News from the School of Public Health

Congratulations Spring 2020 graduates! We are so proud of your accomplishments and with the future of public health in your hands, we feel hopeful about the future.

Across the world we are all facing unprecedented times and are practicing safety protocols like wearing a mask, maintaining physical distancing and washing our hands frequently. Cyndi Kershaw, an undergraduate teaching assistant program coordinator for the School of Public Health, has been making cloth masks to help to stop the spread of COVID-19. She’s made over 100 masks and counting, with delivery spanning across the US from Maryland to California. She is asking everyone to donate funds in lieu of payment to the UMD Student Crisis Fund, the Campus Pantry, and/or Keep Me Maryland.

This story was first published on the Maryland Today website on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.

During the COVID-19 crisis, children can be leaders in modeling effective health behaviors for their peers—and adults.

College Park, Md. — COVID-19 worries children from sub-Saharan Africa more than children from other parts of the world, an international study of children’s knowledge, perceptions and stress during the pandemic found. A research team asked questions to more than 4,000 children aged 9-12 in 42 countries during the month of April 2020.

Opiaah Jeffers M.P.H. ’21 hadn’t even finished her first shift as a COVID-19 contact tracer for the Prince George’s County Health Department on Friday when the complexity of safely restarting public life in the state of Maryland hit her.

When Maureen “Mo” Bryant ’01, founder of Spontaneity, LLC, went back to school to earn her Bachelor’s in Science degree in Family Studies at 40, her mission was to help as many children as she could.

Now, Bryant is looking to give others the same second chance by establishing the Irene Scholarship with a $25,000 gift.

Named after Bryant’s late mother, Irene Gleason Wallace Baxter, the scholarship will provide financial and academic support to School of Public Health undergraduate students returning to school after a break of two years or more.