Talented Program

Name: Arlene Heine, a 15-year resident of Owen Brown.Activities/Hobbies: Mrs. Heine works three days a week and says she enjoys needlepoint and sewing. She has made volunteering her main hobby.Organization's Comments: Mrs. Heine assists students with ideas for projects in the Gifted and Talented Program at Owen Brown Middle School. She helps with filing, typing, cutting letters and putting up bulletin boards. She also has chaperoned the senior citizens' prom and helps with Arrival Check, a new program where calls are made to parents when children are absent from school.

New rules on school gifted and talented programs approved today by the state board of education have drawn fire from a coalition of groups that say such programs harm poor and minority students. The critics, which include Casa de Maryland and the Montgomery County NAACP, argue that the very act of labeling some students and not others as gifted creates winners and losers, and that the principal victims of such inequality are African-Americans, Hispanics and students from low-income families.

Howard County's gifted and talented program for elementary school children will change next school year, when all schools will try a different way of teaching precocious pupils.The change involves the second grades in all elementary schools and all grades in six elementaries.Students no longer will be formally tested to be in the gifted and talented program, nor will they be pulled out of class to work on "Type II" projects intended to help them learn research methods and critical thinking skills.

The Prince George's County Public Schools Talented and Gifted Office is accepting applications from private school students for testing for PGCPS Talented and Gifted program eligibility. The testing is for students who are county residents and currently in grades 1-7 in private schools. To request the private school testing application, contact the TAG Office at 301-808-3790; TAG Program Specialist Scott Brenner at sbrenner@pgcps.org ; or TAG Supervisor Theresa Jackson at tjackson@pgcps.org . The applications and supporting documentation are due in the TAG Office no later than Jan. 12. Late applications will not be accepted.

Patricia R. Merriman, a retired Baltimore County schools administrator who was coordinator of its gifted and talented program, died Dec. 4 of a neurological disorder at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Towson resident was 74. Born Patricia Shapard Rankin in Chicago, she earned a degree in English and drama from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. She also earned a master's degree from Loyola College. In the early 1960s, she began teaching third grade at Franklin Elementary School in Reisterstown, and later taught at Perry Hall Elementary.

One of the latest victims of the budget squeeze in Howard County is its vaunted gifted and talented program, which could see its purse cut by as much as 20 percent under School Superintendent Michael Hickey's spending plan.The proposed $500,000 in cuts to the gifted and talented program's $2.58 million budget include eliminating a dozen tTC teaching positions and cutting funds for teacher training, textbooks, supplies and after-school art, music and dance programs. The cuts could go much deeper if lawmakers in Annapolis pass a bill that would let counties reduce their mandated spending on schools this year.

Pupil testing set for those entering middle school Testing for nonpublic school pupils, grades five to seven, who plan to enter Howard County middle schools in August and are interested in the county's Gifted and Talented Program, will be held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. May 7 at Faulkner Ridge Center, 10598 Marble Faun Court, Columbia. Registration materials are available at middle school guidance offices, or parents can call the Gifted and Talented Program office at 410-313-6800. Columbia Foundation scholarships are available Donors to the Columbia Foundation have established scholarships for Howard County public high school seniors who plan to attend two- or four-year colleges or universities in the fall.

Baltimore County School Superintendent Stuart D. Berger played to a packed house last night, but he didn't necessarily send away satisfied customers.More than 1,200 parents, teachers and students, concerned about the county's Gifted and Talented program, jammed the auditorium at Loch Raven Senior High School, standing five and six deep in the rear aisle. But what one man called Dr. Berger's "nonchalant manner" did not satisfy the sometimes testy crowd, drawn to the meeting by rumors that the program would be diluted or even dissolved next year.

School lunch prices will stay the same this fall, the schoolsystem's director of operations told school board members at yesterday's meeting.Robert Lazarewicz, the director, said elementary school lunches will cost $1, and middle and high school lunches will cost $1.35. Super lunches and coach's corner lunches will cost $2 and adult TTC lunches $1.80, he said, and the price of a half-pint of milk will remain at 25 cents.By comparison, elementary school lunches cost $1.10 in Anne Arundel County, $1.50 in Baltimore County and $1.30 in Harford County, Mr. Lazarewicz said.

School Superintendent Carol S. Parham did not recommend last night bringing back the middle school gifted and talented program.But she did urge the school board to eliminate the unpopular music and athletic fees, reinstate middle school activity buses and turn on the heat or air conditioning during after-school functions.Those were her suggestions to the board, which was considering what to do with the $5.8 million that the County Council took from the contingency fund and gave to the schools Monday night.

Schools real key to city's renewal In an article about the apparent demise of high-rise condominiums as Baltimore's economic development engine, I was pleased to see Richard Clinch of the University of Baltimore acknowledge the necessity of improving our public schools ("Project stall," April 27). Few residents of Baltimore would agree that building a high-rise condo across the street from their house is the key to renewing their neighborhood. Here at ground level, we know that an essential step in revitalizing a neighborhood is to establish a safe and healthy environment for youths and to demonstrate to prospective residents that their children can go to good public schools.

Emily Fenichel, 12, flinched a little when she heard the assignment. She would have to argue in favor of dissecting animals in science classes, even though she personally hates the practice. "It's so nasty," she later said. "Remember, for good debaters, it doesn't matter what side you're on," said Nan Dove, the Gifted and Talented Program resource teacher at Oakland Mills Middle School. So Emily gathered her thoughts and made her arguments. "It helps you learn about whatever animal you're dissecting," she said.

Bonnie Branch Middle School students David Friedman, Jake Miller and Tim Reagan share a love of baseball. The three friends not only play together, they also created a documentary on Jackie Robinson that will advance to the national level of the National History Day Competition, June 10-14, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The students presented their winning project Friday at Howard County's Middle School Student Achievement Expo. "We all have an interest in sports, and we've all played baseball, and we wanted a topic that we could relate to," Jake said.

Web survey seeks parents' opinions Parents will have an opportunity to share their opinions about the learning environment of their child's school with Howard County officials in a 35-question online survey to be released tomorrow. An e-mail from the school system will direct parents to the survey, which should be completed by May 11. The survey is intended to provide school administrators with information to help them realize the school system's second strategic goal -- that each school provide a safe and nurturing environment that values diversity and commonality.

Kevin Li was ready for passionate arguments and contentious opponents when he joined Centennial High School's new debate team, but he says he was not really prepared for the filing. "I thought it was going to be: `These are my beliefs and I am going to defend them,'" said Li, a sophomore. "It's definitely more analytical. Everything has to be backed up, everything has to be proved and supported." That means many hours reading and organizing hundreds of pages of support - including academic studies and government reports - so that they can be used at a moment's notice.

If you don't have anything on your calendar for May 23, 2025, you might want to drop by Harper's Choice Middle School.You should be on time for the unearthing of the time capsule that sixth-graders Kathy Dalton, 11, and Laura Cometa, 11, put together as their project in the school's gifted and talented program this school year."

Baltimore County Superintendent Robert Y. Dubel says he has been working about 40 years to improve achievement among black students in the county.Black parents say Dubel has made little progress in his efforts."