My name is Danielle Harris. I am a Senior at James Hubert Blake High School with a 4.56 GPA. I am the Bass Drum section leader in the marching band, and I also play drums in the Blake Jazz Band. In my spare time, I volunteer in underclass classrooms as a student aide and I also privately tutor students one on one. I mentor underclass girls in Blake’s Big Sister mentor program. I'm looking forward to attending the University of Maryland at College Park this fall where I will concentrate on Music and/or Psychology. I have participated in multiple forms of community service throughout my academic career. Most notably, I’ve been in the marching band all four years of high school. In the marching band, we perform in parades, football games, concerts and festivals that provide our listeners with lively and vibrant music that always puts a smile on their faces. During my freshman year of marching band, I played the trombone and for my sophomore through junior years, I played the bass drum. I became the bass drum section leader this marching band season because of my experience in and commitment to the band. This year I am a member of the Big Sister Project at my school. This is a club where senior girls are partnered with freshmen girls to mentor them and I help them navigate high school as their “big sister”. My little sister and I have grown very close this year. Being able to be there for her as someone she can depend on and come to for help has been very heartwarming. It feels so rewarding watching her grow and become braver and more outgoing over these past few months. Moreover, I also volunteer in the EduCorps program at my school, which is where 11th and 12th-grade students serve as student aides to underclassmen classes and receive SSL hours for it. Since 11th grade, I have been a student aide for 9th-grade biology, Spanish 1, and Resource classes. My high school counselor motivated me to volunteer with EduCorps because she thought I would do well as one because of my grades and social skills. Additionally, I have previously worked at the voting polls at my local polling place. I volunteered through a program called Future Voters, where teens who are registered to vote can work at the polls. When working with Future Voters, I helped people navigate the voting place and answered any questions they had regarding the voting process. While currently unemployed, I do get paid to tutor a 9th-grade student in all subjects. My experiences tutoring, participating in the Big Sister Project, and volunteering with EduCorps, have opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming a teacher’s aide in the future. If I became a teacher’s aide at the University of Maryland, I would be serving my community by aiding teachers in educating the youth. Since I enjoy these experiences as well as working with younger students, I think teaching would be a good career choice for me. Receiving the money from this scholarship would help me pay for college, where I can earn the credentials to become a teacher’s aide, and ultimately a teacher in the future.

My name is Danielle Harris. I am a Senior at James Hubert Blake High School with a 4.56 GPA. I am the Bass Drum section leader in the marching band, and I also play drums in the Blake Jazz Band. In my spare time, I volunteer in underclass classrooms as a student aide and I also privately tutor students one on one. I mentor underclass girls in Blake’s Big Sister mentor program. I'm looking forward to attending the University of Maryland at College Park this fall where I will concentrate on Music and/or Psychology. I have participated in multiple forms of community service throughout my academic career. Most notably, I’ve been in the marching band all four years of high school. In the marching band, we perform in parades, football games, concerts and festivals that provide our listeners with lively and vibrant music that always puts a smile on their faces. During my freshman year of marching band, I played the trombone and for my sophomore through junior years, I played the bass drum. I became the bass drum section leader this marching band season because of my experience in and commitment to the band. This year I am a member of the Big Sister Project at my school. This is a club where senior girls are partnered with freshmen girls to mentor them and I help them navigate high school as their “big sister”. My little sister and I have grown very close this year. Being able to be there for her as someone she can depend on and come to for help has been very heartwarming. It feels so rewarding watching her grow and become braver and more outgoing over these past few months. Moreover, I also volunteer in the EduCorps program at my school, which is where 11th and 12th-grade students serve as student aides to underclassmen classes and receive SSL hours for it. Since 11th grade, I have been a student aide for 9th-grade biology, Spanish 1, and Resource classes. My high school counselor motivated me to volunteer with EduCorps because she thought I would do well as one because of my grades and social skills. Additionally, I have previously worked at the voting polls at my local polling place. I volunteered through a program called Future Voters, where teens who are registered to vote can work at the polls. When working with Future Voters, I helped people navigate the voting place and answered any questions they had regarding the voting process. While currently unemployed, I do get paid to tutor a 9th-grade student in all subjects. My experiences tutoring, participating in the Big Sister Project, and volunteering with EduCorps, have opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming a teacher’s aide in the future. If I became a teacher’s aide at the University of Maryland, I would be serving my community by aiding teachers in educating the youth. Since I enjoy these experiences as well as working with younger students, I think teaching would be a good career choice for me. Receiving the money from this scholarship would help me pay for college, where I can earn the credentials to become a teacher’s aide, and ultimately a teacher in the future.

I was a freshman when I first joined the marching band in high school. I played the trombone, which I had been playing since fourth grade. At first I was very shy and didn’t know or talk to many people in the band. I never really broke out of my shell during freshman year of marching band. During my freshman year I was taking a beginning percussion class in addition to playing the trombone. I was planning on learning the drums so that I could switch into the drumline during my sophomore year of marching band. My sophomore year was when the pandemic hit, so we didn’t have a marching band season that year. As a junior, I was finally able to play the drums in the marching band. I was in a new section and I only knew a few people. I was also the only female bass drum player which made it even harder to connect with the others. Thankfully, the drumline leadership was very welcoming and made me feel comfortable. They were also very supportive. They would congratulate me whenever I played well, which made me feel so much better as a new drummer. Because of the leadership I had as a new drummer I became a more confident player and member of the band. This year, as a senior bass drum player, I was the leader of my section. A new freshman joined as an addition to the section. I saw a lot of freshman-year me in her. She was very shy and timid. She was very soft spoken, and she would often stay in the background. Because of this I knew I really had to take her under my wing, even more so than the other bass drum players. I knew that as a leader I had to be supportive and encouraging, just like how the previous bass drum leader had been toward me. I was always giving her extra directions, even if she didn’t ask for it, telling her she did a good job, and doing anything else to make her feel as comfortable and confident as possible. I pushed her to be a better drummer and marcher, and in doing so she was pushing me to be a better leader. It was so heartwarming to see her progress as the season went on. She has broken out of her shell and become so much more confident and it feels great to know that I had a part in that.