$6,000 raised for BCPS Student Support Services Scholarships

Dr. Hairston and the Oriole Bird.

Perhaps it was appropriate that the weather was reminiscent more of football than baseball when Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Joe A. Hairston, strode out onto the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on the evening of May 16.

After all, Dr. Hairston had tried out for the Washington Redskins before embarking upon his career as an educator. As a college football player, he was used to the kind of cold, soggy weather that greeted the sparse Camden Yards crowd on May 16.

Dr. Hairston was there – along with scores of other BCPS employees – to pitch in their support for the school system’s Department of Student Support Services. The department had used ticket sales for the May 16th game to raise funds for two new scholarships to be offered to graduating BCPS seniors this year.

And the pitch!

But that wasn’t the only pitch Dr. Hairston made that Friday night. Just before the game, he appeared on the playing field and the Camden Yards Jumbotron. His cap brim low, he strode purposefully out to the pitcher’s mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of a game between the Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. “I just hope I get it across the plate,” he said, chuckling.

Dr. Hairston’s pitch was one of the few highlights on a night that saw a lackluster Orioles team lose 5-1 to Tampa Bay. The team reported a paid attendance of 25,445, but only a fraction of that amount attended the game, due in no small part to a 54-degree-and-falling game time temperature, steady drizzle, and 10-mph breeze coming in from center field.

And the pitch!

Dr. Hairston’s pitch – a low slider – not only got across the plate but drew applause from the hardy crowd, many of them BCPS employees who had bought more than 1,200 tickets for the Friday night game. With $5 of every ticket sold going to pay for scholarships sponsored by the department, BCPS led by Executive Director Robert Kemmery raised about $6,000 for the scholarships.

Accepting the oversized check on behalf of the school system was Dr. Margaret Kidder, Coordinator of Psychological Services, and Vivian Ferguson, Coordinator of Pupil Personnel Services.

Vivian Ferguson (l.), the Oriole Bird, and Dr. Margaret Kidder show off the check.

The applause they and Dr. Hairston received were perhaps the only warm hands at Camden Yards that night.

Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the Students Support Services Scholarship fund year-round in care of the Baltimore County Public Schools Education Foundation - a not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization.

 

 

 

 

Story and Photos by Charles Herndon Communications Officer