Walk inside the Annapolis Trust’s Community Center, and you’ll see it’s still a work in progress. There’s a large multipurpose room with an arcade-style basketball hoop in the corner, unfinished artwork on the walls and a computer lab with eight desktops.
The facility in the Annapolis Gardens community on Admiral Drive opened last March. It has already become a main hangout for up to 60 kids a day, mostly students who have no other place to go after school.
“We get kids coming in mostly age 6 to 13 years old,” Paul Johnson Jr., Annapolis Trust Community Centers program director, said. “For a lot of them being at home would mean a lot of watching themselves so I’m happy we can offer somewhere else to hang out. Plus, we have various learning opportunities for the kids like invited guests or tutors.”
Among the regular students are 14-year-old Shianiyah Johnson and her siblings. Johnson, no relation to the program director, is a freshman at South River High School and a member of the school’s STEM program.
Last month, Shianiyah was announced as one of this year’s recipients of the Gordonstoun International Scholarship. For more than 20 years, the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Scholarship Trust has given scholarships to underprivileged students. More than 130 students have either received four-year scholarships or traveled to Scotland for the Gordonstoun International Summer School Program, said Reginald Broddie, founder and CEO of Annapolis Trust. Shianiyah is one of two students selected this year.
The all-expenses-paid summer school program draws kids from around the world for three and a half weeks in July and August. The program tailors a specific curriculum track for each student, with choices in technology, literature, creative writing, international citizenship, social enterprise and entrepreneurship. It also incorporates courses in arts, sailing, sports, and cultivates self-reliance through a six-day sailing and outdoor adventure tradition.
“Each year, our scholarship recipients return from Scotland transformed by their experiences,” Broddie said. “Through this program, they confront challenges that transcend socio-economic and cultural boundaries, fostering newfound confidence and independence. Ultimately, over 85% of Gordonstoun attendees successfully graduate from college.”
Shianiyah is the third youngest of eight kids whose mother works “crazy hours” as a physician’s assistant at a nursing home, she said. The center is a second home for her along with her brother Sam, 9, and sister Skylar, 11. It’s not only a safe place to hang out but also a place to work as she volunteered last summer.
“She was a perfect fit for this scholarship opportunity,” Broddie said. “After working with us and living in the community it was the obvious choice. This community doesn’t get much attention so we hope that she ”] can be an inspiration to other kids with similar backgrounds.”
Shianiyah has never left the country or traveled more than a few hours from Maryland.
“I’ve only been as far as Tennessee,” she said. ” I’m excited for an opportunity to visit somewhere new and experience something so far away from home.”
Shianiyah expressed enthusiasm for learning beyond traditional classroom boundaries. She learned this from her experiences in engineering design and coding. She’s also cultivated a sense of adventure and appreciation for diverse cultures.
Shianiyah stays active by playing basketball and soccer, but her focus is on her studies. One day she hopes to be a surgeon.
“It’s a life-changing chance for a young person coming from this part of the world,” Broddie said. “When Shianiyah gets there, she will get used to eating different meals and performing different tasks on a daily basis. The most interesting part is that she will meet kids from all over the world. Some may be from Sweden and others may be from the Gaza Strip. She’ll gain a whole new perspective.”