Stay In School

* Name: Chris Wess, 15, of Columbia.* School: Sophomore at Atholton High School.* Why Chris was honored: He participated in the 1992 Summer at the Mall Internship, a six-week program that exposes students in the Maryland's Tomorrow Program to different jobs, such as engineering, construction, marketing and accounting. Although Chris is still working to improve his grade-point average, he has earned B's in science and math. Last year, he earned many failing grades, he said. His attitude about school has brightened, said Susan Alderson, Atholton's co-coordinator of Maryland's Tomorrow Program, which encourages students to stay in school.

WASHINGTON -- In an emotional homecoming to his old high school in the South Bronx last month, Gen. Colin L. Powell urged the students there to stay away from drugs and stay in school."

BaseballDiamondbacks: Acquired P Jason Hart from Independent Schaumburg.Indians: Agreed to terms with P Dave Telgheder, P Mike Walker, former Orioles IF Jeff Manto, IF Orlando Miller and C Chris Turner on minor-league contracts.Pirates: Agreed to terms on minor-league contract with 1B Domingo Martinez.Reds: Signed P Giovanni Carrara, P Todd Etler, P Denny Harriger, P Marty Janzen, P Tom Kramer, P John Riedling, P Scott Ruffcorn, P Rod Steph, P Scott Williamson, P Joey Eischen, P Eddie Priest, P Kevin Tolar, IF Jeff Branson, IF Steve Eddie, IF Jerry Salzano, IF Jason Williams and OF Wonderful Monds to Triple-A contracts.

The Howard County chapter didn't sign on when the NAACP began back-to-school rallies in 1990 to encourage students to stay in school; dropouts were not a Columbia problem.County high schools stayed within the 1.25 percent dropout rate considered acceptable by the state.This year, though, the chapter kicks off the school year with five rallies, beginning tomorrow. The NAACP will hand out school supplies at the rallies."In certain schools, the dropout rate -- especially among African-American males -- has gone to double and triple the state standard," said Natalie Woodson, who chairs the education committee of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- For six weeks, Devin Gray stayed away from Clemson's home basketball games.If the game was on television, he'd watch it in his apartment. The last place Gray wanted to be was Littlejohn Coliseum.Gray wondered what people might say to him. He was supposed to be Clemson's star this season. He had worked his way back after an April 4 heart attack.But on Dec. 28 the 6-foot-6 senior forward from St. Frances in Baltimore was ruled academically ineligible, ending his college career, though he was permitted to enroll as a student for the second semester.

Despite a 10-year age difference and dissimilar interests, Cheryl Cucco and Angie Eckard are "friends for life." They often "hang out together" for lunch in the employees' cafeteria at Londontown Manufacturing Co.About 18 months ago, when Ms. Eckard was a student at Westminster High, Ms. Cucco, the personnel director at the Eldersburg plant, became her adult mentor."

Less than two years ago, Kelly Seal was about to fail her freshman year of high school and give up on her education for good.But all that has changed, and now the South Carroll High rising junior selected by Gov. William Donald Schaefer as the most improved of the 235 Maryland's Tomorrow students in Carroll last year is determined to stayin school."

ABOUT 350 million gallons of motor oil are consumedannually in the United States by motorists who change their own oil.Some 210 million gallons are poured on the ground, or down storm drains, or into trash that winds up in public landfills.That is 20 times more oil spilled each year than the Exxon Valdez spread in Alaska's Prince William Sound.These are amazing statistics for environmentalists, or anyone with a clean shirt, to mull over this long winter.Why can't governments do more to curtail deliberate spills from private automobiles, as well as ocean-going vessels?

According to the fifth annual Maryland School Performance Program Report released last month by the state Department of Education, Anne Arundel County schools are doing fairly well. Overall, the county met 11 of 13 standards established by the Board of Education, and students made significant gains in their scores on reading, math and citizenship tests.But there were two failing grades on Anne Arundel's report card: attendance in grades seven through 12 is too low and the high school dropout rate is too high.

Recent studies show that too many Maryland students are missing from schools because of suspensions, prolonged absences or truancy. A lot of these students won't stay the course until graduation. That shouldn't be tolerated when a high school diploma is considered essential for employment as well as for higher education. An analysis released last month by Advocates for Children and Youth, a Maryland-based group, found that the state's overall suspension rate in 2006-2007 was 9 percent, the second-highest rate on record.