National Education Association

NORWOOD, Mass. - Walk in Deidra Everett's shoes a moment: You know that you dress nicely, that you are well-spoken, that you are clean and friendly and funny and smart. Yet when you go for a job interview, your potential employer's eyes tend to sweep your person and fill with horror. You can joke about it - "The Look" - but it has happened so many times that you have almost given up. The unemployment rate in Massachusetts is under 3 percent. Your office administration skills are in desperate demand.

The article entitled "Scientologists triggered Ritalin debate" (8-7-90) contends that the Church of Scientology almost singlehandedly stimulated the Ritalin issue to discredit psychiatry. In fact, there are many professional groups and individual doctors who have been concerned about the over- use of Ritalin long before the Church of Sci-entology entered this debate.For instance, the American Academy of Pediatrics investigated the wide-spread use of Ritalin in the early 1970s. At that time, many respected clinicians charged stimulant medication was being prescribed indiscriminately and stimulants were being used without real justification for prolonged periods of time without adequate supervision.

Julia B. Woodland, who instilled her simple "Yes I Can" motto into thousands of students during a 40-year career as an educator in Baltimore city and county, died Feb. 18 of heart failure at Maryland General Hospital.Mrs. Woodland, 70, of Randallstown was perhaps most known for her tenure as vice principal and principal at Paul Laurence Dunbar Community High School in East Baltimore from 1971 until 1984.She instituted a no-nonsense approach to learning while nurturing the community to make the school community-oriented.

For more Baltimore convention information, call the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association at 659-7300 (local) or (800) 343-3468 (out of state).MAY 24-30: International Public Television Screening Conference at Omni Hotel. Contact Maureen L. Volland, 11767 Owings Mills Blvd., Owings Mills, Md. 21117-1499. Expected attendance: N.A.JUNE 4-14: U.S. Gymnastics Federation at Omni Inner Harbor, Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor and Baltimore Arena. Contact Barbara Bozzuto, c/o State of Maryland Office of Sports Promotion, 217 E. Redwood St., 9th Floor, Baltimore, Md. 21202.

In the charged world of education politics, news that the nation's two main teacher organizations could merge into a single entity is being compared to the fall of the Berlin Wall.The Washington-based National Education Association and the New York-based American Federation of Teachers have long been arch rivals, divided sharply over substance and style. The NEA, with some 2.1 million members nationwide, traditionally viewed teaching as a white-collar profession with little to gain in the rough and tumble world of labor politics.

WHAT DOES IT take to get a child excited about reading at an early age? Try picking up a book, sitting down and sharing the words and emotions of that story with young boys and girls. day's nationwide Read Across America, designed to spur involvement by parents, grandparents and just plain folks in kids' reading activities.The notion is a simple one. The finest gift an adult can give to young children is a love of reading. By participating in "Read to Kids Day" people can convey to school children the importance they place on words and books.

For the first time since both men entered the race for Congress in Maryland's 2nd District, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has reported raising more campaign money than his Democratic opponent, Gerry L. Brewster.For the period from Aug. 25 through Sept. 30, Mr. Ehrlich reported $116,764 in contributions, compared with $73,505 for Mr. Brewster.Mr. Ehrlich said the Federal Election Commission reports, filed yesterday, prove his campaign for Congress is gaining momentum.However, both campaigns have raised about the same amount of money overall -- $288,000 for Mr. Ehrlich and $282,000 for Mr. Brewster.

Six teachers honored for awards The county Board of Education recently recognized six teachers for winning national awards. *From the International Technology Education Association, Ruth Akers received the Teacher Excellence Award, and Angela MacCubbin earned the Donald Maley Spirit of Excellence Outstanding Graduate Student Citation Award. *From the National Art Education Association, Linda Popp was named 2008 Eastern Region Art Educator of the Year; Cecilia Terlizzi received the National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year Award; and Robert Miller received the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design/National Art Education Association Creative Educator Scholarship Award.

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to sway the growing national debate on how to spend the so-called "peace dividend," a liberal coalition launched a two-year campaign of television ads, sermons and town meetings to urge that defense savings be used for struggling domestic programs, not for tax cuts and deficit reduction.To help support their position, the Campaign for New Priorities, spearheaded by labor unions and women's groups and endorsed by Boston's Democratic Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, also released a poll yesterday showing "a stunning change" in Americans' thinking on military spending.

CORNELIA ANDERSON HEPTINSTALL, 82, entered into Eternal Life on July 27, 2005, at her home after a long illness, with her family at her bedside. She is the daughter of the late J. Moler Anderson and Grace Carrick Anderson and formerly of Linthicum Heights. She was born in Washington D.C. Mrs. Heptinstall is a retired Anne Arundel County Elemetary School Principal. She recieved her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Towson State College & the Master's Degree in School Administration from the University of Maryland.