Jacobsville

The dancer in the dirndl was missing something, artist Sylvia Benitez fretted. But what was it, she asked a group of fourth-graders at Jacobsville Elementary School."

Jacobsville Elementary will celebrate Black History Month with two presentations by storyteller Alice McGill this morning.At 8:50 a.m., students in kindergarten through second grade will hear "Songs andTales of African-American and American Folklore.""Ms. McGill will introduce many traditional songs, stories and chants that are deeply rooted in the history of black Americans both before and after the Civil War," said Jane Reidy, PTA spokesman.At 9:50 a.m., grades three to five will observe McGill's transformation into 83-year-old Sojourner Truth, a former slave who without formal schooling became one of the most influential voices in the 19th century.

Some bright new stars will join the local art scene next week at theannual Student Art Show, sponsored by the Chesapeake Womens Club, atChesapeake High School.John Habercam, art teacher and coordinator of the exhibition, said that students from Northeast and Chesapeakehigh schools, along with students from Chesapeake Bay Middle School,will have their work on display in the media center at Chesapeake High on Feb. 18-21, with the judging taking place Feb. 20.First- and second-place winners for the high school and middle school levels will be chosen and cash prizes awarded by the CWC.First-place winners will have their work placed in the art competition sponsored by the Southern District of the Maryland Federation of Womens Clubs.

An influx of about 600 students above the projected enrollment for this year means class sizes -- and frustration -- is on the rise in the county school system.School officials projected 1,200 additional students this year, but 1,800 showed up. The resulting overcrowding, combined with tight finances, is creating situations similar to that at South Shore Elementary, where 39 pupils sit in one fourth-grade classroom."Students just don't come in neat packages," said Principal Elizabeth Keifer, who has managed the situation at the Crownsville school by adding a full-time teacher's aide and using a conference room across the hall.

Volunteer fire fighters are clashing with fire administrator Paul Haigley over whether they can buy a new ladder truck for the Arminger company.The volunteers at Arminger say they want to save county taxpayers about $400,000 by buying a new ladder truck for their station, said Robert Schappert, spokesman for the county Volunteer Firefighters Association.The Arminger volunteers sold their old truck, contending it cost too much in time and money to repair. Haigley plans to move a second ladder truck at the station to the Jacobsville company about 1 1/2 miles away, leaving Arminger without a ladder truck unless the volunteers buy it themselves.

The students tripped out of Jacobsville Elementary School three hours early yesterday with a giddiness that belied the heat."This is my favorite day of the whole school year," declared Travis Haas, a fourth-grader, as he scurried to catch his bus.A combination of temperatures in the low 90s and humidity prompted the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to close all elementary,middle and high schools.The Memorial Day holiday compounded the problem. "The schools had been closed for three days, and the heat had really built up," said spokeswoman Jane Doyle.

County officials, answering parents and faculty concerned over a spate of illnesses at two county schools, issued clean bills of health yesterday for both buildings.Officials said they could find no dangerous conditions at Jessup Elementary school, despite reports that 10 teachers and aides have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer.After tests for radon gas levels and air and water quality, health officials said they could establish no link between the cancer and the school building.

Despite assurances from the county that microbes discovered in the air at Jacobsville Elementary pose no risk to students, some parents remain convinced that something is wrong.Jacobsville PTA president Jane Reidy, who says she has received between 60 and 100 calls per week from concerned parents since September, doesn't know what to tell people about the air quality. County health officials say there is no danger, even while she is under doctor's orders to stay away from the school after suffering a severe allergy attack last month.