Pasadena Elementary

Fire destroys home on Hillside Drive; residents unhurtA two-alarm fire last night in the 1200 block of Hillside Drive destroyed the two-story waterfront home of three men and caused an estimated $165,000 damage.No injuries were reported.Fire Department spokesman Capt. Gary Sheckells said no one was home when the fire broke out in a first-floor apartment at around 10:20 p.m., about 30 minutes after the last of three tenants had left the house.A second-floor apartment was unoccupied.Within minutes, the fire enveloped the dwelling, causing the second alarm to be sounded at 10:31 p.m.Nearly 40 firefighters from several fire stations brought the fire under control in less than an hour.

"Bridging the Gap," the title of a report on elementary school staffing issued last fall, has become the mantra of Anne Arundel County parents at this year's budget hearings."Please support bridging the gap," pleaded Audrey Reichenbach, of the Pasadena Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association. "We need equity in staffing."The $380.9 million budget proposed by Superintendent C. Berry Carter II, "is a beginning for bridging the gap," said Shirley Freienmuth of the Severna Park Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association.

School redistricting committees to meet The Anne Arundel County Public Schools' redistricting committees looking at school boundary lines for the Mountain Road corridor in Pasadena and the area south of the South River will meet this week. The Mountain Road corridor committee will meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Pasadena Elementary School, 401 E. Pasadena Road, to discuss redistricting options available in the Northeast and Chesapeake feeder systems. The committee studying redistricting in the south county will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tracey's Elementary School, 20 Deale Road in Tracys Landing, to discuss options in the Southern and South River feeder systems.

County school officials are planning to shift attendance boundaries for some Pasadena elementary schools to alleviate crowding at George Fox Middle School.The school board agreed last week to consider four proposals to send some students now destined for George Fox to Chesapeake Middle School instead, then return them to Northeast High School.George Fox is in the Northeast High School feeder system, and Chesapeake Middle is in the Chesapeake High School system. The change would not take place until the school year that starts in September 1997.

CHILLY temperatures a week ago today could not cool the soaring spirits of Chesapeake High School's Class of 1997.From the opening strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" through the speeches and songs of fellow graduates, the presentations of awards, honors and diplomas, their smiles warmed the hearts of everyone in Rhodes Stadium.But the night before many of Pasadena's best and brightest sons and daughters took their bows, they were honored at a Senior Awards Night at the school.Thirty-four seniors received the Presidential Academic Fitness Award.

Visit the third annual autumn fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at Chesapeake High School.The event, sponsored by the Chesapeake High School Band Boosters, features one-stop shopping for fall decorating supplies, plus family-style fun, food and entertainment.All ages will enjoy visiting the pumpkin patch or creating a scarecrow to take home. Fall mums, cornstalks, Indian corn, gourds and pumpkins will be for sale.Youngsters can ride a pony, meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse, watch fire department and police K-9 demonstrations, or defy gravity in the moon bounce.

THERE WAS A TIME when supporters of the Pasadena Theatre Company in northern Anne Arundel County derived pleasure from the fact that some folks tended to confuse the small group with the world-famous Pasadena Playhouse in California. Now, there's a more valid reason for any mix-up.Little by little, the 16-year-old group has solidified its reputation. Last May, it was one of two Maryland companies invited to perform at a regional One Act Festival at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania.Now the non-profit theater company wants to end its vagabond life and is looking for a permanent home.

It has been said many, many times, but the cliche "being in the right place at the right time" is true.Take St. Mary's Matt Treadwell, for example.Treadwell, a 6-foot-10 center, signed a letter of intent Tuesday to accept a full basketball scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth. It all came about because of his exposure in the Rock'n'Rim Tournament in Delaware April 3-5 with the Baltimore Select Team of coach Scotty Bowden.There was only mild interest in Treadwell before the tournament, and his future was unsure.

Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall held a meeting last night to discuss the fiscal 1992 budget, but Carl Szuba stole the show and the hearts of the audience.Neal began the session by telling audience members he needed their help. It's unlikely he expected the kind of help Szuba gave him.Many of the more than 80 people at the meeting at the Glen Burnie Improvement Association hall came to ask for money. Szuba came to give -- $1,000 to be exact.Before Szuba provided the surprise of the evening, speakers peppered Neall with criticism of county taxes, praise of county services, and pleas for continued funding of programs.

Lori Gray hid her social studies book in her bedroom closet rather than take it to class: The 11-year-old, in seventh grade at Marley Middle School, was ashamed of the way it looked."