Eighth Grade

Their task was to disburse more than $10,000 to worthy organizations. But many of those who were involved with the Teen Grant Making Initiative said yesterday that they gained as much from the experience as they gave away. The initiative, a program of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, was started last year to interest teens in grant-making and philanthropy, said Michael Saxon, the vice chairman for the Center for Funds and Foundations. Sixteen teenagers were recruited to award the money - which was raised by them and other teens.

Every year it begins with a knock on the door, followed by a long moment of anticipation. When the teacher finally nods, the children enter a familiar room transformed by darkness. With the windows covered, the only light in the movement arts studio flickers from a few candles. One by one, the students file past a freshly constructed winter garden, a spiraling path of greenery that leads to a place of light guarded by a quiet angel from the eighth grade -- another piece of magic. Along the way, the children hear the tinkling voices of glockenspiels, sounds that summon old melodies and simpler times.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced yesterday that it will close three city parochial elementary and middle schools in June, continuing a trend that began last school year when three others were shut. More than 300 parents and children, upset at the news, attended a meeting last night at Archbishop Curley High School held by the archdiocese to explain the closings. "We all understand that this decision is a shock," the Rev. James P. Kiesel, a pastor at one of the affected parishes, told the people, some in tears.

Carroll Community College has announced the winners of the eighth annual Student Writing Contest for grades 1 through 12, sponsored by the Random House Book Fair. Winners will have a chance to read their original writings at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Student Center during the book fair. More than 400 students submitted a previously unpublished short story or poem, from which about 70 winners were selected. Teachers from the Carroll County public school system judged the entries. All winners also have been published in the eighth annual edition of Writers Today ... Authors Tomorrow, sponsored this year by the Rotary Clubs of Carroll County.

For Alexandra Dunn, a seventh-grader at Trinity Lutheran School in Joppa, one highlight of her recent participation in the People to People World Leadership Forum was a visit to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum. "We saw a 3-D movie, and it was narrated by - who was that guy who narrated it again? Oh, yeah, Tom Cruise," Alexandra said. More than two weeks after their trip, Alexandra, 11, of Joppa and her classmate Marlena Crowell, 12, of Bel Air were still excited about all they saw and learned in Washington.

Typically, algebra is a ninth-grade course - but more children at Severna Park Middle School took the course than at any other middle school in Maryland last year, school officials said. And all of its algebra pupils have passed the algebra component of the state's High School Assessment for the past three years. Those achievements drew a visit to the school yesterday from Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of schools. "It's just amazing, when we have high expectations for students, how they have responded," she said after her tour.

Typically, algebra is a ninth-grade course - but more children at Severna Park Middle School took the course than at any other middle school in Maryland last year, school officials said. And all of its algebra students have passed the algebra component of the state's High School Assessment for the past three years. Those achievements drew a visit to the school yesterday from Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of schools. "It's just amazing, when we have high expectations for students, how they have responded," she said after her tour.

County students make their moves at chess competition Nearly 50 elementary, middle and high school students competed Saturday in the fourth chess tournament sponsored by the Council of Elders of the Black Community in Howard County and the Black Student Achievement Program, held at Long Reach High School. Since January 2001, the Council of Elders has offered a chess program, primarily for African-American students in Howard County. Council members and community volunteers have provided weekly chess tutoring sessions for more than 600 pupils with varying skill levels.

COLLEGE PARK - Before he became a two-time state high school basketball player of the year in Virginia and a prized college recruit, Maryland point guard John Gilchrist III was an eighth-grader nicknamed "Bubba," so driven to succeed that he practically worked on his game in the dark. His father, John Jr., can still hear the creaking door at his family's Virginia Beach home, when the sun would be starting to rise on a school day. That was the sound of Bubba, tiptoeing out of the house and slipping up the street and around the corner to shoot and dribble alone at his other home - the neighborhood court.

Carson Kressley, the fashion guru of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, has been attached to some unusual projects since his Bravo makeover show bounced into the mainstream last year. He is a columnist for Us Weekly, an NBA pitchman and a sought-after author with a book on men's fashion published by Dutton and due out in the fall. Last week, Kressley and his Queer Eye pals released a compilation of songs related to the show. The next day, he made his debut as a DJ at a benefit for the Archive of Contemporary Music at S.O.B.