Excitement and pride filled the air at the 29^th annual Maryland Awards Ceremony to celebrate scholars from the mid-Atlantic region.  Maxine Streicher from Fox 45 served as Mistress of Ceremonies to lead the event.  The Leadership Award was presented to Dr. Trisha Bailey, founder and CEO of Bailey’s Pharmacy Medical Equipment & Supplies along with 15 other companies, for demonstrating leadership through innovative practices and initiation and implementation of creative ideas.

This year’s banquet theme was Soaring to New Heights, a concept that perfectly summarizes not only this year’s Carson Scholars, but the thousands of alumni before them. We aimed to focus on scholars’ amazing contributions to their schools, local communities and the world, while continuing to set new goals for themselves.  Three videos highlighting scholars’ work were shown at the banquet and were introduced by scholar Sydney Slavin and scholar siblings Gabriel, Francesca and Angelo Ramos.

Additional scholar participants were:

Daryl Wester – led the Pledge of Allegiance

Donovan Stone – delivered the blessing

Lauren Grace Compton – musical performance

Charlotte Prunkl – musical performance

Eitan Weisberg – musical performance

Makenzie Greenwood – introduced Dr. Carson for his keynote address

Zoe Borish, Billy Combs, Fatma Darilmaz, Bibi Muzhda Faez, Ava Graham, Natalie Mong, Aashi Moola, Kensington Wagoner, Sienna White and Andrew Yates – asked questions during the Q&A session

Get to know some of our incredible scholars and the meaningful service projects and programs they’ve passionately brought to life through the Scholar Showcase.

Scholars were invited to submit questions to be asked of Dr. Bailey and Dr. Carson during a special Q&A segment.  Guests learned that Dr. Bailey’s success and motivation has been fueled by others doubting her abilities and that the best advice she’d give to her younger self would be to continue believing in herself and not to count herself out just because others might.  Dr. Carson shared that the most rewarding part of starting the Carson Scholars Program has been seeing Carson Scholars across the country and witnessing students realizing their full potential.

Three members were officially inducted into the 2025 Carson Scholars Hall of Fame in recognition of their continued academic successes, excellence in the workforce and contributions to their communities.  New members Dhruv Girish, Miguel Iglesias and Gabriel Ramos were joined by fellow Hall of Fame member Joe Wyrwas for their induction.

View photos from the event HERE!