Classes

Baltimore County schools spokesman Charles Herndon told The Sun there is no empirical evidence that class size is linked to student achievement ("Smaller Balto. Co. class sizes urged," May 150). But if that's true, then why did officials limit class sizes at the lowest-performing high schools, where smaller classes were deemed important for struggling students? The answer is that they, like everyone else other than maybe Mr. Herndon, recognize the simple truth that bigger classes make it harder for students to learn.

Main Street is finding its inner peace. After opening Gogo Guru, a women's yoga and fitness clothing shop, in Historic Ellicott City in November 2012, Hilary Brich expanded her operation with a yoga studio in February. Brich's original plan was to simply provide the shop's patrons with information about where in the neighborhood they could practice yoga. But with most of the studios being more than a few miles away, she noticed a problem. “People kept asking where to do yoga but didn't want to go farther away than they had to,” says Brich.

Local actress Joy Ehrlich reprises her tour-de-force performance in Wallace Shawn's one-person show, "The Fever," at Villa Julie College Feb. 19-21.Ehrlich, an instructor at Villa Julie, first performed "The Fever" at the Theatre Project last season. In the Obie Award-winning play, she portrays a woman tormented by guilt over the inequity between the privileged classes -- of which she is a member -- and the impoverished, tortured citizens of the war-torn, Third World countries she visits.

Anne Arundel Community College has canceled eight day and evening swimming classes at the Arnold campus tomorrow and Tuesday because of the relocation of power lines in the science building.That building is being renovated.Only classes in the Olson Pool buildings are affected, college officials said.Classes canceled tomorrow are Swimming 3 at 6 a.m., Physical Education and Water Safety at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Scuba Techniques at 7 p.m.Classes that won't be held Tuesday are Swimming 3 at 6 a.m., Physical Education and Water Safety at 9 a.m., Water Aerobics at 10:05 a.m. and Swimming 1 at 7:35 p.m.College officials are trying to reach individual students to tell them of the cancellations.

SO MY WIFE and I are preparing for childbirth. When I say "my wife and I," I of course mean "my wife." She will be the most directly involved. On behalf of all men, I just want to take a moment here to get down on my knees and thank whoever invented our current biological system, under which the woman's job is to have the baby somehow go from the inside of her body to the outside of her body, in clear violation of every known law of physics, and the...

The Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Road, is offering two new classes. A free Cardio Groove Fitness class will be offered from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. March 4. The low-impact class is designed for ages 50 and older. Tracy Cox (e-mail cox@freedomfitness.info) will lead the class. Reservations are not needed. A Cardio Groove class will be offered from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, starting March 9. The session runs through April 29. The cost is $69 for 14 classes.

Carroll Community College offers classes for anyone who wants to start their own business. Classes offer help from financing, marketing and business plans to legal considerations and valuable resource information. Courses being offered this fall include: Keys to Starting a Successful Home-Based Business: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday; $65, and $40 for seniors. Starting a Pet Sitting Business: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3; $65, and $40 for seniors. Legal Issues Facing Small Business Owners: 6:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Dec. 1 to 15, Entrepreneur Factory, Sykesville; $79, and $35 for seniors.

Swimming Olympian Katie Hoff will join the Loyola swimming coaching staff this fall, the school announced yesterday. Hoff will serve as a volunteer assistant coach while attending classes at Loyola. "I am thrilled to have Katie join my staff in the fall," head coach Bryan Loeffler said in a news release. "She has a wealth of swimming experience that we will draw from to make our team that much better." Hoff, 19, of Towson, swam in the 2004 Athens Olympics and next week will compete in the U.S. trials in Omaha, Neb. She set a world record in the 400-meter individual medley in 2007.

The Kings Contrivance Community Association, 7251 Eden Brook Drive, will offer a new class, called "Royal Keys: Manners Make the Person," 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Saturdays, Oct. 18 through Nov. 22. A free class will be offered at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The program is designed to teach kindness, manners, respect, values social skills and self-esteem. The cost is $110 for Columbia Association residents; $121 for others. Information: royalkeys.com. Registration: 410-381-9600. A scarecrow-making session and hayrides are planned at Amherst House in Kings Contrivance Village Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

A teachers union effort to turn to the ballot box to do what a decade of contract negotiations failed to do -- reduce the number of students in often crowded, chaotic classrooms -- died yesterday when a petition drive fell short of the required 10,000 signatures.The 8,500-member Baltimore Teachers Union, however, pledged to continue pushing for a cap on class sizes, a priority that it says will play no small part in deciding which mayoral candidate the union supports in city elections.Linda Prudente, a union spokeswoman, said the petition drive, which began in May, yielded about 9,800 signatures by yesterday's deadline to put a charter amendment question on the city ballot next year.