Arundel Middle

An Arundel Middle School student was issued a juvenile citation Tuesday after two classmates told school officials that he threatened them with a 3-inch knife, one of two incidents at the Odenton school this week. Also this week, a teacher was videotaped screaming at a student while admonishing her in front of classmates Wednesday. The video was posted on Facebook, and the teacher has since been removed from her classroom and is on leave while school officials investigate. In the knife incident, Anne Arundel County police said in a news release that Arundel Middle's resource officer was told about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday that a 12-year-old male student had made threats with the knife to a 12-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl.

An Arundel Middle School student was issued a juvenile citation Tuesday after two classmates told school officials that he threatened them with a 3-inch knife, one of two incidents at the Odenton school this week. Also this week, a teacher was videotaped screaming at a student while admonishing her in front of classmates Wednesday. The video was posted on Facebook, and the teacher has since been removed from her classroom and is on leave while school officials investigate. In the knife incident, Anne Arundel County police said in a news release that Arundel Middle's resource officer was told about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday that a 12-year-old male student had made threats with the knife to a 12-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl.

When Arundel Middle School launched its Fit Club last year, nearly three dozen students signed up to take part in a gym activity that included cardio exercises, weight training and workouts with the P90X fitness program. But many of them didn't think their teachers would show up, too. "It's kind of funny sometimes," said Arundel seventh-grader Jose Ramirez. "It's a different experience seeing them, like, work. They usually see us work a lot. " That is what Arundel Middle physical education teacher Jason Lively envisioned when he launched the Fit Club last year.

Anne Arundel County police charged a 13-year-old Laurel student Tuesday with possessing a dangerous weapon on school property. The boy, who is being charged as a juvenile, also faces second-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges. He has been released into the custody of his parents. While MacArthur Middle School students waited a bus stop in Fort Meade Tuesday, a parent called to alert school that a student was carrying a BB gun in the waistband of his pants. School officials contacted police and their own security office and met the bus when it arrived.

IF YOU NEED to register a new student at Arundel Middle School, call first. The school has only limited staff during the summer.Here's what you'll need to get squared away at the school: a withdrawal form and final report card from the previous school, standardized test scores and a copy of the individual education plan, if appropriate.Also required are immunization documentation, birth certificate, proof of custody if the child is not living with both natural parents, proof of residency and Social Security number.

A GROUP of Arundel Middle School students, accompanied by North County High School students, braved cold rains and rough seas recently for a two-hour whale-watching trip off Virginia Beach, Va.Twenty students from each school, led by Valerie Wesner, toured the Virginia Beach Marine Science Museum and spent 1 1/2 hours on the water before they saw two whales.The Arundel Middle students were Tiffany Boller, Danielle Cole, Ashley Condict, Stephanie Dalnekoff, Amanda DeVan, Jessica Gouff, Sheila Hagan, Kerra Holtgren, Heather Keim, Jennifer Korvin, Erin Kutsch, Mindy Matanane, Amanda Medford, Heather Palmieri, Jaime Perez, Katrina Ogle, William Salo, Shannon Soper, Beth Vladich and Megan White.

When Lindsay Breach gets home from a six-hour day at Corkran Middle School in Glen Burnie, her mother says she makes a beeline for the bathroom.She doesn't like to use the bathrooms at school. They don't have outer doors."I don't want anybody looking in there or anything," said Lindsay. The sixth-grader worries eighth-graders would laugh at the sight of her adjusting her clothes or belt outside a stall.Robert Janovsky, in his second year as principal of Corkran Middle, says he likes the doorless bathrooms because they are easier to monitor.

A 14-MEMBER mathematics team from Arundel Middle School took third place in the county competition at Central Middle School in Edgewater.The students participated in individual and team events against 14 other teams.Congratulations to Lydia Briers, Kristen Coffelt, Meredith Dobish, Amy Gorman, Craign Haas, Emily Higgins, Katie Kwiatkowski, Lara Paoline, Cliff Peterson, Jessica Piercy, Caitlin Reinhardt, Matthew Rose, Stephen Waskiewicz and Josie Zohny.Bull roastThe Greater Odenton Improvement Association will have a bull roast from 7 p.m. to midnight, Saturday at the Odenton Fire Hall, Route 175, Odenton.

Don't accuse Arundel Middle School students of being couch potatoes.While a lot of folks spent the cold months hibernating and waiting for spring to come, the students participated in the Superfit Awards program, doing sit-ups, chin-ups, sit-and-reach and a one-mile run. They were measured for body fat content.Students who scored 75 percent or better on all tests received an award from the physical education department.The Governor's Physical Fitness Excellence Award were given to the following students:* Sixth-graders Tara Ali, Daniel Aisquith, Dawn Belt, Rebecca Carlson, Dale Eskins, Ashley Hines, Michelle Hood, Kelly Hudmelsine, Kelly Jordan, Lindsey Kinslow, Matthew Malloy, Daphne Nichols, Andre Penny, Amy Pronto, Rocco Queen, Jessica Stacy, Andrew Stokrp, David Uzarek, Steven Welch and Ronnie Wint.

Almost as soon as Joni Engelbretson finished her pitch yesterday for money to help get air-conditioning at Arundel Middle and Arundel High schools, county school board members gave their answer: There's no money for her. "There are no real loose dollars hanging around," said Superintendent Carol S. Parham. "If the board directed me to find the money, yes [I could], but it comes from someone else, from someone else's project." Engelbretson and a committee of west county parents have been working for months to raise money to cool the two schools.

When Arundel Middle School launched its Fit Club last year, nearly three dozen students signed up to take part in a gym activity that included cardio exercises, weight training and workouts with the P90X fitness program. But many of them didn't think their teachers would show up, too. "It's kind of funny sometimes," said Arundel seventh-grader Jose Ramirez. "It's a different experience seeing them, like, work. They usually see us work a lot. " That is what Arundel Middle physical education teacher Jason Lively envisioned when he launched the Fit Club last year.

Severna Park Middle School French teacher Mike McTammany said he was among a few county teachers in 2001 who sought to take students to Canada's French-speaking province, Quebec, to apply the language firsthand. Some classes were all set to go, but the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted the school board to prohibit any foreign travel. McTammany said that some who had already paid for portions of the trip lost money. When foreign travel resumed for county schools, teachers sought again to go, and over the past few years there's been a steady stream of Anne Arundel students touring Quebec City, the provincial capital, and Montreal, the nation's second-largest city.

Anne Arundel Though Anne Arundel County exceeded statewide scores in reading and math in the Maryland School Assessments, only five of the county's 19 middle schools, or 26 percent, met the state's requirements for adequate yearly progress. Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell said that the high percentage of schools whose scores dropped from the previous year left him "incredibly disappointed." "I have faith in the talented and dedicated people in our schools who work tirelessly for the benefit of our children, but clearly what we are doing is not good enough," Maxwell added.

They've taught girls to feel confident, how to make healthy food choices and how to train for a 5K run. Dozens of active-duty Air Force women have volunteered their time since September through the Pershing Hill Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association to mentor girls in grades three through five on wellness issues. The new program is called "Girls Rock." Last Wednesday afternoon, they were honored for their efforts with a $1,000 grant from National PTA Chief Executive Officer Byron V. Garrett.

Students at Corkran Middle School in Anne Arundel County had quite the exercise routine Tuesday. They ran agility drills on their school field with Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk. They stretched with Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. They high-fived Gov. Martin O'Malley. And they heard repeatedly from some of their sports heroes that they should get out from in front of the computer and TV and get some exercise. Shannon Thomas, an eighth-grade student, bounced excitedly as she watched her classmates run and jump.

Axxam and Mustafa Sassy are headed to Germany and Egypt on vacation this month with a bag full of books. The two middle schoolers received 34 of them at a summer book fair at their school, Arundel Middle. Mustafa, 12, who plays soccer, already started reading Keeper by Mal Peet, a story about a goalie. Axxam, 10, dug into The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis, about four kids who discover that the goblins and fairies featured in their card game are appearing in their Minnesota town.

A 16-year-old Odenton youth was arrested and two others were charged in a warrant Monday with kidnapping a 14-year-old Odenton boy from his home, taking him into woods near Arundel Middle School, and beating him over a drug debt, county police said.James Robert Jordan, 16, of the 1000 block of Autumn Gold Road and Dante Livingston, also 16, of the 1300 block of Burlington Drive were charged as adults with kidnapping, kidnapping a child under 16, second-degree assault, and false imprisonment.

IF YOU are looking for a last-minute gift and want to help a good cause for the whole year, consider buying a "Dine and Fun" book from a member of the Kiwanis Club of Odenton.The books cost $12 and offer a number of bargains on entertainment in the county, club President Jean McConville said.For additional information about the books, call Donna Kulak at (301) 621-7277.Money raised from this sale -- and from bake sales and raffles -- is used to support a number of community projects.The club sponsors Boy Scout Troop 721, a Meade Senior High School Key Club and a Builder Club and Key Club at the Old Mill school complex.

IF YOU LOOK at a map of the United States and draw a line from Ohio to Maryland, you'll notice that there isn't much water connecting the two states. But when Jim Loach, who lives on his 35-foot Hunter sailboat, landed a teaching job at Bates Middle School in Annapolis, he decided to sail from his former port in Huron, Ohio, to his new slip in the city. "A boat is meant to be sailed," Loach, 47, said when asked why he didn't just tie the hull to a trailer and drive the 430 miles. The boat trip took 15 days, but Loach arrived in Annapolis in time to start his new job as a band director for Bates Middle School.

A mixture of nerves, fear and excitement kept Jordan Sisk-Johnson up all night before his first day at his new school yesterday. And once in math class, he fidgeted in his seat, tapped his pencil on the desk and swung his feet a few inches off the floor. "I still have butterflies," said Jordan, who is 10. But he quickly added, "At the end of the summer, I just get bored and I want to go back to school. I love today!" Even his math teacher at Arundel Middle School in Gambrills, 16-year veteran Kathy Plitt, admitted to having her own stomachaches on the first day of classes in Anne Arundel County schools.