Thirty-three Monroe Technology Center students were honored as the initial class of Claude Moore Scholars during a White Coat Ceremony on Wednesday, October 3rd, at the Inova Loudoun Hospital Lansdowne Campus. “You will be the cornerstone for a program that we believe will set a model for medical education,” said Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Edgar B. Hatrick III before students received their personalized, white lab coats and two pairs of scrubs. This is the first year the LCPS Health and Medical Sciences Program, made possible through a $150,000 grant from the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, has been offered. It introduces juniors and seniors to health care careers and develops basic skills common to all health and medical sciences. Hatrick said the partnership between the school system, Inova Loudoun Hospital and the Claude Moore Foundation was a partnership of the best kind. “For the community, it eventually means better service. For the students, it means a better education than would be possible without this partnership.” Hatrick asked the students to be cognizant of the opportunity being offered them. “You have before you a unique opportunity to obtain an education that would not be available in other parts of this country or other parts of this world.” Dr. Gregory Bentz, the chief medical officer of Inova Loudoun Hospital, first explained his personal fashion sense to the students, many of whom noticed he wasn’t wearing socks. “I didn’t just lose them tonight. I lost them about 40 years ago when I had to start doing laundry.” Bentz sees this partnership as an ideal situation. “Things are best when everybody wins. I think this is one of those situations. Students will win because they will be a vital part of the largest segment of the economy. We win because someday you might come to work for us. We like having highly qualified local people working for us.” Jay Lambert, the executive director of the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, noted that LCPS, the foundation and Inova first began planning the Health and Medical Sciences Program in April 2005. “With this team we have developed a program that will have national consequences.” Lambert remembered that the foundation’s namesake, pioneering radiologist Dr. Claude Moore, was a curmudgeon and a no-nonsense man. He also was rather vague about how his money should be used. “You fellows figure it out.” “We’re still trying to figure it out. We’ve figured out that this is a great opportunity.” The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation also was represented by trustees Guy Gravett and Jesse Wilson and Director of Grants and Special Projects Lynn Tadlock. Monroe Technology Center Principal Wagner Grier noted that this program was developed after first-hand evaluations of programs around the country by himself and LCPS Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education Shirley Bazdar (who was the emcee for the coating ceremony). “There were many miles of travel, early morning flights…to bring back the best programs to the students and the public they will serve.” Grier added that this work had led to one thing for the first Claude Moore Scholars: “You are in the right place at the right time. Much of the success in life depends on being in the right place at the right time.” Grier also spoke to something his students should consider as they become medical professionals. “(Patients) know nothing about you, but they trust you. You want to keep that trust.” Founded in 1987, the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation’s mission is to enhance educational opportunities, including higher education, for young people in the Commonwealth of Virginia and elsewhere. Penny Myer, the health and medical sciences instructor at Monroe, presented the lab coats to the students honored as the first class of Claude Moore Scholars. They are: Ximena Altuzarra
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