Northwest High School senior Marie Olympio says she was surprised when she found out recently that she had been awarded a Ruth & Norman Rales-Patricia Baier O’Neill Scholarship Recognizing Academic Excellence – a $10,000 award that will help her focus on her studies in biochemistry instead of worrying about the cost of college when she attends the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia this fall.
“It takes a little bit of the burden off my mom because she also is in school herself, so she has to pay for her school, and my sister’s entering high school,” the Germantown senior told Bethesda Today on Monday night after receiving her award during a ceremony hosted by the Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation. “Just knowing that she doesn’t have to worry as much about my college costs makes it easier to focus on school and enjoy it.”
Olympio was one of roughly 200 Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) students who were awarded a total of nearly $2 million in scholarships at the Evening of Excellence awards ceremony that hundreds attended at the Music Center at Strathmore.
The MCPS Educational Foundation supports the “strategic initiatives” of MCPS, “giving priority to mitigating opportunity gaps that impact MCPS students,” according to its website.
Monday’s Evening of Excellence event honored 170 students who won the Ruth & Norman Rales–Patricia Baier O’Neill Scholarship Recognizing Academic Excellence. The $10,000 scholarship is awarded to up to 200 high-achieving graduating seniors from low- to-moderate income households in the county, according to the MCPS Educational Foundation website. Students must apply and meet certain income requirements to be eligible for the scholarship.
The foundation also recognized students with scholarships from other programs, including five $10,000 scholarships from the Cesar Pie Cyber Defender Scholarship program. The program is funded by Rockville-based and veteran-owned cybersecurity firm CSIOS Corp. for students interested in cybersecurity and related fields, according to MCPS.
Like Olympio, several students who were awarded scholarships told Bethesda Today the money would help ease the costly burden of college for them and their families. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of private and public college in the U.S. is $38,270 per student per year, including books, supplies and daily living expenses.
Wheaton High School senior Eden Soloman, a Cesar Pie Cyber Defender Scholar and a student speaker at Monday’s ceremony, told Bethesda Today after the ceremony that the scholarship would help her realize her dream of entering the technology field. Soloman is planning to study computer science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“I’m just really happy to be here,” Soloman said. “I’m really happy for my family and all the supporters that have been there for me throughout my highs and lows.”
During the ceremony, MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor told the group of about 200 students that he was proud to be their superintendent and to know the class of 2025. Taylor is finishing his first year as superintendent after assuming the role July 1.
“My request is that you use your leadership to give back, to make this world a better place and much better than where you found it, that you do this in seemingly small and easy or large and complex ways,” Taylor told the students. “Most of all, I’m proud of what you will do.”
Soloman encouraged her fellow students to accept themselves as they navigate their journeys beyond high school.
“I challenge each and every one of you, my fellow seniors, to embrace every part of who you are,” Soloman told the crowd during the ceremony. “Not just the polished resumes or the smiling senior portraits, but the quiet struggles, the late-night doubts, the unspoken dreams. Because it’s not about who you present to the world, but it’s about who you choose to become when no one’s watching.”
