In honor of famed Colorado Springs entrepreneur Fannie Mae Duncan, Educating Children of Color chose “Everybody Welcome” as the theme for its 17th annual summit.

The education super-seminar, held Saturday at Colorado College, featured dozens of classroom sessions, workshops and presentations for students and adults.

“The theme encapsulates the idea that we are all valued, that we all have a place,” said Cynthia Jacquet, ECOC’s board president. “’Children of Color’ may be part of our name, but this is for every child. Because every child is important.”

For adult educators, the summit serves as an opportunity to network, strategize and share ideas. Students gained exposure to a variety of educational topics, from robotics, to college applications, to SAT prep.

Some students, like Deshaun Hill, were simply there for the fun of it.

“I’ve been coming here since I was in middle school. I love the culture,” said Hill, a senior at Harrison High School. “I just came here to have fun, learn new things and be inspired. I really love what they do here.”

Candelora Dionisio, a Harrison High School senior, said the summit offered a rare opportunity to connect with students from nearly every district in the Colorado Springs area.

“I love hearing different perspectives from kids in other districts,” said Dionisio, a student member of the District 2 school board. “I also love the different lectures they have going on.”

Dionisio and Hill were two of about 60 Harrison District 2 students in attendance on Saturday.

“The summit is a valuable experience for our students,” said Harrison Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel. “We bring kids here by the busload.”

Event coordinators work at making the each summit experience bigger and more diverse than the last. Among this year’s offerings were classroom sessions on online safety, first aid, immigration, safe driving, engineering and more.

“I even got to take a cooking class, which was really fun,” said Palmer High School junior Ruby Atherton.

Kimberly Dickman, a professor at the Air Force Academy, held a workshop called “The Power to Protect Ourselves.”

“We know that sexual assault is a very real danger for young women in college,” Dickman said. “So this class was about doing what we can to reduce the risk.”

The workshop combined physical self-defense tactics — based on martial arts — with frank discussions about risk reduction, situational awareness and bucking stereotypes.

“If you’re male and you stand up for yourself, that’s considered manly,” Dickman said. “If you do the same thing as a woman, then you’re considered ‘bitchy.’ And that’s something that’s ingrained in us from when we are small. We had some really productive discussions about that.”

Attendance was slightly lower than expected, chiefly because of single-digit temperatures, but hundreds of students, educators and child welfare professionals braved the cold for the event, officials said.

“We knew we were going to take a hit because of the weather,” said Jacquet, Sierra High School’s assistant principal. “But the auditoriums were full, the sessions were full and the kids were just on fire. They seemed to really love being here.”

The day’s final event was the long-awaited scholarship and award ceremony, held at CC’s Reid Arena.

“I had a lot of fun talking to people and hearing lectures,” said Atherton, 16. “But I was really looking forward to the end of the day, when they awarded the scholarships.”

For most of the scholarships, students were required to fill out an application and, in some cases, write an essay. Atherton submitted a stop-motion animated video, she said.

“I didn’t think it was very good, but they must have liked it,” said Atherton, who was awarded a $10,000 STEAM scholarship.

All told, dozens of scholarships worth a total of $100,000 were granted, along with $500 educational gifts, King Soopers cards and 22 laptop computers.

“This is going to give me a real boost,” said Carlos Ruiz, a UCCS student who received a $2,000 scholarship.

Since ECOC’s 2007 inception, the nonprofit has granted more than $600,000 in scholarships and educational gifts, officals said.

“But we do a lot more than just hand out money,” Jacquet said. “We’re inspiring kids and setting them up for success.”

Ruby Atherton, above, and Carlos Ruiz were among dozens of scholarship recipients at Educating Children of Color’s annual summit on Saturday.

O’Dell Isaac, The Gazette