Continuing Education

Culinary, hospitality open house at HCC Howard Community College will hold a Hospitality and Culinary Management open house for students interested in careers in these fields at 11 a.m. Aug. 11 at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The free event includes a hands-on culinary demonstration, a light lunch and a gift for those who attend. The open house will be in Room 400 of the Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall. Information or registration: 410-772-4469. Glenelg High offices to close for upgrades Renovations at Glenelg High School will require closing the school's offices from Tuesday through Friday to upgrade electrical units.

Beryl Elizabeth Williams, a promoter of black culture and women's rights who taught mathematics and English at Morgan State University before being appointed dean of the school's Center for Continuing Education, died Friday of undetermined causes at Genesis Homewood Elder Care. She was 85.Dr. Williams, whose professional life and volunteer work with many community, civic and church organizations spanned nearly six decades, was actively involved with many organizations when she died.She had lived since 1948 in a book-filled rowhouse in Wilson Park, near Govans, where she had managed to fill a room with a grand piano, stacks of sheet music, original paintings and pieces of art collected from her numerous trips to Africa.

Gerald A. Heeger is the new president of the University of Maryland University College, the state's continuing education institution that enrolls more than 35,000 students worldwide.Heeger, 56, was introduced to the school's staff at its College Park headquarters yesterday by University System of Maryland Chancellor Donald N. Langenberg. He was named to the post by the system's board of regents, replacing T. Benjamin Massey, who was president from 1978 until his retirement last year. Robert E. Meyers has been interim president.

Lifelong Learning Awards won by 2 AACC studentsTwo Anne Arundel Community College students have received Lifelong Learning Awards from the Maryland Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education.Diane Harrod of Brooklyn Park and Bernadine Gebrick of Glen Burnie were among 13 Maryland residents who received plaques recognizing their dedication to continuing education. The two students take classes through AACC's Adult Basic Education Program and the General Educational Development (GED)

TRENTON, N.J. -- The state Department of Education voted unanimously yesterday to require teachers to take 100 hours of continuing education every five years to enhance their classroom skills.Until now, New Jersey had been one of the few states that had no requirement for continuing teacher education.Teachers in New Jersey are licensed after a year in the classroom and granted tenure for life after three years without having to step foot in the classroom as a student again."This is something we should have done years ago," said Dr. Orlando Edreira, a board member from Elizabeth.

As the new year arrives, Realtors and brokers around the state will begin receiving packets for their license renewal.But now those packets will inform agents that for the first time they can renew by going online.The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation hopes that at least half of the state's 37,000 licensed Realtors will go to its World Wide Web page on the Internet and renew electronically instead of gathering and pushing through the paperwork.The real estate community will be the first of the state's approximately 175,000 professionals to have the option of renewing and paying for (via a credit card)

BEDFORD, Va. -- History put their town on the map 53 years ago in a way the community and those involved have never forgotten. Now, Bedford, Va., is creating a place to help the nation, especially its youth, remember as well.To commemorate what many historians call the most significant event in the 20th century, a National D-Day Memorial will be built in Bedford, in southwestern Virginia. Bedford suffered the greatest number of per-capita casualties of any U.S. community that day, losing 23 of its young men.At the time the town's population was 3,400.

In Monday's Business section, the name of the publisher of a radiology software CD was spelled incorrectly. The correct name is Williams & Wilkins.The Sun regrets the error.It's been more than two years since Dr. Michael McDermott, at the time a young resident in the University of Maryland School of Medicine's radiology program, began tinkering around with storing and retrieving radiology images on computers.He was certain that computer CD-ROMS offered an opportunity for vast amounts of medical information to be stored and carried around easily.

In his first public comments as the president-designate of the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. William R. Brody said yesterday the campus may see as much of a revolution in teaching students as it has in treating patients.Dr. Brody, a Stanford-trained physician and electrical engineer who was a Hopkins department chairman for seven years, will be the university's 13th president. Now provost at the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center, he is expected to assume the Hopkins presidency by Sept.

Community college names dean a vice presidentAnne Arundel Community College has promoted Andrew L. Meyer to vice president for continuing education, work force and institutional development.Meyer, who has served the past four years as dean of continuing education and extended learning programs for the college, will be responsible for the administration of nontraditional instructional programs, both credit and noncredit, including continuing education, contract education, weekend college, senior courses, telecourses and summer school.

Adult education funding can jump-start renewal The Maryland Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education agrees with Erik Christiansen that education is vital to the future success of America and the state of Maryland ("More than just jobs," Commentary, Dec. 11). The current economic crisis has given us all a chance to pause to consider what the true priorities should be for government spending. Mr. Christiansen understands education's fundamental role and its significance in contributing to our economy: According to U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2005, workers 18 and over with a bachelor's degree earn an average of $51,206 a year; those without a high school diploma averaged $18,734.

Courses at St. John's St. John's College is offering a number of continuing education and fine arts courses starting Sept. 13. Registration deadline is Thursday. Tuition is $210 for preceptorials. In preceptorials, up to 15 students meet with a St. John's tutor for a close reading of one book or several works relating to a theme. Preceptorials this fall include works by psychologist William James, Plutarch's Lives, the first two novels in Paul Scott's historic epic, The Raj Quartet, and film director Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai.

Interested in learning how to promote your business through blogging? How about becoming an improv comedian, protecting yourself from street crime or improving your memory? This fall, the continuing education department at Howard Community College is offering more than 50 new noncredit classes, more than ever before, said Joanne Erickson, marketing coordinator for the Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development at HCC. "This is the highest number of new courses we've ever had," she said.

Barbara B. Patterson, a retired continuing education specialist and Columbia resident, died of lymphoma Sept. 22 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 59. Barbara Bennett was born in Pineland, S.C., and moved to West Baltimore with her family in 1948. She received her early education at St. Peter Claver parochial school and graduated in 1965 from Catholic High School, where she had played the violin and was a member of the school's orchestra. After receiving her bachelor's degree in sociology and social work from Morgan State University in 1969, she entered a teaching training program with the Baltimore public schools.

Howard Community College is offering a class this fall called Beer Appreciation, during which students can sample microbrews and imports while learning a history lesson. The unconventional class for those who are at least 21 years old -- and can prove it -- is one of the dozens of noncredit courses that the college has added to its continuing education lineup. Other new lifestyle and leisure courses include Creative Gift Wrapping and Femme Football, a class for women who feel out of the loop come football season.

Culinary, hospitality open house at HCC Howard Community College will hold a Hospitality and Culinary Management open house for students interested in careers in these fields at 11 a.m. Aug. 11 at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The free event includes a hands-on culinary demonstration, a light lunch and a gift for those who attend. The open house will be in Room 400 of the Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall. Information or registration: 410-772-4469. Glenelg High offices to close for upgrades Renovations at Glenelg High School will require closing the school's offices from Tuesday through Friday to upgrade electrical units.

Honoring adult high school grads Howard Community College will hold its 22nd annual graduation ceremony to recognize adult students who have earned a Maryland high school diploma in the past year through the college's Adult Basic Education programs. The ceremony is to be held at 3 p.m. Nov. 5 in the college's Smith Theatre, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. A reception for the graduates, their friends and families will be held after the ceremony in the Kittleman Room of the English, Language and Business Building (ELB-1090)

7 seniors named test semifinalists Seven Anne Arundel County seniors were named National Merit semifinalists last week. They were among 16,000 seniors nationwide who scored in the top 1 percent on the 2005 PSAT/National Merit qualifying test. The semifinalists are: Christopher W. Hart-Moynihan of Annapolis High School. Alyssa R. Massey of Glen Burnie High School. Matthew C. LeFavor and Keith T. Rafferty of Old Mill High School. Alexander J. Fu of Severn School. Emily A. Frost and Mark C. Strother of Severna Park High School.

State nursing board releases test results for 2005 candidates The Maryland Board of Nursing has released the results of the 2005 NCLEX First Time Candidate Performance for Maryland schools. The results reflect the nursing school pass rates for all students who took the NCLEX registered nurse exam for the first time from July 1, 2004, to June 30. Ninety students from Harford Community College took the exam, and 87.78 percent passed. The required pass rate is 77.60 percent for nursing schools in Maryland.

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. - After working long hours at the hospital, the office, the schoolroom or the garage, the 36 men and women at Clapp Memorial Library could easily have thought of less demanding ways to spend a Monday evening. Instead, these residents of an old farming community in the center of the state sat on wooden chairs listening to a University of Massachusetts professor discuss the nuances and complexities of the Middle East. For two hours, no one got up and left, no one used a cell phone, and nearly everyone took copious notes.