Release Date: 3/4/2010 Contact: Charles Herndon, 410-887-6111

Maryland engineering association honors BCPS for virtual learning environment at Chesapeake High

TOWSON, MD. - The Board of Education of Baltimore County, at its March 9 meeting, will recognize the Baltimore County Public Schools Department of Physical Facilities, led by Executive Director Michael G. Sines, and Department of Technology, led by Chief Information Officer Michael Goodhues, for earning a 2010 Outstanding Project Award in Building/Technology Systems from the American Council of Engineering Companies/Maryland.

Baltimore County Public Schools won this award, along with design consultant URS Corporation of Hunt Valley, at an American Council of Engineering Companies/Maryland award ceremony held on February 18 at the Engineers Club in Baltimore.

The virtual learning environment, which has been hailed as the first of its kind in the nation, opened at Chesapeake High School in August 2009. The facility has garnered national attention from Education Week, the International Society for Technology in Education, National Public Radio, CNBC, eSchool News, and all local media.

The virtual learning environment is the result of a far-reaching partnership Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston initiated with major defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, the University of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, and private software companies such as Breakaway Games and TrainingPort Strategies. After bringing these organizations together to investigate ways to employ cutting-edge technologies for the benefit of BCPS students, the virtual learning environment, modeled after the virtual ARENA (Augmented Reality Environment) at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, was selected as the partnership's first major project.

ACEC/MD, with headquarters in Baltimore, is a nonprofit association of more than 80 multi-sized consulting engineering firms located throughout the state. Member firms employ approximately 6,000 employees and are responsible for the design of most of the area's infrastructure, environmental and building construction. The organization is affiliated with the American Council of Engineering Companies, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Visit the BCPS News Archive to explore more BCPS news!