REMEMBER THE WINNERS: McCormick Unsung Heroes Award winners Erin Workmeister (left) of Notre Dame Prep and Kevin Kikola (right) of Patapsco flank former T.C. Williams football coach Herman Boone, whose the subject of the Walt Disney motion pitcture, "Remember The Titans." Workmeister and Kikola were the recepients of $36,000 each toward their college educations after hearing Boone, the guest speaker, deliver an inspiration speech to a large crowd at Marriott's Hunt Valley in on Monday night.
(See video interviews below)
Erin Workmeister, a member of the Notre Dame Prep girls basketball team, and Kevin Kikola, a versatile yet undersized member of the Patapsco football team, were chosen the winners of the 68th annual McCormick Unsung Heroes Awards on Monday night at the Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn.
As the 60th and 61st recepients of the Charles Perry McCormick Awards, both Workmeister, who will attend Salisbury University with an eye toward majoring in physical therapy, and Kikola, who is headed for the University of Maryland as an engineering major, will receive $36,000 scholarships toward their college educations.
Each is a student whose grade point average stands above a 3.8 average.
Before being bestowed with the awards, the two athletes were treated to guest speaker Herman Boone, who addressed them as well as the large audience that included the other 117 awards candidates from the 73 Baltimore area public, parochial and independent schools.
Boone is the retired football coach of the T.C. Williams High School Titans whose story was told in the Disney movie, "Remember The Titans," one which chronicled the racial tension of the early 1970s that greeted him as he merged three, previously segregated schools and turned them into a championship squad of unified white and black players.
Boone was joined at the banquet by former players Julius "Big Ju" Campbell, Kerry Lundin and Darryl "Blue" Stanton.
"All of my life has been spent trying to make a difference," Boone told the members of the audience. "I challenge each and every one of of you to do the same."