High School Teacher

Sister Monica Gayas, a retired Seton High School teacher, died Sunday of complications from emphysema at her order's Emmitsburg retirement home, Villa St. Michael, where she had lived for more than 20 years. She was 89. A member of the Daughters of Charity, she taught art, religion, English, history and biology at the Charles Village high school where she was a faculty member from 1959 to 1976. She also exhibited her paintings at the Knott Academic Center Gallery at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg and at Seton High.

The woman who came up with the idea - suggesting that a very large member of the Baltimore Ravens might hand off some XXXL clothing to a very large Towson University student who can't afford to buy his own - wishes to remain anonymous, and that's fine. Under the principles of her Jewish faith, such deeds are best if performed secretly, or at least quietly. So we'll call her Ruth, and leave it at that. Two years ago, Ruth and her husband started supporting a teenage boy from Middle River named Andrew Nagengast.

A Mount Hebron High School teacher has been acquitted of charges that he fondled a 15-year-old girl.A jury of eight women and four men reached its not-guilty verdict for Dennis Gotcher, 50, following about seven hours of deliberationon Wednesday. The trial in Howard County Circuit Court lasted three days.Mr. Gotcher, of the 5000 block of Beatrice Way, was charged with battery and two counts each of child abuse and fourth-degree sexual offense.Circuit Judge James B. Dudley dismissed an assault charge, and the Howard State's Attorney's Office dropped two counts each of child abuse and perverted sexual practice.

A Frederick County teacher who believes "chemistry is everywhere and for everyone" has been named the top educator in Maryland, state education officials announced Friday. Michelle M. Shearer, a chemistry teacher at Urbana High School, was surprised with the honor of being named the 2010-2011 Maryland Teacher of the Year during a gala attended by several dignitaries Friday night at Martin's West in Baltimore. "Choosing Maryland's Teacher of the Year is never an easy task for the judging panel," state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said in a statement.

High on a hill above the Patapsco River, an antebellum girls school in Ellicott City is still teaching people lessons. Since 1995, hundreds of youngsters have gotten their hands dirty learning about 19th-century life at archaeology events held at the Patapsco Female Institute. For high school teacher Lee Preston, the summer camps and one-day digs he runs do more than inform students about techniques used in archaeology. They help breed an early appreciation for preservation and times past.

Warren Evans Olt, a retired high school teacher who was a train and streetcar enthusiast, died of cancer Friday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The former Timonium resident moved to Oak Crest Village in Parkville last year. He was 78. Mr. Olt was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to Baltimore as a child. He grew up in Rodgers Forge, graduated from McDonogh School in 1942 and earned a degree at the University of Maryland, College Park. During World War II, he served in the Army in the Philippines and in Japan.

An Anne Arundel County high school teacher was sentenced Wednesday to three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to a fourth-degree sex offense involving a 17-year-old student. Kristyn N. Breeds, 29, who was a special education teacher and indoor track coach at Northeast High School in Pasadena, admitted to a sexual relationship that began in the spring of 2009 and ended in December, prosecutors said. The Severna Park woman was removed from the classroom on Jan. 4 and charged 10 days later with three counts of a fourth-degree sex offense.

Louise LambHigh school teacherServices for Louise Lamb, a Baltimore area high school teacher for 25 years, will be held at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Morgan State University Christian Center.Mrs. Lamb, who was 80, died June 13 at her home at the Hampton House in Towson.Born in Henderson, N.C., the former Louise Parham moved to Baltimore in 1947 and began teaching at Sollers Point High School in Turners Station. She ended her 25-year teaching career in 1972 at her second school in the area, Cockeysville High School.

An Anne Arundel County high school teacher who is charged with a sex crime confessed to having sex with a 17-year-old student on multiple occasions, according to police and charging documents. Kristyn Nicole Breeds, 29, a special-education teacher and co-ed indoor track coach at Northeast High School in Pasadena, has been charged with three counts of fourth-degree sex offense for what police called an "improper relationship" with a male student, according to Lt. James Fredericks, a spokesman for the county police.

Laurie S. Cook, the one-time Northeast High School teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a male student, appealed her firing to the Anne Arundel Circuit Court yesterday.Last month, the State Board of Education upheld the local school board's March 1995 dismissal of Cook, 38, of Catonsville.A jury acquitted Cook in 1993 of child sexual abuse and related criminal charges. But the Anne Arundel County school board found that her association with the student and his family was improper.

Sidney Carton, a popular city high school math teacher who made sure his students understood the difference between the Pythagorean theorem, pi r squared, a hypotenuse and other math concepts before leaving his classroom, died Aug. 11 from kidney failure at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Pikesville resident was 92. Mr. Carton, the son of a retail clothing salesman and a homemaker, was born in Philadelphia, where he spent his early years. He moved in 1923 with his family to the city's Pimlico neighborhood.

Joseph Mark Heimerl, a retired Aberdeen Proving Ground physicist and author, died Tuesday of cancer at his Havre de Grace home. He was 70. Dr. Heimerl, the son of a high school teacher and a homemaker, was born and raised in Gloucester, N.J. After graduating from St. Joseph Preparatory High School in Philadelphia in 1957, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1961 in physics from St. Joseph's University, also in Philadelphia. He earned a doctorate in physics in 1968 from the University of Pittsburgh, and from 1968 to 1970 conducted research for NASA at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif.

For decades, Maryland lawmakers have built up public education through spending requirements that they've imposed on themselves and on local governments. But this year, more seriously than ever, the General Assembly is looking for ways to nip at school funding. There's broad agreement among lawmakers that the depth and length of the national economic downturn means the time has come to review this previously untouchable part of the budget - which accounts for about 20 percent of state spending.

An Anne Arundel County high school teacher was sentenced Wednesday to three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to a fourth-degree sex offense involving a 17-year-old student. Kristyn N. Breeds, 29, who was a special education teacher and indoor track coach at Northeast High School in Pasadena, admitted to a sexual relationship that began in the spring of 2009 and ended in December, prosecutors said. The Severna Park woman was removed from the classroom on Jan. 4 and charged 10 days later with three counts of a fourth-degree sex offense.

We need to lose the pretense and get to what's really going on with the Articulated Instruction Module, Baltimore County schools' new grading system. What's really going on is that Superintendent Joe A. Hairston and his cohorts are trying to create the appearance of cooperating with teachers and listening to their concerns so that the public uproar subsides when, in fact, Mr. Hairston et. al. are continuing to do what they want to do without any legitimate input from anyone who doesn't agree with the stance they've taken.

An Anne Arundel County high school teacher who is charged with a sex crime confessed to having sex with a 17-year-old student on multiple occasions, according to police and charging documents. Kristyn Nicole Breeds, 29, a special-education teacher and co-ed indoor track coach at Northeast High School in Pasadena, has been charged with three counts of fourth-degree sex offense for what police called an "improper relationship" with a male student, according to Lt. James Fredericks, a spokesman for the county police.

Salisbury State University officials announced yesterday that the Eastern Shore campus has received a $1 million gift from a longtime benefactor to endow its education school.Samuel Seidel, a high school teacher turned insurance executive, gave the school securities worth slightly more than $1 million in December. "I'm a very strong supporter of public education," Seidel said. "We give every year, but this is by far the largest gift."The school has been named the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies in honor of Seidel and his wife, Marilyn Seidel.

High school teacher files suit over firing A former Sollers Point Technical High School teacher is seeking lost wages, unpaid benefits and punitive damages in a lawsuit filed yesterday that contends Baltimore County school officials wrongfully fired him last year. Joseph F. Vrzalik of Perry Hall was fired despite "extremely laudatory" work evaluations and his completion of coursework to obtain a teaching certificate, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not specify an amount for damages, but Vrzalik's attorney, Howard J. Needle, said he is seeking a judgment in "the six figures."

Sister Mary Kathleen Steinkamp, a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy who was a former parochial school math teacher and later a financial administrator for her religious order, died Oct. 14 of cancer at The Villa, her order's retirement home in the Woodbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County. She was 74. Mary Kathleen Steinkamp was born in Baltimore and raised in Northeast Baltimore. She was a 1953 graduate of Mount St. Agnes High School in Mount Washington. After earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics and secondary education from Mount St. Agnes College in 1957, Sister Kathleen entered the Sisters of Mercy that year.