Jeffers Hill

Three Jeffers Hill Elementary School students have won third place in a regional science competition for their report on birds.Fifth-graders Meredith Brenner, Lyndsey Dempsey and Margaret Lockhart received the award Monday night in a ceremony at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.More than 200 teams of fourth- through eighth-grade students from Maryland, Virginia and Washington entered the contest, which was sponsored by the National Association of Science Teachers and WJLA-TV in Washington.

Sean Jordan steadied the hulking euphonium on Wednesday afternoon as he followed the rest of his classmates snaking through the hallways of Jeffers Hill Elementary while playing "We Will Rock You." Throngs of classmates wildly cheered as they held up homemade signs that read: "Music!" and "Music Rocks." Sean, 10, was in his element as he formed his mouth to make the buzzing noise necessary to play the golden-colored instrument that resembles a tuba. The fourth-grader was among a group of about 70 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders who performed in the Columbia school's first Music Parade.

JEFFERS HILL Elementary opened on Feb. 17, 1975. Since then, about 10,000 children have attended the Long Reach school. On Monday, pupils, teachers and administrators who have passed through its halls will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the institution that was named for the neighborhood it serves. An open house, with cake and punch, will be held at 6 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 914 and Girl Scout Troops 811, 1283, 2202 and 2304 will present the flag at 7 p.m. After local dignitaries present awards and plaques, a student chorus, led by teacher Sarah Bluth, and the fourth- and fifth-grade string ensemble, led by Margo Guillory, will play.

Students at Jeffers Hill Elementary School will learn to develop active lifestyle skills as well as respect for themselves and others through a martial arts partnership that the school recently made official. Under the partnership, New Vision Martial Arts of Columbia will develop workshops that build students' skills in concentration, communication and nonviolent conflict resolution while improving their physical fitness; provide guest speakers during cultural events; and offer biannual self-defense workshops for the school staff.

When third-grade teacher Jhonna Adams, 26, got engaged on the Fourth of July, she thought she would be the only teacher returning to Jeffers Hill Elementary School at summer's end with a big ol' sparkler on her finger. "I thought I would have this unique information to share," she said. Boy, was she wrong. During teacher meetings in August, it soon became clear that three other teachers were also engaged to be married. And that was just the beginning. By the time students returned from spring break in mid-March, 10 teachers were engaged, including three out of four on the kindergarten team.

Parent volunteers at Jeffers Hill Elementary School in east Columbia said last night they plan to survey students, parents and staff to determine the extent and types of chronic health problems that some parents have linked to poor ventilation and possible poor air quality in the building.Parents also said they will review maintenance records of the ventilation system at the school.The announcements came at the first meeting of a Jeffers Hill PTA committee formed to monitor air quality issues and the progress of renovations planned there.

Students at Jeffers Hill Elementary School in Columbia's Village of Long Reach will get the chance to meet an Africandignitary Thursday when the first lady of the Republic of Burundi visits their school.Pascasie Ntibantunganya will tour the school during a brief stop here after she and her husband, President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, visit Washington, D.C., said Doris Ligon, founder and director of the African Art Museum of Maryland in Town Center.The Columbia visit, which is being sponsored by the center, offers an opportunity for young people of all races to see Africa and Africans in a positive light after all the negative stereotypes, Mrs. Ligon said.

In the community column of yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun, it was incorrectly stated that "Voices 2000" -- produced by Hammond High School drama teacher Melissa Davis and her students -- was the production of another school. Performances will be held in the Hammond High School auditorium at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.The Sun regrets the error.WHAT IS small, fits into a corner of your briefcase or luggage, and is your personal link to a Jeffers Hill Elementary third-grade student?

WHICH RIVER forms most of the border between Washington and Oregon? What mountainous European country is made up of 2,000 scattered islands? Where in the world is Mecca? These are a few of the questions posed to fourth- and fifth-graders at Jeffers Hill Elementary School's Geography Bee last week. This is the third year the event has been held at the school, but Principal Steve Zagami said, "This is my eighth or ninth time." The geography buff also held geography bees at his former school, Hammond Elementary.

The environmental consultant investigating air quality complaints at Columbia's Jeffers Hill Elementary School said last night that he found evidence of possible microscopic contamination in the school's antiquated ventilation system and soiled carpeting.The findings indicate that more extensive testing should be done, Joseph A. Coco of Hanover-based Aerosol Monitoring & Analysis Inc., said at a meeting with parents and school officials at Jeffers Hill last night. His firm was hired in response to parents' complaints about air quality at the school.

When third-grade teacher Jhonna Adams, 26, got engaged on the Fourth of July, she thought she would be the only teacher returning to Jeffers Hill Elementary School at summer's end with a big ol' sparkler on her finger. "I thought I would have this unique information to share," she said. Boy, was she wrong. During teacher meetings in August, it soon became clear that three other teachers were also engaged to be married. And that was just the beginning. By the time students returned from spring break in mid-March, 10 teachers were engaged, including three out of four on the kindergarten team.

For Gillian Engelbrecht, 11, a fifth-grader at Jeffers Hill Elementary School, one of the best parts about creating a mosaic for the school has been working on a team. Instead of working on one section from concept to completion, the students share responsibility. "They made us work on different things," she said, as she scraped grout between spaces on a near-completed section of the mosaic last week. Like other students involved in the project, Gillian came up with an idea for a section, but then worked to place bits of broken pottery, shells and other objects on a design created by someone else.

First-graders at Jeffers Hill Elementary School in Columbia couldn't take their eyes off Otto, the automated talking car, as it wheeled around the cafeteria talking about safety and cracking jokes. The little car, about 3 feet high with a wide smile on its radiator grille and red and blue lights painted on its roof, wheeled up to pupils to ask questions. The children looked right into its plastic eyes to answer. The remote-controlled car was giving a presentation with county Police Officer Brian Markley, who works with Mid-Atlantic AAA on safety programs.

After spending an hour working with Jefffers Hill Elementary School pupils on homework assignments, Eric Cole, a 17-year-old senior at Oakland Mills High School, watched with a look of accomplishment as his mentees played an intense game of Connect Four. "I really wish someone came to me when I was in elementary school," Cole said. "It's nice that the kids have someone to talk to who is not a teacher." The activities were part of a mentorship program at Jeffers Hill in which the Alpha Achievers of Oakland Mills High School provide hourlong tutoring twice a week.

Brian Balmages is scheduled to be composer in residence this week and next at Bellows Spring Elementary School. Balmages is directing two rehearsals of the Bellows Spring Advanced Band, which will perform one of his works, Incantation and Ritual, at a Spring Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Reservoir High School in Fulton. Balmages, who will conduct his work, will also present a schoolwide assembly on composition and the creative process. The project is funded by the school PTA. The concert, which marks the culmination of the composer's brief residency at the school, will also include a new work for the band, Jubilant Proclamation, by Oklahoma composer Roland Barrett.

The Howard County Board of Education reopened the elementary school redistricting process last night when three of the five members voted to hold a public hearing to discuss additional options. "I feel as if we made a mistake," in boundary lines drawn for the coming school year, said Sandra H. French, the board's chairman. New enrollment projections contradict older data the board used in setting boundaries. The latest numbers suggest Jeffers Hill and Bellows Spring elementary schools will be crowded by the 2004-2005 school year, and Waterloo Elementary will be severely under-enrolled.

In the wake of complaints at Columbia's Jeffers Hill Elementary School, Howard County PTA officials have called on all county schools to form parent committees to deal with air quality issues."

Miscommunication and lack of information were the most difficult problems faced by parents when they tried to investigate the high number of health complaints at Columbia's Jeffers Hill Elementary School, they told the Howard County school board last night."

Howard County parents are asking the state to save them from radical change they say last-minute adjustments to some elementary school districts will cause. "Basically, I'd like to get [the county school board] back to the drawing board," said Denise Ruggiero, parent of a Stevens Forest Elementary school pupil. Ruggiero has filed an appeal with the Maryland Department of Education asking for just that, as has Joanne Andrews, whose children attend Jeffers Hill Elementary. The state board combined the two unrelated appeals, and the county board has until Dec. 30 to file a reply.