Demeka Breedlove-Mays is two for two when it comes to raising successful kids. Her son, Anthony Mays II, just graduated as valedictorian with a 4.93 GPA from Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology in Conyers, Georgia.
Anthony is following in the footsteps of his equally successful sister, Chyna, who graduated two years ago from the same high school as valedictorian with a 4.91 GPA.
The dedicated mom said that she and her husband had always planned for the two to be academically advanced but could not have expected things to turn out as well as they did.
“Our secret is that we had a plan for them since birth and followed it. Admittedly, the Ivy league or top 5 schools were not a part of the initial plan," Breedlove-Mays told Because Of Them We Can.
"We just wanted them to attend great schools on full rides."
Chyna won a $10,000 scholarship from Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities in 2017 and decided to attend Stanford after receiving tons of offers from the best schools in the country.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity. It’s very rewarding to see all my hard work from high school pay off, and I am honored to have been awarded this scholarship. I know that through this scholarship I will be able to gain even more opportunities in college,” Chyna said in an interview with The Rockdale Newton Citizen.
“I just couldn’t picture myself anywhere else.”
Her brother has decided to join her at Stanford and will start in the fall. She is a junior studying bioengineering and he plans to focus on management science-engineering, mathematics and Mandarin. Both received offers from most Ivy League schools and other top institutions across the country.
"We told her what it would take and what she needed to do to work for it," their mother said.
Breedlove-Mays says she and her husband met at Florida A&M University and have long believed deeply in providing their children with the best education possible. Both Anthony and Chyna attended after school programs and development courses that went through the summer.
"We were the first in our families to graduate high school and go to college. We encouraged and helped our younger siblings to apply and go to college. We made education a priority in our family because we were determined that our generation would change our families' histories," Breedlove-Mays said.
"We wanted our children to make quantum leaps in education and in life to further advance the trajectory of our family.”