BCPS superintendent announces scholarship for Alzheimer’s research

Raquel Alfaro
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

Parents, teachers, visitors and spectators at the Baltimore County Board of Education meeting Tuesday all stood and applauded when Interim Superintendent Verletta White announced a newly established scholarship for females who take an interest in Alzheimer’s research.

White said she and her husband decided to create the scholarship in honor of her mother who died from Alzheimer’s disease about two weeks ago. The Bernice H. Johnson Memorial Scholarship for the Promotion of Alzheimer’s Research will award one student annually who meets certain criteria, she said.

“The scholarship would award $1,000 annually to a graduating female Baltimore County Public Schools senior with a minimum GPA of 3.0,” said White. “The student will be required to submit a resume, letters of recommendation and must display an interest in science, technology engineering or mathematics.”

In a recent report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the most significant number of women occupations is registered nurses with about 2.8 million. Only 25 percent of workers in technology and mathematical occupations are women, and 14 percent are in the field of architecture and engineering, the report found.

“I think there is a low number of females represented in STEM, so the idea of engaging females in doing the research to someday find a cure for Alzheimer’s is a wonderful opportunity for females to engage in the field,” said April Lewis, executive director of BCPS School Safety.

Lewis said the scholarship touched her heart personally because her mother died five years ago from Alzheimer’s and she knows what it is like to lose someone you care about to the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is ranked sixth for the cause of death in the United States.

Alzheimer’s Association research found that the number of Americans living with the disease is growing fast, with an estimated 5.8 million Americans of all age diagnosed with Alzheimer’s this year. Officials said the number includes about 5.6 million people who are 65 and older, and 200,000 young-onset Alzheimer’s under the age of 65. The condition will cost the nation $290 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments this year, officials estimated.

Other research found that about two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women. However, African Americans are twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia as other Americans. Hispanics are about one-and-a-half times as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“We want to start this now,” White said, urging qualified students to apply for the scholarship by May 30 through their guidance office.