High School Students

Program invites men for lunch The Judy Center, a federally funded early childhood support program, will hold its fourth Meals with Magnificent Men event at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at Cradlerock School, 6700 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. The program invites fathers and other men who play a significant role in the lives of young children to participate in a traditional Thanksgiving lunch and join with the children in literacy activities, such as reading stories and learning through singing. Children whose fathers may be unavailable are paired with school system and Cradlerock School staff members.

When news of vandalism at a nearby church spread at River Hill High School, students sprang into volunteer mode. More than 35 students spent the last two Saturdays in October at Linden-Linthicum United Methodist Church in Clarksville, where a garden, pathway and a fence were vandalized in mid-October. "People were linking [the vandalism] to our school," said Principal William Ryan. "The kids thought that this shouldn't be a reflection on our school." Sean Kirby, a 16-year-old junior, went to the church on both occasions to help clean up. Before the vandalism, he and many of the volunteers parked at the church during the school day. After the destruction of property, the church prohibited students from using the parking lot. "We felt that [the vandalism]

THE DAUGHTER of Dorsey Hall residents Robert and Lisa Black is a 16-year-old junior at Wilde Lake High School. Last month, Robin Black was awarded a bronze medal as one of Maryland's top youth volunteers in the 1999 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.Robin is one of many Columbia teen-agers whose positive contributions provide a counterbalance to the popular image of teen culture.The awards are presented annually by Prudential Insurance Co. of America and the National Association of Secondary School Principals to honor middle and high school students at the local, state and national levels for community service.

A group of teen-agers, barred from extracurricular activities at Westminster High School as the result of a party, is asking a Carroll circuit judge to reinstate them while the legality of a school policy is tested.Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold began hearing testimony yesterday in the lawsuit brought by 12 Westminster High School students. The hearing continues today.Arnold must first decide whether the lawsuit belongs in court or whether the students must appeal first to the county school board and the State Board of Education.

The discussion leader polled a classroom of preteens, asking what drew them to the first middle school Multicultural Leadership Conference in Westminster yesterday.Phyllis Black smiled at the standard answers that included a day off, a good lunch, or "the teacher picked me." She applauded Theresa Ward, a 13-year-old East Middle School pupil."I came because it is time for our generation to finally make a difference," Theresa said. "In middle school, you decide the person you are going to be and the people who will be your friends."

In Baltimore County400-pupil addition opens at Franklin Middle SchoolREISTERSTOWN -- Educators, parents, community leaders and county and state politicians joined yesterday to open a 400-pupil addition at Franklin Middle School.The 39,300-square-foot addition will serve as an annex for sixth-graders. It includes 17 classrooms, three science labs, an activity room, music lab, computer lab, art room with a kiln and three "team" rooms for parent conferences. It also has a satellite dining room for 150 students.

In preparation for tomorrow's vote, Anne Arundel County school board members last night closely examined Superintendent Carol S. Parham's $27 million plan to ease school crowding.Five of the eight board members listened and asked questions as Thomas W. Rhoades, director of school planning and programming, led them through the details of Parham's proposal."All we are asking you to do is give us some direction," Rhoades told them, "some options to study over the summer."Tomorrow night, the board will continue to discuss the plan and its ideas before voting on what options to give Parham's staff to work on. Later this year, the board will make a final decision.

The discussion leader polled a classroom of pre-teens, asking what drew them to the first annual middle school Multicultural Leadership Conference in Westminster yesterday.Phyllis Black smiled at the standard answers that included a day off, a good lunch, or "the teacher picked me." She applauded Theresa Ward, a 13-year-old East Middle School student."I came because it is time for our generation to finally make a difference," Theresa said. "In middle school, you decide the person you are going to be and the people who will be your friends."

Maryland's ninth-graders will begin hearing about the importance of grades and attendance from a new source this fall: successful young business people."

About 200 Westminster High School students briefly refused to go to class yesterday, protesting a decision in which about 40 students were deemed ineligible to participate in extracurricular activities for 45 school days, officials said.The protesters, who balked at going to class after leaving their home rooms about 8 a.m., were peaceful and went to class within about five minutes, said Principal Sherri-Le Bream.The disciplinary action stemmed from a party held on Feb. 6 at a student's home in Westminster, according to authorities, who said alcohol was consumed at the party.

Karl Heinz Segall, co-founder with his father of Segall-Majestic Inc., the North Charles Street photo studio where generations of Baltimore-area high school students as well as brides went to be photographed, died in his sleep Sept. 7 at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The former longtime Pikesville resident was 97. Mr. Segall, whose father was a photographer and film producer, was born and educated in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and raised in Hamburg and Berlin. "He learned photography from his father," said a son, Frank Segall of Baltimore.

The images were disturbing, some even graphic: the photo of a bloodied teenage boy lying motionless on the front of the wrecked automobile; the tape of a cabdriver, dozing at the wheel, then being tossed helplessly into the back seat by the force of a crash, his legs pushing out the rear window; the series of police photos of deadly accidents involving teenage drivers across Howard County. They are part of the "Young Drivers: You Are Responsible" presentation put on by the county's Police Department at high schools across the county.

Thousands of Prince George's County high school students missed a third day of classes Wednesday as school officials said it could take more than a week to sort out the chaos caused by a new computerized class scheduling system. Students were put in gyms, auditoriums, cafeterias, libraries and classes they didn't want or need at high schools across the county as their parents' fury over the logistical nightmare rose. "The school year comes up the same time every year," said Carolyn Oliver, the mother of a 16-year-old senior who spent Wednesday in the senior lounge at Bowie High School.

BGE rates, Constellation merger unrelated If Governor O'Malley believes that Marylanders are entitled to lower energy rates than those now charged by BGE, he should raise his claim in an appropriate proceeding, where the issues can be examined entirely on their merits. Perhaps recognizing that BGE customers may not fare well in an impartial hearing, the governor instead seeks rate relief through political blackmail: He states that the state will not seek to block a pending deal between BGE's parent Constellation Energy Group to sell a portion of its nuclear power plants to Electricite de France, if CEG, among other things, agrees to "[s]

Board of Education Ethics Panel to meet The Anne Arundel County Board of Education Ethics Panel will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in Conference Room I at the Parham Building, 2644 Riva Road, in Annapolis. The panel's duties include overseeing all ethics forms relevant to school system regulations; providing advisory opinions on ethics matters and making determinations on complaints alleging violations; referring findings on complaints and other enforcement matters to the board; and holding an information program on ethics regulations.

Two Centennial High School students have been named semifinalists in a prestigious science competition dubbed the "junior Nobel Prize." Seniors Peter Kamel and Henry Zheng are two of 300 students nationwide who are semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. The students learned of their honors in the pre-college contest on Jan. 14. Each student earned a $1,000 prize and $2,000 for the school. Zheng's research focuses on the application of data fusion for prosthetic systems. Kamel's research addresses artificial tissue design.

A national education foundation has recognized Anne Arundel Community College as one of two Maryland colleges that are models of community engagement. The Arnold-based school is the only community college in Maryland designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching with the 2008 Community Engagement Classification. Fewer than 200 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected as "engaged community institutions" since the award's inception in 2006. Towson University was honored along with AACC, and the University of Baltimore was recognized in 2006.

Alarmed that most of Maryland's top high school students are going out of state for college - and possibly not coming back - the Board of Regents announced yesterday an initiative, dubbed "Project 1300," to keep the brightest students closer to home. About 6,000 high school seniors in Maryland score 1,300 or better on their SAT each year, and two-thirds of them leave the state for college, according to Regent David Nevins. He's worried that students won't return to Maryland and put their talents to use here.

Education policy has gotten short shrift so far in this year's presidential campaign season, yet both Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama and GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain have offered visions of education reform, and the differences between them could not be more striking. Mr. Obama wants to strengthen public schools by boosting funding for early childhood education, rewarding good teachers with higher pay and offering tax credits for college tuition. Mr. McCain's plan centers on giving parents vouchers for private schools, eliminating most federal regulation of education and expanding online programs that let students take advanced math and science courses in schools where they aren't offered.

Baltimore schools CEO Andres Alonso wants to invest more in students who are at opposite ends of the performance scale - those who are high achievers as well as those who are struggling. The idea is to shrink the bottom, give more heft to the middle and expand the top. It's a smart way to enhance the system's strengths and strengthen its weaknesses - one that the Board of School Commissioners should approve. Expanding programs for high-performing students could help slow down the system's own brain drain.