Kennedy PPW Wins State Honor, More National Merit Winners, and Other Good News

Kassie Cardona, a pupil personnel worker (PPW) at John F. Kennedy High School, has been named 2022-2023 Maryland State PPW of the Year. Colleagues say she is a compassionate, dedicated and knowledgeable staff member, which has earned her a reputation as the go-to PPW with the answers. With a background as an ESOL counselor, Cardona is a strong advocate for equality for students and families, and she also works to build strong relationships and partnerships between schools and the community. She has worked with a number of organizations outside the school system, which have provided services to the Hispanic community. She has advocated at the state level for more inpatient resources to help teens with substance abuse issues. Cardona is a past president of the Montgomery County Pupil Personnel Worker Association. She reorganized the association and began to implement new programs to enhance the position within the school district. The communities and schools supported by her are represented by a large number of immigrant and refugee families. She is driven to creating safe, kind and loving spaces for all children, which allows her to build lifelong bonds. During the COVID-19 shutdown, she co-developed and still maintains a comprehensive county resources guide that is now widely distributed and used among school staff. She has conducted trainings for county leaders and other staff on restorative justice and de-escalation strategies, and has served as a mentor for new PPWs.

Twenty MCPS Students Earn College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

Twenty Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have earned college- and university-sponsored National Merit Scholarships in the latest round of awards from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Each sponsoring college or university selected scholarship winners from among the finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. The winners, their sponsoring university or college, and their intended career fields are: Montgomery Blair High School Eileen Luo Vanderbilt University Probable career field: Computer Science Solomon N. Ucko University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Programming Eric X. Wang University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Science Jonah M. Witte Rochester Institute of Technology Probable career field: Computer Science Charles Wajda-Gotwals University of Alabama Probable career field: Law Winston Churchill High School Ilayda Dogan University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Science Jason L. Liu University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Science Kevin Qi University of Maryland Probable career field: Economics Nathaniel L. Wu Stony Brook University Probable career field: Dentistry Richard Montgomery High School Matthew J. Gu University of Maryland Probable career field: Undecided Finna Y. Hsu University of Maryland Probable career field: Public Policy Gwendolyn J. Taylor Fordham University Probable career field: Law Poolesville High School Shubham Bhatnagar University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Science Miranda L. Wang University of Maryland Probable career field: Medicine Roc G. Yu University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Programming Sherwood High School Matan C. Meltzer University of Maryland Probable career field: Engineering Walt Whitman High School Benjamin J. Waterman University of Maryland Probable career field: Psychology Thomas S. Wootton High School Grace L. Chen University of Montana Probable career field: Wildlife Conservation Jackson J. Rankin Carleton College Probable career field: Academia Stacy K. Sun University of Maryland Probable career field: Computer Science

Sixty Graduating Seniors Participate in Job Interview Day Event

Last month, MCPS held the first Job Interview Day in collaboration with Career Council/National Hispanic College Fairs, Inc. The event offered 60 graduating seniors from 14 high schools an opportunity to interview with the following companies: MCPS, the Washington Commanders, Montgomery County 911, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, Coldwell Banker Realty, Mentoring Path, Inc., the Maryland Department of Labor, WorkSource Montgomery (including the Latin American Youth Center) and Mr. George’s Driving School, which offers commercial driver’s license training classes. Students participated in a minimum of four interviews. The students created resumes and were prepared for the interviews by their college and career information coordinators. The event was hosted by The Universities at Shady Grove.

MCPS TV Wins Three National Telly Awards

MCPS Television has won three national video awards for outstanding TV productions. The Telly Awards are the premier award honoring film and video productions, groundbreaking web commercials, videos and films, and outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs from around the world. MCPS TV received an Award of Excellence from the Communicators’ award on fentanyl awareness and two Bronze Telly awards, one for a broadcast on school safety called “Be Safe, Be Aware,” and the other, a mini-documentary program on Harriet Tubman.

MCPS In The News

Wootton Alum, Tony Winner Myles Frost Tells Graduates: ‘Be Good at Whatever You Do’ National Theatre honors local high school musical theater at Brandon Victor Dixon Awards Q&A with SMOB elect Sami Saeed Invent the Future Celebration