A well-timed email gave Maurice Wagoner, a systems specialist with the Johns Hopkins Health System’s design and construction group, the forum he sought for inspiring disadvantaged Baltimore youth. The email came from the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT) and publicized a volunteer program that brought professionals into middle schools to motivate students. Wagoner and then-colleague Ricky Venters, an economic inclusion program manager in the same group, jumped at the chance and signed up for the MBRT training session.
Both men have become avid participants in the MBRT’s Maryland Scholars Speakers Bureau through the group’s partnership with Johns Hopkins. Last year, as part of the program, Johns Hopkins reached 3,660 students in 104 classrooms—more than any other organization working with MBRT.
The annual invitation to volunteer with the speakers bureau came soon after the unrest that followed Freddie Gray’s death last year, a period when Wagoner and Venters had been contemplating ways to transform young people’s defeatism into determination. “We knew the issues and that it was important to redirect kids’ attention in more constructive directions,” Wagoner says.
They also knew that plentiful opportunities awaited students in their respective fields, and across the science, technology, engineering and math professions. The two colleagues completed a three-hour MBRT training session and took their message to area middle schools.
In the classroom, Wagoner explained how he parlayed a gift for drawing construction plans and using drafting software into a 22-year career at Johns Hopkins. To establish rapport, Wagoner keeps in mind his own experiences as a student in city schools and the opportunities he regrets he missed. “The key is being able to relate to them—not coming off like you’re a parent or a teacher, but someone who remembers.”
Wagoner and Venters, an engineer who recently became the economic inclusion manager in the Department of Facilities and Real Estate at The Johns Hopkins University, were recognized in July by MBRT for their commitment to the program. Wagoner has this advice for prospective participants: “A lot of these young kids don’t think anybody really cares about what they do. If you want to make a difference, here’s a great way to start.”
Volunteers for the Maryland Scholars Speakers Bureau are required to participate in a one-time training session and then give four 50-minute classroom presentations at schools at dates and times convenient to their schedules.
