American Senior High School Honors Class of 2020

MIAMI LAKES, FL — Miami-Dade County Public Schools and American Senior High School are honoring the Class of 2020 to coincide with the school's virtual graduation on June 8.

The school is highlighting four students below who represent the achievements of the entire graduating class.

Trevon Clark

Trevon Clark is a Project Upstart member and is also a triathlete, showing his skills in football, basketball and track. He is a kind, giving, friendly student who is always ready to lend a helping hand. All of this, while facing the fact that his biological mother passed away during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Kelcie Jackson

Kelcie Jackson is an avid golfer and has a love for learning and a philosophy well beyond her years. Her goal is to inspire other students to think beyond the usual sports of basketball, football, and track and take notice of other sports, like the one she is passionate about — golf. She loves golf because it requires not only craft and skill, but thinking. One of few female African-American golfers, Kelcie is excellent at it and has won numerous recognitions and awards for her diligence and skill in the sport. She is an example to all young women and truly embodies greatness.

Dewayne Martin

Dewayne Martin is eloquent, charming, and engaging. He was instrumental in changing the outlook of his middle school community by creating North Miami Middle’s first policy debate team. The following year, after creation, they won the statewide championship in their division. This success led Dewayne to again revive his high school’s policy debate team in 9th grade. In the time since, Dewayne has supported and mentored over 400 of his fellow pupils and won countless awards as well as winning full scholarships, including the POSSE scholarship, to train at summer institutes at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and the University of Michigan.

Jamesh Williams

Jamesh Williams struggled in the third grade and wanted to give up but instead, she pressed forward. She realized her true potential in the fifth grade when she catapulted to greatness. She learned early on that everything happens for a reason. Since then, she has worked hard to not only improve her academics but also get heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Her ability to keep her mind focused and her passion for meeting new people and helping others has rewarded her tremendously throughout her life. She has learned so much throughout her journey. Her journey has also awarded her $150,000 in scholarship funds, which means much more to her than the gold trophies on her dresser.

In an effort to ensure that the Class of 2020 graduates at Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) receive the pomp and circumstance they deserve, the District is holding virtual graduation ceremonies for each high school. The live streaming of each virtual graduation, as well as a schedule of ceremonies and a video archive can be accessed by visiting Classof2020.dadeschools.net. The ceremonies are also televised on WLRN Channel 17.

The virtual commencement ceremonies will be followed by an in-person Class of 2020 celebration at each high school either in the summer or winter, once it is safe to do so under public health guidelines.

In addition to the virtual ceremonies, the District has launched a marketing campaign to highlight outstanding seniors, and invite the community to celebrate graduates on social media using the following hashtags: #MDCPSGrad, #Classof2020, #MeetMDCPSGrads and #SeniorSpotlight.