At the May 21 School Board meeting, Superintendent Charlotte Placide recognized Devin Guillory (in the photo with his mother Jacquetta Guillory, far left, and Placide, middle), a senior at McKinley Magnet High School, for her Superintendent’s Ambassador Award. 

He received a full-ride scholarship to Stanford University.  This total $171,160 scholarship, plus a $20,000 National Coca-Cola Scholarship, will make it possible for Guillory to pursue a career in Electrical Engineering.  Also helping him with his pursuit of a college degree is a $20,000 scholarship from the Shell Oil Corporation. 

Although he couldn’t accept them all, Guillory was eligible for more than $1.5 million in total academic scholarships – including Harvard College ($166,200) and other top-tier schools (for example, Cornell University $170,000, Carnegie Mellon $161,000, Georgia Tech $62,000, Florida A&M $109,250 and University of Oklahoma $87,000, among others).  This includes the recent $15,000 SAMMY Milk Moustache USA Today Award, half of which goes to McKinley High School, with a free trip and recognition at DisneyWorld.

When not assisting with the care of his older brother Ryan, who is paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident, Guillory is active in the community.  As a member of Bethany World Prayer Center and its 220 Youth group, he often helps hand out Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts to the needy in his neighborhood.  He also volunteers with the Hermitage Homeowners Association for area clean-ups, and he has worked as a volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul and Here Today Gone Tomorrow charity stores. 

In addition, Guillory gives back to the East Baton Rouge Parish School System community by serving as a volunteer aide for an Advanced Math teacher at Buchanan Elementary School, where he works with fifth-grade math students. He also helps with various school site clean-ups during the year. 

Guillory quickly surpassed the math offerings at McKinley High School and began taking courses at Louisiana State University (LSU).  He tutored McKinley High School and LSU students in math to pay for his LSU classes. 

However, he always made it back from his LSU classes in time for football and track practice at McKinley High School.  An outside linebacker in football, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Guillory has been getting the once over by college football scouts this year.  Not only does he have a GPA of just under 5.0, but also runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds.