Mills Middle School

ON FRIDAY, Oakland Mills Middle School teacher Alberta "Susie" Hix was surprised to learn that she will be honored as Teacher of the Year by Wal-Mart stores -- and her colleagues.Hix was nominated for the honor, along with sixth-grade team leader George Clifford, by Principal Carl Perkins.The award recognizes excellence in the teaching profession. Hix has been a science teacher at the school for 24 years and is the school's science team leader.Each Wal-Mart store nationwide chooses a winner from a field of nominees submitted by school officials.

The Patterson Mill Middle School Drama Company performed "Pirates of Penzance Jr. " on March 22 to 24. Cast members included Todd Campo, Valerie Ziegler, Grace Fisher, Kaitlyn Iwanowski, Caleb Blomquist, Jonathan Myers, Cameron Warlick, Ali Leary, Hannah Moots, Anna Odell, Elise Alders, Ellie Byers, Makayla Hauk-Meyer, Hannah Lorenzo, Caroline McCarthy, Caren Meckelnberg, Lauren Piercy, Regan Rich, Meg Thompson, Jody Bogner, Cheyenne Croteau, Jade...

Ten-year-old Marlee Orr spent three days canoeing with friends, observing deer in their natural habitat and sleeping in a rustic cabin last week. Normally, she goes straight home after school. "I don't really get to run around and stuff," said Marlee, who attends Oakland Mills Middle School. But getting kids outside and giving them an opportunity to appreciate the environment is one of the goals of the school's outdoor education program. Beginning Oct. 1, Marlee and the rest of the Oakland Mills sixth-graders spent three days at Camp Letts, a YMCA facility in Edgewater.

No drugs were found during a routine, random drug dog scan Friday at Patterson Mill Middle/High School. The scan, done as part of the school system's commitment to keeping illicit drugs out of the schools, was done using a police dog under the direction of the Harford County Sheriff's Office. The dog sniffed 250 lockers in 25 minutes (8:45 to 9:10 a.m.), alerting once. No controlled dangerous substances or tobacco products were found when the locker was searched. The scan was supervised by four Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies, one drug dog, four school administrators and the school system's coordinator of safety and security.

POLICE LOG* Oakland Mills: 9500 block of Kilimanjaro Road: Intruders broke a front glass door of Oakland Mills Middle School and ransacked the special education room between Sunday and early Tuesday, police said.5700 block of Stevens Forest Road: A red 1990 Ford Mustang with Maryland tags YKF 792 was stolen Tuesday, police said.* Long Reach: 8200 block of Tamar Drive: Someone unlocked a concession room at Kendall Ridge Pool, entered, tampered with a cash drawer and ate food there Monday or Tuesday, police said.

In the above-right photo, sixth-graders Megan Fox (left) and Tiffany Sasaki talk with Joseph Singleton of Columbia. They are among hundreds of Ellicott Mills Middle School pupils who took part last week in a disability-awareness program called "dAp Day." The program featured speakers on physical and cognitive disabilities and was part of a yearlong focus promoting the idea that all children can learn together, said Assistant Principal Debra O'Byrne. Because of a production error, incorrect pictures were published in Sunday's Howard edition about "dAp Day" at Ellicott Mills.

Sex offense and battery charges against a county middle school teacher were dropped yesterday as part of an agreement with the state's attorney's office.Four criminal cases against John G. Reichenbach Jr., 46, were placed on the inactive docket last August with the understanding that the charges would be dropped in six months if Reichenbach engaged in no criminal activity during that period.Reichenbach, a teacher at Ellicott Mills Middle School in Ellicott City, was charged in May 1989 with fondling two 11-year-old girls who were students in his sixth-grade class.

Carol F. McIntire won't be staying after class at Oakland Mills Middle School next semester to offer encouragement and help to students in her after-school tutoring program.McIntire, 54, an instructional assistant in special education, is at her Columbia home battling ovarian cancer.But the program she started in 1987 -- Tutorial Opportunity Program for Success -- will continue.Teacher's secretary Marjorie A. Kupiec has taken responsibility for supervising the twice-weekly tutoring program, with the help of reading specialist Deborah Jackson.

Cabdriver robbed by two passengers in Owen Brown VillageA Columbia cabdriver was held up yesterday by two men whom he picked up from a fast-food restaurant in the Owen Brown Village Center.The two men were in the car for just minutes when one pulled a knife and demanded cash, county police said. The other put an unknown object in the driver's ear during the robbery, which occurred at 1 a.m. at the intersection of Homespun Drive and Cradlerock Way.Police said the 41-year-old driver handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and was not injured.

Oakland Mills Middle School sent its students home yesterday morning because the school had no heat after a boiler broke down.School officials sent 480 students home about 9:30 a.m. so school system maintenance workers could fix the boiler, which broke down overnight. The school's temperature hovered around 50- to 56 degrees, but some areas were as cold as 45 degrees, school officials said."We asked the students to keep their coats on, gloves and hats as necessary," said Dan Michaels, the school's principal.

%HTMLsymbol; %HTMLspecial; ]> ho.ellicottmills20.ART Blue Ribbon for Ellicott Mills Middle School is one of six honored by the state By John-John Williams IV "Ellicott Mills has become one of [Howard County's]...

Brandon Lentz was apprehensive about attending Patterson Mill Middle School. First, there was the size of the building: Would he be able to find his way around the 266,476-square-foot building? And the middle school is housed in the same building as the high school: Were high school students really as mean as people said they were? "I was more than a little intimidated my first day of school," said Brandon, 14, of Abingdon. "You see kids on television in high school giving younger kids swirlies" - putting their heads in toilets and flushing - "and stuffing them in their lockers.

Emily Fenichel, 12, flinched a little when she heard the assignment. She would have to argue in favor of dissecting animals in science classes, even though she personally hates the practice. "It's so nasty," she later said. "Remember, for good debaters, it doesn't matter what side you're on," said Nan Dove, the Gifted and Talented Program resource teacher at Oakland Mills Middle School. So Emily gathered her thoughts and made her arguments. "It helps you learn about whatever animal you're dissecting," she said.

In the above-right photo, sixth-graders Megan Fox (left) and Tiffany Sasaki talk with Joseph Singleton of Columbia. They are among hundreds of Ellicott Mills Middle School pupils who took part last week in a disability-awareness program called "dAp Day." The program featured speakers on physical and cognitive disabilities and was part of a yearlong focus promoting the idea that all children can learn together, said Assistant Principal Debra O'Byrne. Because of a production error, incorrect pictures were published in Sunday's Howard edition about "dAp Day" at Ellicott Mills.

Howard County Library will present "Una Celebracion Latina," an opportunity for nine girls from Oakland Mills Middle School to show photographs of themselves and their families that depict their culture, at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the east Columbia library. The girls participated in MetLife Foundation's "Reading America Program," a book and film discussion program designed to foster intergenerational understanding, especially in new immigrant families. The library and the local group Conexiones, which work to help Hispanic students graduate from high school, have teamed up to bring Reading America to Oakland Mills Middle School.

Words have the power to do many things. At Ellicott Mills Middle School in Ellicott City, Principal Michael Goins wants to make sure they don't hurt anyone. Goins instituted a "no put-down" policy two years ago, the goal of which is to teach pupils to use words that are respectful, encouraging and supportive of one another. "The main point of this is that we are one school, one community. We believe words make our world," he said. "We can deliberately choose words that encourage, engage or enrich people lives."

Police logKings Contrivance: A 15-year-old girl was approached in the 8800 block of Guilford Road by an 18-year-old man in a blue pickup truck Monday afternoon, who offered to pay the girl to watch him commit a sexual act, Howard County police said yesterday. The man drove away when the girl said no. He is described as a white male with blond hair, a light complexion and blue eyes, police said.Oakland Mills: 5800 Stevens Forest Road: Someone broke into a residence and stole a videocassette recorder Sunday night or Monday morning.

Two more candidates have filed campaign papers seeking to replace departing Howard County school board Chairwoman Susan Cook, guaranteeing that a primary election will be held March 5.Francine Wishnick and Jane Schuchardt have joined Vincent Pugliese in the race for the single school board position that will become vacant next year.Ms. Cook announced last week that she will not seek re-election, saying she did not want the rigors of the campaign to distract her from the difficult budget and educational decisions that will face the board this spring.

Ten-year-old Marlee Orr spent three days canoeing with friends, observing deer in their natural habitat and sleeping in a rustic cabin last week. Normally, she goes straight home after school. "I don't really get to run around and stuff," said Marlee, who attends Oakland Mills Middle School. But getting kids outside and giving them an opportunity to appreciate the environment is one of the goals of the school's outdoor education program. Beginning Oct. 1, Marlee and the rest of the Oakland Mills sixth-graders spent three days at Camp Letts, a YMCA facility in Edgewater.