National Contest

The components for a new robot arrived early in January and signaled the start of another robotics season for the Woodlawn High School TechnoWarriors. The students took six weeks, as many as 300 hours of intense labor after school and on weekends and holidays, to design and build a robot, all while maintaining their school grades. They tested and retested and practiced until they were certain they had constructed a robot armed for competition in a field that is becoming increasingly more intense as interest builds in the science.

Though Norman Chaney has lain in obscurity for nearly 76 years, thanks largely to the generosity of Baltimore, the child star is getting a headstone. In May fans launched a campaign to raise money to mark the grave of Chaney, a Baltimore native, who won a national contest in 1929 to become "Chubby," the new "fat kid" in the popular film series "Our Gang. " Though he quickly won hearts with his round cheeks and charm, Chaney, the son of a Baltimore electrical worker, left after just two seasons, returning to Baltimore, where he went to school, eventually became sickly and died at 21 just as most young people's careers are taking off. He was buried in Baltimore Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

A group of Fallston High School students won second place last week in a national environmental competition held at Michigan State University.Graduating seniors Catherine Wurster, Mary Hryncewich, Julie Weil, Eric Genco and Andrew Cook all won $1,500 scholarships during the National Envirothon. Their teacher, Tom Trafton, won a camcorder.Pub Date: 8/04/98

Only people who know where to look would be able to pay respects to Norman Chaney, who is buried in an unmarked grave in Baltimore. But if fans of the chubby "Our Gang" star have their way, he'll soon have the headstone he's done so long without. Chaney, the son of a Baltimore electrical worker, won a national contest in 1929 to become "Chubby," the new "fat kid" in the popular film series, replacing the original Chubby, who had grown out of the role. But with his impossibly round face and impish charm, Chaney eclipsed his predecessor - becoming the fat kid people remembered.

Pamela Marie Musgrove of Pasadena was recently selected to participate in the Nationals' 1999 Miss Teen Baltimore Pageant March 28.She will compete for more than $20,000 in scholarships, prizes, and specialty gifts. Pageant participants show off their personalities and interviewing skills.Miss Teen Baltimore will represent the Baltimore area at a national competition in Orlando, Fla. More than $60,000 in prizes and awards will be presented at the national competition.Any business, organization, or private individual can become a sponsor.

A keen knowledge of geography and some good fortune helped Neel Lakhanpal take first place Friday at the Maryland leg of the 23rd annual National Geographic Bee. "Some questions were hard, and I had to think a lot," said the 13-year-old seventh-grade student at Severn School in Severna Park. "It takes a little bit of luck. Some of the questions that others got I would not have known the answer. " Economics had a part, too, in the final question. Neither Neel nor Adam Rusak, a seventh-grader at Lakelands Park Middle School in Gaithersburg, had missed a single question as they entered the championship round.

As five Howard County culinary students chopped, stirred, sauteed and garnished a three-course meal at the school system's Applications and Research Laboratory on Tuesday, they scrutinized every aspect of the dishes. Every detail was discussed, from the shape of the beef portions to the amount of watercress in the salad to the exact placement of sugared basil leaves garnishing a dessert. The group members are preparing to pit their cooking skills against the best student chefs in the country at the National ProStart Student Invitational in April.

Andrew Konetzni likes to copy his first name in fancy, fluid cursive letters. He likes the way the letter "A" looks -- a roller coaster loop with a track that trails off into the lowlands of the lowercase "n." "I like the letter `A' because it is part of my name and because of the big loop and the way it slants," said Andrew, an 8-year-old pupil in Barbara Thomas' second-grade class at St. Paul Lutheran School in Catonsville. Andrew's "A's" -- and his "D's," "P's" and "Z's" for that matter -- won him the title this month of state cursive handwriting champion.

Columbia resident Nelda Ring has been named a finalist in the "Search for Granny Smith," a national contest for the greatest grandmother. Ring, 71, has 17 grandchildren. Washington Apple Commission, contest sponsor, received more than 8,000 nomination letters from the United States and Canada. Ring and 14 other finalists will travel to Wenatchee, Wash., next month to participate in the "Granny Finale" during the state's Apple Blossom Festival.

Only people who know where to look would be able to pay respects to Norman Chaney, who is buried in an unmarked grave in Baltimore. But if fans of the chubby "Our Gang" star have their way, he'll soon have the headstone he's done so long without. Chaney, the son of a Baltimore electrical worker, won a national contest in 1929 to become "Chubby," the new "fat kid" in the popular film series, replacing the original Chubby, who had grown out of the role. But with his impossibly round face and impish charm, Chaney eclipsed his predecessor - becoming the fat kid people remembered.

Baltimore's Walters Art Museum is looking for a few good doodlers. And Googlers. As part of a nationwide competition called "Doodle for Google 2012," the museum is encouraging Maryland students in kindergarten through 12th grade to redesign Googles's homepage banner around the theme "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" The 10 best state submissions will be exhibited at the Walters from May 23 to June 24. Walters director Gary Vikan...

A big guy needs a big dog. You know how it is. If a manly man walks a small pup, his testosterone might as well be sapped right through the leash. Right? Wrong and wronger. And one big guy in Baltimore is helping to disprove the myth, all while winning a national contest. Robert Fowner, who is a proud owner of an 10-pound Papillon, signed up for a contest earlier this year along with hundreds of other big dudes across the country. Sponsored by Mighty Dog, "Big Guy, Small Dog," aimed to show that a man's manlihood had nothing to do with his pup. And the coolest guys could rock a poodle or a Yorkie or a Chihuahua as easily as a Lab or a Golden Retriever.

The components for a new robot arrived early in January and signaled the start of another robotics season for the Woodlawn High School TechnoWarriors. The students took six weeks, as many as 300 hours of intense labor after school and on weekends and holidays, to design and build a robot, all while maintaining their school grades. They tested and retested and practiced until they were certain they had constructed a robot armed for competition in a field that is becoming increasingly more intense as interest builds in the science.

A Baltimore County student who created an award-winning investment strategy that started with a comparison of balanced portfolios and balanced meals was recognized for his efforts Wednesday. Abhinav Khushalani, a fifth-grade student at Cromwell Valley Elementary in Towson, wrote an essay outlining his plan to build a diversified portfolio with stocks, mutual funds and bonds in much the same way he would put together a meal with the five basic food groups. The piece, one of more than 9,000 entries from across the country, won first prize for the 11-year-old in a nationwide competition sponsored by the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education.

A keen knowledge of geography and some good fortune helped Neel Lakhanpal take first place Friday at the Maryland leg of the 23rd annual National Geographic Bee. "Some questions were hard, and I had to think a lot," said the 13-year-old seventh-grade student at Severn School in Severna Park. "It takes a little bit of luck. Some of the questions that others got I would not have known the answer. " Economics had a part, too, in the final question. Neither Neel nor Adam Rusak, a seventh-grader at Lakelands Park Middle School in Gaithersburg, had missed a single question as they entered the championship round.

Madeleine Houck, a 15-year-old freshman at River Hill High School, had a good feeling going into the Novice National Debate Championship at Woodward Academy in Atlanta. She spent close to five hours a week preparing for the three-day competition with fellow members of Capitol Debate, a nonprofit based in Ellicott City that coaches students in debate techniques and strategies. "I was a little nervous, but I knew I put in a lot of hard work," she said. Houck and her teammate, Michael Koo, an eighth-grader at Ellicott Mills Middle School, went 6-0 in their preliminary debates during the recent contest.

In Carroll County, success in promoting local-level American Legion national high school oratorical contests will be measured by the number of area students who participate.The first of two Maryland seminars about the annual event -- which will begin at the post level in February -- will be held for Legionnaires this Saturday at Gold Star Post 191 in Mount Airy."The purpose of the meetings is to encourage posts to hold the contests and to give necessary information," said Arthur Brett, district contest chairman in Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties.

Right about now, Renee Shanahan might be ready to hock her Mrs. Maryland crown for a couple of tickets to Las Vegas.The 26-year-old Pasadena woman won the title and the tiara that goes with it in June, but she never got the prize money that was to have helped pay her way to the Mrs. America contest next week in Las Vegas. Sid Sussman, organizer of the state pageant, died five weeks ago, before he had a chance to write the check.Now, Shanahan has to come up with the money to cover airline tickets, clothing, gifts for fellow contestants and other expenses or stay home.

Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School recently received two awards highlighting the school's academic achievements. Chesapeake, one of two charter schools in Anne Arundel County, finished first this month in a national math competition - the American Math Challenge, a contest with 1,300 participating schools and 70,000 students. The American Math Challenge/MATHCOUNTS Online Challenge is organized by Mathletics and MATHCOUNTS. Among the students who placed in the contest were: Tristan Carmean, who came in third; Sandra Sandeep, 15th; Jack Andraka, 22nd; Micah Nissly, 27th; Andrew Link, 60th; and Kenneth Griffin, 97th.