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Helping Students Reach for the Stars
Prince George’s Council Earns Students’ Thanks
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| Shiron Lindsay, Maryland Incentive Awards Recipient |
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hen the Maryland Incentive Awards Program expanded to Prince George’s County in 2006, the county council stepped up to commit $500,000 to the program and then followed with a second $500,000 award in 2007. “The university greatly appreciates the confidence the council has shown in the Incentive Awards Program,” said President Dan Mote when he and several Incentive Awards students met with the council to express gratitude for its support. “These remarkable gifts make abundantly clear that the Prince George’s County Council is committed to ensuring a better future for students.”
The council’s gifts help support the first 10 Prince George’s County Incentive Awards students who joined participants from Baltimore City. Five Prince George’s County schools each select one student a year as an Incentive Awards recipient based on his or her commitment to academic achievement in spite of significant life challenges including illicit drug activity in their neighborhoods, life threatening illnesses and severe financial hardships. When fully implemented, there will be 20 Prince George's County scholars on campus each year.
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| From left to right, Eric Olson, (County Council Member) Anna Kalmykov and Antonio Tyson (Incentive Awards recipients), President Mote, Carolyn Crews (Incentive Awards Recipient), Jacqueline Brown (Office of the County Executive) and Shiron Lindsay (Incentive Awards recipient). |
“The Incentive Awards Program has proven that when given the chance, any student can accomplish amazing things,” Shiron Lindsay, a senior mechanical engineering major from Baltimore, told the council. Born weighing just over one pound to a mother who was experiencing some major life challenges including drug addiction, Lindsay is now mastering a difficult major. She serves on the executive board of Maryland's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and she traveled to Australia during winter break for a three-week program on International Business for Engineering and Technology.
A graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Lindsay said the addition of Prince George’s students has enriched the program and she thanked the council for helping to make it possible. “Their enthusiasm for the program and the university is contagious and we have much to learn from them academically and personally,” she said.
“The Incentive Awards students are not only making the most of their potential, but they are now poised to give back to their communities,” said President Mote. “This momentum could not be possible without the council’s support."
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