Local Special Education Students Awarded Cardin Scholarships

Twelve Prince George’s County special education students have received scholarships of up to $1,500 from the Michael Cardin Scholarship Committee of the Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF).   They were honored for making tremendous strides despite their disabilities.

Isaiah Allen of Greenbelt, Joshua Barringer and Bradley Holland of Mount Rainier, Tourre Butler of Capitol Heights, Ian Fontaine of Riverdale, Codie Hansley and Makaile Stanley of Temple Hills, Chana Kramer and Bradley MacPherson of Bowie, Orlando McNeill of Laurel, Shakira Ramsey of Upper Marlboro and Devon Thomas of Suitland all received Cardin Scholarships. 

Allen attended The Pathways School Duval Re-Entry in Lanham and plans to put his award money toward tuition at Bridgewater College in Virginia.

Butler and Barringer are both students at The Foundation School in Rockville and both will be using their scholarship to attend iD Tech Camp in 3D Game Design at American University in D.C. 

Fontaine and Stanley both attended Kennedy Krieger High School in Baltimore.  Fontaine plans to use his scholarship to attend the LIFT Summer Academy at the University of Maryland, while Stanley will put his award money toward tuition at Bowie State University. 

Hansley, McNeil, and Thomas are all students at the Children’s Guild, Princes George’s County campus.  Hansley plans to use his scholarship to attend Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation sports camp, while McNeil will use his to attend Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation Department’s basketball camp and Thomas will attend the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Basketball Camp at Hillcrest Heights Community Center in Temple Hills. 

Holland, Kramer, Macpherson Ramsey all attended The Chelsea School in Silver Spring.  While all four have graduated, they will each use their scholarships to pursue higher education.  Holland plans to put the money toward continuing his education at Frostburg State University, while Kramer will put his toward tuition at Davis & Elkin College in Virginia.  Macpherson will use his to pursue a graduate degree at Ryerson University in Toronto and Ramsey will put hers toward tuition at High Point University in North Carolina. 

The Cardin committee gave 50 scholarships statewide to help fund additional educational pursuits for special education students including post-secondary education, trade school and summer learning opportunities.  All 50 award recipients have overcome challenging physical, emotional and learning disabilities and demonstrate that every student can achieve when given the tools and support to do so. 

MANSEF is a nonprofit organization of special education schools, created to promote quality services for children and youth with disabilities.  There are 93 nonpublic special education facilities that operate year-round and serve more than 3,500 students, ages 3- 21, in the state of Maryland.