Author: MCS Staff

Education

County Leaders, Law Enforcement and Advocates to Discuss Rise in Student Opioid Overdose and Deaths

By MCS Staff

Per MCPS: Key leaders in education, law enforcement, health services, and drug use prevention advocates will gather to speak to an alarming rise in Illegal Opioid use, especially Fentanyl, in our youth. Data is showing not only a rise in overdose cases but a rise in death rates. These are dangerous trends that parents and students must be aware of.

Multiple county agency leaders discuss the rise in the use and availability of illegal opioids, often laced with Fentanyl, and the alarming rise in overdose cases, including those resulting in death. This will take place on Thursday, January 19th at 3pm at the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Dr. Rockville MD, 20850 (Auditorium) also hybrid via Zoom  https://mcpstv-org.zoom.us/j/84524812357?pwd=Z1FFSkFLa1lMYUs1Qk9YMTJJam9kUT09

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Arts

Essay, Poetry, Video Contests Open for Students

By MCS Staff

Five writing and video student contests are now open for submissions—the Gaithersburg Book Festival poetry contest; Partners for Automated Vehicle Education’s essay contest; a Black history essay competition and video contests from Choose Respect and the Keeping It Safe Coalition. In some cases, cash prizes are up for grabs. Details are below:

The 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival’s annual high school poetry contest is now open for submissions. This year’s theme is “Diversity or Inclusion.” To participate, students must be enrolled in grades 9-12. The deadline is midnight on Thursday, Feb. 23. First, second and third place winners will receive $250, $100 and $50 gift certificates, respectively.

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Chevy Chase

Maryland Athletes Visit Rock Creek Forest Elementary School

By MCS Staff

Rock Creek Forest Elementary School welcomed about 50 members of the University of Maryland track and field team for its Reading Rocks event earlier this month. They visited classrooms and read to students. They also talked about the importance of studying hard, reading and writing, telling students, “You’ll have to write many papers in college!” They brought enormous enthusiasm to the day.

Reading Rocks was the brainchild of former Rock Creek Forest reading specialist Clara Register. It began about 10 years ago. Register discovered that fifth grade teacher Meredith Valmon was married to Andrew Valmon, Olympic Gold medalist and Maryland head coach for cross country and track and field. She suggested he bring the team to the school to read to students and speak with them about setting goals and looking ahead to college. Andrew Valmon saw a great opportunity for his student-athletes to be role models and invest in their Maryland community.

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Education

State Retirees’ Group Awarding Three $2,000 Scholarships To Public School Employees

By MCS Staff

The Maryland Retired School Personnel Association (MRSPA) will award three $2,000 scholarships to public school employees in Maryland who are enrolled in a program leading to teacher certification, or certification as a school counselor, speech and language pathologist, physical or occupational therapist, school social worker, administrator or supervisor, media specialist, supervisor or administrator, or school psychologist. Teachers who have a current certification and are enrolled in a program pursuing certification in another education-related area are also eligible to apply, as are uncertified teachers, teacher assistants or aides, or substitute teachers.

Applicants must hold a high school diploma or GED certificate. They must be current employees of a public school system in Maryland, and must intend to work in a Maryland public school while working toward certification and after completing their requirements for certification. The deadline for submitting applications is 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Apply here. Winners will be notified in March. Frequently Asked Questions

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Events

Gaithersburg Celebrates Black History Month

By MCS Staff

The City celebrates & honors Black History Month with storytime programs, film screenings, discussions, and an official proclamation. A list of events can be found here.

Celebrated annually in the United States during the month of February, Black History Month was started in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He sought to bring national attention to the important contributions African Americans made to the history of the United States. Woodson chose February because it includes the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes & Abraham Lincoln.

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North Bethesda

RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant, Announces Spring Opening for First MoCo Location

By MCS Staff

In November we let you know that RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant with four locations in DC and Virginia, would be taking over the recently-closed Slapfish location at 12033 Rockville Pike in the Montrose Crossing shopping center. Since then, permanent signage has been installed and the restaurant announced Wednesday evening on Instagram that it will be opening this Spring (an exact date was not provided, post available below).

The restaurant, founded by Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman (combined to create the name, RASA), opened its first location in Navy Yard in 2017 before opening a location in Mt. Vernon Triangle in 2020, Crystal City in 2021, and Fairfax this past summer. The menu offers seven chef-curated bowls under the “We Got You” portion of the menu, that includes their signature bowls like the “Tikka Chance on Me”, “Open Sesame”, “Eat Your Veggies”, “Home Cooking”, “Goa Your Own Way”, “Aloo Need is Love”, and “Caul on Me” or the “You Got It” portion of their menu that allows customers to “DIY” and design their own bowl using the assembly line format of a base, main, sauce, veggies, toppings, and chutneys/dressings. The full menu can be seen here.

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Arts

MCPS Dance Showcase Set for February 17

By MCS Staff

Get your free tickets now for the annual MCPS Dance Showcase, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 at James Hubert Blake High School. The snow date is Tuesday, Feb. 21. Blake is located at 300 Norwood Road in Silver Spring. Additional information below:

Students from the following 10 middle and high schools are expected to perform—A. Mario Loiederman, Forest Oak, Kingsview and Silver Spring International middle schools and Albert Einstein, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Blake, Montgomery Blair, Northwood and Wheaton high schools. There will also be a performance from the All-County Dance Ensemble. These students thrive in dance class and exemplify their school’s instructional program. Student dancers in the ensemble are nominated by their dance teachers, and rehearse as a group for three months.Reserve your tickets here.

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Education

HBCU College Fair Set for February 17

By MCS Staff

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair returns as an in-person event from 6–8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17. Co-sponsored by MCPS and the Montgomery County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), this free event at The Universities at Shady Grove will provide students in grades 8–12 an opportunity to meet representatives from more than 50 HBCUs. Representatives will share information and answer questions from students and parents about admissions, financial aid, testing, majors and more. There will also be a college preparation workshop for middle school students and parents, a discussion on college life, FAFSA completion assistance and scholarship information.

Students and parents must register to attend. Register. From Feb. 13–17, qualified seniors will be able to virtually interview with HBCU representatives. Students will be able to receive application fee waivers, scholarship awards and on-site admission. This free in-person event at The Universities at Shady Grove will provide students in Grades 8–12 an opportunity to meet representatives from more than 50 HBCUs. Representatives will share information and answer questions from students and parents about admissions, financial aid, testing, majors and much more. The event will also feature a college preparation workshop for middle school students and parents, a discussion on college life, FAFSA completion assistance, scholarship information and more. This event is co-sponsored by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and the Montgomery County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Clarksburg

Family Forum on Fentanyl to Be Held Jan. 28 at Clarksburg High School

By MCS Staff

In partnership with MCPS, Montgomery Goes Purple is hosting a Family Forum on Fentanyl and life-saving Narcan training from 9:30–11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, at Clarksburg High School. Panelists will share important information for families on the dangers and prevalence of fentanyl; prevention tools and protective factors for students, and resources for treatment when needed. This event will be a family discussion about what you need to know about this deadly drug, including Narcan training and distribution of Narcan kits to help reverse an overdose. The Community Opioid Prevention & Education (C.O.P.E.) trailer (a mock teen bedroom) will be available for tours to learn signs of substance use. There will also be a resource fair. Students can earn two Student Service Learning (SSL) hours for attending this event.

The event will be held in the cafeteria at Clarksburg, located at 22500 Wims Road in Clarksburg. RSVP to attend. In addition, be sure to tune in to a press conference set for 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19. MCPS leaders, county health and law enforcement leaders, and community partners will hold a news conference to raise awareness about the deadly trend of fentanyl use and accidental overdoses. A livestream of the press event will be available on the MCPS homepage.

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Education

Montgomery College and MCPS to Host Financial Aid Virtual Event in Spanish on Thursday, Jan. 19

By MCS Staff

Montgomery College (MC) and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will host a virtual forum in Spanish at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19 for parents and students to learn more about how to get help paying for college.

This event is targeted to Spanish-speaking families who have questions about options available for high school graduates with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The virtual event will also discuss the Maryland Dream ACT (MDA) and will answer questions live and submitted in advance. Participants can submit their questions and register here.

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