Submitted by:  Nasim Keshavarz, Maryland State President

Happy Winter! Snow and the start of spring semester for most of us! The Maryland Committee has been busy with events and there is more to come!

Our Holiday Festival Networking Event was on Friday, December 12th at Bowl America in Glen Burnie. We had a terrific turnout with over 35 participants! Thank you to all who participated! It was a fun night of games and giveaways. Thank you to the MD Committee for coordinating this event!

Front: Rhonda McLaren Scott (Montgomery) & Stephanie Bender (EdFund) Back: Tamara Carter (TG) & Nasim Keshavarz (UMUC)	Sharon Hassan (Goucher College) shows great form!

The High School Guidance Counselor Workshop was held during certain times and locations. Thank you to all the schools that participated with their time and energy!

We had over 130 guidance counselors join us at one of these locations! I would like to thank Lynn Lee, Kate Lockhart, Vicki Smith, Ginny Zawodny, Brittany Benton, and Debbie Jenkins for hosting this event. We appreciate your help in getting the word out to guidance counselors about financial aid.

You Can Afford College was held on Saturday, January 10th at Maryland Public Television. We answered many calls and helped many families. As always, I want to thank Pat Shoemaker for coordinating this event. We also want to extend our thanks to Maryland Public Television for hosting this event.

A special thanks to following Tri-State members for participating:

Other events for 2008-2009 include Bill 2 Law Day (February 26), a Spring Networking Event, and a Spring Volunteer Event. More to come!!!