The MCPS Educational Foundation, in conjunction with the Rales Foundation, honored the first recipients of the 2023 Ruth and Norman Rales-Patricia Baier O’Neill Scholarship Recognizing Academic Excellence at their Evening of Excellence on Apr. 19. The 194 scholars were awarded a $10,000 scholarship and recognized for their achievements. “My favorite part of the reception was hanging out with other people from my school who were also awarded the scholarship,” senior Alex Gao said. In Sept. 2022, the Rales-O’Neill announced a $10 million, five-year commitment to to provide up to 200 $10,000 scholarships per year to high-achieving graduating seniors from low-to-moderate income households.