Release Date: 2/3/2012

Contact: Charles Herndon, 410.887.6111

Saturday, February 4

Baltimore County Public Schools’ All-Honors Jazz Ensemble to play at Walters Art Museum

The annual Baltimore County High School Honors Jazz Concert will be held at the Walters Art Museum at 7:30 p.m. The performance will highlight more than 35 high school students selected from an audition process to perform in a county-wide honors ensemble. Conductors include James McFalls of Towson University and Ira Shankman of New York University. Admission is free, and tickets are not required. The museum is located at 600 N. Charles Street in Baltimore.

Contact: Karl Stewart, Office of Music, 410.887.4024

Monday, February 6

Sen. J.B. Jennings to give citations to Chase Elementary School fifth-graders

Sen. J.B. Jennings will visit Chase Elementary School at 10:00 a.m. to visit Grade 5 students who participated in a “Good Citizen Essay Contest” sponsored by his office. Sen. Jennings will present all of the participants with individual letters of commendation that include quotes from their essays.One student, who won a grand prize for the district, will receive a citation by the senator on the Senate floor in Annapolis in March. The school is located at 11701 Eastern Avenue in Chase.

Contact: Douglas Elmendorf, Chase Elementary School, 410.887.5940

BCPS Honors Dance Ensemble to perform at Shady Spring Elementary School

The BCPS Honors Dance Ensemble will perform at Shady Spring Elementary School at 10:00 a.m. The ensemble was invited to perform at Shady Spring’s Achievement Assembly, which recognizes students who reach benchmarks of achievement. The ensemble’s half-hour performance will include a ballet, a modern dance, senior solos, and a "flash mob" dance with the audience. The school is located at 8868 Goldenwood Road in Rosedale.

Contact: Suzanne Henneman, Office of Dance Education, 410.887.4014

Riverview Elementary School hosts Family Reading Night and Scholastic Book Fair

As part of its Scholastic Book Fair running through Friday, February 10, Riverview Elementary School will host both a Family Shopping Night from 3:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.and a Reading Night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Reading Night activities will include crafts, readers, and computer activities, and Riverview families can view student-created door decorations and receive materials from both county school and library offices. Refreshments will be served, and books and prizes will be awarded during the event. The school is located at 3298 Kessler Road in Lansdowne.

Contact: MaryBeth Padden or Ellen Stein, Riverview Elementary School, 410.887.1428

Tuesday, February 7

Red House Run Elementary School welcomes award-winning author

Red House Run Elementary School will feature author Mary Jo Amani at our school’s annual Reading Night from 5:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. She also will be at Red House Run during the day to visit classrooms. Amani will read her award-winning children’s book, Excuse Me, I’m Trying to Read, and share the work she does to promote community lending libraries in small villages and towns in Mozambique, Africa.For many years, Amani has worked overseas in Central America and Africa promoting reading programs and lending libraries.She is an enthusiastic speaker who shares her cultural experiences living and working in other countries as well as stories about her life as a reader and writer. The school is located at 1717 Weyburn Road.

Contact: Mary Ellen Castle, Red House Run Elementary School, 410.887.0506

Regional History Bee Competition to be held at Windsor Mill Middle School

The Regional Middle School History Bee Competition will be held at Windsor Mill Middle School, 8300 Windsor Mill Road in Randallstown, starting at 5:00 p.m. The first round of the competition took place at the school in December, when students took an 80-question test. Students from Windsor Mill Middle will compete against students from Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Delaware. The winner of the regional competition will compete in the National Middle School History Bee in Washington, D.C., April 21-22, 2012, for a chance to win a $50,000 scholarship. The championship will be telecast on the History Channel.

Contact: Gerald Oehler, Windsor Mill Elementary School, 410.887.0618

Carney Elementary School hosts Family Fun Night

Carney Elementary School will host a Family Fun Night from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The school will welcome the BCPS ParentMobile during this event and will feature math and movement activities, everyday health and nutrition, recycled art, math programs in the computer labs, and make-and-take activities with help from the BCPS resource center. The school is located at 3131 E. Joppa Road in Carney.

Contact: Stacey Durkovic, Carney Elementary School, 410.887.5528

Elmwood Elementary School takes a virtual field trip to the Walters Art Museum

Grade 4 students at Elmwood Elementary School, 531 Dale Avenue in Fullerton, will take a virtual field trip via webcast to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, including a question-and-answer session about the museum’s medieval art collection. As a result of the field trip, students will create panels inspired by medieval art that show images of their personal values. The field trip will take place in the school’s gymnasium between 11:25 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

Contact: Pat Quinn or Cara Liggett, Elmwood Elementary School, 410-887-5232

Thursday, February 9

Parkville High School will hold science fair

Parkville High School and Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Scienceswill hold its annual science fair from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. About 150 students from various science classes will exhibit their science fair projects, and projects will be on display from the following science classes: GT Biology, GT Physics, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, AP Biology, and Anatomy & Physiology. Parkville High School is located at 2600 Putty Hill Avenue in Parkville.

Contact: Alexandra K. Newman, Parkville High School, 410.887.5257

Dumbarton Middle School features play Heading For The Hills

DMS Pride Productions of Dumbarton Middle School will feature Headin’ for the Hills, a production that centers on two feuding hillbilly families, two people caught between romance and ambition, and a girl who can’t stop telling bad jokes. There will be two performances of Headin’ for the Hills on Thursday, February 9, and Friday, February 10, both at 7:00 p.m. in the Dumbarton Middle School auditorium at 300 Dumbarton Road in Rodgers Forge. Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door.

Contact: Eric Adams, Dumbarton Middle School, 410.887.3176

Reading Achievement Celebrated at Red House Run Elementary School

Students who have excelled in reading in Grades 3-5 are invited to “Cookies for Cool Readers” at Red House Run Elementary School, 1717 Weyburn Road in Rosedale. This event takes place at 2:30 p.m. when honorees will have punch and cookies with the principal, Drue Whitney, and the assistant principal, Stefanie Fogleman. Ms. Whitney also will read one of her favorite books to the students.

Contact: Mary Ellen Castle or Drue Whitney, Red House Run Elementary School, 410.887.0506

Friday, February 10

Sportscaster Shawn Madden to speak at Victory Villa Elementary School

Victory Villa Elementary School will hold its quarterly Principal’s Breakfast in the cafeteria from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.Students who receive high marks on their reports cards are invited to the Principal’s Breakfast. Sportscaster Shawn Madden of WJZ-TV will be the guest speaker. The school is located at 500 Compass Road in Essex.

Contact: Jen Dugan, Victory Villa Elementary School, 410.887.0184

Ongoing!

Pine Grove Middle hosts “Jeans Drive”

Pine Grove Middle School is hosting a “Jeans Drive” through Friday, February 10. Gently-used jeans collected at the school will be turned in at a local Aeropostale store and donated to the homeless or in-need families. A school that donates the most pairs of jeans in the store’s competition will win $5,000 for the school, as well as a new pair of jeans for every student. The school is located at 9200 Old Harford Road in Carney.

Contact: John Ward, Pine Grove Middle School, 410.887.5270

Catonsville Elementary School striving to go green

Catonsville Elementary School, 615 Frederick Road in Catonsville, is working towards qualifying to become a Maryland Green School. As part of that process, students and staff are looking for ways to better their environment by reducing carbon emissions. On every second Wednesday of the month throughout the school year, the school will observe a “Walk, Bike Ride, Carpool or Take the Bus to School Day” in which students will look for green ways to get to and from school.

Contact: Nancy Henderson or Linda Miller, Catonsville Elementary School, 410.887.0800

Sew much learning going on at Winand Elementary School

Students at Winand Elementary School are learning the art of sewing as part of a club at the school called the Sew Fun Sewing Club. In the club, students learn how to use a sewing machine and crafts creation, all on the way to eventually having the skills to make their own clothing. (Club members recently finished making an alphabet letter throw pillow.) Currently, students are creating personal aprons to be followed by a new project to be donated to the House of Ruth and a homeless shelter. The school is located at 8301 Scotts Level Road in Randallstown.

Contact: Margaret Garland, sewfabulousss@yahoo.com, or Meghan Covert, Winand Elementary School, 410.887.0763

Club at Patapsco High teaches students, staff to create apps for mobile devices

Shawn and Stephanie Grimes, owners of Shawn’s Bits and Campfire Apps and 1998 graduates of Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts, return to the school each Monday afternoon to lead a new club they founded. The group, which is teaching students and teachers how to create application programs (called “apps”) for mobile devices, began meeting in late October. Patapsco High is located at 8100 Wise Avenue in Dundalk.

Contact: Liberty Grayek, Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts, 410.887.7060 ext. 256

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