So many great things have been happening over the last several months with the BGMF! We want to share it all with you because, without all your fantastic support, we would not be able to do any of this!
Again this year, the foundation will award scholarships to two graduating seniors. Students are given essay-type questions, and board members choose two applicants. These students will be given their scholarship awards at the annual award banquet at St. Edward in May.
We are beyond grateful to announce that the Atrium of the new Student Success Center at St. Edward High School will be named in memory of Brycen. The newly renovated space will transform the current library into an area for students to have counseling spaces that provide discretion and privacy that are easily accessible. As well as supporting students’ learning needs with tutoring and learning center rooms.
The week of April 24th is Mental Health Awareness week. The foundation has teamed up with St. Edward High School to support students. BGFM will hand out two-sided keychains to every student. One side will have Brycen’s motto and our logo, “you’ve got a friend in me,” and the other will have a QR code. Students can scan the QR code, which will give them direct contact with the guidance counselors they can reach at any time, day or night, as well as crisis hotlines. No student will ever be without immediate support.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, our local congressional representative, introduced the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act, which would authorize the National Science Foundation, in consultation with the National Institutes of Health, to award grants on a competitive basis to support research on neurological and psychiatric illnesses associated with COVID-19 infection. The bill passed the House on 7/26/22. It went to the Senate in January this year; unfortunately, it failed the Senate by one vote. We will start the process again, this time with the support of Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH 14th District), since Rep. Gonzalez has left office, in the hope that it will make it to the President’s desk, so the much-needed funding and research can be done on the neurological impact of COVID-19.