- 8/28/07

Gunpowder Elementary School teacher Alicia Lamont praises Julie's work as a teaching intern.

It was quite the scene. Three students sat surrounded by a room full of individuals who deeply cared about their achievements and shared great confidence in their potential. The task the students pledged to embark upon would not only propel them forward in the work world, but was essential to the success of the people who made it possible.

Baltimore County Public Schools presented three graduating seniors, Meghan G., Julie S., and Vincent O., each with renewable annual scholarship loans of $4,000 to assist in their budding careers in the field of education. The catch: they must agree to return to Baltimore County to teach for a year in a priority or Title I school for every year they received funding.

“I think this is a great idea,” Julie says. “I can go out and get my education, and the program is securing me a job so that’s comforting.”

In a ceremony held on May 7 in the Education Support Services Building on the Greenwood Campus, Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston presented the three students – the first ever to receive the scholarship – with their awards. Teachers also were invited to speak about the merits of the winners.

Because Maryland’s colleges and universities historically have not produced enough teachers to satisfy the statewide number of vacant teaching positions each year, in spring 2006, BCPS administrators began to brainstorm ways to address the problem, says Jennifer Dunkle, the recruitment specialist who coordinates the program. 

“My job is to promote the scholarship loan program, facilitate the application process, and coordinate and organize the team that reviews applications,” she says. “I also notify the recipients and plan the event.”

Designed to encourage more students to pursue a career in education – specifically in the areas of mathematics, science, and secondary special education – the program will make available a maximum of 15 scholarships each year. Interested students may submit an application containing a resume, three references, and an essay to be reviewed by a committee comprised of a high school counselor and representatives from the Minority Achievement Advisory Group, the BCPS Office of Personnel, and the PTA Council of Baltimore County.

To continue receiving the scholarship, Vincent, Meghan, and Julie must maintain residency in Maryland, remain in academic good standing as determined by their respective schools, enroll each semester as a fulltime undergraduate with a major in either math, science, or secondary special education, and uphold at least a 2.8 GPA. By December of their junior year, they must have enrolled in an approved teacher preparation program.

The winners were all involved with their school’s chapter of Future Educators Association (FEA), an organization dedicated to reducing the shortage of teachers by prompting students to consider teaching careers. Cheryl Brooks, a specialist in the BCPS Equity and Assurance Office and coordinator of FEA, says she hopes the organization will spark an interest in education.

And that is exactly what it did for Vincent. Inspired by his FEA advisor Tracy Graham, his curiosity peaked in the beginning of his senior year at Dundalk High School when he became president of the chapter, in addition to playing on the badminton and tennis teams.

“The FEA is a gateway into learning about the career,” he says. “Also, junior year I had a really cool physics teacher [George Scheulen], and I realized I’d be interested in being in that career because you get to work with people your entire life.”

Vincent is enrolled at CCBC Dundalk, with plans to eventually transfer to Towson University. He intends to teach science, perhaps at Dundalk High, after graduation.

For Julie, who has always known she wanted to be a teacher, the scholarship allows her to fulfill her dream. She interned at Gunpowder Elementary during her senior year, leaving Perry Hall High School every day at 12:30 p.m. to acclimate herself with the teaching world. She is involved in theater and the Tri-M Music Honor Society in addition to participating in her school’s chapter of FEA.

“Every year I had another teacher that made [becoming an educator] more worthwhile,” she says. “The FEA gave us an opportunity to hear people speak and see how other schools ran their programs.”

Julie is attending Frostburg State University to prepare herself to teach special education when she returns after college.

Meghan, a four-year lacrosse player and National Junior Honor Society Member at Eastern Technical High School, was her class secretary for two years and member-at-large for two years. She says she discovered her passion for teaching this past school year, and was influenced by her principal at the time, Patrick McCusker. After studying at Salisbury University, she plans to teach secondary math upon her homecoming to BCPS.

Different though they are, all three recipients adamantly agreed that returning to BCPS to teach is a blessing. They appreciate the magnitude of their service to their community and are eager to give back.

“It’s a good thing because I’m already familiar with the school environment,” Vincent says.

“I can be myself and get things done. The fact that it ties me down kind of helps me. I probably would still be a teacher, but I was planning to move to New York.”
“I thought about BCPS first because I went there,” agrees Meghan. “Of course I want to go back there more than somewhere else.”

This attitude is exactly what FEA leaders and scholarship coordinators have been anticipating. According to Dunkle, “We hope that we’re going to be able to say that these are former BCPS students who have chosen a career in education and have come home to teach.”

 

Story by Alissa G., a summer intern in the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Communications and a rising senior at Pikesville High School. Photos by the Office of Communications.

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