When Romules Durant was given $10,000 in scholarship money for being named the 2024 Urban Educator of the Year at the Council of the Great City Schools’ Fall Conference in October, the decision was easy about what type of student should get the money.“We knew that we wanted the money to go to students who want to become educators,” says the CEO/Superintendent of Toledo Public Schools. “These recipients give me such hope for the future of education because of their passion and their commitment to teaching future students.”

Since Durant is a graduate of Waite High School, one of the district’s six traditional high schools, applications from seniors were sought from those schools. Students had to submit their transcripts, a list of their extracurricular and volunteer activities, letters of recommendation, and personal essays about their future plans.

A committee of administrators and educators, including Mona Al-Hayani, the Council’s 2024 Queen Smith Award winner, unanimously chose Jermel Bolden, Jr. from Waite High School (Durant’s alma mater) and Nathan Sadowski from Start High School to each receive a $5,000 Green-Garner scholarship.

Jermel has had a busy time in high school, serving as Student Council vice president, junior class vice president, president of the Waite choir program, and the captain and choreographer of the Show Choir Dance team. He is also in the top 10 percent of his class.

Scott Biggs, Waite High’s assistant principal of curriculum, praised Jermel for his academic success and his extracurricular activities and added, “On top of all of these great achievements, Jermel is a very kind person who helps make Waite High School a positive environment for all stakeholders.”

Jermel wrote in his scholarship essay that he was going down a bad path in his early years in high school after losing his father in 2020. It was the music program at Waite that changed his life, he shared.“I plan to become a choir director and make a positive impact on others the same way my choir [directors] did for me,” Jermel wrote. “This newfound happiness is what sparked the idea that I might want to pursue a career in music. I wanted to see other people experience this same love for music and what it can do for them.”

Jermel plans to attend Bowling Green State University in the fall.

Nathan holds a part-time job at a bowling alley but found time in his high school career to compete in sports, work at the concession stand, and play the trombone.

“I have witnessed Nathan model the fundamental qualities of a quality educator,” wrote Brittany Sanders, a veteran intervention specialist who has known Nathan his entire life. “Nathan is kind, compassionate, and always willing to step in when needed.”

In his essay, Nathan says he will be a first-generation college student who has “an unshakeable passion for history and teaching, aspiring to become a social studies teacher.”He wrote, “Teaching is not a profession for me; it is a vocation that grew out of my passion for history and my eagerness to influence the future generation positively. The study of the past is the foundation for a better future, and I would like to motivate students with engaging lessons that make history come alive and are fun.”

Nathan plans to attend Lourdes University in Sylvania (a suburb of Toledo) to earn his degree.

The Green-Garner Scholarship, sponsored by the Council and Scholastic Inc., honors the nation’s top urban educator at the Council’s Annual Fall Conference. The winner presents the $10,000 scholarship to students in their school district.