College Preparatory School

The athletic director at a small Christian preparatory school in Woodlawn was arrested yesterday and charged in the rape of a teen-age student in a school bathroom. The allegation has shaken officials at Gwynn Lake College Preparatory School, which prides itself on traditional values, but parents said they remain committed to the school's mission. School officials and Baltimore County police are checking for other possible victims. Authorities are also investigating claims that another teacher at the school knew of the alleged rape but did not report it. Keith A. Williams, 31, of the 4000 block of Fernhill Ave. turned himself in to police after a warrant on second-degree rape, third-degree sexual assault and child abuse charges was issued Wednesday.

John T. "Jack" Mason Jr., a machine salesman who helped found Glenelg Country School, died of complications from dementia Monday at his family's farm in Ellicott City. He was 87. In 1936, Mr. Mason and other YMCA members from his hometown of Wilmington, Del., traveled to the Olympic Games in Germany, said his son John "Tenney" Mason of Sykesville. The YMCA group refused to salute when Adolf Hitler addressed the crowd. They were promptly arrested and jailed for a few hours before diplomats were able to free them.

The state Board of Public Works has declared the Rosewood Center in northwestern Baltimore County surplus and made the 178-acre property available to prospective buyers. Stevenson University, whose Owings Mills campus adjoins Rosewood, has expressed interest in the former state hospital property, which offers vast green space ideally suited for the college's growing athletic programs and a few newer buildings that could be used for its school of education. "Making the property surplus is a great first step for us and allows us to begin negotiations with the state," said Tim Campbell, Stevenson's chief financial officer.

Baltimore city officials have cut off a total of $275,000 in federal block grant money that had been earmarked for the Park Heights Development Corp. and the Park Heights Street Academy.The city informed the development corporation that it was losing its $175,000 grant in a Sept. 19 letter from Housing Commissioner Robert Hearn to Morris A. Iles, the corporation's president and chief executive officer. The school will lose $100,000.Hearn's letter cited a 1989 city audit of the corporation as the reason that the funds were cut off. It also said the federal government has tightened its rules for awarding grants to private organizations.

In the '90s, life is sometimes like this:A 13-year-old boy in Ontario grips a joy stick in his right hand, controlling the movements of an underwater robot swimming around the Galapagos Islands, off thecoast of Ecuador. Live pictures of the robot beam via satellite to Atlanta and on to Ontario, where the boy can watch the robot on a video monitor move at his command. The entire scene is viewed on cable television by thousands of students across America.And when Daniel Vajda, the boy in Ontario, is asked if this is anything like the home video game Nintendo, he says, "Nintendo is better."

Randallstown man, 39, dies in motorcycle crash A Randallstown man died after being thrown from his motorcycle, county police said yesterday. William Otho Sedgwick, 39, of the 9500 block of Branchleigh Road was traveling east on Branchleigh Road near Holshire Court shortly after 7 p.m. Monday when he swerved to avoid another vehicle, said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman. Sedgwick's bike struck a curb and he was thrown from the motorcycle, county police said Bystanders began CPR on Sedgwick until authorities arrived and took him to Northwest Hospital Center, where he later died, Toohey said.

Baltimore City College will induct five distinguished alumni into its Hall of Fame today, including a Nobel laureate, an Episcopal bishop and a guy who got his start in politics there -- the Baltimore County executive."

The 30-room historic Dumbarton House, which survived the rigors of the Civil War and housed several fine old Maryland families, is the new site of the Baltimore Actors' Theatre Conservatory.Located for the past two and a half years at the former Lutherville Elementary School, the conservatory was forced to move when the Baltimore County Department of Education decided to reactivate the building as an educational facility.Baltimore County has awarded BAT, which also operates the non-profit Oregon Ridge Dinner Theatre and the Wixie Children's Theatre, a $1-a-year 90-year lease for the Dumbarton venue, 300 Dumbarton Road in Towson.

Severna Park resident Monique Jennings has been named the 1991-1992 recipient of the Sparks Minority Scholarship at Severn School.TheSparks Minority Scholarship is awarded annually to a qualified minority student attending Severn School. The scholarship was established in 1990 by a gift from Annapolis attorney and 1969 Severn alumnus Bryson Popham.The fund is named in honor of Leroy Sparks, Severn's first black graduate.Monique is an eighth-grade student at the independent, college preparatory, day school in Severna Park.

Among the private schools in Anne Arundel County: Annapolis Area Christian School, 710 Ridgely Ave., Annapolis. Kingergarten and elementary grades. Enrollment: 252 students. Contact: 410-266-8255. www.aacsonline.org. The school offers small classes sizes in a Christian atmosphere. Before- and after-school care. Accredited with the Association of Christian Schools International and Mid-Atlantic Christian School Association. Tuition: $2,926-$7,161. Annapolis Area Christian School, 716 Bestgate Road, Annapolis.