Greendale Student Wins MCTS Rosa Parks Scholarship

GREENDALE, WI — A Greendale High School student won a $1000 scholarship for an essay she submitted to the 2nd annual Milwaukee County Transit System Rosa Parks Tribute Scholarship essay competition.

Paris Wooden's essay was selected out of 102 submissions from 26 high schools across Milwaukee County, according to an MCTS news release. MCTS announced the winners on Feb. 4, Rosa Parks' birthday.

The second annual contest welcomed high school seniors who will attend a trade school, college or university to submit a short essay inspired by Parks' quote: "Each person must live their life as a model for others."

Wooden's essay, who was inspired not only by Rosa Parks but also by her late fathers work as a Milwaukee Police Department lieutenant, the news release says, has a goal of leading and advancing African American and Ethnic studies regardless of what major she chooses as she seeks to become a first-generation college graduate.

"We have the power to be a positive influence," Wooden told TMJ4 news.

Parks, who was arrested in December of 1955 because she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery Alabama to a white man, helped to spark a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed public transportation segregation. MCTS honors parks each year on December 1 by reserving a seat on every bus for her.

“I was struck by the very moving essays and the heartfelt stories each student shared. It made the decision-making process very challenging,” Donna Brown-Martin, director of the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation, said in the news release.