Teacher Wins National Award for Top-Level Teaching

Eighth-grade math and science teacher Megan Bovill (The Crossroads School) goes to work each day with one goal in mind: to keep students active and engaged. Her efforts just landed her the Sontag Prize in Urban Education, a national award for innovative teaching.

The award gives priority to Boston-area teachers but also selects educators nationwide. Bovill, who integrates best practices in education into her daily teaching, will join other award-winners in April for a week of teaching math to students in Boston Public Schools. Her lessons will be videotaped and become part of an archive of exceptional teaching housed at Boston Public Schools. “I’m really excited to see other teachers and their different teaching styles,” Bovill says. “These teachers come from everywhere, and we’ll get to share strategies with each other.”

At The Crossroads School, Bovill fosters community among students, connects math to other subjects, creates a culture of achievement and tailors lessons to different learning styles. “But the main thing I do is make sure they’re always active in their learning,” Bovill explains.

Stay tuned for a story about Bovill’s teaching and an up-close look at her classroom.

Sixth Grader Blogs About the Importance of Mentors

Ta’Shawn Miles, a 6th grader at Collington Square Elementary/Middle School, talks through problems, works on homework and chats about everyday events with his mentors at Baltimore Higher Achievement. Read his recent blog post on Audacious Ideas, a publication of Open Society Institute-Baltimore, and find out why every child deserves an adult mentor. Also read about his trip to meet President Barack Obama and the first lady.

Staff Members Take the Plunge—and Raise Thousands for Special Olympics Maryland 

Click here for a photo gallery of the event.
Photos by Chip Dizárd

Cold temperatures didn’t stop brave staff members from dipping in the Chesapeake Bay. On Jan. 30, during a snowstorm bringing five inches to the Baltimore area, employees from Lakeland Elementary/Middle School and the Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) Office of Special Education put on their swimsuits, walked barefoot across the beach and charged into the waters at Sandy Point State Park. The event, known as the 2010 Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge, brought together thousands of people across Maryland to raise money for Special Olympics Maryland.

Says Jacqueline Fonseca, a secretary and community liaison at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, whose 19 plungers raised $3,000 for the event: “It was truly the most awesome experience of my life—first was the rush of the cold weather, second was the reason we were there. We wanted to give back.”

Executive Director of the Office of Special Education Kim Lewis didn’t just plunge once. She signed up as one of only 63 “super plungers” and took 24 dips in 24 hours. “It was a joy, it was terrifying and it was every emotion rolled into one,” Lewis says. “I stood out there in the dark with snow falling from the sky and the beach icing over, and I knew people driving across the bridge wondered what on earth we were doing.”

But the super plungers knew. Together, they raised more than $500,000 dollars, with Lewis bringing in pledges of close to $10,000. The pledges continue to come in.

“I’m glad I did it,” Lewis shares. “It was a big physical and mental challenge, but the support from the City Schools community was amazing. We have 2000 student athletes in Special Olympics Maryland and many national and world champions. They’re very talented kids.” And worth the effort.

GATE Teachers and Students Honored at State Event

At an evening reception in Annapolis on Feb. 24, the Maryland State Department of Education honored outstanding teachers and students in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programs across the state. A number of educators and students from Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) received honors, including: Dominic Thomas, Dominique Douglas, Jasmin Johnson and Hopal Melbourne (seniors at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School), Sandy Mason (instructor and GATE program manager at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School), Mary Stryjewski (GATE program manager at Francis Scott Key Elementary School), Nathan Burns (former GATE specialist and current assistant principal at Baltimore City College High School), Rita Mullally (assistant principal at Patapsco Elementary/Middle School), Dolores Costello (member of the City Schools GATE Advisory Council and coordinator of the Ingenuity Project) and Mary Cay Ricci (consultant and GATE programs trainer).

"The educators being recognized are risk-takers—and they are confident, flexible and trained in gifted education," says Bertha Knight, director of enrichment programs for City Schools. "They think out of the box and see each student as having a gift." 


Click here for the press release from the Maryland State Department of Education about the Feb. 24 event. And stay tuned for more news and stories about City Schools GATE programs. 

Students Give Back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Students from all parts of the city spent their day off making cards for soldiers, creating toiletry kits for kids in foster care and learning how to conserve energy. Watch as they talk about their motivation: Martin Luther King Jr. Click here for the video.

Volunteers from Target Refashion School for Students

On Jan. 18, while thousands of students watched the Martin Luther King Jr. parade from street curbs and partook in City Schools’ day of service, 74 volunteers from Target—donning the recognizable red t-shirt—held their own day of service at the Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship. In just four hours, they painted classrooms and lockers, installed shelving, hung curtains and set out new library furniture. They also refashioned the dance room with lavender paint, a wall of mirrors and artwork befitting of the dance theme. For the school’s food bank, they donated—and arranged on new shelving—three truckloads of food worth approximately $3000.

Made possible by the Target Community Grant, which awarded $29,000 to IBE, the day of service marks the first in a series of school improvements. Though students weren’t around to help, they spent time the previous week preparing school spaces for painting, unloading food for the bank and picking out color schemes and furniture with Assistant Principal Michele Stokes-Sterling. Having a say in the decorative scheme, Community School Coordinator Will Smith says, meant a lot to students. “These improvements helped the kids feel more comfortable and at home on the new campus,” Smith explains. “They feel a sense of ownership now—a sense that this is their school.”  

Boston Squash Trip a Hit with Students

Back from a national squash championship in Boston, students from Booker T. Washington Middle School and Civitas Middle/High School brought home stories, photos and more from their northern adventure. "They played well and learned a ton about competitive squash," says Abby Markoe, executive director of SquashWise, the organization that took 13 students to the National Urban Squash Team Championships (Jan. 16-18), where they competed against students from eight urban squash leagues. But they didn't just play squash. "We toured Harvard University, attended a presentation by an admissions representative at Northeastern University, had a swim party at the hotel and walked around Cambridge and Boston," Markoe says, adding: "Our students are more motivated than ever to participate in SquashWise and to improve as scholar-athletes."

Click here for a photo gallery of the trip and here for an earlier story about SquashWise.    

Silent Auction of Student Art to Benefit Schools

Students from George Washington Elementary School and Diggs-Johnson Middle School are busy this week putting finishing touches on acrylic paintings, collages, Conté crayon drawings and other art. This Friday, Jan. 29, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., they will exhibit and sell their pieces in a silent art auction at the Weise Gallery in the Health Sciences and Human Services Library at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Proceeds go back to the schools, and the exhibit stays up through Feb. 19.

Sponsored by the UMB Outreach Council, the exhibit, known as the 2nd Annual Community Partner Art Expo, features the work of pre-K through 8th-grade students. All artwork is matted and framed. Click here for the flier. 

Students March on Washington for Anti-Violence

Twenty-some students from Frederick Douglass High School head to Washington, D.C., this Friday to learn about the 1963 March on Washington and the role of young people in the civil rights movement. The day includes its own march on Washington—this one against violence, too—and it launches a semester-long service initiative by a program for at-risk youth that encourages education over a potential life of crime. Known as Pen or Pencil (“pen” for penitentiary and “pencil” for education), the national program partners youth in grades 5 through 12 with mentors who help them find academic and life success.

Check back for stories from students on their way to Washington. 

Pen or Pencil is an initiative of City Schools' "Education That is Multicultural" (ETM) program.

New York Times Highlights City Schools Teacher

David Donaldson, a member of Teach for America, started teaching English last year at Maryland Academy of Technology and Health Sciences. The New York Times made a slide show of his class.

Sinclair Lane Students Design Holiday Card

They started with bits of multi-colored paper pieced together to create a winter scene. Then, with help from art teacher Christina Bole, these kindergarteners and 1st graders at Sinclair Lane Elementary School—Kiya Collins, Brian Griffin, Destiny Harris, Brandon Parks, General Rodriguez and Russell Young—used computer software to combine their scenes into one. The result is a winter wonderland with a snowmen, blue skies and evergreens. And it serves as this year's holiday card from City Schools CEO Andrés Alonso and Board Chair Neil Duke. Click here to see the card.

Students Model Caretaking of the Environment 

While the world focuses on global climate change, 7th graders at Patterson Park Public Charter School will raise awareness about caring for their neighborhood and recycling. The school’s environmental service day, held on Dec. 15, serves as the culminating activity for a 12-week civic leadership program known as Operation AWARE, for which students identified problems in the environment—homelessness, abandoned houses, trash and limited recycling—and developed an action plan to help out. The event kicks off in the school cafeteria at 8 a.m., after which students take to the neighborhood to pick up trash and separate recyclable goods, hoping to motivate residents and classmates to do the same.

Operations AWARE is sponsored by Students Sharing Coalition, a local non-profit service-learning agency that fosters life-long community involvement and civic responsibility.     

Gwynns Falls Receives $50,000 Grant for After-School Program

Students need a safe place to go in the afternoon. Gwynns Falls Elementary School knows this—and just received a $50,000 grant for an after-school program. Awarded by the Goldseker Foundation, the grant comes after months of planning and preparation. “We’ve been working on the application since August,” says Gwynns Falls Principal Hartavia Johnson, whose school was selected by the Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council to partner in the application process. “We know how important after-school care is for our families, and we’re thrilled to provide it after two years of not having a program.”

Starting in mid-January, Gwynns Falls will offer after-school care—at no cost to families—from 3 to 6 p.m. Students will receive tutoring and participate in cultural events and outings. Sponsored by Child First Authority, the program “provides structure, helps prepare kids for the MSAs and keeps kids off the streets in a safe, positive learning environment,” says Johnson, adding: “If our school has a good after-school program, that has an impact on whether a family decides to move our neighborhood.” This is a step in the right direction.  

Legg Mason Presents School Community Spirit Awards 

Students and staff from three schools gathered at Federal Hill Preparatory Academy on Nov. 19 for an awards ceremony sponsored by Legg Mason Global Asset Management. The ceremony honored the three schools that showed the most school community spirit during the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon on Oct. 16. A first-place prize of $2,500 went to Federal Hill Preparatory Academy; a second-place prize of $1,500 to Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School; and a third-place prize of $1,000 to Patterson Park Charter School. Says Legg Mason Community Relations Specialist Maria Gamble: “School spirit is evident in the students, faculty and administration. It is our privilege to provide discretionary funding to each of these schools. We realize that each school has many needs and hope that these funds will assist in meeting them.”

Calverton Elementary/Middle School Helps Families in Need

In the spirit of giving, Calverton Elementary/Middle School opens its doors to the public for an evening of food, music and fun to help needy families in the school community. The event starts at 6 p.m. on Dec. 10. Admission is free to anyone dontaing two can goods. Entertainment includes the 229th Army Band (featuring school police officers) and Frederick Douglass High School's Dukes of Jazz. Click here for a flier.  

Quinyardo McClain to Learn Global Issues of Engineering

Patterson High School senior Quinyardo McClain will join 10,000 students and professionals at the 2010 National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) 36th Annual Convention in Toronto, Canada, from March 31 to April 4. McClain is one of six Maryland students selected to attend the convention, which focuses on empowering attendees for global success and serves as the first-ever NSBE convention held outside the United States. An active participant in Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA), the robotics team at Patterson High School and the Upward Bound Math and Science Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, McClain will spend the week in Toronto networking and learning with engineers from around the world.      

Baltimore School for the Arts' Graduates in Baltimore Magazine 

Richard White, Dan Mycka, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell and Shana Kroiz share their experiences growing up in Maryland, attending Baltimore Schools for the Arts and making it in the art world. Read Erica Blount Danois’ account of their journeys in the December issue of Baltimore magazine. 

Students to Spend Summer on Lake Champlain 

Four City Schools’ students will escape the Baltimore heat this summer and head to Lake Champlain. Recipients of scholarships from the Rotary Club of Baltimore and Camp Dudley, the students will spend four weeks at one of two Camp Dudley locations in Westport, New York, and Colchester, Vermont. There, they will enjoy traditional camp activities—outdoor sports, crafts, music and drama—while enhancing their leadership skills, deepening their value systems and sharing experiences with youth from across the country and around the world.

This year’s recipients are: Montez Williams and Shamera Willoughby from Gwynns Falls Elementary School, Mia Jackson from Leith Walk Elementary School and Mavishka Lankatilleke from Hampstead Hill Academy.  

Founded in 1885 as a camp for boys, Camp Dudley expanded recently to include the Colchester, Vermont, campus for girls.

H1N1 Flu Vaccine in Schools

On Mon., Nov. 16, Baltimore City Health Department started giving vaccines for H1N1 flu in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools). Check the City Schools web site each week to learn when the vaccine will arrive at your school.

Pimlico Fares Well in the Susquehanna Scholastic Chess Tournament

On Sat., Nov. 14, students from Pimlico Elementary/Middle School took home first place in the Susquehanna Scholastic Chess Tournament in Elkton, MD. Pimlico student De’Aysa Bonner finished undefeated and first in a field of 45 players from across the state. A member of the Baltimore Kids Chess League for five years, De’Aysa has a rating of over 900 with the United States Chess Federation, a number just below scholastic level.

Coach Lee Rutledge anticipates another strong year at the upcoming Maryland Girls Chess Championship and Maryland State Middle School Chess Championship, where Pimlico beat out more than 15 teams last year.