5-20-2024 4:21am

NEW GRANT TO

MISSION MOMENT: ANNOUNCING THE FIRST RECIPIENTS OF THE GROWING OUR OWN TEACHERS SCHOLARSHIP

To enhance the teacher pipeline and promote greater diversity within the teaching profession across Baltimore County Public Schools, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski awarded The Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools, Inc., and the Baltimore County Public Schools Department of Human Resources a $1 million grant to support the creation of a new Diverse Teacher Recruitment Scholarship: Growing Our Own for BCPS program.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SPRING 2024 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Brandi Davis
Asayria Glover
Nicole Gray
Linette Reed
Natalie Sheffler
Julie Smith

These future BCPS educators met the scholarship criteria and have committed to:

Maintaining an unweighted GPA of 2.5 or higher
Attending professional development sessions to support their academic success and
Maintaining their commitment to teach for BCPS for at least 3 years upon completion of their teacher preparation programs

Their scholarships will fiscally sponsor their tuition, fees, and books until they graduate, and funds are available through December 31, 2026.

WHY WE ARE DEDICATED TO "GROWING OUR OWN" FOR BCPS

“Every child deserves to grow up with role models and mentors who look like them,” said Baltimore County Executive Olszewski. “Diversity is our strength in Baltimore County and the new recruitment scholarship will support students from across the county and make our school system stronger and more vibrant.”

“This new scholarship program will help to attract and retain more high-quality teachers in Team BCPS and create a more diverse and responsive teaching corps in our schools, one that can inspire those they teach as well as inform the instruction children receive,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers. “The research is clear – a diverse, multicultural teaching force, one that reflects the community, pays dividends far into the future both for the teachers themselves and also, crucially, for the children they teach. We commend and thank County Executive Olszewski for making this important program a reality. As a former teacher himself, he understands the value of a program like this for Baltimore County’s future.”

Like jurisdictions across the country, BCPS continues to experience a shortage of teachers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content areas.

Currently, 40.4 percent of BCPS students are Black, 32.8 percent are white, 14 percent are Hispanic/Latino, and 7.3 percent are Asian; however, 55.2 percent of BCPS teachers are white, 34.9 percent are Black, 5.1 percent are Hispanic, and 2.26 percent are Asian.

The Diverse Teacher Recruitment Scholarship: Growing Our Own for BCPS, which is being implemented by The Education Foundation, aims to support the efforts from BCPS in recruiting, training, and retention of BIPOC teachers and women in STEM fields by providing eligible individuals with scholarships supporting the costs of tuition, fees, and books.

“The Education Foundation of BCPS is honored to be a collaborative partner of this opportunity that is provided to boost teacher diversity in our schools throughout Baltimore County,” said Education Foundation Director Deborah Phelps. “With the foundation’s purpose being to build and provide resources to serve our students, educators, and schools, this will be yet another opportunity to impact teaching and learning.”

To be eligible, individuals must be:

College students in their junior or senior years, current BCPS para-educators, and/or individuals changing careers currently studying education.
Students who are Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and/or women pursuing teaching certificates in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM).
Students studying at local colleges and universities.

In addition, scholarship recipients must commit to completing internships in BCPS schools and commit to teaching with BCPS for three years upon graduation from an accredited teacher education program.

More information about The Education Foundation of BCPS and the application for the Diverse Teacher Recruitment Scholarship: Growing Our Own for BCPS can be found online.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for the Growing Our Own Teachers for BCPS grant will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The next round of applications will be reviewed between July 1-15, 2024. Please see the foundation website for more information.