North County High

The man charged with trespassing at an Anne Arundel County school this month — and who police said had a number of legal, high-powered weapons in his home — has been deemed competent to stand trial, based on a psychiatric evaluation. After a brief District Court hearing Tuesday in Annapolis before Judge Danielle Mosley, Justin Beaumont, 25, of Glen Burnie, was returned to the mental health unit of the Anne Arundel County Detention Center, with a bail review hearing set for Wednesday.

The man charged with trespassing at an Anne Arundel County school this month — and who police said had a number of legal, high-powered weapons in his home — has been deemed competent to stand trial, based on a psychiatric evaluation. After a brief District Court hearing Tuesday in Annapolis before Judge Danielle Mosley, Justin Beaumont, 25, of Glen Burnie, was returned to the mental health unit of the Anne Arundel County Detention Center, with a bail review hearing set for Wednesday.

Classes at North County High School in Glen Burnie were canceled yesterday because of a bomb threat that turned out to be groundless, authorities said. Students were evacuated to the football stadium after the threat was phoned in at 7:40 a.m., about 20 minutes into the school day, said Jane Beckett-Donohue, a school system spokeswoman. Authorities could not identify the caller. Officials decided to shut down the school about 10:30 a.m. after police bomb-sniffing dogs detected a suspicious scent emanating from a locker.

A 25-year-old man arrested for trespassing in North County High School this month - and who was found to have a number of legal, high-powered weapons in his home - has been ordered held without bond. Justin Matthew Beaumont, of Glen Burnie, was held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center after a bond review hearing Wednesday, according to Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County state's attorney's office. Beaumont was arrested at North County High School on Feb. 4, according to police accounts.

The holidays are just around the corner, and many of our neighbors have begun shopping for family and friends.Handcrafted treasures from 60-plus artisans will be on display at the 11th annual Beary Best Craft Bazaar.The event will be held at North County High School, 10 E. First Ave., Ferndale, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Concession goodies and a luncheon by North County Knights Parents' Club will be available.*Belle Grove Elementary School news: The PTA would like to thank everyone who helped make the recent Pizza and Games Night a success.

Two North County High School students were beaten and robbed of jewelry and a designer jacket outside the school Tuesday afternoon, county police said.Richard Listman, 15, and Derek Crowe, 16, both of Linthicum, told police they were leaving the school shortly after 2 p.m. when a Pontiac Sunfire driven by a teen-age girl pulled up next to them on First Avenue.Two teen-age boys got out of the car, and one punched Richard in the face and snatched a gold chain from his neck. The other boy pulled a knife and demanded a Tommy Hilfiger windbreaker from Derek, police said.

FORE! THE ANNUAL North County High School Golf Classic, sponsored by the North County High School athletic program, will begin at 7:30 a.m. June 20 at River Downs Golfer's Club in Finksburg.The fee is $75 per golfer and includes cart, greens fee and range balls, tee gift, continental breakfast and buffet after the tournament. Hole-in-one prizes will be awarded, and the top three teams will win gift certificates.The entry deadline is June 13.Call Nelson Martin at 222-6970 to register or for more information.

North County High School will probably use double academic sessions during the fall 2002 semester during construction to renovate and add classroom space to its Ferndale campus, officials said yesterday. Anne Arundel County school board members approved yesterday the design and construction schedule for the $18.3-million project, which is scheduled to begin next spring. It will add 460 seats to the 1,740-seat school, which has about 2,000 students this year. Much of the renovation will occur during the summers, but students will be displaced for at least one semester, creating the need for double sessions.

Sharon Whitmore was among the crowd of parents cheering Monday night's school board decision to ask the County Council for another $6.2 million to pay for North County High.Board members were given the choice of seeking the additional money, to ensure the school is builtlarge enough to house children in grades 9-12 from Brooklyn Park andAndover high schools, or keep the request at $11.4 million and receive a scaled down version of the school."I'm really happy that they went for it," said Whitmore, a spokeswoman for the North County Coalition.

NORTH COUNTY High School Parents Club will sponsor its annual Beary Christmas Craft Show from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Nov. 9 in the school cafeteria.Holiday country crafts will be on display. Soup, sandwiches and other refreshments will be available. The Knights School Store will be open.The school is at 10 E. 1st Ave.Resurrection's flea marketResurrection Lutheran Church, 601 Hammonds Lane, will sponsor an indoor flea market from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday.Tables are available for those with items to sell.

North County High School student Jack Andraka was slated to be a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday night at the State of the Union address in Washington. Jack Andraka, of Crownsville, was invited to sit in the box with the First Lady and also Dr. Jill Biden during President Barack Obama's address at the U.S. Capitol, according to a release from the White House. In 2012 Andraka, a sophomore at North County, was awarded first place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his discovery of a method to detect pancreatic cancer.

Last year, North County High School in Glen Burnie received $1.7 million in college scholarship offers for graduating seniors, a figure that would draw kudos throughout much of the country but not as much in Anne Arundel County, which is fast becoming known for its students' penchant for garnering financial aid funds that would rival the Maryland Lottery. North County's sum was last among the county's 12 high schools, and less than half that of 11th-place Southern High. The school also finished last in 2009 and had never received more than $2.1 million for scholarships in a single year.

A North County High School freshman won big at the 2010 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair recently, scoring $96,000 in winnings. Luke Andraka, a student at North County's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) magnet program, won the "Genius Scholarship" from Sierra Nevada College during the competition this month. The scholarship is valued at $24,000 over four years. Andraka's project, "Electrochemical Remediation of Acid Mine Drainage," examined acid mine drainage's negative effects on the environment and wildlife.

In one classroom, students pore over wires and switches, a complicated array of materials used to produce a working version of a mazelike circuit diagram on the projection screen. In another - actually not a classroom at all, but the woods behind a greenhouse - students poke insects, yell about a deer sighting and shriek as a tick finds its way up an exposed leg. The two very different experiences are part of a summer program for students attending the new science, technology, engineering and math magnet program at North County High School next month.

Students at North County High School learned an important lesson in the kitchen of a Hilton hotel: When preparing 250 dessert plates for a wedding reception, keep it simple. The sophomores and juniors grabbed containers of red, white and blue icing to frame the plates for cheesecake wedges. The teens who used only two colors formed delicate swirls with toothpicks. Those who used all three made more of a smear. "You don't want to be in the kitchen forever," said Steve Kaiser, general manager of the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport Hotel.

Eight Anne Arundel County schools with thousands of students were locked down for several hours yesterday after a man showed up at a high school in women's clothing and asked to see a female student, authorities said. The man, thought by police to be Antonio Moore, 20, of Brooklyn Park, left North County High School in Ferndale after an officer stationed at the school learned that the girl was not expecting a visitor and alerted police. As a precaution, North County and four nearby elementary schools, two middle schools and an early education center - which have a combined enrollment of nearly 5,000 - were locked down, meaning that students and staff were instructed to stay in classrooms behind locked doors.

Warm weather is right around the corner, and with the coming of spring comes the project of spring housecleaning. After you've cleaned out all those closets and drawers, what are you going to do with all those clothes you've outgrown, those collectibles you no longer need? Why not sell them at the North County High School PTSA's flea market? This event will take place from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. April 8, at North County High School, 10 E. 1st Ave. in Ferndale. Tables are available for $15. Information: 761-3935.

NORTH COUNTY HIGH School Principal Patricia Gronkiewicz first heard senior Katherine M. Ostrosky sing in April at the Annapolis Radisson, at a Scholarship for Scholars dinner and awards ceremony where the student received a Baltimore Symphony Society of Anne Arundel County Scholarship. Gronkiewicz asked the 18-year-old student from Glen Burnie to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at her graduation. The occasion May 31 on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was quite an honor for Katherine -- the first graduate to sing at North County's commencement ceremonies.

School board has two seats up for appointment this year The many recent letters to the editor about "zero-basing" the staff at Annapolis High School prompts me to remind everyone that the school board has two seats up for appointment this year: the seat for District 21/32 held by Eugene Peterson and the at-large seat held by Konrad Wayson. The School Board Nominating Convention is the best way for Anne Arundel County residents to make their views known and to select who should serve on the board.

As he watched some of his North County High School classmates enjoy their junior year, take after-school jobs and go out with friends, Romeo Urias says he sometimes got depressed. "I felt like I was the only one up late [studying]; everyone else is enjoying life, and I'm not," he said. His parents wouldn't let him work at a job after school, insisting that he focus on his studies and school activities. Besides, when would he have time? He was rising at 6 a.m., after going to sleep at 1 a.m. Football, track, band and Advanced Placement classes made for a full schedule.