Pilot lands children’s book in hands of third graders
December 12, 2018Speaker salutes mentors during scholarship banquet
Andre Lewis stood quiet and motionless for a moment Friday night as he gazed out over the crowd of more than 150 people gathered in Mississippi University for Women”s Hogarth Dining Hall.
Lewis, a United States Air Force pilot for more than 20 years and author of five children”s” books, seemed to momentarily cast aside his long list of achievements in order to lift up a group of about 20 middle and high school students.
“I have to take a pause for a minute, because it”s not often that I get to come back home and say thank you,” said Lewis, a Columbus native who now lives in Memphis, Tenn. “So many people out there don”t realize the potential and the talent that Columbus, Miss. has.”
Moments before Lewis took the stage Friday night during the 100 Black Men of Columbus and the Golden Triangle”s Ninth Annual Scholarship Banquet, members of the organization presented a group of about 20 local middle and high school students selected as 100 Black Men protégés.