Middle And High

Middle and high school students will participate in the Howard public schools' 10th Technology Education Challenge from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Reservoir High School. Technology Education students have worked on projects in their home schools. Those who have created mobile projects, such as miniature cars, planes and robots will compete tomorrow. Students used engineering, design and problem-solving processes in creating their projects. An air-powered dragster (10 inches long and made of wood)

The Howard County Board of Education voted last night to lengthen the school day by 15 minutes for middle and high school students in the fall, a move necessary to meet state instruction requirements. An analysis by The Sun in December showed Howard County high schools routinely fall short of the 1,170 instructional hours required. This year, the system missed the mark by 42 hours, and an early calendar proposal for next school year was short by 36 hours. The extra 15 minutes - five added to the start of each day and 10 at the end - will lengthen the day from 6 1/2 hours to 6 3/4 hours and bring high schools into compliance with state law, at a cost of $143,000.

Parents and community representatives gave overwhelming approval last night to a proposal to place Belvedere Elementary School students in the feeder system for Broadneck High School.The public hearing last night at Broadneck High in Arnold, attended by about 60 people, was the second to last in a series scheduled by the school board to discuss redistricting. The board will decide on final redistricting plans next month.The redistricting plan for the feeder systems of Severna Park and Broadneck high schools calls for renovations and additions to two schools and has very little effect on students.

Suspensions of Howard County students grew by more than 50 percent from 1995 to 1997, according to school data released yesterday.The largest increase was among elementary school students. In 1994-1995, officials issued 72 suspensions among the more than 16,500 elementary students; some students were suspended more than once. Two years later, that number grew about 110 percent, to 151 suspensions.Middle school suspensions grew by 16 percent, from 983 to 1,138. The number of middle school girls suspended rose 65 percent, according to the information presented at a school board meeting yesterday.

The sound of 30 feet stomping in unison reverberates through the middle school cafeteria to the accompaniment of thunderous clapping. Chelsea Everett and Nichole Parrish, members of Ellicott City's Howard High School step team who volunteer at an after-school program at Harper's Choice Middle School in Columbia, stand in front of their charges - a group of six students - with a sense of accomplishment. "That's my team!" says Everett, 17, Howard's step team captain, after the youngsters complete a series of intricate maneuvers.

Former NFL player Herman Weaver recently gave several anti-drug talks with religious overtones to middle and high school students. Schoolofficials said they were unaware Weaver's talk would be religious innature and that he would attempt to proselytize to the audience and hand out cards seeking to sign up students to receive religious material. Students had no choice; they had to attend the assembly.Do you think it was appropriate for a speaker at a mandatory assembly, whose sole topic was supposed to be about drugs, to inject religious material into that speech?

Imagine prom night - circa 1600. The girls are dressed in Renaissance-style gowns of blue, red and gold velvet. The boys are in tunics, tights and feathered velvet caps. Their costumes may look like something out of Romeo and Juliet, but they help set the tone at a madrigals performance. Eight county high schools attended a madrigals festival at Wilde Lake High's Rouse Theatre this month. It kicked off an eight-week season of adjudicated music festivals for Howard County middle and high school groups.

Thurgood Marshall middle and high schools remained closed yesterday, a day after a fire was set in a classroom closet in the middle school. Pupils at the middle school had been sent home early Tuesday from the school off Moravia Road in Northeast Baltimore. No one was injured in the fire, said Chief Antonio Williams, head of the city schools police force. No arrests had been made yesterday, but Williams said police had leads. The fire was discovered about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Williams said.

All Howard County schools would adopt a very specific, uniform discipline code under a far-reaching plan to combat disruptive student behavior presented last week to the county school board.The $405,000 plan -- presented by the school system's Action Team on Disruptive Youth -- also calls for the creation of an alternative program for misbehaving elementary students, a Saturday school for disruptive middle and high school students, and an evening high school for students on long-term suspension.