Reading Teacher

One of the most worrisome things for parents are signs their child is having difficulty learning to read, because they know reading is the key to the child's education.The Sun has assembled a panel of experts to address your concerns about reading and your child -- from a psychologist and a pediatrician to an ophthalmologist and a reading teacher. We also will ask other parents what has worked for them.Your questions and the responses of our experts will appear in our special "Reading by 9" pages on Sundays and Wednesdays, beginning soon in the Today section of The Sun.L If you have a question, send it in and we'll get the answer.

FOUR DAYS a week, Peter Bradford works the street corners and rowhouses of West Baltimore in his '86 Plymouth van. He keeps a sharp eye out for kids -- young inner-city kids with nothing to do these hot summer afternoons.The goods are stored in cardboard boxes and dairy crates in the back of his colorfully painted van. No effort at disguise here. Quite the contrary: "Reading Is Power!" is scrawled, childlike, across one of the doors."I know my kids," says Bradford. "They're expecting me."Indeed, within an hour a half-dozen kids between 9 and 14 are in the van, pawing over the thousand books Bradford has accumulated -- the leftovers and seconds he's scrounged from the Enoch Pratt Free Library and generous bookstores.

So many parents volunteer at Sandymount Elementary School that they rate their own workroom.That daily presence is one reason the eastern Carroll County facility won a Maryland Blue Ribbon School award one week ago, said Norma Jean Swam, the assistant principal who led the schoolwide effort to apply for the honor."

James Daniel McHugh, a Baltimore County educator for 35 years who was active in church work, died Friday of pneumonia at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 63.Mr. McHugh, who lived in Baltimore's Hamilton section, was a reading specialist at Holabird Middle School in Dundalk at his retirement in 1991.Earlier he taught at Golden Ring Junior High, Hawthorne Elementary, Dundalk High and Grange Elementary. For 14 years he was involved in Mobile On Site Training helping fellow teachers implement reading programs.

Reading and writing together is building bridges between students at Sykesville Middle and Piney Ridge Elementary schools.Once a month, the middle school students go to the neighboring school and read to kindergartners. The project, funded by a grant from the Nestle Co., gives children in the Reading is Fundamental program an opportunity for educational interactionwith older students.It also provides the best in children's literature to the youngsters. Hundreds of free books go home with the kindergartners.

Board recognizes staff achievementsThe Carroll County School Board is recognizing these staff members for their achievements:* Linda Danmyer, secretary in Curriculum Division: for receiving a certificate of appreciation from Gov. William Donald Schaefer for her work on Total Quality Management conferences last fall.* William Hill, machine technology instructor at the Career and Technology Center: for receiving the award of excellence from the Greater Baltimore Committee and Regional Technology Council for efforts in developing student awareness of manufacturing careers.

For years, Ellicott City resident Cathy Bond had been a reading teacher at RICA-Baltimore, a regional facility for troubled youngsters. So when she received an invitation from People to People International asking her to participate in the Reading Educators Delegation to China, she enthusiastically agreed, knowing that this chance might not soon return.Ms. Bond plans to leave the country on Oct. 18, and return on Nov. 2. During her two-week stay, Ms. Bond will combine professional growth with a tour of China's sites, spending time in the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai.

"Keeping the Dream Alive," this year's theme of the NAACP, is a continuing effort by the group to preserve and teach the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy. King's courageous effort to spread brotherhood, unity and love still rings true in this world today.In conjunction with commemorating King's birthday, the community of Pumphrey and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will sponsor the third annual prayer breakfast. Breakfast will begin at8:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Lloyd Keaser Center, 5757 Belle Grove Road.

Some children stay in school all night, some principals climb to the school roof, and a congressman pays kids, all with the same purpose: to encourage children to read. And inventive teachers devise intriguing ways to attain the same noble purpose.Staying after school has always been a form of punishment, but at Dundalk Elementary School, some kids have stayed all night -- to read. In a program originated by two teachers, Wanda Ensor and Mildred McDaniel, and titled Prime Time Friday Night, some 70 fourth and fifth graders and their parents recently stayed at the school from 5:30 p.m. on a Friday to 8:30 the next morning in a group "read-in."