Grace High

Havre de Grace High School was taken over by tiny robots Saturday, Feb. 9, as 13 teams from schools and scout troops around the region participated in a daylong Maryland FIRST Tech Challenge qualification tournament. Saturday's tournament, a qualifier for the state final later this month, was hosted by the Spears & Gears Team No. 4141 from Havre de Grace High. In all, more than 200 people attended the event, including approximately 130 team members and mentors, 45 volunteers who were mostly Havre de Grace High students and about 30 spectators, according to Shawna Ashman, one of the mentors for the host team which did not participate Saturday.

Aberdeen and Havre de Grace high schools will be getting some major recognition today (Friday) for their students' performance on Advanced Placement examinations and academic achievement. The National Math and Science Initiative will recognize Aberdeen High School as the organization's School of the Year for its outstanding academic performance in the 2012-13 school year. The math and science organization will also announce the annual results of its program focused on serving military families for both Aberdeen and Havre de Grace high schools, during events the schools at 9 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., respectively.

With all the concern about soaring medical costs in this country, you'd think the Harford County schools might be doing their share to control this economic burden. Not so at Havre de Grace High School, where students require a visit to the doctor if they miss more than five days of class in a quarter. Otherwise, they flunk all their classes, regardless of their academic performance.The rule was adopted to improve attendance at the Havre de Grace school, after development by a committee of parents, students and teachers.

Nominations are being accepted for the fourth class of the Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is scheduled for homecoming weekend, Oct. 25. Nominees must be a Havre de Grace High School graduate; have a positive impact on society and be a strong role model for youth; exemplify the school motto "Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve;" and demonstrate exceptionality in his or her field. Nominations are to be submitted in writing to: Havre de Grace High School, Hall of Fame Committee, 700 Congress Ave., Havre de Grace, MD 21078 by Aug. 19 They should include the nominee's name and year of graduation, a statement regarding the nominee's ability to exemplify our school motto "Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve" and the their impact on society and a reference regarding the exceptional work the nominee has completed in his or her respective field.

Havre de Grace High School looks like an old factory, red-bricked, squat and rather dull.Inside, though, it's like opening day at theWorld Series.And with good reason. About a week from now, the school could be named one of the best high schools in the nation as part of the national Secondary School Recognition Program.Havre de Grace High already has been chosen as one of eight Maryland schools to be nominated as one of the country's best in the national Secondary School Recognition Program.

Havre de Grace High Principal Jon Andes sounded like a stuck record at the county school board neeting Monday.He was just too excitedto keep quiet."Havre de Grace has been named a national school of excellence," he told the board."

The principal of Havre de Grace High School said yesterday that he will appoint a 12-member panel to decide whether to keep the school's Warrior mascot. "My role is to make sure we have a fair process that goes on here," said Principal Stephen R. Williams, noting he plans to name the panel in the next week to hear from the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, receive public comment and vote on whether to retain or remove the Warrior mascot. "There's a lot of passion in this community for keeping its Warrior.

A high school senior feels overwhelmed by pressures from parents, teachers and peers. A teenage couple converse awkwardly on their first date. Four young friends wrestle with the consequences of drinking and driving. These and other themes form the plots in Drama Therapy, a series of short plays focusing on teen issues. For the past three years, the Havre de Grace High School drama department has presented the plays, calling the skits "100 Minutes That Matter," to parents, faculty and the student body.

For more than half a century, Havre de Grace High School has been home to the Warriors, its symbol an Indian chieftain wearing a headdress. But if the State Board of Education has its way, the Warriors soon will fall by the wayside, along with other American Indian names for teams and mascots, such as Indians, Braves and Redskins. The board voted Tuesday to urge schools to drop the names, which some people find offensive. In Havre de Grace, where a bronze bust of a Indian chieftain sits in the high school lobby and the name Warriors adorns everything from sports jerseys to key chains to bumper stickers, most residents don't see much reason for a change.

Upset that the fire alarm system at Havre de Grace High School has been broken for at least 10 days, some parents are questioning why they were not formally notified about the malfunction.The malfunction became public at Monday's school board meeting, where a parent raised questions about the situation, prompting an inspection by the state fire marshal's office Tuesday.Since learning of the breakdown during a routine fire drill Oct. 6, school officials have been keeping the school's fire doors closed and having employees roam the building to check for fires.

Editor's note: Freelance writer Diedre A. Ware grew up in Havre de Grace and graduated from Havre de Grace High School. Her recollections of what it was like growing up black in an era when children's dolls were white was published recently in Dolls magazine based in Iola, Wis., http://www.dollsmagazine.com . It is republished here with permission, along with photographs that ran with the Dolls magazine version. As a child, my dolls were by best friends. When I confided in them, I knew they would never tell.

At the recent Maryland state championship for the FTC class of FIRST Robotics, the Havre de Grace High School Spears and Gears team placed 14th among 32 teams entered in the competition held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel. The small Havre de Grace robotics team, consisting of Allison Grabowski, team captain and lead engineer; Tucker Barnes, software programming; and Kenny Hallock, worked feverishly in weeks leading up to the Feb. 23 competition to complete and refine its Bot, according to team faculty advisor Craig Kostyshyn.

Havre de Grace High School was taken over by tiny robots Saturday, Feb. 9, as 13 teams from schools and scout troops around the region participated in a daylong Maryland FIRST Tech Challenge qualification tournament. Saturday's tournament, a qualifier for the state final later this month, was hosted by the Spears & Gears Team No. 4141 from Havre de Grace High. In all, more than 200 people attended the event, including approximately 130 team members and mentors, 45 volunteers who were mostly Havre de Grace High students and about 30 spectators, according to Shawna Ashman, one of the mentors for the host team which did not participate Saturday.

A Havre de Grace teen was charged Tuesday after he allegedly bought drugs from a man sitting on a porch. Jamar Terrel Coleman, 23, of the 400 block of Battery Drive, was charged with marijuana possession, distributing a narcotic and distributing drugs on a school bus or property. Coleman was sitting on some steps in the 600 block of Congress Avenue when a 16-year-old male from Havre de Grace approached him and the two did a hand-to-hand drug exchange, according to Julie Morgan of the Havre de Grace Police Department.

So the Harford County Board of Education has voted to approve rebuilding both Havre de Grace High School and Youth's Benefit Elementary School in Fallston, two projects that have had a fair amount of public support. It seemed clear a showdown would be in the offing if one were approved and not the other. Harford County Executive David R. Craig, a lifelong Havre de Grace resident, had put the school board and others on notice that if the Havre de Grace High project weren't funded, nothing would be. Meanwhile, the formidable force of a politically awakened Fallston has appeared to be getting into fighting shape.

Distinguished alumni Earl Christy, Sheldon W. Cole, Ernest Rodia and Lou Ward have been selected for the Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame, the committee overseeing the hall of fame announced Monday. The Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame will induct its third class on Friday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. at a ceremony to be held in the school auditorium. The ceremony coincides with the school's homecoming celebration. Selections to the hall of fame are based on the nominees accomplishments in their chosen fields and how they exemplify the Havre de Grace High School motto, "Enter to Learn -- Leave to Serve.

Uh, . . . excuse me, please. I hate to interrupt all the fun that the doom-and-gloom crowd are having right now, but this is kinda important.Contrary to popular misconception, not all teen-agers are abusing drugs, dropping out of school or involved in a pregnancy. Take the kids at Havre de Grace High School in Harford County, for example. Would you believe that 25 percent of the students do volunteer work, logging in a total of more than 4,000 hours of community service this year? Sorry to shatter the myth, folks.

The following letter was delivered to Leonard D. Wheeler, president of the Board of Education of Harford County. A copy was provided for publication. The Board of Education of Harford County is currently reviewing, discussing, and considering the Superintendent's Recommendations pertaining to the FY 14 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for Harford County Public Schools. In accordance with the Board's public deliberation and input from members of the community regarding the FY14 CIP, I am hereby advising the Board of my funding priorities for schools.

Editor:  Dr. Robert Tomback, Harford County Public Schools Superintendent, recently informed David Craig, Harford County Executive, that the Board of Education will be holding a public hearing on Monday, Aug. 20 from 6-8pm at the A.A. Roberty Building, 102 South Hickory Avenue, in Bel Air.  This is our opportunity to address the need for a new Havre de Grace High School for our community. So why a new high school at Havre de Grace? For one, we have the oldest standing high school building in the county.