Teachers And Students

KUDOS to the teachers and students who were honored Tuesdayand Atholton also were so honored Tuesday at the Evening of Excellence held at Howard Community College.Hammond dance teacher Brooke Kuhl-McClelland and Atholton chemistry teacher Kathleen Thompson were honored with Teaching Excellence Awards.Named as outstanding Howard County Seniors were Atholton High's Roberto Blanco, Lisa Desautels, Neal Green, Noosha Haghani, David Johnson, Kamran Khalid, Andrea Monks, Amber Onder, Ebonie Taylor and Irene Thompson.

Anne Arundel County prosecutors have dropped the more serious of two charges against a former Broadneck High School teacher and basketball coach that were related to an alleged relationship with a male student. A charge of soliciting child pornography was dropped Friday against Erin Nicole Thorne, 28, of Arnold. The remaining count is displaying obscene material to a minor. "As the investigation continued after charges were filed, it was determined that the misdemeanor charge was the more appropriate count on which to move forward," said Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office.

ELENI VANRODEN made adjustments to the camera while Jennifer Retzlaff reviewed the script for the third time. Stephanie Griffin and Michael O'Donnell sat before a bank of phones, taking in the last few moments of quiet before calls started rolling in. Nearby, Diane McDonnell quietly put the finishing touches on a math lesson she would present on air. I'm scared to death," said McDonnell, who taught middle school math for 13 years in Cecil County....

Day after day, Richard Stokes rode the bus past his alma mater, New Hope Academy, until he decided to drop in one day and say hello to the teachers and staff who helped him rise above the problems that landed him at the school for behaviorally and emotionally challenged students. And he never really left. The 20-year-old has returned to the nonpublic school in Baltimore as a teaching assistant, helping to mentor students, some of whom display the sort of verbal and physical aggression that Stokes did as a student.

The four-period class schedule initiated three years ago in Howard County's high schools is working well, but it has resulted in larger classes, a new school system study has concluded.The evaluation of the first two years of the schedule found that teachers and students generally preferred 90-minute class periods, although about one-quarter of instructors were concerned that they had too little time to teach everything required in the curriculum.Under the new schedule, academic classes have increased by as many as six to eight students, often to 32 or 33 pupils, teachers and administrators say.The study warned that "continuing years of teaching very large classes risk compromising quality instruction."

Investigators examining how the Anne Arundel County school system responded to child-abuse complaints also want to know if inappropriate relationships between teachers and students have occurred at schools other than Northeast High School.And they are asking parents, teachers and students to tell them about any such relationships.Alan I. Baron and Eleanor M. Carey, special counsel to the county Board of Education, have set aside two days this month to meet with parents and students who want to talk to them individually or in groups.

What's so funny about teaching children to read with comic books? Nothing at all, apparently. In fact, comic books are being used with some students as an alternative pathway to literacy by teachers across the country. Educators are discovering the colorful medium's potential for stimulating intellectual growth and expression among at-risk students at urban schools. Proponents of comic book use say students who are otherwise intimidated by pages swimming with text get hooked on reading.

For centuries, ceramic artists have told stories through clay. They have passed on their love of working with clay to their students, taking time to help mold the next generation of artists.A new exhibition of pottery, sculpture, wall pieces and decorative vessels by today's clay artists and their apprentices will open Monday at the Howard County Board of Education's Exhibition Hall.The show, "Teaching & Talking Through the Clay: Artist-Teachers & Their Students," is a partnership between the Board of Education's visual arts department and Baltimore Clayworks, a nonprofit ceramic art center in Mount Washington.

Kim Frock and Stephanie Wiegel want to make Junior Achievers out of communists.More accurately, former communists who are looking forways improve their native economy. In Moscow schools, the Carroll residents showcased America's free-enterprise system before hundreds ofRussian teachers and students.Neither Frock, a North Carroll High social studies teacher, nor Wiegel, a North Carroll senior, questioned their mission's success, but both said it would be some time before their counterparts could take advantage of their lessons.

Baltimore Police Capt. Gerard Busnuk has a vision for Walbrook High School.His dream features attentive, neatly dressed students tapping on laptop computers, learning the discipline and skills that will propel them into good colleges and solid jobs.It's more than a fantasy for Busnuk, one of the architects of a proposal that would dramatically change student life at Walbrook, one of the lower-performing schools in the city. Under the plan, Walbrook would be divided into four academies -- business; police; fire and emergency services; and maritime.

Oscar Thomas Jobe Jr., a city public school educator who rose from being a classroom teacher to chief of staff to two Baltimore school chiefs, died Sunday of complications from Parkinson's disease at Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham. The Mitchellville resident was 71. "Oscar was highly revered because he knew how to manage schools and work with people," said Walter G. Amprey, city school superintendent from 1991 to 1997, who earlier had been a Baltimore County public school administrator.

The Banneker School Legacy Committee of Catonsville, known as the Banneker Reunion Committee of Catonsville, enjoyed a three-day weekend Sept. 23-25 with students, who attended or graduated from Banneker. Our vision is to empower and preserve our community. Our mission is to locate and preserve historical African-American landmarks, recognizing those who contributed to maintaining the legacy of Catonsville history. Our theme is "Preserving the past to ensure the future.

All good teachers, I learned early in my Prince George's County teaching career, ask students not to settle for short cuts and simple answers. "Dig deeper," good teachers advise their students, "dig deeper." Top officials at that Maryland State Department of Education would be wise to heed that advice. Unfortunately, in their chase after federal "Race to the Top" school reform funding, they're headed in the opposite direction. They're rushing to force our schools to adopt flashy short cuts that will only distract and dishearten our state's teachers and students.

Ashley Arnold's favorite childhood book, The Best Nest, immediately came to mind when she was assigned to re-creating a gingerbread-house-like scene for her culinary arts class. The Wilde Lake High School sophomore knew it would be difficult to replicate the tall white church and steeple using dry cereal, candy and frosting, but she was up for the challenge. The 15-year-old wanted to share with elementary school students the P.D. Eastman story about two birds making a new home near a church bell.

Expect all students to respect teachers I was frustrated by the stance taken by Donna Ford of Vanderbilt University, who argues in effect that the solution to the problem of student violence against Baltimore teachers is to pander to students' inflated sense of entitlement ("Respect called key to school safety," Aug 21). When did it become acceptable for a teacher to be required to earn a student's respect before receiving respect in kind? Teachers and students are not peers. It is imperative to the functioning of a free society that people holding positions of authority (i.e.

Jacqueline T. Lamp, a longtime Baltimore County educator who was principal of Loch Raven High School, died Tuesday of ovarian cancer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Rodgers Forge resident was 61. At her death, Mrs. Lamp had been principal of Loch Raven High School for the past four years. Mrs. Lamp, after enduring her chemotherapy treatments, would return to work, and had been there as late as last Thursday, colleagues said. During her illness, a tin mailbox was placed in the school's office.

The principal of North Carroll Middle School was charged last week with striking his 17-year-old son during a November argument at their Westminster home.Richard N. DeLong, 46, has been principal of the890-student school since July 1988 and has been a school system employee for almost 25 years.DeLong was charged with battery, and his son with juvenile battery, by Tfc. Charlene Jenkins of the Westminster barracks of the state police on Friday.The misdemeanor charge, which, under Maryland law, carries no minimum or maximum penalties, stemmed from a Nov. 13 argument between DeLong and his son over car keys, court records show.

A fourth Long Reach High School student has been expelled in connection with a violent campus attack in October that left a 12th-grader with a fractured jaw, a school official said yesterday.The expelled student, whose name was not released because of his age, is a 14-year-old ninth-grader who was initially suspended Nov. 5, said Patti Caplan, a Howard County school spokeswoman. He was expelled 12 days later and charged with second-degree assault, she said.Although as many as seven boys were accused of beating and kicking Kenny Magan, 17, in a school hallway, it seems unlikely that more students will be punished in the incident, Caplan said.

Stop tolerating school disruptions When a student physically attacks a teacher and his or her immediate administrator blames the teacher for the assault, saying that the teacher used a target word or facial expression to provoke the assault by a student, everyone in the community should be appalled ("Attack highlights 'chronic problem,'" April 13). When school safety "experts" say that teachers need to be taught how to deal with these situations, the community should be outraged. A teacher's job is to impart knowledge, not to police the actions of unruly, disrespectful, violent students.

Leniency limits chance for learning In recent weeks, I've seen many stories about teachers who have either been the victim of or been plotted against by students ("Attack on city teacher highlights training gaps," April 11). And indeed, it is becoming routine for teachers to break up fights and assault situations either in school hallways or even right in the middle of their own classrooms. Almost every teacher has had the experience of being cursed at by his or her students. Unfortunately, these students seem to face few consequences for such behaviors.