An Educational Game Changer

La Reine Science & Innovation Center Projected To Be A Regional Trendsetter Announced At Groundbreaking

By Raoul Dennis  // Photography By Frank Solomon

“This is a game-changer not only for Bishop McNamara but for the Prince George’s County Community as a whole,” shared County Executive Angela Alsobrooks with the guests at the groundbreaking of The La Reine Science and Innovation Center at Bishop McNamara High School Dec. 12.

“We know that STEM education is critical to ensuring that our young people can compete professionally after high school. The education and training that will be offered at the center will lay the groundwork for our students to enter a workforce that is technology and science-driven,” Alsobrooks wrote. “Additionally, this is exciting because the programs offered will help adults re-tool and adapt to an ever-changing work environment.”

Like so many education, county and state leaders, Alsobrooks recognized the strategic impact of the center because of its strength regarding Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programming and the elevating impact it will make on the communities and small businesses across a 15-mile radius from where the center will be located in Forestville, MD.

The $12.5 million center is slated to “help grow future innovators, serving as a hub in the community for workforce and youth enrichment programs.”

Sheltered within a climate controlled tent on the grounds of the Forestville-based campus, some 160 state, county and regional leaders gathered as Bishop McNamara High School President and CEO Dr. Marco Clark shared remarks about history of the school and the journey to make the center a reality.

“In 1992 when La Reine High School painfully closed its doors, both Bishop McNamara and La Reine had struggling enrollments. The Franciscan sisters recognized that the way to maintain Catholic high school education in this part of the county was to make the pain and sacrifice to close La Reine High School. And the two schools became one…kind of like a forced marriage,” Clark said with a smile of the merger between La Reine High School (an all-girls school) and Bishop McNamara (all-boys school).

The marriage has been a good one. The high school has a 100% graduation rate with students attending four year colleges and universities around the nation – including Ivy League schools. Sometimes referred to as a hidden gem in Prince George’s, BMHS students graduate college in four years or less and go into diverse industries ranging from science and engineering to politics, professional sports and more. It is an elite center focusing not just on education but also in shaping the characters of its students.

Clark, a 1985 graduate of BMHS, often became choked with emotion as he recognized the groundbreaking as a momentous day in the legacies of those who began the school’s history as well as those who would benefit from the new center.

“Today is a momentous day for the legacy of the men and women who came before us. It’s a legacy of the courageous leaders who have gotten us to this point. It’s a momentous day for Bishop McNamara students: future generations of young men and women whose lives will be transformed by the new opportunities this center will provide for them. It’s a momentous day for Forestville and District Heights whose citizens will benefit from the skills they will acquire through our workplace learning center. We are proud to be part of this new renaissance in our area,” he said.

The fundraising campaign co-chairs for the new center are Steve and Dianne Proctor. The Proctors have had a relationship with the school since their son, Trey Proctor, attended BMHS (graduated in 2004). The duo, actively engaged in so many charitable organizations in the county, have consistently championed Bishop McNamara for its role in educating and shaping Trey’s mind and character.

“I went on the board when Trey graduated,” said Steve Proctor in 2018 at the dedication of the Steve and Dianne Proctor Leadership Center at BMHS. “I knew that I have to give back. Looking at what they did with my son, I wanted to help do that for others.”

The Proctors put the weight of their full support into the campaign.

“This school is a way of life, not just a school,” Steve Proctor said. “Kids come here and get a great education but they leave even better people. What’s happening today will change future lives for generations. They will be people that we will never meet but we will have an impact on their lives forever. Dianne and I stand here forever grateful and honor to be a part of this effort.”

Thomas V. Mike Miller, president of the Maryland State Senate (D-Dist. 27) whose origins began in Prince George’s, sparked guests with his signature humor.

“I’m honored to be here,” he began. “Thank you for letting my three daughters into La Reine. I know you didn’t want to at the time. They were on social probation the whole time [they were here],” Miller mused. “The A students come back and become teachers, the B students give you money and the C students give you buildings. Marco, thank you [for the new building].”

Other leaders included Melony Griffith, Maryland State Senate, Del. Derek E. Davis (D-Dist. 25), Del. Michael A. Jackson (D-Dist 27B), Diana Leon Brown, director of strategic partnerships within the office of the county executive, Del. Nick Charles (D-Dist 25), State’s Attorney Prince George’s County Aisha Braveboy, Bishop Roy Campbell, Tamika Tremaglio, Deloitte, Laura Irwin, Catholic Charities and Wanda Durant, advocate and philanthropist.