School In Bel

The girls from Namibia made their way through the busy halls of a Bel Air middle school yesterday, taken with the sights and sounds - a basketball game in the gym, the noisy lunchtime crowd in the cafeteria. But it was a trio of students playing music in the hallway at Southampton Middle that stopped the 10 teenage visitors in their tracks. They gathered around the musicians - eighth-graders playing a clarinet, oboe and flute - and listened to a classical ensemble piece, applauding at the end. "Thank you, thank you for your music," the visitors said repeatedly.

St. Margaret School in Bel Air observed the annual International Day of Peace Monday with prayers, songs and the dedication of a "peace pole." More than 500 children in the lower school marched from a prayer service in the gymnasium to the 6-foot-tall pole inscribed on all four sides with "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in four languages - English, Spanish, Korean and Creole, in a nod to their sister school in Haiti. "Prevail means to be strong and persist," said Jimmy Beyer, a fifth-grader.

Cathy G. Cerveny, a Harford County fifth-grade teacher inspired by her fourth-grade teacher to enter the classroom, last night was named Maryland's Teacher of the Year and given a $5,000 prize, free college courses and a computer.For 17 years, Cerveny, 46, has taught her students to "never settle for less than your best" -- the motto posted on a banner in her classroom at Ring Factory Elementary School in Bel Air.She was named last night in a ceremony at Martin's West in Baltimore County, after teachers from Baltimore city and 23 of Maryland's 24 counties competed and were narrowed to seven finalists.

The Rev. Charles K. Riepe, former principal and president of the John Carroll School in Bel Air who had also been rector of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, died in his sleep Saturday at his Bel Air home. He was 75. Father Riepe was born in Baltimore and raised on Lake Avenue. He attended Gilman School and graduated in 1951 from the Cooperstown Academy in Cooperstown, N.Y. A former Episcopalian who converted to Roman Catholicism, Father Riepe began his religious studies at St. Charles College in Catonsville.

The Rev. Charles K. Riepe, former principal and president of the John Carroll School in Bel Air who had also been rector of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, died in his sleep Saturday at his Bel Air home. He was 75. Father Riepe was born in Baltimore and raised on Lake Avenue. He attended Gilman School and graduated in 1951 from the Cooperstown Academy in Cooperstown, N.Y. A former Episcopalian who converted to Roman Catholicism, Father Riepe began his religious studies at St. Charles College in Catonsville.

Harford County is moving ahead with plans for the construction and financing of the Patterson Mill middle and high school complex, a project government and school officials say is much-needed to ease the county's current school crisis. On Thursday, Kathleen Sanner, supervisor of planning and construction for the school system, met with architects to start the design work. She said she hopes to make a recommendation to the Board of Education at its meeting Sept. 8. As Sanner proceeds with planning, County Executive James M. Harkins and the County Council are pursuing funding sources to pay for the $42.6 million project.

North Harford Middle School near Pylesville and John Carroll School, a private high school in Bel Air, have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.Of 490 schools nominated nationwide, 266 were chosen for the honor based on instruction, student achievement, leadership and parental involvement.The schools will receive a plaque commemorating their selection at an award ceremony in May at the White House.

Janet Lloyd publishes book about ScripturesJanet Lloyd, a children's librarian at the Harford County Library's Bel Air branch, has published her first book, "Joy and Wonder in all God's Works: Contemporary Children's Literature, Fables and Folk Tales Illustrating the Sunday Scriptures."Ms. Lloyd's book, the first of a planned three-volume set, is a resource aid that links Sunday school lessons to stories from a wide range of children's literature and folk tales. Teresa Donzella has been named alumni coordinator for John Carroll School in Bel Air.Ms.

The proposed $96.3 million Harford capital budget for fiscal 1994 includes money for a new elementary school in Bel Air, renovations or additions to five other schools, new firehouses for Abingdon and Havre de Grace and a nature center at Leight Park.The capital budget, presented to the County Council on Thursday by County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann, would increase construction spending by about $30 million, from this year's $66.3 million.But nearly $60 million of the proposed construction budget would be set aside for two sewer projects: the Sod Run and the Whiteford Area treatment plants.

Despite the Harford County Board of Education's decision to redistrict hundreds of students for the 2002-2003 year, Southampton Middle School - which lost pupils - still has 15 portables on the lawn and Fallston Middle - which gained them - is at nearly 130 percent of capacity. Thomas Ackerman, a principal and member of an advisory committee that reviews enrollment, said Tuesday that the schools are headed in the right direction in dealing with crowding, which is most serious in the central and western portions of the county.

The girls from Namibia made their way through the busy halls of a Bel Air middle school yesterday, taken with the sights and sounds - a basketball game in the gym, the noisy lunchtime crowd in the cafeteria. But it was a trio of students playing music in the hallway at Southampton Middle that stopped the 10 teenage visitors in their tracks. They gathered around the musicians - eighth-graders playing a clarinet, oboe and flute - and listened to a classical ensemble piece, applauding at the end. "Thank you, thank you for your music," the visitors said repeatedly.

Harford board votes to raze historic school despite pleas Despite strong opposition from town officials, preservationists and alumni of a 19th-century school in Bel Air, the Harford County Board of Education voted unanimously last night to demolish the building to make way for an expansion of the playground, parking lot and bus loop at nearby Bel Air Elementary School. Board members insisted they would need the property in the future and could not make it available to the town. "We can't surplus property if we foresee a need for it," said board member Ruth R. Rich.

Mignon A. B. Cameron, a founder of the Harford Day School who was recalled for her spirited and magnetic classroom style, died of a cancer-related illness Thursday at Franklin Square Hospital Center. The Bel Air resident was 75. She taught for two decades at the private Bel Air school, served as a trustee there and sat on the board of St. Timothy's School in Stevenson. "She loved people, especially young people, and had a particular soft spot for rambunctious, bad boys, adolescents whom she would magically inspire to draw out their best efforts," said her daughter, Annette Cameron Blum of Bel Air. "At the same time, she was an advocate for educating bright girls to become successful, morally centered young women."

SCHOOL DRESS PROJECT TO BENEFIT CHARITY Kaitlyn Boyd, a senior at North Harford High School, started a dress consignment program at the school where girls can bring in dresses to be sold to raise money for charity. Half of all proceeds will go to the owner of the dress, and the other half will be sent to the Children of Zion Village Orphanage in Katima Mulilo in the African county of Namibia. Girls are invited to bring in dresses to be sold a week before school dances. Information: 410-638-3650.

Jillian Sikora of Bel Air is only 10 years old, but she is a seasoned performer. In a few weeks she will be traveling to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to compete in the World Irish Dancing Championships. She is one of three girls with ties to Harford County who share a drive and dream to excel at the elite level. The other two who will be in Belfast April 4-11 are Bel Air resident Caitlin Riane Golding, 15, a student at the Kevin Broesler School of Irish Dance in Brooklyn Park, and Courtney McConnell, 14, who like Sikora is a student at the Bel Air branch of the Ryan School of Irish Dance.

Harford County is moving ahead with plans for the construction and financing of the Patterson Mill middle and high school complex, a project government and school officials say is much-needed to ease the county's current school crisis. On Thursday, Kathleen Sanner, supervisor of planning and construction for the school system, met with architects to start the design work. She said she hopes to make a recommendation to the Board of Education at its meeting Sept. 8. As Sanner proceeds with planning, County Executive James M. Harkins and the County Council are pursuing funding sources to pay for the $42.6 million project.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening will make an announcement about school construction funding when he visits Hickory Elementary School in Bel Air Tuesday, according to one of the governor's press aides.A county school official said Mr. Glendening is expected to announce plans for funding of school construction statewide.Harford County has asked for more than $2 million in state money to renovate Hickory Elementary, which has not been substantially renovated since it was built in 1950.The school was the county's first "modern" facility for black students in grades one through 12, said county schools spokesman Donald R. Morrison.

WASHINGTON -- Cincinnati English teacher Sharon Draper was honored yesterday as America's teacher of the year in a White House ceremony that included Cathy Greenwood Cerveny, Maryland's teacher of the year.Draper is one of the nation's first certified "master teachers," an instructor who teaches other teachers. The 26-year veteran of Ohio public schools spoke with pride and optimism about her profession."It is the teacher who holds up the mirror to the past for us to learn," she said."It is a teacher who takes us through the paths of intricacy of modern life; and it's a teacher who will stand ready in the 21st century to take us to visions as yet undreamed," she said.

Despite the Harford County Board of Education's decision to redistrict hundreds of students for the 2002-2003 year, Southampton Middle School - which lost pupils - still has 15 portables on the lawn and Fallston Middle - which gained them - is at nearly 130 percent of capacity. Thomas Ackerman, a principal and member of an advisory committee that reviews enrollment, said Tuesday that the schools are headed in the right direction in dealing with crowding, which is most serious in the central and western portions of the county.

WASHINGTON -- Cincinnati English teacher Sharon Draper was honored yesterday as America's teacher of the year in a White House ceremony that included Cathy Greenwood Cerveny, Maryland's teacher of the year.Draper is one of the nation's first certified "master teachers," an instructor who teaches other teachers. The 26-year veteran of Ohio public schools spoke with pride and optimism about her profession."It is the teacher who holds up the mirror to the past for us to learn," she said."It is a teacher who takes us through the paths of intricacy of modern life; and it's a teacher who will stand ready in the 21st century to take us to visions as yet undreamed," she said.