---
title: How Terps Spent the Summer Doing Good
date: 2025-09-10T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/how-terps-spent-the-summer-doing-good"
section: Articles
---
# How Terps Spent the Summer Doing Good

*September 10, 2025* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> From College Park to West Africa, UMD Students, Faculty and Staff Served Communities

*Do good collage 1920x1080 — UMD students, faculty and staff got into the "Do Good" spirit this summer, making an impact on communities locally and globally. (Photos courtesy of UMD community members)*

Summer’s a great time to catch up on coursework, earn cash for college or head straight for destination relaxation. For many Terps, though, it's a time to give back.

“It feels so natural to contribute to UMD’s Do Good mission … using knowledge, skills and creativity to serve others beyond academic work,” said Ebenezer Kobina Mensah ’26, who founded the nonprofit Black Stars Wellness Initiative and spent his summer in Accra, Ghana, teaching lifesaving first aid skills to more than 800 youths.

He’s one of many students, faculty and staff who spent part or all of the past few months using their expertise and passion to support people and programs in communities near and far, using their expertise and passion to help others.

Meet a handful of them:



*A man in a Maryland shirt teaches students phonics on a board — Sean Rotter M.Ed. '23, a summer reading program master teacher, builds words with children during a phonics lesson.*


**Associate Clinical Professor Ayanna Baccus: UMD Summer Reading Program**  
In July, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership faculty member Baccus led UMD’s [Summer Reading Program](https://sites.google.com/view/umd-reading/home), providing tutoring and literacy instruction to children in kindergarten through middle school. College of Education graduate students and alums taught the children, who also received books to take home each week and met with local authors and illustrators. A partnership between the university’s reading clinic, which prepares teachers and graduate students for positions as reading specialists, and the city of College Park, the program “has been a great experience and allowed us to make stronger connections with children, families and schools," said Baccus.



*Students in pink and green Tech Turn Up shirts on a field — Doshi, far right, with students in the Tech Turn Up program.*


**Vatsal Doshi M.S. ’25: Tech Turn Up**  
“Just wrapped up 10 weeks as ([Do Good Institute](https://dogood.umd.edu/)) [Impact Intern](https://dogood.umd.edu/news/more-90-umd-students-embark-summer-internships-social-impact-sector) at Tech Turn Up and honestly didn't expect this experience to hit me the way it did,” Doshi, a master’s student in the Robert H. Smith School of Business wrote on LinkedIn. “I came in thinking I'd be doing some database work and checking boxes for my degree. Instead, I ended up managing marketing for an organization that's actually changing kids' lives through STEAM education. Built outreach campaigns for 100+ schools, created donor databases and even got to sit in board meetings giving strategic input.”



*Two teachers work on a technology project — Eleanor Roosevelt High School teachers Mildred Pates (left) and Karen Bogoski conduct research on dehumidification technologies under the guidance of UMD engineering faculty and students.*


**Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub: Research Experiences for Teachers**  
Mechanical engineering graduate student Andoniaina Randriambololona and materials science and engineering graduate student Boyang Liu flipped the script on a pair of teachers from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt. STEM instructors Karen Bogoski and Mildred Pates have coached thousands of students through challenging engineering projects and chemistry experiments throughout their careers—but this summer, they came to UMD to research efficient and sustainable dehumidification technologies, inspiring them to develop new curricula on sustainable technologies for their classes. Randriambololona and Liu led a team of engineering students who mentored the high school teachers along with Clark School faculty.



*group of six poses under tree — From left, graduate students Rafian Aziz, Ujjwol Subedi, Nick An, Gerry Andhikaputra, Fahmi Dwilaksono and Quingyue Zeng.*


**UMD Global STEWARDS: Hyattsville Food Forests**  
Graduate students in the [UMD Global STEWARDS](https://globalstewards.umd.edu/) program, part of the [Global FEWture Alliance](https://globalfewture.umd.edu/), volunteered at the Hyattsville Food Forests in August, pruning bushes, training berry vines and harvesting figs. These students have a wide range of research interests, ranging from public health to agricultural innovation, and their goal is to help increase food security, make the environment more resilient to drought and improve the mental health of local residents.



*Minhee Kim headshot — Minhee Kim '27*



*group of four poses in front of City of Crisfield sign — From left, Maddox, Crisfield Mayor Darlene Taylor, Maria Stepanyan '26 and Amira Tlemsani '27.*


**Senior Faculty Specialist Michael Maddox: HydroNet**  
“I had the pleasure to mentor two students, Amira Tlemsani ’27 and Maria Stepanyan ’26, this summer through the Climate Resilience Network as part of the HydroNet project,” said Maddox, part of the [Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center](https://essic.umd.edu/). The Grand Challenges Grant-funded project uses sensor data on variables like precipitation, wind speed and water levels to understand and provide early warning of coastal flooding and threats to sewage plants and other utilities. “By understanding these relationships, we seek to improve predictions of flooding events and support more effective mitigation strategies for Crisfield and other similar coastal communities.”



*group of girls poses for photo — Malik, far right, with youth in the Girl Inc. DC program.*


**Alizeh Malik M.P.P. ’25: Girls Inc. DC**  
"I'm passionate about empowering young girls, especially locally, because I’ve seen how much potential they have when given the right support and opportunities,” said Malik. As part of the [Do Good Institute's](https://dogood.umd.edu/) [Impact Interns](https://dogood.umd.edu/research-impact/projects/impact-interns) program, she developed a Teen Advocacy Council curriculum to empower girls through advocacy and education on critical issues and conducted research to support program goals. “Working with Girls Inc. showed me that when girls in our community gain confidence, leadership skills and advocacy tools, they’re not only able to dream bigger but also make a real impact."



*A man holding a microphone helps a youth learn CPR on a dummy — An instructor, one of 40 trained by the Black Stars Wellness Initiative in Ghana, teaches a child how to perform CPR.*
*Headshot of Ebenezer Mensah — Ebenezer Kobina Mensah*


**Ebenezer Kobina Mensah ’26: Black Stars Wellness Initiative**  
Mensah, [who won](https://today.umd.edu/medical-training-initiative-food-recovery-network-take-top-prizes-at-do-good-challenge) the 2025 [Do Good Challenge’s](https://dogood.umd.edu/research-impact/projects/do-good-challenge) leaders track, founded the initiative in 2021 and has trained young people in 18 cities across the U.S. and four in Ghana. “This past summer’s initiative allowed us to scale it in real communities: training young people and local leaders across different tribes.” The goal is to expand health literacy and emergency preparedness, empowering young individuals and communities to respond effectively to health emergencies, especially in rural areas with limited access to health care, he said. “I am proud to represent the University of Maryland in Ghana and make it clear that service and impact from our institution are not limited to geography.”



*three women pose in front of pillar that reads, "include, improve, inspire" — TechStart teaching assistants, from left: computer engineering majors Diksha Pal '26 and Afrah Siddiqui '28 and information science and immersive media design double major Cideth Oliva '25. (Photo by Katie Bemb)*


**Cideth Oliva ’25: CompSciConnect and TechStart**  
The immersive media design and information science double major gave back to the computing community this summer by teaching middle schoolers to code through the [CompSciConnect](https://catalyst.umd.edu/k-12/summer-academy/compsciconnect) day camp for middle schoolers, helping incoming UMD students with mission-driven projects through [TechStart](https://catalyst.umd.edu/current-students/programs/techstart) and reviving a student organization that lowers the barrier of entry to programming, called Open Sourcery. "I know firsthand how intimidating programming can feel, but I believe anyone can learn to code, no matter their background. That’s why I’m passionate about lowering barriers and bringing more awareness to the resources that are out there."



*two volunteers with grocery bags of greens — Barnes, left, and another volunteer pass out bags of food for The Storehouse.*


**Program Administrative Specialist Erica Starnes: The Storehouse**  
Barnes, a University Human Resources staff member, serves on the executive board of The Storehouse, the nation’s first Black-run food bank. “As a self-funded nonprofit, we serve more than 1,000 families each month through our food drive-through, providing fresh produce and essential support to our community. In addition, we host annual backpack and toy drives to further uplift families in need.”



*woman speaks at front of classroom — Karys Amatie '26 presents at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital on disability awareness.*
*man hands out bags from black container — Donovan Nixon M.A. '25 hands out bags at a community service event at the Edinaase Center for Individuals with Disabilities in Kumasi, Ghana.*


**Associate Clinical Professor Eliza Thompson: Global Perspectives in Serving Learning**  
For the third year, [Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences](https://hesp.umd.edu/) faculty member Thompson took HESP students to her home country of Ghana. She collaborated with the [School of Public Health](https://sph.umd.edu/) this time, enrolling 12 students in the summer study abroad course that educates communities on the importance of inclusion and training locals to support people with disabilities. “This course not only helps UMD students develop their clinical skills, but also helps them gain cultural competence as they navigate working with different people from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds,” Thompson said. They “engage in community-based service learning to provide parent and teacher training workshops, help dispel stigma about individuals with disabilities, and provide information on autism and other developmental disabilities.”



**Sidebar note:**

**Terps Do Good**  
The University of Maryland is the nation's first Do Good campus, committed to inspiring Terps to make a positive impact now through research, public service and education. See more stories about Terps doing good at [*today.umd.edu/topic/do-good*](http://today.umd.edu/topic/do-good).





**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education), [Robert H. Smith School of Business](https://today.umd.edu/topic/robert-h-smith-school-business), [School of Public Policy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-policy), [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering), [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health), [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences), [College of Information](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-information-studies), [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [University Human Resources](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-human-resources)