Garden Elementary

BEFORE THE Pride of Baltimore II eased out of the Inner Harbor last weekend for a yearlong voyage to Asia, about 60 fifth-graders from Spring Garden Elementary sang a tribute of Chesapeake Bay sea chanteys to the crew.They accompanied folk-pop artist Pat O'Brennan, the Chesapeake Troubadour, who has recorded three albums of songs about the estuary, during departure ceremonies for the beloved Baltimore vessel.The children and the folk singer were invited to sing songs of Maryland's bay sailors.

He carries boxes and helps in the cafeteria. He fixes equipment, counsels students, referees games, and, according to Martha Dickinson, a second-grade teacher who has worked with him for more than 20 years, he "is a great spender -- the only person I know who can make a penny stretch a mile."Spring Garden Elementary Principal Larry Bair has even been known to pull loose teeth.After 32 1/2 years, 28 as an administrator in Carroll, Bair is finishing his last week of school."He will not be replaced," said Carol Pfoutz, a secretary at Spring Garden.

FAMILY FUN will be the theme for Spring Garden Elementary's annual Spring Garden Party on Saturday.The carnival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the school on Boxwood Drive in Hampstead.Games that cost 25 cents each, a free magic show and food choices are scaled to the elementary school child.Crafts this year include sand art, bracelets that display one's name, spin art and colored hair spray -- perhaps the most popular choice for all ages last year, said one teacher.At noon, Hampstead magician Cal Horelick will present his "Magic by Cal" show on the school stage.

THE MORNING AFTER a Dec. 20 fire that ruined the Sherman family's town house on Century Street in Hampstead, Ashley Owens, 10, went to work. She organized a group of friends that went house to house for two days, collecting cash donations.The fire occurred about four blocks away from Ashley's home, to a single-parent family with three daughters who are Ashley's friends.A note had been sent to the homes of children by staff at Spring Garden Elementary school outlining plans to help. But the fire occurred on the last day of school before those efforts could materialize.

Most children in the yet-to-be-built North Carroll Farms IV development would attend Hampstead Elementary School, rather than the overcrowded Spring Garden Elementary, under a proposal made yesterday to the school board.After urging by many Hampstead residents and officials, school administrators proposed that students in the fourth section of North Carroll Farms should be sent to the Hampstead Elementary district. Students in other sections of the development attend Spring Garden Elementary.

ANYONE INTERESTED in instrumental music would enjoy the North Carroll Regional Band Concert tonight at 7 p.m. at North Carroll High School.The regional concert, the first since 1994, features instrumentalists at three age levels. The fifth-grade students, from Hampstead, Manchester and Spring Garden Elementary schools, have received two school years of instruction. They will play one program.The fifth-graders will be followed by the eighth-grade band from North Carroll Middle School, whose members have five years of instruction.

Parents from Spring Garden Elementary School are urging the school board to stop allowing in any more students from outside the crowded school's attendance area.Most of the 1,101 out-of-district elementary students in Carroll attend the schools they do because they are closer to their day-care sites. A limit on such students could affect all elementaries if a change in policy grows out of the school board's discussion of the issue at its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at North Carroll Middle School.

THE SPRING Garden Party, which combines kid-sized carnival games, an auction and plenty of favorite children's food, is adding crafts this year.Repeating a favorite from last year, tiny bears, cylinders and miniature jars will stand ready for colored sand art. Children also will be able to decorate a face mask, move on to the necklace table to string beads or have their faces painted.Another addition to the March 9 party at Spring Garden Elementary will be colored (but washable) hair spray.

With assignments such as Counting Kool-Aid, Hundreds and Thousands Sandwiches, and Gorilla Muffins, math class never tasted so good.For two weeks, students in a summer math camp at Manchester Elementary School learned that math plays an important role in such everyday activities as paying bills, working and, of course, cooking.For the camp's final class Friday, students measured their way through a recipe for math camp ice cream, made by shaking milk, sugar, salt, ice and vanilla together in locking plastic bags.

Music in Our Schools Month at Hampstead and Spring Garden elementary schools brought parents into classrooms and encouraged students to verbalize about music, perform in a musical or appear on television.Essay-writing contests were held at both schools. At Hampstead Elementary, students were asked to describe in detail a time or situation when music was important to them.Winners of the Hampstead essay contest for first- and second-graders were Emilee Cassell, first place; Caroline Lewis, second place; and Stephen Ayd and Bethany Alford, honorable mention.