Carroll Students

THE TEACHER exudes a "contagious enthusiasm," one administrator says. "His creativity inspires students to follow through on their ideas," a parent adds.Yet the cliches can hardly convey Robert Foor-Hogue's contributions to Carroll kids.Mr. Foor-Hogue, a science teacher with 23 years experience, has spent the last 17 years at South Carroll High where his hands-on style is lauded by students and fellow faculty alike.The county Board of Education has named him its nominee for state Teacher of the Year.

They came. They tinkered with video recorders, installed an electrical system and made a body corsage.Three Carroll County Career andTechnology students garnered medals, including one gold, in the national Vocational Industrial Clubs of America Leadership Conference andSkill Olympics at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center here.In addition, the school's five-member health-occupations knowledge bowl team placed second, winning a silver medal, in a quiz contest involving questions about health-related issues and current events.

Carroll County Carroll County's high school students made across-the-board improvement on all four Maryland High School Assessment tests, with more than 70 percent of test-takers passing the English, algebra, biology and government exams. Carroll's strongest showing was on the English test, with students posting an 18.4 percentage-point gain, bringing to 70.3 percent the number of students who passed. On the other exams, 76.7 percent passed algebra, 78.1 passed biology and 80.6 passed government, according to results released yesterday by state education officials.

North Carroll students placed 19th in the regional Prom Promise competition and won $125 for their school.About 200 schools, in Maryland and the surrounding states, participated in Nationwide Insurance Company's annual effort to demonstrate the dangers of drinking and driving.Nearly 50 percent of North Carroll students signed the pledge to avoid alcohol and drugs, especially on prom night."So often, students see and hear adults telling them what not to do," said Rob Wedge, guidance counselor at the Hampstead school.

Carroll high school graduates generally fared better at colleges and universities in the state than their counterparts across Maryland, county school officials said yesterday, referring to a Maryland Higher Education Commission report.Carroll students entering college in 1994 had higher Scholastic Assessment Test scores, better grades in freshman math and English courses, and higher overall grade-point averages than the statewide average for Maryland freshmen, according to the Maryland Student Outcome and Achievement Report, which was released yesterday.

Jesse Wyatt shows up every day at the largely deserted Carroll County Career and Technology Center to practice electrical wiring.The North Carroll High School graduate could be working, making money from the skills he has learned during his two years at the vo-tech center.Instead, he is practicing for the National Vocational Industrial Clubs of America Skill Olympics in Louisville, Ky., this week."He's been in every day," said Charles Nightingale, the vo-tech's electrical wiring instructor.

For 12 Japanese high schoolers visiting John Carroll School this month, it's been a space trip."There's so much space for everything here," said Sachihiko Reiba, 17. The sprawling Harford countryside, the uncluttered towns, and the comparatively spacious houses contrast greatly with the crowded landscape of his home in Nara, an ancient city in central Japan."

WESTMINSTER - Of the 336 Maryland high school students competing as semifinalists in the 1991 National Merit Scholarship competition, only two are from Carroll County public schools.While that is two more Carroll students than in 1990, the proportion of county students eligible for the yearly competition is lower than counties with comparable student populations.With 3 percent of the state public school students, Carroll has just 0.6 percent of the semifinalists. The two students are Susan M. Baker and Chad J. Epler, who attend Libertyville High School.

Innovation at North Carroll High School brought a new problem for students who want to take courses at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center.And then another innovation solved it.As a result, junior Lindsay Blucher attends three high schools a day, so she didn't have to choose between computer technology and algebra II. She needed both, and new ground was broken so she could have both."I've always been a person who tries new things," she said.Miss Blucher and five other North Carroll students are setting a precedent this year by attending the technology center in the morning for a two-hour course, then going next door to Westminster High School for a 45-minute class, then taking a bus back to North Carroll High School for a 90-minute class.

Carroll County public school graduates who went on to college fared as well or better than their counterparts from across the state, according to data in the annual Maryland Student Outcome and Achievement Report.The report is compiled by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The current report is for 18,645 students who graduated from high school in 1995 and entered college that fall.Though the report does not include information on those who attended college out of state, it provides one way for school officials to track how their graduates fare, said Gary Dunkleberger, Carroll County's assistant superintendent of schools.