By Phoebe Farris, chair of Mary Church Terrell Scholarship committee
Reina Pineda, MCT Recipient
It gives me great pleasure to announce the recipient of our Mary Church Terrell scholarship, Ms. Reina Pineda, a former Bell Multicultural High School student, now enrolled at UDC. Upon graduation from Bell Reina had earned a 3.91 GPA and graduated third in a class of 181 students.
Reina excels in math and science and hopes to become an engineer. Prior to attending UDC she took challenging courses such as Physics, AP Calculus, and Honors Principles of Engineering, earning A’s in all of those classes. In his recommendation letter, Math and Engineering teacher, Mr. Brian Wheeler described Reina as a student who lends support to her classmates in learning difficult material, willing to spend an extra 2-4 hours a week learning about robotics in order to enter a robotics competition, and above all, as a person with exceptional character.
Samuel M. Silsbee, Reina’s DC History and U.S. Government teacher also mentions the time that Reina took to assist her fellow classmates by translating portions of the Constitution into Spanish for recent student immigrants and staying after school to help a student with learning disabilities. These are the qualities AAUW/DC is looking for when awarding the Mary Church Terrell scholarship; a student who balances self-achievement with helping others to attain their goals, carrying on the tradition of African American educator and activist Mary Church Terrell.
Reina Pineda said that the MCT will help her achieve financial independence while in college so that her immigrant parents can focus on other family responsibilities. “I am so grateful to Dr. Farris, the other members of AAUW/DC, and the UDC staff who made it possible for me to achieve my dream of attending college and pursuing a career in engineering. Muchas Gracias!”