Nearly 3,000 students, 200 teachers, and chaperones converged on the campus of Morgan State University on April 17 for NCEED’s annual Young Scholars Day. This event is designed to promote early college and career awareness. Students traveled from New York City, New Jersey, Delaware, northern Virginia, Baltimore City, and Howard, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore counties.

The day kicked off with an Academic Pep Rally in Hill Field House featuring DJ Jayvibez, our dance-off challenge, students from Gardenville Elementary School (Baltimore) and South Orange Middle School (South Orange, NJ), Morgan State students Gabrielle Hall and Lucy Adams, university mascot Benny the Bear, and Morgan State’s world-renowned marching band, the Magnificent Marching Machine (M3).

Following the Academic Pep Rally, the students went to the Earl S. Richardson Library for the College and Career Fair. Exhibitors included the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the admissions offices of Morgan State University, Towson University, Bowie State University, Howard Community College, Baltimore City Community College, and Prince George’s Community College, the Morgan State Patuxent Environmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory (PEARL), the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Department of Nursing, and the Screenwriting & Animation program in the College of Liberal Arts.

Students were treated to a free box lunch in Rawlings Dining Hall, and schools conducted self-guided tours with the assistance of a tour guidebook developed specifically for Young Scholars Day.

NCEED thanks our student volunteers, DJ Jayvibez, the staff of the School of Education and Urban Studies (SEUS), the Earl S. Richardson Library, the Morgan State Athletic Department, Mr. Luther Moore in the School of Global Journalism & Communication, Sodexo Dining and the Rawlings Dining Hall staff, the Campus Police & Public Safety Department, the Office of Public Relations & Strategic Communications, the University Marching Band, Benny the Bear, and university Housekeeping for their support, and the Gamma Omicron Omega Alumni Chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. for their financial contribution. Young Scholars Day would not have been a success without them.
Per fSTAR pillar lead, Walter Fields, who coordinates this annual event on behalf of NCEED – “The students’ excitement was evident, and it confirms our belief that we should invest time early in children’s lives to prepare them for future college and career opportunities. As I walked around the campus, both students and teachers offered me many positive comments. We are excited about Young Scholars Day 2027 and hope you will volunteer once more to help make it a success.  We are the Bears!”