Hebron High

Top Howard County school officials say that there is a clear need for the $118 million capital budget unveiled by Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin, but many expect a tough fight to fund the entire wish list. "I'm always optimistic. But I know [the budget] will be dependent on funds," said Cousin, whose plan reflects an $18 million increase from the current capital budget. "We'll have difficult choices to make at the appropriate time," said school board Vice Chairman Frank Aquino. Cousin's proposed budget includes $27 million to partially fund a renovation project at Mount Hebron High School; $20 million for systemic renovations at three buildings; $13.75 million to add to and renovate the "Old" Cedar Lane School; $12 million to construct a maintenance-warehouse facility; and $6.28 million for the addition of a cafetorium at Elkridge Elementary School.

The Howard County Youth Program Inc. has announced the winner of the 2007 Christopher Kelly Memorial Scholarship: Lisa E. Alban of Mount Hebron High School. Alban, 17, an Ellicott City resident who started playing baseball at age 9 in North Carolina, has worked as a camp counselor and baseball umpire for HCYP. She plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and has been accepted at Virginia Tech. The scholarship, in its 14th year, was created to commemorate the life of Christopher Kelly, a young baseball player at HCYP who died in a bicycle accident.

Mount Hebron deteriorating As I read the article about Mount Hebron's "sewage leak" (The Sun, Jan. 28) I was appalled and dismayed. As a current senior at Mount Hebron, I can tell you that not "everything looks great," as school board Chairman Diane Mikulis stated. Mount Hebron is slowly but surely falling apart, and this second sewage leak has further eroded my confidence in the school board to make things right at Hebron. Just in this past semester, we have had two sewage leaks, and I can tell you that it is not an environment that I, or anyone else, should have to learn in. I have walked through an already crowded hallway and been forced to dodge a trashcan that was placed below a ceiling dripping with urine.

A MURAL depicting a Bedouin tribesman telling stories to children graces the wall of the study of Concetta and Eugene Pierelli, Normandy Heights residents for more than 30 years. Their son, Louis Pierelli, created the artwork on one of his trips home from Florence, Italy.He used techniques he learned in 21 years in Florence restoring frescoes, sculpture and other art objects.A 1974 graduate of Mount Hebron High School, Louis studied art history at the Johns Hopkins University and won a fellowship from Syracuse University to study in Florence.

Mt. Hebron High graduate wins law firm's scholarshipMichael David Manley, a 1998 graduate of Mount Hebron High School, has won a $500 scholarship from the law firm of Clark, Rapaport & Skalny. The firm awards the scholarship every year to high school students interested in improving the quality of the legal profession.Manley will attend Howard Community College and plans to practice law.Graduating seniors interested in applying for the scholarship should call Theresa A. Bast at 410-992-7575 or at 301-621-4152 for an application.

An article in yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun incorrectly spelled the name of the Howard school system's spokeswoman, Patti Caplan.The Sun regrets the error.A Mount Hebron High School sophomore was arrested Tuesday in connection with a bomb threat a week ago that forced the school's evacuation, Howard County police said yesterday.The 17-year-old is also suspected of making another bomb threat Tuesday morning that forced officials to evacuate the school, police said. But he has not been charged in that incident, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, the department's spokesman.

To see the changing face of Mount Hebron High School, look no further than its library -- a place that many call the Ellicott City school's "Little Korea."Early each school day, many of the school's nearly 150 Korean and Korean-American students gather informally there -- to speak Korean with one another.In the past five years, the number of students of Korean origin at Mount Hebron has mushroomed, says P. J. Kesmodel, a guidance counselor at the school for 24 years: "In the early 1980s, fewer than 10 students were Korean.

Howard County police have arrested a 20-year-old former Howard County student and an 18-year-old senior at Howard High School in connection with a wave of vandalism that has troubled county schools for the past month.Police said that the racist and obscene graffiti that were spray-painted on county schools on five occasions were personal attacks on a Howard High School vice principal who had suspended the former student five years ago.William Francis Holderman of the 600 block of Hallmark Drive in Glen Burnie was arrested at home Tuesday evening.

Howard County police said yesterday that racist graffiti spray-painted on the walls of Worthington Elementary and Mount Hebron High Schools in Ellicott City this weekend may be linked to similar incidents at other county schools.School officials believe the recent wave of hate-bias graffiti that has marred school buildings has been committed by a group of teen-agers who have vandalized schools across the county.Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for the county's Board of Education, said school authorities and police cannot assume that the vandals who struck this weekend are students at the affected schools.

THIS WEEKEND, Mount Hebron High School presents "The Music Man" -- a musical about a con artist whose plans to milk a small town of its money go awry.Playing the lead role of Harold Hill is sophomore Andrew Cruttenden.Senior Sarah Dauber plays Marian the librarian, James Thomas is Marcellus, Amanda Herold is Mrs. Paroo, Josh Hummel is the mayor and Marie Stanton is the mayor's wife.Seventh-grader Patrick Herold and sixth-grader Kevin Norman share the role of Winthrop Paroo.Shawn Doyle, Larry Sama, Mike Crutchfield and Mike Bounds are the barbershop quartet.

When Mount Hebron High School's longtime band director left abruptly in December, it felt to many students like the day the music died. But nowadays, strains of a traditional Sousa march and two sunny pop anthems fill the air outside the Ellicott City school as marching band members rehearse their first official halftime show with a new director and a new outlook. The Vikings Marching Band was set to take the football field Friday under the direction of Daniel Pendley, who has taken over the beloved band program that was one man's empire for more than three decades.

At first glance, the path Aaron Maybin took to the NFL draft seems stunning and capricious. The Ellicott City native stayed just three years at Penn State, only one as a starter and that after a teammate was suspended early in the season. But surprise and caprice played almost no role in the making of Maybin, a 21-year-old defensive end-linebacker whose explosive first step will carry him into the first round of Saturday's draft. Not when his father covered more than 40,000 miles in a van he bought specifically for the purpose of investigating potential colleges for his son. Not when the elder Maybin factored in Aaron's leg room in the van before making the purchase.

The longtime band director at a Howard County high school has been accused of sexually abusing a female student over the past two years, police said yesterday. Robert Douglas Johnston, 61, who has taught at Mount Hebron High School for more than 30 years, was charged yesterday with sexual abuse of a minor, third- and fourth-degree sex offenses, and obscene telephone misuse, according to Howard County police. Johnston surrendered to police Monday night and was arrested; he was being held yesterday on a $350,000 bond, police said.

Lawrence E. "Larry" Walker, Sr., 50, had always been involved in the schools his two sons attended, but when they entered high school he and other fathers began to see the need to mentor African-American boys there. Last spring, he won the first Comcast Parent Involvement Matters Award, given by the Maryland State Department of Education. Tell us a little bit about your background. I moved to Columbia at age 15 from the rough urban streets of Pittsburgh to live with my Aunt Marie and Uncle Haywood; they could only imagine the impact it would have on life.

County classrooms may be empty for the summer, but in the coming weeks the stages of several Howard County high schools will be bustling with young actors singing, dancing, conversing and emoting. Three productions are giving theatrical youth - ranging from second-graders to college students - opportunities to express themselves, expand their skills and enjoy some more time in the spotlight: *Howard County Summer Theater is producing High School Musical as its "junior" show for actors in second through ninth grades at Mount Hebron High School tomorrow and Friday; *A group of River Hill High School alumni, staff and students will produce The Glass Menagerie in that school's theater tomorrow, Friday and Saturday; *The Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' Teen Professional Theatre begins rehearsals Monday for an original version of Phantom of the Opera, with performances scheduled for July 24 through 27. This is the third year the Howard County Summer Theater has had a junior production aimed at the youngest actors.

A group of teachers at Mount Hebron High School wants county and school officials to hold off on a proposed renovation plan and instead look at building a replacement school. Mark Cates, one of the group's organizers, said yesterday that the "proposal by the staff at Mount Hebron High School" was sent Monday night to County Executive Ken Ulman, County Council members and the school board. He said the "position paper" has 105 signatures. The group wants an evaluation process to be adopted if the cost of a renovation exceeds 50 percent of the cost of a new building.

School project lacks planning Why has the Mount Hebron High School project been so controversial and costly? The answer would be "planning"-- the lack of. While other counties follow a process recommended by the state of Maryland, the Howard County public school system has used an inconsistent and difficult to comprehend planning process. A set of standards and a goal are the usual starting point for architects because they determine a project's scope and what the required results will be. Past HCPSS projects have sporadically used the Board of Education's 1999 Educational Specifications to determine a school's needs.

Informal session with school board The Board of Education of Howard County regularly holds Coffee & Conversation sessions at schools throughout the county. The next session is scheduled from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. today in the media center at Fulton Elementary School, 11600 Scaggsville Road. These meetings provide an opportunity to talk informally with board members. The meetings are held in various regions of the county. Technology plan for the 21st century The Howard County school system is developing a five-year comprehensive technology plan to prepare for learning in the 21st century.

Mount Hebron High School and Patapsco Middle School are holding a mulch sale. Each 3-cubic-foot bag of shredded hardwood is $4.50 plus 6 percent sales tax. Orders are due Friday. Orders of 15 bags or more will be delivered free in the Mount Hebron High School sending district area between 8 a.m. and noon March 29. Orders of less than 15 bags can be picked up at Patapsco Middle School, 8885 Old Frederick Road, from 8 a.m. to noon March 29. Go to www.mulchsale.net to download order forms.

A county construction project to connect Montgomery Road to Marshalee Drive in Elkridge has been delayed because of inclement weather and is now scheduled to begin on or about Thursday. Montgomery Road will be closed temporarily in the vicinity of 6425 Montgomery, between -- but not including -- Montery Road and Deborah Jean Drive. The closure could last two or three weeks, depending on the weather. Information: Lisa Brightwell, 410-313-3440. Band concert set at Mount Hebron Mount Hebron High School students will present a band concert featuring the Dixieland jazz combo, jazz ensemble and symphonic winds at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.