Category: Perry Hall

Three Baltimore County Public Schools students from two high schools have been named semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program coordinated by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

One of those students is Tiffany T. Shum, Perry Hall High School.
She was honored along with Towson High students Jacob B. Fey and Yousse Tewala.

“Congratulations to Jacob Fey, Tiffany Shum, and Yousse Tewala for their academic achievement and to the teachers, families, and administrators who taught, challenged, and supported them,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “These students represent the potential we see every day in all of our students, in all of our schools. Recognitions such as this inspire all members of the BCPS family to set and reach higher goals.”

High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by participating in the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NSMQT®). The highest scoring entrants in each state create the national pool of 16,000 semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of high school seniors in the nation. Most semifinalists advance to the finalist level (based on their academic records, recommendations, and SAT scores) and compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million.

Through its longstanding partnership with the College Board, which administers the PSAT/NSMQT, BCPS provides funding so that all students in Grade 9 can take the PSAT 8/9, all students in Grades 10 and 11 can take the PSAT/NSMQT, and all Grade 11 students can take the SAT – all at no charge to the students or their families. The PSAT test provides practice for the SAT and provides BCPS educators with important assessments of student strengths and challenges.

Adam Laye, social studies department chair at Parkville High School, has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2021 National History Teacher of the Year. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History selected the finalists from among the National History Teacher of the Year winners from all 50 states, U.S. Department of Defense schools, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories.

The national winner will be announced later this month. An in-person ceremony for the winner will be held in late fall 2021, health and safety protocols permitting. Support for the National History Teacher of the Year Award ceremony is provided by HISTORY®.

“We are so proud of Adam Laye for his exemplary teaching and leadership and for receiving this extraordinary honor,” said Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams.

Laye has been teaching American history and American government for the past 15 years. He taught at Randallstown High before Parkville High. It was in college, at Frostburg State College, that Laye decided to apply his interest in social sciences to a career in education. Laye, who holds both a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and a master’s degree in teaching from Frostburg, is recognized for his inquiry-based approach to teaching history.

“I enjoy the challenge of making history relevant to my students’ lives,” Laye said, “by giving them the tools to derive meaning from it.”
Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, U.S. Department of Defense schools and U.S. Territories. In fall 2021, the National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from the pool of state winners.

Nominations for the 2022 History Teacher of the Year awards are now open. Students, parents, colleagues, and supervisors may nominate K-12 teachers for the award. The deadline for 2022 nominations is March 31, 2022.