Destination Hoover International gives out 2023 scholarships

Destination Hoover International, a nonprofit that seeks to foster cultural exchange and relationships between Hoover and people in other countries, recently gave out $2,000 scholarships to students from Hoover and Spain Park high schools.

This year’s scholarship winners are Nena Kimble from Hoover High and Sydney Broderick from Spain Park High.

Kimble, an 18-year-old resident of the Lake Cyrus community, plans to attend Reed College in Portland, Oregon and major in linguistics. She said she wants to help educators develop programs to help children — elementary or younger — learn other languages.

“Language has the power to bring the world together, and I want to help realize that reality,” she said.

Kimble has been part of the International Baccalaureate program at Hoover High as well as the Hoover Juniorettes service club, National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Hoover High Model UN and PEACE Birmingham, a group that seeks to unite African American and Jewish young people. She also has tutored a third grade student at Deer Valley Elementary this year and volunteered at the 2022 World Games. She is the daughter of Lisa Kimble.

Broderick, an 18-year-old resident of the Kirkman Preserve community, plans to attend Mississippi State University and have a double major in Spanish and international business. She said she would like to take language and business skills abroad and bring what she learns back to the Hoover community.

She said she already has been honored to have been given the opportunity to learn more about different cultures in the Birmingham metro area. She works at Slice pizza in Vestavia Hills, where she said the kitchen staff is made up primarily of people with Hispanic or Latino heritage, and they have shared authentic Hispanic food and Latin-American music with her.

Broderick served as vice president of her senior class and president of the DECA (formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America) Club at Spain Park and was in the Hoover Belles service organization, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Business Honor Society and Math Honor Society.

She took five years of Spanish, including one year at Berry Middle School. She is the daughter of Randy and Maria Broderick.

The scholarships from Destination Hoover International were made possible by donations from Jubilee Joe’s Cajun Seafood Restaurant, which provides 5% of the proceeds from its annual Crawfish Festival to DHI.

Since 2018, DHI has been able to give out more than $15,000 in scholarships by partnering with Jubilee Joe’s, said Shelley Shaw, president of the group.

Kash Siddiqui, owner of Jubilee Joe’s, said investing in student scholarships is a great way to give back to the community.