Canton Public Schools' Faculty Member Naomi Akan Earns United States Citizenship

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

May 20, 2021

CANTON — Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller is pleased to announce that the District celebrated Lt. Peter M. Hansen Elementary School faculty member Naomi Akan during a special ceremony Friday, May 14 after she earned her United States citizenship.

At the ceremony, Akan was joined by State Sen. Walter Timilty and State Rep. William Galvin who honored her with citations from the Senate and House in recognition of her path to citizenship. Akan was originally born in Nigeria before moving to Ottawa, Canada at a young age with her family and then Toronto, Canada as a young adult.

Since having moved to Canton, Akan has taken part in numerous diversity groups such as Canton Families Embracing Diversity and the Canton Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She has worked for approximately five years as an applied behavior analysis (ABA) tutor at Hansen Elementary.

“Naomi has worked tirelessly in and out of Canton Public Schools to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students and residents of the community,” Superintendent Fischer-Mueller said. “There is no one more deserving of being a United States citizen than an individual who is dedicated to making their community a better place, and Naomi is exactly that. Congratulations to her and her family.”

Students from Mrs. Willis’ class attended the ceremony to support Akan. The students had learned about citizenship during the year.

Read more about Akan in a February article by the Canton Citizen here.

This press release was produced by Canton Public Schools. The views expressed are the author's own.