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TOWSON, MD. – Students from Hereford and Kenwood high schools are recipients of this year’s Mildred Murray All-Academic Scholar Athlete Awards and Scholarships, which were presented May 30 by Mildred Murray and Superintendent Dr. Dallas Dance.
The scholarships were given to Shannon Martello, a three-sport varsity athlete who maintains a 4.0 unweighted grade point average (GPA) and ranks first in her class of 368 at Hereford High School, and Edgar Walker, a three-sport varsity athlete who has a 3.96 unweighted GPA and ranks third in his class of 427 at Kenwood High School. Both students were honored during a special ceremony at the Greenwood administrative campus of Baltimore County Public Schools.
The scholarships are given annually to a female and male senior scholar-athlete who have maintained a minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA and have participated in at least two varsity sports.
Murray is a former BCPS coordinator of athletics and physical education who devoted her 43-year career in county schools to promoting excellence in athletics and academics. She has sponsored the scholarship for the past 26 years. It was through her endeavors that the system has a strong foundation for the continued success of athletic programs in the county and state.
While at Hereford, Martello participated in field hockey, indoor track and outdoor track. An all-star either on county or state levels for each of her athletic endeavors, she is an AP Scholar with Distinction, member of numerous academic honor societies and avid volunteer in the Hereford community. She will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall.
“Scholar athletes will make the decision that is right of the team and the people around them and their own future, consistently,” Martello wrote in her scholarship application. “A scholar athlete will accomplish what they never thought they would be able to and continue to teach others through their determination and perseverance.”
Walker played soccer, indoor track and baseball for Kenwood. A 12-time All-Academic award winner throughout his high school career, he has been involved in 31 different community service projects and founded MDHoops.net, which merged with DMVelite.com to showcase basketball players from across Maryland and Washington. He will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall.
“Being a high school athlete is a privilege. Being a student is a responsibility. There is no use leaving everything out on the field if the same is not done in the classroom,” Walker wrote in his application. “I have approached my schoolwork the same way I approach a sport, with the idea that practice is essential, authority should be respected, and everything should be done with maximum effort.”