2003-04 Annual Report - Harford County Public Schools

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• William M. “Bill” Ekey, principal at C. Milton Wright High School, was named the Maryland Student Service Alliance (MSSA) Service-Learning Principal of the Year for the 2003-04 school year. Mr. Ekey was recognized at a reception held at the US Naval Academy on April 22nd where he was the featured speaker. He received the award based on his advocacy for and support of student service learning in a variety of projects. • David R. Galbreath, North Harford High School senior two-sport, All-County performer, was awarded one of the state’s five regional $1,500 scholarships by the Greater Baltimore Chapter National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. Mr. Galbreath, who ranks second his his class of 331, was a two-time All County football player. He received the East Region award from the prestigious program. • Joel Leff, Aberdeen High School math teacher, was among 110 educators nationwide to receive a $3,000 cash award from RadioShack Corporation in its National Teacher Award program. The 25-year algebra, advanced algebra, and pre-calculus teacher received the award based on demonstrated commitment to academic excellence in mathematics, science or technology. • Aaron Nuzman, a 2003-04 senior at Aberdeen High School, was the only college-bound student in Maryland and one of just 38 in the United States to achieve a perfect 36, the highest possible composite score, on the December 2003 national test administration of the ACT Assessment. About 2,000 Maryland students and more than 332,000 from across the nation completed the ACT college entrance exam on December 13, 2003. • C. Milton Wright High School’s Dance Team scored a top five in Jazz and a top ten in Pom in the National Dance Association’s elite competition in Orlando, Florida in March. The team completed an outstanding season by earning the trip to the national competition against many of the top high school teams in the country and justified its invitation by the outstanding performances. • Joan M. Hayden, a 26-year veteran teacher — the last ten spent as Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Bel Air High School — was named the 2004-05 Harford County Public School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Hayden, among the ten finalists for the award chosen by a group of 15 teachers/administrators/students/community leaders, was recognized at the tenth annual HCPS Teacher of the Year banquet held at the Bayou Restaurant on April 22nd. She teaches child development classes involving upper level high school students and three-and-four-year-olds in the ‘Lil Bobcat’ program. achieved by HCPS • Fallston High School’s Envirothon team won the 13th annual Envirothon tournament held at the 4-H Camp in the Rocks State Park on April 28th. The five-member Fallston team topped 14 other groups representing nine of the Harford County Public high schools and two non-public schools in the contest which has students solve real-life environmental problems. Under the leadership of Environmental Science teacher Tom Trafton, Fallston High teams have won four county titles and finished second three times in the 13 years of the local event; twice winning state championships; and once finishing as the National Envirothon runners-up. The local all-underclass student team finished sixth out of 19 teams in the State Envirothon held on June 22-24 at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg (Carroll County). Members of the team included Ranjit Korah, Barry Wright, Ben Amos, Rob Roemer, and Steve Roetger. BALL BACK - Lt. Vincent Jackson, accompanied by his wife, Lt. Nicole Jackson, returned the volleyball Bel Air High School JV girls volleyball players had sent to Iraq with their signatures and well wishes on it. Lt. Jackson had received the ball in November while on duty near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Gabby Long, left, and Meghan McDonald, Bobcat captains, receive the ball while Coach Chris Mcdonough, right, looks on with other members of the team. NDA COMPETITION - C. Milton Wright’s Dance team enjoys the atmosphere at Disney World in Orlando, Florida during its recent successful competition at the National Dance Association championships. Members of the team, included, from left, first row, Ashley Battersby, Ann Markey, Liz Gullett, Amy Arseneau, and Aimee Voshell (coach); second row, Rachel Favazza, Kim Warrington, Sarah Gasper, Lauren Blazeck, Valierie Ruzin, Raquel Pickens, Sara Galligan, Kara Mahan, and Lauren Brennan; third row, Shana Rsismanakis (assistant coach), Natalie Green, Brittney Borowy, Brynn Shanahan, Justine Ball, and Jessica Robinson. • Eleven Harford County public and non-public high school junior females were named winners of the annual Judith Resnik Math/Science awards during a ceremony held at Harford Community College on April 17th. The 18th annual event, begun after Dr. Resnik, a graduate of the University of Maryland, perished along with other astronauts in the 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, honors those junior girls who show the greatest ability, aptitude, and interest in science/math among their counterparts at their school. Honored were: Emily Keller of Aberdeen High, Michelle Houck of Bel Air High, Anita Sahu of C. Milton Wright High, Kelly Lange of Edgewood High, Kathleen Bradley of Fallston High, Jennifer Abernathy of Harford Technical High, Sarah Elizabeth Ashby of Havre de Grace High, Aisha N. Turner of John Carroll School, Kimberly Shurupoff of Joppatowne High, and Nicole Glos of North Harford High. The event is sponsored by the Harford Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). • Harford Technical High School won 12 first place awards in the annual Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) competition held at the Maritime Institute in Baltimore in late March. Harford Tech took all five of the places in both Medical Math and Medical Terminology divisions while competing against schools with similar programs and some which specialize in health occupations. • Lee Squillacioti, a 16-year-old junior at C. Milton Wright High School, had his musical composition — ‘Dance Suite’ — played by the CMWHS 11th/12th grade orchestras during a special world premier held at the school on May 17th. Young Squillacioti’s composition is the first to have been performed publicly during the 28 years that Sheldon Bair has been orchestra director at the school. • A group of 85 North Harford Middle School students, under the direction of ILA teacher Jane B. Travis, began the ‘Traveling Company’ during the 2003-04 school year. The program has them go to area elementary and middle schools doing dramatizations of situations with which teens and pre-teens sometimes find themselves confronted. Topics covered range from bullying to drugs to relationships and much more. The group is open for bookings by calling the school at 410-638-3658. • Harford County Public School Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas was named President of the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland (PSSAM) for the 2004-05 school year. In that capacity, Mrs. Haas is leading the group of 24 Maryland superintendents in its advocacy role for public school students and staff in the state. Mrs. Haas, in her seventh year as Harford Superintendent, has held several other leadership roles in the organization. • On May 24th, students and staff at Church Creek Elementary School in Belcamp played host to ten children and their chaperones from the Cass Lake/Benne School which serves students on and around the vast Leech Lake Ojibwa nation Indian reservation in northern Minnesota. The Cass Lake/Benne School second graders in Roxanne Wimme’s class had become pen pals with Church Creek second graders in Debbie Robinson’s class and, after one of Mrs. Robinson’s students had invited her Minnesota pen pal to attend the local girl’s birthday party, a fundraiser was successful in accumulating more than $6,100 to finance the trip which had the Minnesota children travel 29-hours on a bus to Harford County. While in the area, the Leech Lake children toured Annapolis, Washington, D.C. and dipped their “toes in the Ocean” fulfilling a dream for the youngsters, most of whom having never been off the reservation to that point. • Carol Dawson, Edgewood Elementary School nurse, was named the 2003-04 Harford County Public School Nurse of the Year by the Harford Schools Health Services Association. Mrs. Dawson, a 16-year veteran school nurse in three HCPS schools, had been nurse for ten years at Edgewood Elementary School leading up to her honor as Nurse of the Year. She was scheduled to retire at the end of the 2003-04 school year. • Ring Factory Elementary School’s Destination Imagination Cartoon Dimensions team finished second in the Global Tournament held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on May 26 through 29. The Ring Factory DI team, coach by Eileen Gunther and Pam Lucchese, competed against about 70 teams from all over the US as well as South Korea, South Africa, and China. The team was composed of Gina Lucchese, Kelley Gunther, Kathie Gunther, Cameron Wann, Ben Coordes, Ryan Selvy, and Cathy Smith; and was one of six Harford Public School teams to have qualified for and competed in the annual tournament for the creative problemsolving contest. • North Harford High School graduates Angela Haley (Class of 2000) and Harmony Ann Mack Evans (Class of 1996) achieved historic status during their graduations from Washington College (Chestertown, Maryland) and Towson University, respectively, in May 2004. Miss Haley was named the 2004 winner of the Sophie Kerr Prize, a national literary award which provided her with the $56,169 cash prize. Meanwhile, Mrs. Evans was awarded a doctorate in Audiology, ranking as the first ever recipient of a doctoral degree in the 139-year history of the Baltimore-area university. • Four Harford County Public Schools — Havre de Grace High and Middle schools; Churchville Elementary and William S. James Elementary schools — received recognition from the American Lung Association of Maryland for their efforts in providing high indoor air quality. The awards, presented during a May 18th ceremony, noted the extraordinary success of the four schools in utilizing the Lung Association’s Tools for Schools (TfS) program with each school netting a $400 award. A total of 14 HCPS schools were nominated for the awards and the ten which did not receive the top awards were also recognized during the ceremony which noted the local school system’s leadership role in indoor school air quality among school system’s in the state. • Fallston Middle School’s CyberFair team won an Honorable Mention in the 2004 national on-line contest. The International Schools CyberFair is an award-winning, authentic learning program used by schools and youth organizations around the world. The FMS team received its recognition in the local specialties category entitled: “Fallston: Sports and Agriculture.” QUILT CREATORS - Members of Bel Air Elementary fourth grade teacher Shannon O’Connor’s 2003-04 class learned lessons about all but two states in the union as part of their participation in the ‘USA Quilt Project.’ The youngsters created 49 squares depicting Maryland and received similar displays from 48 states in addition to the District of Columbia. Among those involved in the project were, from left, first row: Alec Hildebeidel, Justin Bittner, Tyler Horton, Joe Nosek, Josh Addicks, Ryan Tritsch, Patrick Starks, Tyler Cooper, Blake Paulson, Zachary Dandy; second row: Brittany Pitzer, Karley Bridges, Mrs. Pat Volrath (Mentor Teacher), Beril Ural, Valerie Wagener, Krystan Von Haack, Joy Lawrence, Eileen Kuester, Samantha Bowen, Ali Favaro, Leeanne Fitch, Iga Kozakiewicz, Mrs. Shannon O’Connor (Teacher); back: Jordy Testerman, Vaughn Clark.
Youngsters get paid to be safe at Copley Kids What if there was a safe, nurturing place for young people – elementary school through high school – to go after school and receive help with their homework, tutoring, snacks, friendship, exercise, and love? And, what if that place was free – or, better still, what if the young people got paid a small amount for showing up and being responsible? Well, not only is there such a place, but it’s been in operation for a decade and continues providing an essential service for between 30 and 35 young people in the Joppatowne area three days a week – Tuesdays through Thursdays. It’s the Copley Kids program, founded and run by the husband and wife team of Josh and Barbara Barmer. It operates in several rooms of the Copley Parish at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection on Rumsey Island in the southeastern Harford planned community. The program is funded through a series of grants. “We saw a need in the community to provide a safe place for young people to come after school,” said Mrs. Barmer, a 29-year Language Arts teacher at Magnolia Middle School and 1999 Harford Teacher of the Year Finalist. “Those hours of three until six are critical, especially since we have so many families where both parents work and many of the kids go home to an empty house.” The veteran teacher said the effort had been intended for secondary students, but so many of the older young people babysit for younger siblings that it was quickly opened to students of all ages – not only for the schools in the Joppatowne area, but for students of any school in the county. Most stop off at the Copley location on their walk home from school, but some are dropped off by their parents or picked up and brought to the center by volunteers. “Our focus is on education,” said Mrs. Barmer. “The first priority is their homework – they must get that done before they can do anything else.” Mr. Barmer, who retired two years ago after a long career as an instructional assistant in the Joppatowne-area schools, said Copley Kids is a labor of love for him and Mrs. Barmer as well as for the many longtime volunteers who assist in the effort. “We wanted to provide them with a place they could be safe in a nourishing environment where they could pursue positive interests,” said Mr. Barmer, noting students can use a fully networked set of computers, play video games, participate in board games, or go outside in the church yard on good weather days to run off some steam. “We provide some light tutoring and they always get a nourishing snack and something to drink.” When it came time to check out a library book, then seven-yearold Haley Kane had no interest. It’s not that the Meadowvale Elementary 2003-04 first grader didn’t like to read or wasn’t motivated to learn. Hers was a far more basic problem – she couldn’t see the print in a normal book. Born with albinism, a condition that often prevents the cones of eyes to develop rendering those impacted with the equivalent of being perpetually snow-blinded, Haley can see shapes, sizes, and colors; but could discern only extremely large letters. That’s where the Harford County Public School System and the combined Lions Clubs of Harford County came in. Earlier last school year, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system was purchased by the school system to allow Haley the ability to read books and other material in school. Capable of magnifying objects by up to 65 times, the CCTV apparatus allowed the precocious youngster to unravel the mysteries of the printed word and develop her reading to the point she devours book after book. Working with classroom teacher Kimberly Jones and HCPS teacher of the visually impaired Beverly Benke, Haley uses cumbersome portable magnifiers to enable her to see printed material in her classroom or at home. She comes to the Meadowvale library where school media specialist Kathy Wheeler helps her use the CCTV, which projects the pages of books or other material in color on a 17” monitor, magnified many times. With her appetite for reading whetted, the school and Haley’s parents Christina and Mark Kane searched for a way to extend the new-found freedom to her home. But, with a retail price tag of well over $3,500, none of it covered by insurance, it seemed the little girl’s reading would be limited to in-school sessions. “I’d retype material on our home computer and enlarge it to a 72 point font and print it out for Haley to read,” said Mrs. Kane, a Cecil County 911 dispatcher and volunteer with the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps. “That was difficult and pictures or other graphics weren’t possible (to reproduce in an enlarged format).” That’s when Ms. Wheeler and others at the school, knowing the Lions Clubs’ interest in helping those with visual or auditory impairments, arranged a meeting with representatives from four Harford Lions Clubs. (Cover Page Story) CCTV unit ‘liberates’ Haley Kane CELEBRATION - Members of the combined Lions Clubs of Harford County, the Meadowvale Elementary School community, and the Kane family took part in a celebration at the school last April 20, noting the gift by the Lions of a CCTV system similar to the one shown to be used at home by Haley Kane, third from left. COMPUTERS - Brianna Carre, 11-year-old Magnolia Middle School sixth grader, enjoys a session on one of the bank of computers available to Copley Kids. He said, as an incentive, the youngsters get a dollar a day or $3 a week if they attend and take part in a positive way. Dedicated volunteers such as Stu Lyons of the local Lions Club and Church of the Resurrection Pastor Al Laveroni along with his wife Jean Laveroni, a language arts teacher at Fallston Middle School, help provide structure for the youngsters. Peg Wilson, program assistant, and Jim Rice, program coordinator, along with Mr. Barmer, the director of Copley Kids, are the only paid employees – though Mr. Barmer receives only a relatively small stipend. Funding comes from the Gap Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese, United Way, and, in the past, from Kaiser-Permanente; as well as in kind contributions from companies such as Lazer Fil, which provides printer services, and one of Josh and Barbara’s five sons, Anthony Barmer, who supports the program through his barber shop. The program runs from the second week of October through the end of May. “We’re always getting calls (at the beginning of the school year) asking when we are going to open,” said Mrs. Barmer, noting that the joy she and others receive from seeing the good done by the program outweighs the burden of time and effort it takes to keep it going. This year, for the first time, Scott Jones, assistant director of the Maryland Conservatory in Bel Air, will be coming to the Copley Kids sessions, setting up a percussion ensemble. The effort also gets great support from area principals, especially Joe Mascari at Magnolia Middle School who often visits to connect with his students and others taking part. Neither Mr. Barmer nor Mrs. Barmer want to think about a time when Copley Kids is not available for the youngsters in the neighborhood. Over the ten years it has been in existence, some 680 children have come through the doors of the Copley Kids program representing 28 schools. “This little girl won the hearts of 60 people with her personality and her love of learning,” said Senora Haywood, president of the Aberdeen Lions Club, during a celebration held in the Meadowvale Media Center last April 20th. “We knew then that we wanted to make it possible for her to experience that joy of reading in her home.” So it was that Fred Guenthner of the Churchville Lions, Tom Baine of the Aberdeen Lions (and District Vice Governor of the 35-club District 22A), and Harold Boccia of the Bel Air Lions led the charge to have the Lions Clubs foot the bill for the home CCTV unit. And, Mr. Boccia, past president of the Bel Air Lions and president of the Chesapeake Low Vision firm, took it upon himself to get the Lions a break on the price of the unit. Mr. Boccia volunteered to come to the Kane home, set up the unit, and help the family learn ways to maximize its use. “It’s absolutely liberating – the freedom to be able to read that this gives Haley is something that goes beyond words,” said Mrs. Kane, tears welling in her eyes. “On library day, when other kids were checking out books to bring home to read, Haley wouldn’t check out any – now she’s bringing home books all the time and reading them on her own.” Meadowvale Principal David Denton, who took part in the hour-long celebration at the school, said he was personally touched by the Lions’ effort. “To see the community working with the school to make this possible out of the kindness of their hearts is just overwhelming,” said Dr. Denton. Funded through the annual Christmas tree and fruit sales – along with other fundraisers – the Lions also provide scholarships and a number of other services to the community. Mrs. Haywood, an assistant principal at Havre de Grace High School, said the Lions are the largest service organization in the world. There are ten active Lions Clubs in Harford County, he said. Mr. Baine, a former teacher at Aberdeen High School and current Lions 22A District Governor, said the joy on the face of children like Haley when they are able to see printed material for the first time makes all the hard work in raising funds worthwhile. Haley has two older sisters, Brittney and Caitlin, students at Havre de Grace Middle and Meadowvale Elementary, respectively, who were 13 and nine, respectively last year.
Page 1 and 2: Harford County Public Schools 2003-
Page 3 and 4: The Harford County Public Schools s
Page 5 and 6: Harford shows significant progress
Page 7: • Harford County Public School’
Page 11 and 12: AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR - Dwayne ‘Bu
Page 13 and 14: HCPS Educator Hall of Fame Class of
Page 15 and 16: ‘Ginny’ Hinckley is 2004 Math T
Page 17 and 18: CMW’s Rabe is named national awar
Page 19 and 20: Advertisement Joan McVeigh Hayden
Page 21 and 22: Advertisement Planning was complete
Page 23: Being the only two people to help t

2003-04 Annual Report - Harford County Public Schools

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