NEWS
By Lowell E. Sunderland and Lowell E. Sunderland,SUN STAFF | September 24, 2000
ALL YOU CAN do is learn from your mistakes. Last Sunday's article on this page about the Kangaroo Kids jump-rope organization contained an editor-injected mistake. Lesson one, reinforced, again: Never assume anything in journalism. Jim McCleary seems as if he's led the 23-year-old Howard County club forever; actually, he and Fulton's Jean Hodges began leading it in 1984. But, to correct the error, Don Disney, who directs the county high schools' athletic programs these days, founded and named the Kangaroo Kids.
NEWS
By Heather Tepe and Heather Tepe,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | July 21, 1999
WHEN MOST of us think of jump rope, images of energetic children skipping rope on the sidewalk or the playground come to mind. But for members of the Kangaroo Kids, a Howard County precision jump rope team, it means hours of practice in preparation for national and international competitions.Marissa Schwartz, a 17- year-old senior at Wilde Lake High School, practices jumping rope about 14 hours a week. Marissa's dedication to the sport helped her capture a trophy and a title, Grand National Champion, at the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Championships last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The competition will air on ESPN this summer.
NEWS
By Kathy Curtis and Kathy Curtis,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | April 22, 1998
RESIDENTS OF Vantage House joined members of the Howard County branch of the American Association of University Women to model spring fashions Saturday.This is the fourth year the annual show has been held at the Town Center retirement community.Serving as models were Vantage House residents Adro Puma and Dot Uhlmann. Escorting them were Starley Alford and George Hartmann, who also reside at Vantage House.Also modeling were Peg O'Rourke, a Harper's Choice resident who serves as branch president; AAUW members Mary Befacchia, Angela Beltram, Carol McAuliffe and Helen Mennitto; and nonmembers Krislin Nalwalk and Donna Olsen.
NEWS
By Kathy Curtis and Kathy Curtis,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | August 20, 1997
EIGHT teen-agers from Harvester Baptist Church returned recently from a week in Canada, where they visited and worked with missionaries in three cities."
NEWS
By Kathy Curtis and Kathy Curtis,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | July 9, 1997
CLEMENS CROSSING resident Amanda Ramsey returned from Disney World last week with two medals for jumping rope.She was one of 14 Howard County athletes who competed in the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Federation National Championship. Amanda won a gold medal in the girls' individual speed category for 12- to 14-year-olds.She reports that her speed, measured on one foot, was 148 jumps a minute.Amanda also won a silver medal for girls' individual freestyle in the same age group.Amanda's mother signed her up for Kangaroo Kids, Howard County's jump rope group, when Amanda was in first grade.
NEWS
By Kathleen B. Hennelly and Kathleen B. Hennelly,CONTRIBUTING WRITER | July 10, 1996
Competing against more than 1,100 other rope jumpers, the Howard County-based Kangaroo Kids recently brought home 18 medals from the recent U.S. National Jump Rope Championship.The rope jumpers won four gold medals, seven silver medals, seven bronze medals and placed 27 times in the top 10 for all events in a championship held June 28-30 at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla.The competition will be shown on ESPN Aug. 24.Kangaroo Kids is a 16-year-old organization based in Simpsonville near Columbia.