Shanardia Spruill, a senior at Western High School in Baltimore, is the recipient of the 2026 Dr. Michael Casserly Legacy Award for Educational Courage and Justice scholarship. Sponsored by Curriculum Associates, the $10,000 college scholarship will be used by Spruill to pursue a degree in finance at North Carolina Central University.

The scholarship is part of the Dr. Michael Casserly Legacy Award for Educational Courage and Justice, named after the Council of the Great City Schools’ former executive director. The annual award, now in its sixth year, recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to urban education in grades K–12 by taking courageous and passionate stances on the issues of educational justice and equity.

This year’s awardee was Dr. Peggy Carr, who served as commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences for three and a half years. 

Despite losing both of her parents, Spruill has excelled inside and outside the classroom, enrolling in Advanced Placement courses, serving as a class representative in the Student Government Association, and participating in the school’s step team. In addition, she works 20 hours a week at a local grocery store. 

The loss of her parents has spurred Spruill’s desire to major in finance so she can create an organization that connects grieving teens to mentors and helps children who are in foster care or have lost their parents. 

In her scholarship application essay, she wrote, “Because the worst part of losing my parents wasn’t the funeral. It was the year after, when everyone stopped checking on me. I don’t want any other kid to feel that invisible. My degree will help me build something that lasts.”

It’s also a fitting coincidence that she is attending North Carolina Central University, the same college Dr. Carr attended as an undergraduate. 

At a recent Baltimore School Board meeting, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Brookins Santelises joined Carr, Casserly, and Woody Paik, executive vice president for Curriculum Associates, to present the $10,000 scholarship to Spruill.  

“Shanardia was selected to receive the scholarship because of her strong academic record, her determination, her incredible strength in overcoming adversity, and her willingness to use her considerable talents to improve the world we live in with courage and justice,” said Casserly. 
He noted how impressed he was with Spruill’s desire to create a nonprofit organization so other young people without parents would not have to face the barriers she did.

“This is a big idea that can improve the lives of many people and advance the world we live in,” said Casserly. “It is an idea grounded in courage, inspired by justice, and exactly what this award was established for.”