Month: June 2013

BALTIMORE — As Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) celebrated its 64th commencement Saturday, June 1, 2013 attesting to the spirit and determination of graduates who completed 60 hours of college credit and their associate’s degree, one standout was noted for the way she accomplished the same feat while still in high school.

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President Obama’s letter to Taylor Williams

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Taylor Williams, age 17, a senior at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, approached the stage for her associate’s degree at the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric. She was one of the first at her school to earn a two-year college degree in the same time it takes to get a diploma. In fact, her high school graduation ceremony takes place the very next day.

Taylor began her journey nearly four years ago when she transferred from her first high school, Grace Brethren Christian School, to Poly. Because she needed a biology class, her parents helped her enroll at BCCC. Her father accompanied her to class since she was only 14. Over the course of her studies, she learned about BCCC’s Early Enrollment Program, which enables students to rack up college credits while they are still in high school, as long they earn a grade of “C” or better.

“I never thought this would be such a big deal,” she says. “But the Early Enrollment Program became an outlet for my motivation. I’m a bit stubborn; all I wanted was to be competitive so I kept on taking classes and building up my college credit. You have to set yourself apart.”

Taylor credits the community college environment at BCCC— smaller class size, individualized attention and convenience to her high school schedule— as indispensable to her success.

Taylor will attend the University of Maryland-College Park this fall where she is thinking of pursuing a double major in engineering and pre-medicine. She was also accepted to Howard University in Washington, D.C., North Carolina A&T State University and Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

Her father is a network engineer and her mother, a software engineer. Both stay actively involved in her academic life. Taylor’s sister, Kayla, is in 10th grade. Despite her young age she is working at an internship in Northrup Grumman’s High School Involvement Partnership (HIP) Program, which focuses on young people’s pursuit of technical degrees through hands-on experiences and training.

In addition to her academic pursuits Taylor has maintained an ambitious schedule of extracurricular activities. She received a personal letter from President Barack Obama recognizing her simultaneous achievement of an associate’s degree and high school diploma. She was awarded a Governor’s Citation from Gov. Martin O’Malley and similar acclamations from Maryland State Sen. Bill Ferguson and Baltimore City Council President Jack Young. As an Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) speaker, Taylor addressed Baltimore area middle school audiences on the importance of education. She participated in NASA’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Research Program and was a member of Poly’s indoor and outdoor track teams. In 2010, she was First Runner Up in the Miss Maryland Teen USA Pageant.

Earlier this year, Taylor was selected by the National Society of High School Scholars to attend the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Conference in Washington, D.C. where she met retired four-star General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark.

BCCC’s 64th commencement featured Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown as keynote speaker, who coincidentally was also the speaker at Taylor’s Poly graduation ceremony the next day. This year the college will graduate over 500 of its students. For more information about programs offered at BCCC, contact the BCCC Institutional Advancement Office.

BALTIMORE — Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Becky Schnydman Mossing as the new director of the school’s free after school and Saturday program, TWIGS (“To Work in Gaining Skills”). Mossing, who is a 1988 graduate of BSA, will begin this role in August following the retirement of Georgia King after 22years as director.

Since 1982, TWIGS has given young aspiring artists who reside in Baltimore City the opportunity to gain skills in music, dance, visual arts, stage production and theatre classes taught by professional artist/teachers. TWIGS, has grown exponentially over the years and today serves 700 young artists from second through eighth grade from more than 100 public, parochial and independent schools.

“Becky brings her expertise, her joy and her enthusiasm to BSA every day. She delights in sharing these qualities with young people,” said Dr. Chris Ford, director of BSA. “We have been honored to have her on our team and are thrilled for her to share her talent and passion with the area’s youngest artists and their families.”

Mossing has been a staff member at BSA since 2006 and has served in several roles including program assistant, musical theatre instructor and alumni director.

“I came back to BSA because I love the school’s mission— to work with city kids who have a passion, but limited opportunities for training,” said Mossing. ”The mission to give these kids the ability to follow their dreams is extraordinary and magical.”

Prior to BSA, she taught acting and musical theatre classes at Everyman Theatre, Summer Stock Performing Arts Camp and Musical Theatre Works, Inc.

Outside of BSA, Mossing co-directs The Hippodrome Foundation’s Summer Theatre Camp, a free program that serves middle school children primarily from Baltimore City. Additionally, her cabaret performances can be seen regularly around Baltimore.

Following graduation from BSA, Mossing attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. While there, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award in musical theatre. After graduating from NewYork University, she began her career in theatre by performing in off-Broadway performances, touring nationally and doing regional theatre. Mossing also went on to receive her Master of Arts in teaching with certification in general and special education from Goucher College in 2000. She taught elementary and special education in Baltimore County public schools for four years.

Current TWIGS Program Assistant and 1996 graduate, Iris Andersen, will continue working with the program with an expanded role and Michael Solomon will also continue in his role with the program.

For more information about the TWIGS program, visit www.bsfa.org/TWIGS.

WASHINGTON — Felix German Contreras, age 22, is a second-year student at Atlantic Cape Community College in New Jersey on a sure-footed path to health sciences.

New Jersey State Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society President. Atlantic City Boys and Girls Club Staff Assistant. Medical school-bound.

Who knew this was possible for the six-year-old Dominican boy who immigrated to Atlantic City in 1996. His father, a biochemical engineer, discovered his experience did not translate laterally to the U.S. and settled for casino employment. His mother, a high school graduate, is a beauty school-trained cosmetologist who enjoys styling hair.

A naturalized U.S. citizen at 17, Contreras watched his neighborhood friends wither under the weight of harsh challenges. Four of them were lost to drug abuse, incarceration and death. Peter, his closest friend since age seven died from a heroin overdose in 2012.

“Wasn’t this move to America supposed to open a brighter future?” he wondered. The situations could easily create more doubt than possibilities for Contreras who describes himself in a desperate search for that “catalyst to achieve.”

One late night in early 2012, Contreras, a calculus and chemistry whiz, tapped a few keystrokes that redirected his fate. A Google search for “medical summer program” returned the life-changing link— “SMDEP”— Summer Medical and Dental Education Program.

The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program is a free, six-week academic enrichment program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The intensive program— which offers tuition, housing and meals at 12 university sites across the country— equips college freshman and sophomores from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in medicine or dentistry.

Contreras applied and was accepted by SMDEP at the Yale University site. The rigorous science, math and medical school preparation was accompanied by workshops to improve reading and writing skills. Contreras admits the training helped him clear hurdles around English as his second language.

Encouraged by a site advisor to “step up his game,” Contreras read six novels in six months, turning the corner on a newly found love for English.

Less than a year after the program, Contreras is poised for a career in nutrition or public health.

Recalling his experience, “You can’t believe how much six weeks can give to someone, who is eager to receive,” he notes. “I believe everybody wants to better themselves. But sometimes, they just don’t know how. SMDEP showed me the doors of opportunities to the other side.”

Most doctors in his area are either Asian or Caucasian, which explains the “culture shock” he experienced while studying with fellow black and Latino students at the Yale SMDEP site. He eagerly welcomed the exposure, recognizing the wave of the future.

Rapid demographic changes are transforming the nation’s population. According to physician workforce data provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges between 1978 and 2008, 75 percent of all medical school graduates practicing medicine were white. Meanwhile, blacks, American Indians and Hispanics comprised a combined 12.3 percent U.S. physician workforce. For nearly 25 years, SMDEP has served as a pipeline to position more diverse health care professionals in the field.

Contreras offers that his mother, who speaks little English, has experienced sub-par health care due to language barriers and a lack of cultural competence by some physicians.

“My mother is like many immigrant people who do not get adequate health care because there is not enough sensitivity to and for their realities,” says Contreras.

Eyeing Amherst College or Wesleyan University for undergraduate studies, Contreras applauds the two years spent at Atlantic Cape Community College. He insists that the supportive community college experience, coupled with his SMDEP participation has prepared him to succeed academically at a four-year college. He indicated he wants to study at Yale School of Medicine and then return that training to his Atlantic City community.

“I want to attend Yale School of Medicine— not because it’s Yale— but because of what Yale SMDEP has done for me,” he shares. “It is where my fundamentals were built and has paved everything for me to today.”

“All of this has made me realize, wow— I can be a leader! The little things add up to be big in the end. Sí se puede,” he says, which translates into “Yes We Can!”

Started in 1988 (formerly as the Minority Medical Education Program and Summer Medical and Education Program), more than 20,0000 alumni have completed SMDEP which today sponsors 12 university sites with each accepting up to 80 students per summer session. Now preparing for their summer 2013 cohort, SMDEP accepts applications annually November 1 thru March1. For more information about SMDEP and how to apply, visit www.smdep.org.