Pointers Run

Pointers Run, 340; Pheasant Ridge, 285.5 Medley Relays 15-18M: 1. PO (Wolter, Kogan, Jones, Latzko), 1:59.08. 9-10M: 1. PH (Wettstein, Key, Frakas, Dannelly), 1:18.54 11-12M: 1. PH (Hawes, Vinyard, Abate, Key), 2:24.85. 13-14M: 1. PH (Coates, Amin, Banilower, O'Brien), 2:17.01. Individual Medley 15-18B: 1. Vanasse, PH, 1:04.34; 2. Kogan, PO; 3. Grinnell, PH. 15-18G: 1. Jones, PO, 1:09.11; 2. Amin, PH; 3. DiPietro, PH. 9-10B: 1. Burns, PO, 1:29.87; 2. Wettstein, PH; 3. Crofts, PO. 9-10G: 1. Farkas, PH, 1:24.20; 2. Goldberg, PO; 3. Shen, PO. 11-12B: 1. Mowrey, PO, 1:08.39; 2. Key, PH; 3. Young, PH. 11-12G: 1. Bazell, PO, 1:11.85; 2. Abate, PH; 3. Hawes, PH. 13-14B: 1. Zhao, PH, 1:08.

Send sports notices a minimum of two weeks before the requested publication date to Patuxent Publishing/Laurel Leader Sports Notices, 5550 Sterrett Place, Suite 312, Columbia, MD 21044; e-mail cclary@tribune.com . Include date, time, location, contact information and subsection. Competitive SuperSquads after school cheerleading is starting soon at Bellows Spring, Centennial Lane, Clemens Crossing, Deep Run, Elkridge, Gorman Crossing, Hollifield, Ilchester, Manor Woods, Northfield, Pointers Run, Rockburn, Stevens Forest, Thunder Hill, Veterans and Worthington Elementary Schools.

Pointers Run Elementary School was named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence this week, one of 11 elementaries recognized by the state Department of Education.The elementary school will compete with schools across the country for a national Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award, given each year by the U.S. Department of Education.Opened in 1991, Pointers Run earned the state distinction in its first year of eligibility. Schools must be open five years before they're allowed to apply for the award.

While Olympic swimmers in London have the eyes of the world upon them this week, the young boys and girls of the Columbia Neighborhood Swim League put on a competitive meet of their own in the annual All-City championship meet July 27 and 28, at the Phelps Luck Pool. The meet featured five record-breaking performances, including the besting of a 23-year-old mark. Phelps Luck's Casey West won the 15-18 girls' 50-yard fly in 27.06, breaking the previous record of 27.18 set by Owen Brown's Jennifer Atkins in 1989.

FOLKS AT Pointers Run Elementary School are celebrating. Pointers Run is one of 11 schools in the state to receive the 1997 Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award.Two staff members also received significant awards this year for their outstanding work.On April 29, Pointers Run supporters may attend a "Tribute to the Blue Ribbon Schools" at Martin's West in Woodlawn.Gov. Parris N. Glendening and State School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick will lead the accolades, which begin at 5: 30 p.m.Eighty tickets are available for Pointers Run supporters who wish to attend the banquet.

KUDOS TO all the folks at Pointers Run Elementary School.State School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick recently named Pointers Run a Blue Ribbon School for its excellence in instructional programs, staff development for teachers, climate for learning and parent and community involvement.As a winner of this award, Pointers Run will compete in the National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Program.Six Pointers Run Elementary School students who made relief masks have their work on display at the Savage Mill Casting Building.

Pointers Run Elementary School second-grade team leader Shari Hofmann has been selected a Howard County Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Educator. Nancy Utley, whose daughter Julia was in Mrs. Hofmann's class last year, nominated Mrs. Hofmann for this distinguished award.Parents, students, former students, former student teachers, the administrators at Pointers Run and Mrs. Hofmann's colleagues overwhelmingly seconded her nomination. Pointers Run Principal Andy Barsinger notes Mrs. Hofmann's enthusiasm.

Fifth-grade math teacher Nancy Cornelius requires her pupils to write checks and interpret cooking recipes during class. Tim Perry, a high school chemistry teacher, teaches students about the behavior of gases by having them construct and fly hot air balloons.Such innovations make the Howard County educators among the most popular teachers at their schools -- and are bringing them recognition from the White House.For their work in their schools and communities, Cornelius from Pointers Run Elementary School and Perry from Mount Hebron High last week received Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Twenty-eight years ago, J. Michael Logan was one of the first students at the new Clarksville Elementary School.This year, Michael and Teresa Logan's sons, John and David, will be among the first students at the new Pointers Run Elementary School in Clarksville.Michael Logan's family moved to Trotter Road when he was 4, and the following year he started kindergarten in the old Clarksville School that still stands on Route 108 near the Route 32 intersection. He remembers that he and his friends were unenthusiastic about the new elementary school further east on Route 108."

When families decided on Columbia's Pointers Run neighborhood as a great place to live - particularly because of the top-notch elementary school of the same name there - they were mostly thinking location, location, location. These days, many of those same folks are thinking only numbers, numbers, numbers. How many children have to be squeezed into Pointers Run Elementary School before someone will do something about the crowding? The school's PTA officials called the meeting to alert parents, especially new ones, to the unusually tight fix the school has been in during recent years.

Pointers Run, 340; Pheasant Ridge, 285.5 Medley Relays 15-18M: 1. PO (Wolter, Kogan, Jones, Latzko), 1:59.08. 9-10M: 1. PH (Wettstein, Key, Frakas, Dannelly), 1:18.54 11-12M: 1. PH (Hawes, Vinyard, Abate, Key), 2:24.85. 13-14M: 1. PH (Coates, Amin, Banilower, O'Brien), 2:17.01. Individual Medley 15-18B: 1. Vanasse, PH, 1:04.34; 2. Kogan, PO; 3. Grinnell, PH. 15-18G: 1. Jones, PO, 1:09.11; 2. Amin, PH; 3. DiPietro, PH. 9-10B: 1. Burns, PO, 1:29.87; 2. Wettstein, PH; 3. Crofts, PO. 9-10G: 1. Farkas, PH, 1:24.20; 2. Goldberg, PO; 3. Shen, PO. 11-12B: 1. Mowrey, PO, 1:08.39; 2. Key, PH; 3. Young, PH. 11-12G: 1. Bazell, PO, 1:11.85; 2. Abate, PH; 3. Hawes, PH. 13-14B: 1. Zhao, PH, 1:08.

Pointers Run, 335; Dorsey's Search, 284 Medley Relays 15-18M: 1. PO (Gabel, Latzko, Bryant, Wolter), 1:54.33. 9-10M: 1. DS (Windley, Beck, Schulze, Swain), 1:20.29. 11-12M: 1. PO (Liu, Burns, Bazell, Wolter), 2:21.43. 13-14M: 1. DS (O'Neill, Swain, Ingham, Pavao), 2:22.27. Individual Medley 15-18B: 1. Kogan, PO, 1:01.06; 2. Wolter, PO; 3. Sham, DS. 15-18G: 1. Frey, DS, 1:06.39; 2. Carpenter, PO; 3. S. Laper, DS. 9-10B: 1. Swain, DS, 1:26.15; 2. Loudin, DS; Windley, DS. 9-10G: 1. Schulze, DS, 1:26.88; 2. Lopez, PO; 3. Masood, PO. 11-12B: 1. Propst, PO, 1:11.61; 2. Liu, PO; 3. Diven, DS. 11-12G: 1. Bazell, PO, 1:12.85; 2. Lazris, DS; 3. Sullivan, PO. 13-14B: 1. Liu, PO, 1:17.

Pointers Run Elementary first-grader Nicholas Taber logged onto the First In Math online program recently and demonstrated his prowess for problem-solving, quickly accumulating electronic award stickers for correct answers. Then his math teacher, Patty Jannetti, stopped him long enough to get a printout of where he ranked among elementary school students across the country who collect stickers on the program. As it turned out, Nicholas, who has been playing the game since October, was first at First in Math, ranking at the top of the list with 32,132 stickers, nearly 11,000 points ahead of a second-place player from California.

It's hard to pinpoint why Sydney Robinson can jump farther than other girls her age, though her quirky choice of socks may be one factor. Sure, the Amateur Athletic Union gold medalist is tall for a 9-year-old at 5 foot 1. And she's fast, always able to outrun kids in a footrace or a simple game of chase. According to Sharron Smith, who has coached the Pointers Run Elementary School fourth-grader for two years in the all-girl Elite Track Club, what it really boils down to is dedication and desire.

For a senior residence, Morningside Park Apartments was bustling with activity. Children and their parents filled the usually quiet hallways Monday afternoon, some pushing grocery carts full of food, others delivering overstuffed supermarket bags door to door. Once a month, students from Pointers Run Elementary School collect, sort and deliver food to the financially hard-pressed seniors at this Jessup building. Julie Rosenthal, a board member of the Coalition of Geriatric Services in Howard County, coordinates the monthly program, Food on the 15th.

Marissa Skapura thought she was done. She had just stood up in front of her fellow fifth-graders at Pointers Run Elementary School and read a poem about a cheerleading competition. As the audience clapped, she began to walk back to where she had been sitting on the cafeteria floor. But Gayle Danley, the visiting poet who was presenting the event, stopped her, saying Marissa had promised to do a cheer. "I thought that was a choice I could make," Marissa replied, indicating she didn't want to do it. The other students encouraged her, and, after much prompting, she performed a cheer, complete with some arm movements.