In honoring the contributions of dedicated community members, Chesapeake College Foundation raised $35,100 for student scholarships during the virtual week-long Chesapeake College Foundation Pride of the Peake 2021 event. The honorees were John DeLuca, Bob Rauch and the Multicultural Advisory Committee.

John DeLuca

The Foundation exceeded the goal to raise $30,000 for the designated endowed scholarships celebrating the honorees.

Pride of the Peake culminated on April 29 with its Virtual Finale—an online video event to honor the recipients. The video included appearances by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin and Maryland Senator Adelaide Eckardt, who honored the recipients for their extraordinary service.

The video also featured interviews with students who have benefitted from the support of the honorees. View the complete video at https://www.chesapeake.edu/pride-of-peake

“Our honorees have done so much to help students across our region meet their goals and improve their lives through education,” said Chesapeake College President Clifford Coppersmith. “Their efforts make a difference to our community every day. They choose to invest their talents, energy and resources in our students. We regularly see the results of their investment in the lives of our graduates and the communities they serve.”

Retired businessman and community advocate Mr. DeLuca established the TREES Scholarship to prepare Certified Nursing Assistants for work in the community. Since launching the scholarship to aid aspiring CNA’s, Mr. DeLuca’s support has expanded to include other workforce training initiatives.

A long-time supporter of higher education in Maryland, Mr. Rauch is President of RAUCH inc. and has partnered with Chesapeake to prepare the region’s workforce. He has worked to provide both career and transfer pathways for Chesapeake students.

The Multicultural Advisory Committee, comprised of college employees and community members, works to promote diversity and inclusion at Chesapeake. To help support this mission, the group fundraises for the J.C. Gibson Memorial Book Scholarship for economically challenged students in the five-county service area.

The Peake level sponsor was the Birney Charitable Fund| Queenstown Harbor Golf Resort. The Gold Level sponsors were Reza and Dale Jafari and McDonald’s|The Meoli Companies.

Green Level sponsors were Bruce and Blenda Armistead, Cliff and Kathy Coppersmith; and Philip and Irmy Webster. The Blue Level sponsors were Candle Light Cove, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cecil, Chaney Enterprises, Edward H. Boyd Fund, Shore United Bank, PKS & Company, Willow Construction, Blenda Armistead, Tom and Cathy Hill; and Mark, Donna, Dominic, Mia and Luke Farella.

Online donations to the scholarships can be made through May 15 at www.chesapeake.edu/pride-of-peake. For information about supporting the scholarships, please contact Michelle Hall at [email protected].

It might tell you something about Andrey Perez that he’s a hard interview to get. With a full school schedule, sports, and a part-time job at the new Chick-fil-A in Cambridge, the only time he could fit in a Zoom call was during his lunch break at work.

It is one of many hints of how motivated Andrey is to move ahead in this world. The son of first-generation Americans, the Sts. Peter and Paul High School student started to lay out a plan for his future after taking a personal finance course and discovering his interest in the medical field down the road. And included in that plan was, of course, higher education.

And that’s when Andrey turned to the Mid-Shore Scholars program.

With the help of this unique organization’s support and mentoring, the Andrey Perez’s of the world can navigate the complex elements of college admissions, including the college selection process, filling out forms, or even finding the money needed to even apply to a school.

In Andrey’s case, he will be the second Mid-Shore Scholar since the program started a few years ago. While almost twenty-five students are now in the pipeline to follow him in the years to come, the volunteers and staff are collectively holding their breath as he awaits hearing from the school of his choice; Washington College.

Not only has Andrey applied, but he recently was nominated to apply to the school’s prestigious Washington Scholars program, which provides its award-winners a free ride for four years on both tuition and housing.

The Spy checked with Andrey and Mid-Shore Scholars director Vivian Landau a few days ago to hear more about his aspirations and the great benefits that come with participating in such a successful preparatory support program.

With fingers crossed, Andrey will hear soon from WC while his Mid-Shore community awaits the news with double-crosses theirs.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about the Mid-Shore Scholars please go here.

The Spy was not entirely surprised the other day when Radcliffe Creek School’s board of trustees announced that it would be seeking a new provider for its auxiliary preschool program known as Little Creek School.

Little Creek came into being as a way for Radcliffe Creek teachers to enroll their children in a pre-K program and quickly grew into a popular school option for other working parents in the region that wanted their youngsters to experience unique learning opportunities before their kids entered primary school.

And over the years, Little Creek has done just that. Since it was founded, hundreds of Kent County toddlers and their parents have reaped the benefits of smaller class sizes and individualized learning to meet its students’ specific needs.

But as the Radcliffe Creek School board began to work on its five-year strategic plan, members came to the difficult conclusion that its priority must be with the core mission of its primary school. While the school’s administrators have gracefully provided oversight for Little Creek, it has been clear for some time that these two schools required independent management to successfully continue the high-quality standards both have achieved over the years.

For those compelling reasons, Radcliffe announced last week that it planned to close Little Creek in August 2021. It also launched a new initiative to attract a reputable childcare provider to take over Little Creek’s mission before that terminal date.

The Spy spoke with Head of School Meg Bamford and Board President Rob Ditmars to understand more about this important transition in Kent County education.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Radcliffe Creek School and Little Creek School please go here.

Undoubtedly one of the immensely satisfying moments for any teacher is the look of a student who is absorbing the lesson taught. It could be an expression of the eyes, an unexpected question, the nod of the head, or an appreciative smile of a young person knowing something new. It is one of those simple pleasures that make the role of educator all the more rewarding.

But what happens when one of the best students you have is physically unable to send out these traditional messages that note comprehension? That is one of the challenges that Eastern Shore educator Bruce Glover has faced and resolved with his remote learning work with Oxford’s Tilghman Logan.

Tilghman has severe cerebral palsy, which limits his physical movement to one hand. But by creatively designing his learning experience online, both teacher and student have found a special union that Bruce hopes will lead Tilghman to express his thoughts and ideas through visual art.

The Spy caught up with Bruce a few weeks ago from his home in Salisbury to talk about his work with Tilghman and how educators can reach out to others with his unique challenges.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about Tilghman and remote learning please go here