The 2016 annual Awards and Scholarship Gala, Benefiting the Gwendolyn V. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, was held June 5, 2016, at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, Nashville. Vicki Yates, Anchor/Reporter at News Channel 5 Network – WTVF, served as Mistress of Ceremony. Three (3) $1,000 scholarships were given to college students and four (4) Educators and Community leaders were recognized for their leadership and contributions to education. The recipients of the Gwendolyn V. Smith scholarships awarded at the 2016 Gala were; Burunde Buggs, who is attending Tennessee State University, majoring in Physical Education, Ashli-Ann Douglas, a student at Fisk University , where she studies Elementary Education and Allen Amarachukwu Ezigbo, a student at Tennessee State University, an Elementary Education major. The honorees were: Teacher of the Year – Tamela Hendricks, Principal of the Year – Darren Kennedy, Achievement in Higher Education – Dr. Phyllis D. Adams, and Living Legend, Margaret Campbell-Holman.