Halls-Smith Fund

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The Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund Announces the Establishment of First Scholarship Honoring Achievements of METCO Students

1/18/11

Press Release

The Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund Announces the Establishment of First Scholarship Honoring Achievements of METCO Students

The Concord Carlisle Scholarship Fund, the mission of which is to meet unmet financial needamong college‐bound students living in Concord or Carlisle, is pleased to announce theestablishment of the Anthony Halls‐Keenan Smith Scholarship Fund. This scholarship has beenpermanently endowed by Concord‐Carlisle High School alumnus Sam Presti, the currentExecutive Vice President and General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA basketballteam. Presti funded the Halls‐Smith Scholarship in honor of his high school friends, AnthonyHalls and Keenan Smith. Halls and Smith were both participants in the METCO program atConcord‐Carlisle High School, and members of the high school basketball team under CoachJohn McNamara. Presti, who grew up in Carlisle and attended Carlisle public schools, met Hallsand Smith in his freshman year at CCHS when they found themselves teammates on thebasketball team.

The life of a student athlete is one of constant balance of the rigors of their sport and keepingup with their academics. In the case of Halls and Smith, they had to contend with a commuteto and from Boston every day, late nights in Concord for practices and games, and all that timethey also had to keep up their academic performance. It was the unflagging commitment andwork ethic that Halls and Smith demonstrated with respect not just to their chosen sport but toacademics that impressed Presti and has stayed with him. As Presti recalls it, neither Halls norSmith ever complained about getting home at midnight after a game and turning around to getup at 5 a.m. the next morning to head back Concord the next morning. Indeed, they weregrateful for the opportunity that the METCO program afforded them and were determined tomake the most of it.

The Halls‐Smith Scholarship will recognize CCHS METCO graduating seniors who: (1) possesssolid academic and attendance records; and (2) who have demonstrated strong athleticperformance. The first recipient of the Halls‐Smith Scholarship is Kwaku Bosomprah BonsuKwaku, a 2010 graduate of Concord‐Carlisle High School and a participant in the METCOprogram. Kwaku, known to everyone as Obie, will be attending Syracuse University in the fall.He wants to major in Accounting or Marketing with the hope of working in the field of sports.Obie has been a member of the basketball team for four years, the track and field team forthree years and played football for two. Obie has made the most of the opportunities availableto him through the METCO program and CCHS, and he personifies the qualities that are centralto the Halls‐Smith Scholarship.