CURE Spotlights 2020

Javon West is a CURE Scholar and rising 9th grader attending Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in the fall.

Q: What are you looking forward to most in high school?

"The main thing I want to achieve is to keep on learning. Once I go to high school I want to go to college to continue my education."

Read more about Javon

Proud Baltimore native Gia Grier McGinnis, MS, is the new executive director of the UMB CURE Scholars Program.

A MESSAGE FROM DR. GIA GRIER MCGINNIS, UMB CURE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

August 05, 2020

I am writing this message as our community and our nation are fighting two great battles—one with a deadly virus that hides easily among us, and the other with racial injustices that can no longer live in the shadows.

CURE Spotlights

UMB CURE SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT: PRINCAYA SANDERS

August 05, 2020

"Currently, my top extracurricular commitment is the UMB CURE Scholars Program because as well as providing new learning opportunities, CURE gives me help with school and the development of leadership skills."

UMB CURE SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT: JAVON WEST

August 05, 2020

"The CURE team is always behind me whenever I need the help, and I really appreciate that."

UMB CURE COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: MERIT LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

August 05, 2020

Similar to the UMB CURE Scholars Program, MERIT Leadership Academy educates and empowers students from underrepresented backgrounds to become health professionals and change agents who advance equity.

UMB CURE MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: HADIA SAROYA

August 05, 2020

"I love how the CURE Program creates a sense of community among the various individuals that are working together to inspire and support the scholars to achieve their highest potential."

UMB CURE DONOR SPOTLIGHT: GEORGIA HARRINGTON

August 05, 2020

"In our CURE Scholars I see myself, and I want to do what I can to help them achieve their own dreams."

Featured Stories

Support the UMB CURE Scholars Emergency Fund

March 25, 2020

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our 115 UMB CURE Scholars and their families are experiencing acute hardships.

COVID-19 Can’t Stop the UMB CURE Scholars

Coping with COVID-19

June 8, 2020

As the end of the school year approaches, students and teachers around the world are still coming to grips with distance learning, home assignments, and virtual classrooms. The stay-at-home orders put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic have turned public education completely on its head, and teachers, students, and parents are working to adapt.

UMB CURE Wins National ‘Inspiring Program’ Award

Inspiring Programs in STEM Award

August 17, 2020

UMB CURE was honored with a 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The award recognizes colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from under-represented groups to enter the STEM fields. UMB and 49 other recipients are featured in the magazine’s September issue.

A Summer of STEM

August 20, 2020

After logging into the video conferencing site Google Classroom, TaShara Bailey, PhD, MA, the STEM curriculum director and director of programs for the UMB CURE Scholars Program, smiled into her web camera and said, “OK, scholars, let’s turn on our cameras so we can say ‘hello.’ ” And with that, her computer screen lit up with video boxes showing the faces of several dozen middle school students ready for a day of virtual summer fun.

UMB CURE Scholars Family Honors

Congratulations to:

Dr. TaShara Bailey for her promotion to director of STEM curriculum and director of programs.

Dr. Erin Hager, School of Medicine (SOM) associate professor, CURE Evaluation Team member, and middle school evaluator, for being appointed to the Baltimore County School Board.

Dr. Greg Carey, SOM associate professor and Core Team and Sustainability Committee member, for his new role as executive director of student research and community outreach, Office of Student Research.

Jordan Saunders, a former CURE mentor who was featured on WTTV-CBS in Indianapolis. He is a medical student at the Indiana University School of Medicine and co-founded Prescribe it Forward, a nonprofit that helps the next generation of medical students through mentor-applicant pairings. His goal is to increase diversity in medicine.

Sequoia Wright, MS, CURE C2 program coordinator, for the two new additions to the CURE Scholars family, Donald and Delaney Wright. Babies, Mom, Dad, and the family are doing well.

Shawdae Harrison, mentoring program coordinator, for becoming a member of the UMB Staff Senate.

The CURE Teacher Corps, who will have their reflections published in an upcoming issue of Science Education and Civic Engagement : An International Journal for their special issue “Teaching Through COVID-19.” STAR-PREP postbac student Jatia Mills was the lead author.

Nick Hamilton, CURE Advisory Board member, and his wife Brigid for the birth of their daughter, Neve Florence Hamilton.

John Palinski, Core Team member and CURE philanthropy lead, and his wife Anne-Marie for the birth of their son, Dominic William PalinskI.

La’Nyjah Walker (Cohort 4) and Lynijah Russell (Cohort 3), who interviewed as members of the first Student Advisory Council of Baltimore STEM.

The UMB CURE team for receiving a $10,000 Foundation STEM Grant from the Jack and Jill of America Foundation to support the creation of our Career Navigators program. This program will work to provide professional opportunities that are aligned with the scholars’ interests, advise scholars on academic and career plans, and help scholars plan for their lives during and after high school by providing information about college, financial aid, training programs, and internships or apprenticeships. If you are interested in learning more about this program, contact Shawdae Harrison at shawdae.harrison@umaryland.edu.

University of Maryland, Baltimore

UMB CURE Scholars Program

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