Education Curriculum

From: Nancy HudsonEllicott CityI am writing to respond to a recent article in The Howard County Sun ("Sex-education curriculum plan unleashes firestorm," Feb. 10) about the revised ninth-grade sexuality education curriculum.First,I think it is important for the community to recognize that one of the reasons the ninth-grade curriculum was revised was in response to the hidden problem of teen pregnancy in Howard County.We as a community only see about one in every three teen pregnancies that occur in Howard County.

Athena Kan, a sophomore at River Hill High School, did not have to look very far to learn the values of volunteering. Her parents, Kenny and Henrietta, are largely responsible for Athena's volunteering spirit. The family has participated in American Heart Association walks in Howard County and Baltimore for years. "When life gets hectic, we find that volunteering as a family is a powerful way to strengthen family life with a beneficial purpose," Kenny said. Athena, 14, was named the Howard County Youth Volunteer of the Year last month for her involvement with a number of charities, including a foundation she and her sister, Tiffany, started last year - Coalition Halting Obesity in Children Everywhere.

The revised Harford County middle school sex education curriculum - that includes material on sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy - should be taught in seventh grade because of inconsistency in instruction and time taken away from gym classes if the lessons are taught in eighth grade, a committee told the Board of Education last week. In February, the board brought its middle schools in line with most others in the state by approving a revised sex education curriculum that is slated to be taught in eighth-grade physical education classes, starting in September.

Stacey Sewell vividly remembers her physical education teacher. Sewell said she thought the teacher had the greatest job. "I watched her and thought that her job was more exciting than an academic teacher," Sewell said. So it seemed only fitting that she would become a physical education teacher. Twelve years later, Sewell has made her mark in physical education. Later this month, she will receive the Simon McNeely Award from the Maryland Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

High school students who want to learn about AIDS, contraception and other sex-related issues at public school will have to get permission from a parent first.That new policy was adopted by the Board of Education Monday in response to pressure from parents who complained that the past policy stigmatized" students because their parents had to submit written requests for their children to be excused from those sessions.The board approved the measure, 5-1. Board member Anne Sterling voted against it.In addition, the board said that high schools can use the play "Secrets" as part of their AIDS education curriculum if a controversial picnic scene is eliminated.

Carroll County's Board of Education votes tomorrow on whether the videotape "Teen AIDS in Focus" will be shown in ninth-grade classes next school year. Due to the transparently orchestrated public furor over this nine-minute video, board members may have lost sight of the real issues.The issue is not safe sex or abstinence. The issue is making sure the county's teen-agers don't jeopardize their lives.Not surprisingly, Carroll County teens behave like other U.S. youngsters. Recent surveys indicate about 50 percent of unmarried 15-to-19-year-old girls and 60 percent of unmarried boys of the same age are sexually active.

The Carroll County school board's decision this week to exclude the video "Teen AIDS in Focus" as part of the curriculum for ninth-grade sex education classes is disturbing for a number of reasons.First, the board is excluding an extremely effective teaching tool. Videos can be a powerful means of communication, transporting people to places they otherwise may never see. Certainly the videotaped testimony of a teen-ager infected with AIDS is more convincing than having a teacher simply state that AIDS is a deadly disease.

From: Megan GadsbyBaltimoreFourth grade studentGlenelg Country SchoolWith my hand onmy heart I do saluteWith love in my heart as sweet as a fluteWith "thanks" on my lips for those who defend,With "thanks" on my lips for the helping hands lendI'm so proud I let out great whoopsI just want to say thanks to the troopsBRUSH UP ON YOUR CIVICSFrom: Wanda HurtColumbiaThe principles of federalism on which this country was founded create a clear separation between...

Western Maryland College will induct alumnus Charles M. "Skip" Brown, the chairman of the physical education division at Anne Arundel Community College, into its Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 16.Brown, a 51-year-old Arnold resident and a former Annapolis High athlete, served as head coach of the Anne Arundel baseball squad for nearly 20 years, compiling a 368-153 record, including seven Maryland JUCO conference championships, two region XX titles, and a...

If Charlie Scott and other student leaders were writing Howard County's new sex education curriculum, they would bring condoms into the classrooms and show 11th- and 12th-graders how to use them.If Barbara Adams and other conservative parents were in charge, they would urge students to practice the only foolproof and, in their view, moral method of birth control -- holding onto their virginity until they get married.The gulf between the calls for contraceptive kits and abstinence demonstrates the challenge facing Howard school administrators as they draft a new sex education curriculum for ninth graders.

The birds and the bees are well and good, but leaders of Montgomery County's public schools believe changing times call for a changing sex education curriculum. So a select group of eighth-graders is learning definitions for words such as "homosexual" and "sexual identity," and their high school counterparts are set to watch a condom demonstration video, talk about anti-gay prejudice, and read and discuss the personal stories of people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.

Chesapeake Spice building Belcamp headquarters Chesapeake Spice Co., a manufacturer and importer of spices, will build a $6 million, 100,000-square-foot headquarters at the Riverside Business Park in Belcamp, state officials announced last week. The facility is expected to employ 110 people. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and the Harford County Department of Economic Development supported the move. Maryland offered an Economic Development Assistance Fund loan for the project and training grants for new and current employees.

The revised Harford County middle school sex education curriculum - that includes material on sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy - should be taught in seventh grade because of inconsistency in instruction and time taken away from gym classes if the lessons are taught in eighth grade, a committee told the Board of Education last week. In February, the board brought its middle schools in line with most others in the state by approving a revised sex education curriculum that is slated to be taught in eighth-grade physical education classes, starting in September.

The Harford County Board of Education is scheduled to vote next month on changes in the middle-school sex education curriculum - to include material on sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy - that would bring the school system in line with most others in the state. A committee recommended the changes in the fall after finding that Harford lagged behind most other systems in its curriculum. Schools spokesman Don Morrison said the administration office has received about a dozen e-mails since early last month on the issue.

IT'S A STORY without a happy ending. In the beginning, back in 1994, a string of elementary schools in Maryland -- with seed money from the Abell Foundation -- established the Core Knowledge Curriculum, a rich course of studies that has first-graders learning about Egyptian history and fourth-graders studying medieval China. Developed by University of Virginia Professor E. D. Hirsch and based on his study of cultural literacy, Core Knowledge is now taught in approximately 1,000 schools nationwide.

Claiming substantial progress in properly educating children with disabilities, the Baltimore schools moved yesterday to have court orders governing their handling of special education students changed or dismissed.The schools' motion, filed late last night in federal court, seeks to restrict the powers of a three-person oversight team and a court monitor, both imposed by the court to help bring the schools into compliance with federal special education laws.The motion came on the heels of a federal court order instructing Superintendent Walter G. Amprey to stop harassing employees whose job it is to set up a computer system to monitor the education of the schools' 18,000 students with disabilities.

Stacey Sewell vividly remembers her physical education teacher. Sewell said she thought the teacher had the greatest job. "I watched her and thought that her job was more exciting than an academic teacher," Sewell said. So it seemed only fitting that she would become a physical education teacher. Twelve years later, Sewell has made her mark in physical education. Later this month, she will receive the Simon McNeely Award from the Maryland Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

* In Sunday's Howard County Sun, a comment that the current sex education curriculum in county public schools fails to place enough emphasis on abstinence from premarital sexual relations should have been attributed to school board candidate Jerry D. Johnston.Faced with one of the toughest questions they might face as school board members-- where would you cut the education budget? -- three candidates in this year's school board race came up with specific ideas.Seven of the eight candidates fielded questions on budget cuts, sex education, public school bus transportation for private school students and pay-to-play fees for sports and extracurricular activities at a forum sponsored by the PTA Council of Howard County last week.

Just Whose Kids Are These, Anyway?The information which has been given out about education by the Carroll County Citizens for Quality Education (CCCQE) has been accurate, whether Gary Dunkleberger, the director of curriculum and staff development for the county's public schools, wants to admit it or not.A phone call to the state Board of Education will verify why all outcomes look alike. The answer is they came from a governor's meeting in 1989 where the outcomes were drafted and agreed upon.