PNC Bank recently honored three local high school students for their winning entries in an essay contest focusing on how innovation and collaboration are key to the region’s future.
Myrakle Ramirez, a 10th-grader at Rocky Mount High School, was the grand prize winner, and the two runners-up were Kayla Gorham and Rawa Hazin, both 11th-graders at Northern Nash High School.
The contest, open to all high school students in Edgecombe County and Nash-Rocky Mount public schools, called for students to explore the region’s history of entrepreneurship and community collaboration as told through the PNC Legacy Project exhibit at The Imperial Centre and to describe how those themes are important for the region’s future prosperity. The winners were selected by a panel of local community members who specialize in the history of the Twin Counties.
“These students clearly understand the proud accomplishments of our region’s past and are forming ideas for its future success,” said Jim Hansen, PNC regional president. “We hope this initiative has inspired them to engage in community dialogue and to consider returning home after college to strengthen their hometown.”
All three students received iPad minis, and grand prize winner Myrakle Ramirez also received $1,500 for her school and publication of her essay in local newspapers and community centers. The school contribution will be used to purchase calculators.
Ramirez’s essay outlined examples of how the Rocky Mount area overcame challenges such as the Great Depression and Hurricane Floyd through collaboration among business and community leaders and investments in social and economic development. Gorham’s and Hazin’s essays focused on examples of how innovation, entrepreneurship and community partnerships have driven wealth and prosperity in the region.
The PNC Legacy Project launched in 2007 to honor, document and preserve the history of PNC predecessor banks, their employees and the communities they served. The Rocky Mount exhibit honors the history of three predecessor banks founded in Rocky Mount – Planters National Bank, founded in 1899; Peoples Bank & Trust, founded in 1931; and Centura Bank, established in 1990 with the merger of Planters and Peoples. The exhibit features an audio and visual representation of the history of the banks and the region through compelling imagery, historical artifacts and oral histories.
The exhibit is on display in the History Room of the Imperial Centre at 270 Gay Street and is free and open to the public for self-guided tours during facility operating hours.
Originally posted on the Rocky Mount Telegram
