In June 2022, Cherami Earls, the lead teacher of our Peacocks class of two-year-olds, received the McGee Family Scholarship from BayPort Foundation, the charitable arm of BayPort Credit Union. Cherami is one of 36 awardees for the 2022 scholarship program, which provided a total of $100,000 to local students. The $2,000 award will allow Cherami to pursue her degree in Early Childhood Education from Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC). Cherami shares that the McGee scholarship has helped her financially as she works to achieve her degree in Early Childhood Education.
The McGee Family Scholarship honors Peake’s Board Vice President and Bayport’s First Vice Chairman, Suzanne Beckstoffer’s parents, Jim and Joan McGee. Jim and Joan spent their careers in education, with Jim teaching Biology in public school and college and Joan educating elementary students. When asked about how this award honors her parents, Suzanne shared, “My mother truly believes children learn better when they know they are loved.” Like Joan McGee, the early childhood educators of PCC recognize the importance of nurturing love in the classroom to enhance the development of the whole child. Please join us in thanking BayPort and applauding this year’s awardees, including PCC’s very own Cherami Earls.
