizing the Pharmaceutical Drug Research/Testing.”
• Ryann Dawson – Fenwick High School (11th grade). (Gold medal- Poetry Performance); Performance Title: “Countdown”.
• Edward Mason – Neuqua Valley High School (11th grade). (Bronze- Medicine and Health); Project Title: “Decoding TBI Recovery: Unveiling the Promise of Blood-Based Biomarkers in Neural Repair.”
• Tiffany Tyus – Waubonsie Valley High School (11th grade). (Gold Medal- Music Instrumental: Contemporary); Performance Title: “Spain by Chick Corea. (Bronze Medal- Music Instrumental: Classical); Performance Title: “Piano Sonata No. 50 in D-Major written by Franz Joseph Haydn.”
• Caleb Wallace – Bolingbrook High School (11th grade). (Gold Medal- Filmmaking); Project Title: "I Must Confess…"
• Amber Weatherspoon – Niles North High School (11th grade). (Silver Medal - Computer Science); Project Title: “Comparing Conventional and Sparse Convolutional Neural Networks in Brain Tumor Classification.”
• Ashley Weatherspoon – Niles North High School (11th grade). (Gold Medal- Mathematics); Project Title: “Statistical Analysis Approach to Investigate Mortality Trends and Underlying Causes in the U.S.”
• Amerah Wheat – Neuqua Valley High School (9th Grade). (Gold Medal- Engineering); Project Title: “Preventing Hypoglycemia in Diabetes: Automated Glucose Dispensing Using GlucoFlow.”

Chandler Brady demonstrated exceptional achievement by earning the gold medal in Chemistry for the third consecutive year. Similarly, Ryann Dawson received national recognition by securing the gold medal in Poetry Performance for the second year in a row.

The ongoing success of the DuPage County ACT-SO program is made possible through vital partnerships with Argonne National Laboratory, b.unity, Bolingbrook High School, Fermilab, and the Valley View School District. The program's sustainability is ensured by support from the Alpha Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago Chapter of The Drifters, Incorporated, First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Crane Fund for Widows and Children, Exelon, Glen Ellyn Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Honeywell International Charity, Sisters with a Mission, West Suburban Chicago Chapter of the Top Ladies of Distinction, and the West Towns (IL) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

DuPage County ACT-SO is an all-volunteer organization. For media inquiries or more information about volunteering and upcoming registration dates for the 2025-2026 program year, please visit our website at www.dupageact-so.org.