Dohn Community High School and a Story of Becoming
Since 2001, there are thousands of Cincinnati residents with a Dohn a high school diploma. Through the flexible learning environment of Dohn, these students succeed. Dohn stands out as an educational lifeline, and our school is now a pathway to significant life success.
Through sports scholarships, vocational career pathways, our Gifted and Talented Education Program, and most notably, our credit flex programming and therapeutic teacher/student alliances, a Dohn education provides a roadmap to success.
Our most recent success story comes from Prince Dixon and his solidly supportive family. Prince is awarded the phenomenal amount of a $92,000.00 scholarship to the Liberal Arts leader, Wittenberg College, in Springfield, Ohio. Prince graduates in May 2020, and he waits to hear from Wittenberg about two other scholarships that can help cover the cost of his undergraduate education.
A Wittenberg Multi-Cultural scholarship application is in the pipeline, as is an application for one of their Arts scholarships. Prince’s mother, Tonya Dixon, says that with the Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, financial support, and the possibility of these additional scholarships, he will have the cost of his four-year college education covered, and without the burden of graduating college in debt.
At Dohn, they help you; they don’t leave you alone.
Prince’s Story
Prince is at Dohn because of the challenges he faced while at a public and a private high school. He enrolled at Dohn on the suggestion of his sister, Paris, a 2017 Dohn graduate. Paris was in grief over the loss of her maternal uncle, and she needed a small school environment, which Dohn provides. Seeing Paris’s success first hand — she was awarded a $60,000.00 engineering scholarship upon her graduation – Prince enrolled in 2016.
Prince did not always like school. Dohn’s milieu learning environment works to his advantage, in that it allows students to work at their own pace. At Dohn, he says, ”I found out what I like and don’t like.” and shares that he has found a second home at Dohn, because “They help you; they don’t leave you alone.”
A Key Ingredient for Prince’s Success – Strong Family Support
Prince comes from a family that believes in education. Both of his maternal grandparents were college-educated, as is Prince’s mom. Ms. Dixon took time off between her high school education and college, and she was adamant that her children would not take gap years.
Because of this familial influence, Prince started his senior year on a search for scholarships. His long-term goal is to own his own gaming company. He plans to major in computer game design and quantum physics. Prince is a young man who grasps the big picture, and quantum physics supports his expansive world view.
The rest of Prince’s scholarship story demonstrates his ability to grasps the broad view. Before saying yes to Wittenberg’s incredible offer yet, he waits to hear from Morehead State University and The Academy of Arts in San Francisco. Both of those schools are waiting to receive his SAT scores. He is also considering a school closer to home, University of Cincinnati, Blue Ash, for their gaming program.
Prince’s Motivation
Prince likes gaming because there is a high level of acceptance for individuality within the gaming community. In the personal essay section of his college scholarship applications, he shares that gaming interests him because of the creative community it offers people who are lonely, or who experience bullying.
In these essays, Prince shares details about the well-rounded life he leads as a Dohn student. He is on Dohn’s varsity basketball team. Also, he volunteers at one of Cincinnati’s educational support systems, Crayons to Computers. Prince shares that he is “Inspired when I see the dedication of teachers being able to help their students through the free shopping that Crayons to Computers provides.”
Prince is ready to start his college career. He is a wise young man, embraced by a loving and educationally-supportive family that knows what it takes to succeed in higher education.
Why Dohn Succeeds
Dohn has a Gifted and Talented Education Program where students take simultaneous high school and college credits. This program collaborates with Chatfield College and Cincinnati State, and Prince is not part of this educational track. He studies in our Transition Program, which allows high school students credit flex – the ability to work at their own pace to earn a high school diploma. Prince is internally motivated and benefits from strong family support. Dohn celebrates Prince and his outstanding scholarship success. We are eager to follow Prince’s story as it unfolds in the years ahead.
Through 18 years of success, Dohn grew from a school of last resort to a school that helps students find a promising future. As a case in point, we now have a robust Employment Center helping students take career assessment tests. Students also learn how to fill out applications and practice job interviewing skills. Also, this coming Winter Semester, 2020, we offer vocational training pathways in a State Tested Nursing Assistant program, cosmetology and barbering, commercial driving, and culinary arts.
It is not only our visionary leader, Ramone Davenport, his leadership team, our exceptionally skilled teachers, our superstar counselors who help students apply for scholarships, or our dedicated staff who make these opportunities happen. It is also our students, and their families, who shine Dohn’s light. Students like Prince show other Dohn students what is possible when all they can see is an asphalt jungle. Dohn is deeply proud of Prince Dixon and his family, for Prince’s scholarship success, and his exemplary example of what is possible when youth claim their dreams as real and achievable.