Sandymount

The Carroll County Board of Education yesterday appointed Linda K. Mills principal of Sandymount School.Ms. Mills has been acting principal at the school on Old Westminster Pike since September. She replaces Helen Metz, who is retiring."We are celebrating at Sandymount," said Jeanne Fink, school secretary. "I have had two pages of congratulatory calls, and the staff is elated."The PTA encouraged parents to write letters supporting Ms. Mills to the Board of Education, Ms. Fink said."Ms. Mills has made friends not only with the staff but with many parents," she said.

Five years ago, a Pittsburgh child named Sean Freiburger, diagnosed with the motor speech disorder apraxia, helped launch the first Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech. On Saturday, Sept.22, at 10 a.m., local mom Angela Baublitz and her daughter with apraxia, Emma Baublitz, will host a walk at Sandymount Park in Finksburg to help bring awareness to this disorder as well as raise funds to benefit the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America. Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological disorder in children that makes it difficult or impossible to accurately produce sounds, syllables and/or words despite having a good understanding of language.

FIRE* Westminster: Engines from the Westminster company investigated a report of a fire alarm sounding in a building on Carroll Street at 8:29 p.m. Tuesday. Units were out for 13 minutes.

Fourth-grader Corey Brooks dipped the small white strip of test paper into the glass vial of cloudy water taken from the school parking lot. "Look at all the sediment in the bottom," said one of his lab partners, Brady Meixsell. A few minutes later, the fourth-grader and his peers at Sandymount Elementary School in Finksburg had determined the water's nitrogen and pH levels, and reasoned that its lack of clarity would mean a drop in the production of algae and zooplankton, minute animal life that floats in water.

SANDYMOUNT Elementary School's fifth-grade class performed a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth last week that offered more entertainment than most audiences would bargain for. It had classic Shakespearean elements such as conniving friends, sword fights, and dramatic death scenes. Witches brewed entrails (cooked spaghetti) and thumbs (hot dogs), tongue of dog (bologna), and an eyeball (fake) in their cauldron and chanted "Double, double, toil and trouble." There also were elaborate costumes and ominous sets.

A Lutherville businessman wants to build an indoor ice rink at Sandymount Park on land the county planned to use for a soccer field.Tobias Kaye told the county commissioners yesterday that the rink would seat 500 people and would be used for hockey games, figure skating, public skating, lessons and parties.It would have a pro shop, cafe and locker rooms. Admission would be about $5 per person, he said.Two members of the Sandymount Recreation Council who attended his presentation said that an ice rink probably would be a popular attraction, but that the community needs the additional soccer field.

In the farthest corner of the playground at Sandymount Elementary School in Finksburg, the fifth-graders are in the midst of a soccer game. They're running and pushing, falling and getting up again. They hit the ball with everything they have available - heads, knees, shoulders, elbows. They don't keep score, but that's not the point. They have only 15 minutes, and they're trying to make the most of it. For some youngsters, it's a chance to practice for a community soccer league game that day. But for many, those 15 minutes are the only opportunity for physical activity during the school day. In a growing number of elementary schools, even those 15 minutes of playtime are threatened.

On July 13, 2006 JESSIE M. MANN (nee Sellman) beloved wife of the late Harry H. Mann, dear sister of Elsie Nickey, and the late Norma Gentile, Anna Van Lill, John Sellman, Donald Sellman, Donald Sellman, Dewey Sellman and Olin W. Sellman. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus, on Sunday from 3-5 and 7-9 P.M. where a service will be held on Monday at the funeral hour of 11 A.M. Interment to follow at Sandymount Methodist Cemetery Churchyard.

Grasping the flag's edges with the utmost care, the eight solemn boys and girls unfurled the tightly wound fabric from its triangular shape. The children, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, turned back one fold and then another - until all 13 folds had been undone. Standing before a crowd of hundreds of pupils, parents, school officials and staff members assembled in the auditorium at Sandymount Elementary in Finksburg, the children waited for their next cue. They had gathered yesterday to honor Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, 20, a former Sandymount pupil who died in Iraq in March while serving with the Marines.

When Lorraine Fulton, Carroll County's newest assistant superintendent, ventured into Joy Nuzzo's second-grade class at Sandymount Elementary last week, she discovered the children would be spending the morning studying maps and communities. "That's what I'm studying now, too," a pleasantly surprised Fulton told them. "Because I just moved to Carroll County, I have to constantly look at maps because I don't want to get lost. And I want to be able to get home at the end of the day." Those maps will come in handy as Fulton crisscrosses the county in the days and weeks to come as she honors a personal commitment to visit each of the system's 42 elementary, middle and high schools.

Alex Twery said he reads nearly every day after school. He said he can get through about 50 pages a day - especially if it is a book with lots of action. "It's fun," he said. "You can just think about stuff, and it passes the time." Alex, 8, a third-grader at Sandymount Elementary School, thinks he will have no problem reading four books over the next two months as part of a reading incentive program. His reward will be a free ticket to a Frederick Keys baseball game, if he reaches his goal.

In a letter to elementary school pupils in Mississippi, Kristen Sew explained how sorry she was that Hurricane Katrina damaged their school. Kristen, 6, a second-grader at Sandymount Elementary School, told them to remember that while people can't be replaced, things can. She and other Sandymount pupils have been working to replace some of the things lost during the hurricane for the children who attend Oak Park Elementary, a school on the Gulf Coast....

On October 13, 2004, WILLIAM "BILL" F, Brother of Charles A. and Clayton Mann. Also survived by many nieces, nephews and devoted friends. Services Sunday 3 P.M. at Sandymount United Methodist Church, Finksburg. Burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call Saturday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at MYERS-DURBORAW FUNERAL HOME, 91 Willis Street, Westminster and 1 hour prior to the time of Service at the church. Contributions to Sandymount U.M. Church Building Fund, 2101 Old Westminster Pike, Finksburg, MD 21048.

The Carroll County school board voted yesterday not to renew a summer lease with a Finksburg-based child care company because of a continuing investigation into allegations of sexual abuse. Rainbows and Reasons child care center wanted to rent Sandymount Elementary School for 39 days, from June 14 to Aug. 6, for $477.23 for a summer day care program. The Finksburg-based Playtime Corp. owned two Rainbows and Reasons child care centers - one in Westminster, the other in Finksburg. Corporate documents list William Cunningham as Playtime's resident agent.