Camille Coleman, who helps support children who have been diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, will return to campus on Friday, June 10, as the Commencement speaker at graduation exercises for the Class of 2016.
The graduation ceremony is planned for 5 p.m. in The Grove. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to the Muller auditorium.
When Camille graduated from Abington Friends School in 1996, she knew she wanted to work in the African-American community. Over the years, her career focus sharpened — to working with young people and in the health-care field. Camille is now in her 11th year as a health-education specialist at Drexel University at the Marian Anderson Comprehensive Sickle Cell Care and Research Center at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
She manages a newborn screening hemoglobinopathy follow-up program and a school intervention program, providing comprehensive support for children with the disease. Along with helping the children, she works closely with parent support groups. “It’s rewarding,” Camille said in a phone interview this week. “But it’s a little hard to see the kids having to live with sickle cell.”
After her own graduation from AFS, Camille earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Society from Cornell University in 2000 and a master’s degree in Public Health from Drexel in 2003.
In a visit to AFS in April, she said she saw much that had changed since her school days, and much that remained the same. Camille, who was a Lifer, said she was among only four or five African-American students in her class. In her recent visit, she said she saw much more diversity among the students.
What was unchanged? “When you walk into the Upper School lobby, there was a sense of community there,” she said. “And the faculty is still very much involved in that community.”
Camille also noted the student artworks on display in the hallways. “There is still an emphasis on creativity,” she said.