Catonsville High School

I am glad that speed cameras have been installed on South Rolling Road. They have encouraged people to drive slower, which helps make it safer for me and other Catonsville High School students who walk to school. I appreciate Del. Jim Malone's and Councilman Tom Quirk's help in getting the cameras installed. It has made a major difference. Brian Neighoff Catonsville High School

James Fitzpatrick leans back in a huge black office chair with wheels and points at a projection on a screen in the front of the classroom, not far from the Soccer Barbie dolls and a clock featuring the portrait of French writer Voltaire. "Here is the question," he says in a deep, booming, intense voice. "Is postimpressionism a movement of art or artists?" ("Artists," of course, is the answer he elicits from a student.) Fitz, as he is called by everyone, has been teaching for decades, the last 10 years at Catonsville High School.

Catonsville High School's faculty and staff thank the Catonsville students and community for their outpouring of support for our varsity football team during this season. We are very proud of these outstanding young men and their accomplishment of making it to the state semi-finals. Record crowds were in attendance for our home and away games. You also supported our Comet Booster Club by purchasing spirit wear, which was worn frequently by many of our students in recent weeks.

I am glad that speed cameras have been installed on South Rolling Road. They have encouraged people to drive slower, which helps make it safer for me and other Catonsville High School students who walk to school. I appreciate Del. Jim Malone's and Councilman Tom Quirk's help in getting the cameras installed. It has made a major difference. Brian Neighoff Catonsville High School

James Fitzpatrick leans back in a huge black office chair with wheels and points at a projection on a screen in the front of the classroom, not far from the Soccer Barbie dolls and a clock featuring the portrait of French writer Voltaire. "Here is the question," he says in a deep, booming, intense voice. "Is postimpressionism a movement of art or artists?" ("Artists," of course, is the answer he elicits from a student.) Fitz, as he is called by everyone, has been teaching for decades, the last 10 years at Catonsville High School.

Meghan Poisal, daughter of Thomas and Susie Poisal, Catonsville, merited dean's list recognition for the spring semester at Towson University. An alumna of Mount de Sales Academy, this rising junior is majoring in mass communications with a double track in marketing and public relations. Bucknell University released dean's list standings for the spring term. Two Catonsville students were included: Lindsey Ferro, a 2010 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School and daughter of Albert and Theresa Ferro.

This has been an exciting time for Catonsville High School, its football team and the fans in this community. The Catonsville Times has done an excellent job reporting the most recent win and the upcoming game against Poly. We are certainly proud of our team. On the same night that the game between Paint Branch and Catonsville was played, another event was held in the Catonsville High School auditorium. The Drama Department and students put on a production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," a play that is considered by many to be an American classic.

Catonsville High School moved toward the 21st century yesterday, breaking ground for a science and technology wing to the 44-year-old building.The 70,000-square-foot addition -- scheduled to be completed in July 1999 -- will include laboratories and classrooms as well as a fitness center. The school's outdated media center and library also will be replaced.The $8 million construction project will add space for the equivalent of 600 extra students at the school. The school's enrollment is about 1,350 students this year, about 200 students above its listed capacity.

I wonder if anyone knows why the power companies seem to have such a hard time keeping the power on in south Catonsville during foul weather. I live near Catonsville High School. During July, power has been interrupted twice, for roughly a total of about five hours. That doesn't seem like much but I have family living near Edmondson Avenue and their power has yet to go out this month. I've lived at my current location for close to 18 years. In all that time, power outages seem to have occurred remarkably more frequently than in any other section of Catonsville.

Edward M. Budelis, a retired Baltimore County public school educator who established the work-study program at Catonsville High School, died Wednesday of a heart attack at Carroll Hospital Center. The longtime Eldersburg resident was 85. The son of a tailor and a homemaker, Edward M. Budelis was born in Baltimore and raised in Morrell Park. He attended the old St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville and graduated in 1944 from Calvert Hall College High School. He enlisted in the Army during World War II and served with an infantry unit in Europe.

Nancy Lee Murphy, a veteran Baltimore County Democratic legislator who served in Maryland's House of Delegates and Senate, died Dec. 30 of a heart attack at St. Agnes Hospital the day before her 82nd birthday. "It was certainly sad news to end the year with for the friends who knew Nancy. She was such a great family person," said former Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann, who had served with Ms. Murphy in the House of Delegates during the 1980s and remained a close friend. "During all her years in public life, she served her constituents well.

As a resident of Catonsville since 1997, I am saddened each time I drive down Valley Road from Rolling Road to Wilkens Avenue. Why? Litter! Not that it isn't everywhere. But Valley Road always reminds me of a country lane and I love driving along it. Although the litter is always there, it's all the more noticeable when the trees and bushes are bare. I'm guessing that the sports fields at Catonsville High School, when in use, are a major factor, as well as drivers, who indiscriminately toss trash from their cars instead of taking it to a receptacle.

Catonsville High School's faculty and staff thank the Catonsville students and community for their outpouring of support for our varsity football team during this season. We are very proud of these outstanding young men and their accomplishment of making it to the state semi-finals. Record crowds were in attendance for our home and away games. You also supported our Comet Booster Club by purchasing spirit wear, which was worn frequently by many of our students in recent weeks.

Catonsville native William Roberts III was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in a ceremony at Fort George Meade Army Base. He has served for more than 27 years in both active and reserve capacities. In 1975, Roberts graduated from Catonsville High School, where he was the first black male to win the school's Scholar Athlete Award. After earning a degree in sociology at Towson State University, he worked for the Anne Arundel County Department of Corrections for more than 25 years.

This has been an exciting time for Catonsville High School, its football team and the fans in this community. The Catonsville Times has done an excellent job reporting the most recent win and the upcoming game against Poly. We are certainly proud of our team. On the same night that the game between Paint Branch and Catonsville was played, another event was held in the Catonsville High School auditorium. The Drama Department and students put on a production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," a play that is considered by many to be an American classic.

An article in the Nov. 13, 1936, edition of The Catonsville Herald and Baltimore Countian noted an unsafe situation for young pedestrians at a local school. Consideration of the traffic hazard at the Catonsville High School occupied the attention of the Sterling Club of Catonsville at the regular semi-monthly meeting on Tuesday evening. It was pointed out that pedestrians and vehicular traffic are well taken care of at Ingleside and Frederick Avenues, with two policemen and a traffic light at that intersection, but that no provision is made to correct school children crossing Bloomsbury Avenue at the high school.