NOTTINGHAM, Md. — The Medeiros family in Perry Hall has started a grassroots effort to create a scholarship fund to set students at the Baltimore Lab School up for success. I went out to see their introductory event at the Perry Hall Knights of Columbus, where the family hosted a bingo night to raise $3,000.
John Medeiros, a senior at the Baltimore Lab School, was born with cochlea that did not work, a critical part of the ear that receives sound.
"These implants I've always had when I was a kid. Um, I never really knew what the world sounded like," John Medeiros said.
Perry Hall family hosts bingo night to raise scholarship funds for the Baltimore Lab School students
John Medeiros is college-bound next year.
"I wish to be a zoo keeper. I've always, I've always found fascination with animals. Their beauty," John said.
His mother, Michele Medeiros, said his success is in part because of the access he had at the Baltimore Lab School in Baltimore County.
"Each kid is unique. So the code to each kid is very unique. And the lab school has a fantastic way of figuring out how to unlock that code," Michele said.
The school provides individualized services students need, such as speech therapy or counseling.
"It's just a dream that we wouldn't have had without the lab school. And I just can't leave it there because I know that there are going to be kids that come behind that are going to need support," Michele Medeiros said.
The family has a long-term goal of raising enough money to start an endowment scholarship in John's name. Close friends and family celebrated the kickoff to this effort Friday with a bingo night, featuring donated prize baskets and baked goods. With several ties to split, the community worked it out.
By the end of the evening, they raised over $2,100. The Medeiros family has a GoFundMe set up to help continue the effort so more students can reach their academic goals.
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