MC Alumna, Retired County Educator Creates Scholarship to Support ACES Program

Montgomery College alumna Karla Berg Walker (’74) endowed a Montgomery College Foundation scholarship to support a new College initiative, Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES), set to launch this fall.

Walker, a retired reading specialist from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), established the Karla Berg Walker Endowed Scholarship to provide students—perhaps even some of her own former students—the same chance she had to pursue her higher education dreams.

“We are very grateful for the generous support of Karla Berg Walker,” said Dr. DeRionne Pollard, Montgomery College president. “It is an honor and privilege to receive such strong support for our ACES program, which will bring opportunities for higher education to even more high school students.”

The ACES program is acollaboration between Montgomery College, MCPS and the Universities at Shady Grove to develop a seamless pathway from high school to community college to a university, which will increase the number of students earning college degrees. ACES will provide supportive coaching and individualized services for high school students to ensure successful transition, enrollment, and college completion. ACES will focus on underrepresented students in higher education, including African American, Hispanic and low-income students, as well as those who would be the first in their family to attend college. The program will begin in 10 MCPS high schools with the goal of expanding in future years.

After teaching in Montgomery County for 26 years, Walker is committed to the ACES purpose of reaching students early on in their high school career to encourage them to envision a brighter future for themselves. 

For more information about the Karla Berg Walker Endowed Scholarship, please contact Carol Rognrud, executive director of the Montgomery College Foundation, at 240-567-7493 or carol.rognrud@montgomerycollege.edu. Gifts to support the ACES Program can be sent to the Montgomery College Foundation, c/o the Karla Berg Walker Endowed Scholarship, 40 West Gude Drive, Suite 220, Rockville, MD 20850.

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Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 130 areas of study.