Lemmel

Claiming that students from a neighboring school for troubled youths threaten the safety of William H. Lemmel Middle School students, a group of West Baltimore residents picketed in front of both schools yesterday and said they want the alternative school moved.Members of the "Parent Academy of Lemmel Middle School" also said that students at the Baltimore Alternative Middle School cause problems in the community before and after school."How are kids going to learn if they're scared to go to school," said Winnie Gibson, the grandparent of a Lemmel student.

A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally stabbing a classmate at their West Baltimore middle school last year. Timothy Oxendine will be sentenced to at least 50 years in prison as part of his plea agreement, though all but 15 to 25 years will be suspended, said Baltimore Circuit Judge Wanda K. Heard. Sentencing is set for Feb. 2. A woman in the courtroom buried her head in her hands when she heard the guideline range, and Oxendine's father, sitting behind her, muttered angrily, later criticizing his son's attorney to no one in particular.

On the last day of classes, principal Gwendolyn Cooke announced to the students at Lemmel Middle School that two eighth-graders had gotten pregnant during the school year.It was considered good news. In previous years, up to eight students at the West Baltimore middle school had gotten pregnant. Cooke credited Campaign for Our Children, a program that encourages abstinence, with the drop.Campaign for Our Children Inc., an ongoing five-year drive to persuade 9- to 14-year-olds to delay sexual activity for at least one year, is part of Lemmel's curriculum.

This is the first of two parts. Sometimes, preventing violence means getting the buses to run on time. That's why the city's school police chief, Marshall "Toby" Goodwin, marched up and down the sidewalk on a street off Gwynns Falls Parkway on the opening day of classes, a BlackBerry pressed to his ear, barking orders, talking to a transit supervisor sitting in her SUV, pleading for help. Students from one of three high schools inside the old Lemmel complex were pouring out, the first of three staggered and carefully choreographed dismissals.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve their reading skills and to assist in related projects. Among them are: Lemmel Middle School, 2901 N. Dukeland St., Baltimore, volunteer reading tutors to work in its African museum, which features reading and cultural programs for boys and girls. Senior citizens are particularly encouraged to volunteer. Contact: Yani Sangarey and Arthur Lenier, 410-558-3714. If your school or organization is seeking volunteer reading tutors and would like to be included in this listing, call Sundial, 410- 783-1800 and enter code 6130.

More than two dozen Baltimore schools got new principals last night, as the school board approved Superintendent Walter G. Amprey's latest staff changes.Among them are new principals at some of the city's highest-profile and politically well-connected schools, including Roland Park Elementary-Middle and Mount Washington Elementary schools.But a group of parents from Lemmel Middle School already have launched a protest over replacing Eldon Thomas with Elizabeth Williams without community consultation.

MELAKI KING, dressed in a black shirt and khaki pants with a stately Afro adorning his 13-year-old head, draped his arms in a paternal gesture around the shoulders of the two college-age women seated beside him. He then advised them on how best to cut the pictures that would be used for the collage. "I'm a collage person," he announced, not with braggadocio, but with an air that hinted Melaki King, William H. Lemmel Middle School seventh-grader and member of the Principal's Club, was simply speaking the truth.

With his hands cuffed behind him and his feet in leg irons, 14-year-old Timothy Oxendine was escorted by a correctional officer yesterday into a Baltimore Circuit courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty in the fatal stabbing of a teenager at a West Baltimore middle school last month. Oxendine was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the stabbing of Markel Williams, 15, on Nov. 21. Williams' body was found outside William H. Lemmel Middle School. Oxendine surrendered to police several hours after the incident.

On the Friday of American Education Week, Baltimore's mayor found herself inside a city middle school, addressing teachers in the gym and then students gathered in a hallway. Sheila Dixon should have been celebrating a week dedicated to learning. Instead, she was helping students and teachers mourn. Outside William H. Lemmel Middle School near Mondawmin Mall, a 15-year-old student had been fatally stabbed behind the building, next to an adjoining charter school. Police officers lined the street in front of Lemmel and had cars, emergency lights flashing, at every intersection around the corner on Gwynns Falls Parkway, where two other schools emptied out. A police helicopter circled overhead.

On November 19, 2004, EDLO ALLEN SANDS On Tuesday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICE, 4101 Edmondson Ave. from 3 to 8 P.M. On Wednesday, Mr. Sands will lie in state at Ebenezer AME Church, 20 W. Montgomery St., where the family will receive friends from 11 to 11:30 A.M. with services to follow. Inquiries to (410)945-27002004, MRS. SANGAREY, renowed Liberian journalist, writer, lecturer and grass roots activist, devoted mother of Charles M. Sangare and Louis Jr. Sangare King.

As parents and educators react to Andres Alonso's plans to close failing schools and expand successful ones, the Baltimore schools chief is proposing a central office reorganization to help principals execute increased responsibilities. The $1.27 billion budget proposal unveiled this week would cut the central office by 15 percent, or 179 positions. Employees will have the option of applying for other jobs within the system, including more than 50 new positions to assist principals with troubleshooting as they head into a second year of decentralized management.

With his hands cuffed behind him and his feet in leg irons, 14-year-old Timothy Oxendine was escorted by a correctional officer yesterday into a Baltimore Circuit courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty in the fatal stabbing of a teenager at a West Baltimore middle school last month. Oxendine was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the stabbing of Markel Williams, 15, on Nov. 21. Williams' body was found outside William H. Lemmel Middle School. Oxendine surrendered to police several hours after the incident.

In recent days, teachers and administrators at William H. Lemmel Middle School learned of a rift between two boys they thought were friends. They tried, unsuccessfully, to get their parents to come in for a conflict-resolution session. And then on Friday, 15-year-old Markel Williams was found outside the West Baltimore building with fatal stab wounds to his upper body, the first killing on city school grounds during school hours since 2001.

On the Friday of American Education Week, Baltimore's mayor found herself inside a city middle school, addressing teachers in the gym and then students gathered in a hallway. Sheila Dixon should have been celebrating a week dedicated to learning. Instead, she was helping students and teachers mourn. Outside William H. Lemmel Middle School near Mondawmin Mall, a 15-year-old student had been fatally stabbed behind the building, next to an adjoining charter school. Police officers lined the street in front of Lemmel and had cars, emergency lights flashing, at every intersection around the corner on Gwynns Falls Parkway, where two other schools emptied out. A police helicopter circled overhead.

A 15-year-old student was stabbed and killed outside his West Baltimore middle school yesterday afternoon, the first killing of a youth on city school grounds during school hours in more than 20 years. Police got a call for an injured person shortly after 1 p.m. and found the boy in the back of William H. Lemmel Middle School suffering from multiple stab wounds to his upper torso, according to Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman.

Gwendolyn G. Lamont, a retired educator who had taught in Baltimore public schools and at several area colleges, died of cancer Sunday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 77 and lived in Ashburton. Gwendolyn Griggsby was born in Nashville, Tenn., and later moved to Baltimore, where she graduated in 1941 from Dunbar High School. She earned her bachelor's degree in English in 1945 from Howard University, and later a master's degree in education from the Johns Hopkins University.

She told them they couldn't do it. Couldn't get 120 parents -- or aunts or uncles or grandparents -- to show up for parents day at Lemmel Middle School in Baltimore. Not my seventh-graders, said Principal Jacqueline Frierson. Sixth- and eight-graders? Sure. Those middling seventh-graders?Can't do it.She told them on the intercom. She told them in the halls. She told them she was so sure they wouldn't do it that if they did, she'd do something crazy. Like stand on the roof of the school and apologize.

On November 19, 2004, EDLO ALLEN SANDS On Tuesday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICE, 4101 Edmondson Ave. from 3 to 8 P.M. On Wednesday, Mr. Sands will lie in state at Ebenezer AME Church, 20 W. Montgomery St., where the family will receive friends from 11 to 11:30 A.M. with services to follow. Inquiries to (410)945-27002004, MRS. SANGAREY, renowed Liberian journalist, writer, lecturer and grass roots activist, devoted mother of Charles M. Sangare and Louis Jr. Sangare King.

With the verve of a motivational speaker, 12-year-old Rodrick Johnson stood beside his decorated science board explaining its purpose. But for the seventh-grader with the rapid-fire delivery, the science presentation crossed subject lines to incorporate creative writing, geography and math. At West Baltimore's William H. Lemmel Middle School - where pupils have routinely scored below average on standardized tests - Rodrick is one of hundreds of pupils who are being "taught outside the box," according to Principal Vera Holley, in an attempt to make learning fun and help raise test scores.