Shady Side Academy senior Angel Andrews will receive the 2017 Spirit of Unity Award on Monday, Jan. 16, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast at La Roche College in the North Hills.

Andrews earned the award, a $1,000 college scholarship, for her work to support and engage her peers. She is a member of SSA's Diversity Leadership Council, Black Student Union and GlobalFest Committee, and she attended the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Atlanta in December 2016. In addition, Andrews created a peer tutoring program with FAME (Fund for Advancement of Minorities through Education) to help her peers with their studies.

She shared, "This award and scholarship legitimizes the work I've been doing in my community. This award motivates me to keep pushing forward with peace, strive for justice and most importantly to continue to love first. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. showed us that love itself is a revolutionary act and that when you love first, unity comes right along with it."

Criteria for the Spirit of Unity scholarship mandates that students act as an agent of change for racial or social justice, that they embody the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and that they live or attend school in northern Allegheny County.

Senior School health teacher John Cappa nominated Andrews for the award and said, "Angel is making a profound contribution both in and out of the classroom at Shady Side Academy. An excellent student and strong leader, Angel's strong inner voice and assured sense of self stands out."

The award is sponsored by the North Hills Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast Committee, a group that consists of members from AARP, American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition, North Hills Community Outreach, North Hills Ebony Women Inc., Pittsburgh North People for Peace, Sisters of Divine Providence and the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Center for Race and Gender Equity.

Congratulations, Angel!