Homeroom

North Harford High School had its annual canned food drive for the homeless Dec. 3 to Dec. 7, when North Harford students students brought in canned goods to their homerooms.The cans were collected by SGA officers Jen Trout and Adam Morrison, who tallied the points for each homeroom. Mrs. Linda Shifflett, SGA adviser, supervised the operation.The four homerooms with the most points won prizes for their efforts.First-place winners from Mr. Ron Roman's homeroom received free bowling passes, second-place winners from Mrs. Chris Fellenbaum's and Mrs. Hutton's homeroom won doughnuts and milk, third-place winners from Mrs. Martha Banghart's and Mr. Mark Heinly's homeroom won cookiesand milk and fourth-place winners from Mrs. Marge Markley's homeroom received ice cream.

James King got into politics to help small businesses. And already, the new delegate from Anne Arundel County seems to have given a boost to one: a bar called The Rockfish, which is suddenly mobbed on Monday nights. King owns the bar. And the crowds? Fellow delegates, senators, legislative staffers and lobbyists, who arrive courtesy of a free shuttle bus King started running a few weeks ago between the State House and the bar. "They've kind of dubbed it `Lawmaker Mondays,'" said King, who in addition to transportation offers drink specials, free food and live music.

Hundreds of Howard High School students sat silently at their desks during the brief homeroom period yesterday as their teachers struggled to read a prepared statement aloud.Most of the students had heard the news already, but hearing it from a teacher somehow made it worse: Last Friday, Baltimore County police had found the body of their beloved teacher and coach, Vincent "Craig" O'Connell, 50, lying in 18 inches of water in the Patapsco River after he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge.

Brenda Luengas, a sixth-grader at Annapolis Middle School, said students don't push in the halls anymore. "Usually, when we came back from lunch, they were running and pushing," she said. "But this year, they don't. They walk nicely." Brenda thinks the difference is Caring Community, a new program at Annapolis Middle School. Instead of the typical take-attendance-and-listen-to-announcements homeroom, teachers use the first half-hour of the day to talk to students about issues that matter to them.

After years of crowded conditions, Sykesville Middle School will reopen Tuesday as one of the smallest middle schools in the county. Following are the homeroom assignments for the 510 students who will remain at Sykesville after the opening ofOklahoma Road Middle School.Grade 6Team I, Homeroom 6AMrs. Spalt, Room 170Christopher Adams, Jesse Baier, Aaron Bell, Lauren Blair, Kristen Bradley, Mark Bryant, Sara Cambias, James Chrzanowski, Robert Craig, Erin Dell'Angello, Crystal Douglas, Angela Eder, Brian Farley, Rita Fritz, Tarah Glass, Zachary Harlow, Melissa Hennessy, Jennifer Honsberger, Erin Ireland, Lee Jones, Jennifer Kusnick, Amanda Larkin, Christopher Livesay, Shannon Magee, Nicole Michaels, David Morse, Nicole Patten, Michael Pruitt, Matthew Rains, Megan Ringley, Nicole Saucedo, Zac Schatz, Melanie Scocco, Laura Shand, Tyler Smith, Allison Sweeney, Justin Tims, Nicole Truszkowski, Kjersti Wheeler, Jay J. Will, Adam Young.

Following are the homeroom assignments for Oklahoma Road Middle School, which will open Tuesday. The 677 students had been attending crowded Sykesville Middle School, where 14 portable classrooms were in use.Grade 6Team 1, Homeroom 6AMs. MentzerApril Adams, Nathan Anderson, Kathleen Bateman, Brian Beares, William Brigham, Brandee Burke, Christina Ciampi, Patrick Cigole, Katherine Cosgrove, Emily Downing, Kimberly Eastwood, Chantelle Ford, Nicholas Georgianna, Allison Hammond, Daniel Hensley, Maria Hogg, Laura James, Bryon Johnson, Daniel Kempler, Carla Kornahrens, Gabriel Lannon, Alisa Macintyre, Thomas Maskell, Kristen McMillan, Elizabeth Mooshegain, Krystina Nelson, Jonathan O'Bannon, Valerie Peeples, Michael Pickett, Julie Polk, Matthew Rout, Sarah Snyder, Michael Squires, Andrew Swift, Heather Varle, Kevin Warner, Jennifer Yost.

Brenda Luengas, a sixth-grader at Annapolis Middle School, said students don't push in the halls anymore. "Usually, when we came back from lunch, they were running and pushing," she said. "But this year, they don't. They walk nicely." Brenda thinks the difference is Caring Community, a new program at Annapolis Middle School. Instead of the typical take-attendance-and-listen-to-announcements homeroom, teachers use the first half-hour of the day to talk to students about issues that matter to them.

Dario Salazar has been embraced by Elkridge Elementary School.It seems as though everyone at the school has showered the 10-year-old Guatemalan boy with attention since his arrival here more than a month ago. In his homeroom, flashcards in English and Spanish abound, and classmates resort to facial expressions and hand motions when words don't work."

Students: Freshman John Bova, 13; sophomore David Gorrie, 15; and seniors Martha Hopkins and Erin Kilby, both 17.Accomplishments/Interests: John, David, Martha and Erin earned straight A's on their most recent report cards, placing them on the school's honor roll. But their talents extend beyond studying.John plays in the band. "Mount percussion, like the xylophone, glockenspiel and the bells," he said, "Music is a big thing."He said he also enjoys odd and unusual research. "Like ancient Chinese war games," he said.

Commencement will be a poignant memory for David Poe.Mr. Poe, a 21-year-old Laurel resident who was born with Down syndrome, not only delivered the welcoming address yesterday at the Cedar Lane School graduation ceremony, but also was honored with the PTA Award, given to the graduate with outstanding leadership abilities and compassion toward others.The fact that commencement marked the end of Mr. Poe's 12-year association with Cedar Lane wasn't lost on the graduate."I will miss my teachers and friends," he said.

ANOTHER SCHOOL year begins in Baltimore County, and Stephanie Brittingham attends by telephone. Her teachers came to her Parkville house Monday, gave her books and set up a speaker phone on the desk in her bedroom. Yesterday, Stephanie dialed up a science lesson at 10 a.m., math at 11 and social studies at 1 in the afternoon. She's a sixth-grader who won't see the inside of a classroom or study with classmates this year, and that's how it goes when you're 11 and tethered to an intravenous tube, on the long end of a wait for an organ transplant.

NEARLY A DOZEN New Windsor Middle School pupils spent the last of their school days packing bags of towels, toothbrushes and other personal items for the homeless in Baltimore. The children, members of the after-school club, Students Helping Others and Understanding Themselves, or SHOUT, learned of the need through a school secretary, said social studies teacher Lisa Lardieri, the club's adult adviser. The secretary knew that Uniontown Bible Church worked with the nonprofit group Happy Helpers for the Homeless.

HER NAME was Michelle Winder, and her destiny was to tug at all hearts. She arrived one school day in the middle of the 1950s, beautiful beyond articulation, with a shy and sunny sweetness to fill a whole classroom, and then disappeared until last weekend when she was spotted on the Senator Theatre movie screen.That was Michelle up there, wasn't it? In Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights," that lovely black girl who accidentally steals the heart of the white boy named Kurtzman -- that must have been Michelle, for who else in that time could have caused such a great leap across the previously uncrossable American color line?

To understand the drive and perseverance of Kenneth Starr, you have to examine his Texas roots, friends say.A glimpse of Starr's formative years presents a picture that meshes little with the White House's portrayal of him as a relentless, if not brutal, and politically motivated inquisitor.The son of a minister, Starr was born in Vernon, Texas, but attended school in San Antonio after his family moved to a small house on the outskirts of the South Texas city. His classmates and teachers recall him as a squeaky-clean, mild-mannered, straight-A student.

Hundreds of Howard High School students sat silently at their desks during the brief homeroom period yesterday as their teachers struggled to read a prepared statement aloud.Most of the students had heard the news already, but hearing it from a teacher somehow made it worse: Last Friday, Baltimore County police had found the body of their beloved teacher and coach, Vincent "Craig" O'Connell, 50, lying in 18 inches of water in the Patapsco River after he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge.

After years of crowded conditions, Sykesville Middle School will reopen Tuesday as one of the smallest middle schools in the county. Following are the homeroom assignments for the 510 students who will remain at Sykesville after the opening ofOklahoma Road Middle School.Grade 6Team I, Homeroom 6AMrs. Spalt, Room 170Christopher Adams, Jesse Baier, Aaron Bell, Lauren Blair, Kristen Bradley, Mark Bryant, Sara Cambias, James Chrzanowski, Robert Craig, Erin Dell'Angello, Crystal Douglas, Angela Eder, Brian Farley, Rita Fritz, Tarah Glass, Zachary Harlow, Melissa Hennessy, Jennifer Honsberger, Erin Ireland, Lee Jones, Jennifer Kusnick, Amanda Larkin, Christopher Livesay, Shannon Magee, Nicole Michaels, David Morse, Nicole Patten, Michael Pruitt, Matthew Rains, Megan Ringley, Nicole Saucedo, Zac Schatz, Melanie Scocco, Laura Shand, Tyler Smith, Allison Sweeney, Justin Tims, Nicole Truszkowski, Kjersti Wheeler, Jay J. Will, Adam Young.

It was the spring of 1968 and I was a junior in one of the enormous Catholic high schools of Philadelphia. Our class alone consisted of more than 900 boys. To my surprise, a few friends in my homeroom nominated me to run for senior class officer. To my utter amazement, I wound up on the list of eight candidates selected to deliver a speech to the class at a morning assembly.The competition was stiff: two football stars, an honor student and four current members of the student council (career politicians)

HER NAME was Michelle Winder, and her destiny was to tug at all hearts. She arrived one school day in the middle of the 1950s, beautiful beyond articulation, with a shy and sunny sweetness to fill a whole classroom, and then disappeared until last weekend when she was spotted on the Senator Theatre movie screen.That was Michelle up there, wasn't it? In Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights," that lovely black girl who accidentally steals the heart of the white boy named Kurtzman -- that must have been Michelle, for who else in that time could have caused such a great leap across the previously uncrossable American color line?

Following are the homeroom assignments for Oklahoma Road Middle School, which will open Tuesday. The 677 students had been attending crowded Sykesville Middle School, where 14 portable classrooms were in use.Grade 6Team 1, Homeroom 6AMs. MentzerApril Adams, Nathan Anderson, Kathleen Bateman, Brian Beares, William Brigham, Brandee Burke, Christina Ciampi, Patrick Cigole, Katherine Cosgrove, Emily Downing, Kimberly Eastwood, Chantelle Ford, Nicholas Georgianna, Allison Hammond, Daniel Hensley, Maria Hogg, Laura James, Bryon Johnson, Daniel Kempler, Carla Kornahrens, Gabriel Lannon, Alisa Macintyre, Thomas Maskell, Kristen McMillan, Elizabeth Mooshegain, Krystina Nelson, Jonathan O'Bannon, Valerie Peeples, Michael Pickett, Julie Polk, Matthew Rout, Sarah Snyder, Michael Squires, Andrew Swift, Heather Varle, Kevin Warner, Jennifer Yost.

Gilman School will build a $4.5 million lower school to replace its lower school, which was constructed in 1922 as the second building on the Roland Avenue campus, its headmaster said yesterday.Although the nearly 40,000-square-foot structure will provide an additional homeroom for each grade, the school will not increase its enrollment, but rather reduce class sizes in the early grades -- from about 25 to about 17 students per homeroom.The building is expected to open in September 1998 and will be named for Gilman's legendary leader, Henry H. Callard, who was a teacher there during the 1920s and headmaster from 1943 to 1963.