Eastern Tech’s Goff and Dundalk’s McNeal Win Scholarships - by Ben Boehl - Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston presented the school system's second annual awards through its Scholarship Loan Program, which was created to motivate graduating students to pursue careers in the teaching field. Renewable annual scholarships of $4,000 each were presented to three graduating seniors, including Ryan Goff of Eastern Technical High School and Brittany McNeal of Dundalk High School. Goff is a student at Eastern Tech and will be going to Salisbury University in the fall to become a high school math teacher. Goff is an honor student at Eastern Technical Ryan Goff with Dr. Joe A. Hairston High School and is taking Advanced Placement classes in psychology, English literature and calculus. In addition, Goff was a member of the Ford AAA Auto Skills Troubleshooting Contest 2007 & 2008 Teams. He didn't have any aspirations of becoming a teacher until this past school year. Not only did Goff not want to be a teacher, he had no desire of going to college and planned to join the Marines. He said all that changed with the help of his teachers Jeremy Carlino and Phil Bressler. “They got me into wanting to help others,” Goff said. “All of their students do well in their classes and that is because they make it fun to learn.” He will join his sister Meghan at Salisbury. She too plans to become a teacher and also won the scholarship last year. McNeal is a student at Dundalk High School where she's on the honor roll and a varsity field hockey player. Like Goff, she had no original plans to become a teacher until she had Bill Valcarenghi as a math teacher. Brittany McNeal with Dr. Hairston “I wanted to be a marine biologist and didn't like math, but Mr. Valcarenghi inspired me to become a teacher.” McNeal will attending Villa Julie College and plans to teach middle school math. A member of Dundalk's Class of 2008 Steering Committee and Calculus Club, McNeal volunteers with the Berkshire Area Community Association and Dundalk Renaissance Corporation and she works part-time at a Burger King. She was happy and shocked to hear she won the scholarship. “I was surprised I won because I was told that a lot of people put in for (the scholarship).”