The Board of Education has approved the following administrative appointments:
• April Lealia Key as Chief of Human Resources and Development
Education
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The Kennedy High School community is mourning the loss and honoring the memory of Mr. Kofi Frempong, LTI coordinator at the school since September of 2014. Mr. Frempong tragically lost his life on April 5th.
The wake/viewing will take place on Thursday, April 27th from 5pm-8pm at Beall Funeral Home (6512 Crain Hwy, Bowie, MD). The funeral service will take place on Friday, April 28th from 10am-11am at St. Pius X Catholic Church (14720 Annapolis Rd. Bowie, MD). The burial will take place on Friday, April 28th at 12pm at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (13801 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD), and a memorial service will take place on Sunday, April 30th at 4pm at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church (1006 Larch Ave. Takoma Park, MD).
Per MCPS: Takoma Park Middle School won first place in the 2023 Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge. This year’s theme was: Fresh Take on Tradition. Students were asked to create plant-forward meals reflecting the school community, as well as the cultural and lived experience of team members. The school has previously won this challenge three times.
Takoma Park created the following traditional Ethiopian dishes: Ethio-nada, a tomato-based red lentil stew seasoned with berbere spices inside whole wheat empanada dough; Atakilt Wot, a cabbage, potato and carrot-based side dish seasoned with homemade spices; and Ethiopian Spris, a layered fruit smoothie drink with spinach, banana and vanilla yogurt on the bottom and frozen fruit with mango, strawberries, peach, pineapple and vanilla yogurt on top.
MCPS has announced that Dr. Sheri Massey, media specialist at Cabin John Middle School in Potomac,has been named School Librarian of the Year for the state of Maryland. There were 44 nominations for the top award; that list was narrowed to 14 finalists, which also included Meredith Hickman, media specialist at Seven Locks Elementary School in Bethesda.
This top award honors a school librarian for exemplary service and outstanding achievements in the field of school library media. To be considered, nominees must be a current member of the Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL), actively working as a school librarian and serving in the same position for three or more years.
Per MCPS: The results are in! Sami Saeed, a junior at Richard Montgomery High School, has been elected the Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) for the 2023-2024 school year. Mr. Saeed’s term begins on July 1, 2023.
All secondary students were eligible to vote in the SMOB election and 55,598 students cast ballots. Mr. Saeed received 70 percent of the vote, while his opponent, Mr. Yoseph Zerihun, a junior at Springbrook High School, received 30 percent. The SMOB election was held on April 19, 2023 through an electronic ballot that all students received in their MCPS email and were encouraged to vote through a class lesson.
Last week, MCPS sent a community message addressing school safety. “I am writing to update you on the measures we have taken to ensure the safety of our students and staff in our schools. As a follow-up to our community letter, we have been working diligently to implement concrete actions focusing on resources, expectations, and community engagement.” The full letter can be seen here. Additional information on Increased Security Staffing can be seen below:
“We have allocated a 1.0 permanent substitute to all high schools to address increased staff absences. We have also deployed security substitutes to schools with higher security absences and more significant security needs. At the elementary level, in addition to the cluster assigned Community Engagement Officers (CEOs), MCPS security assistant rovers are available to support as needed when safety incidents arise. We have requested 10.0 additional security assistants in the FY2024 budget and are reviewing the process to allocate security staff within our schools.”
1. Nearly 200 Students Receive Inaugural Rales-O’Neill $10,000 Scholarships: The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Educational Foundation has announced 194 recipients of the 2023 Ruth and Norman Rales-Patricia Baier O’Neill Scholarship Recognizing Academic Excellence. These prestigious scholarships are being awarded to high-achieving graduating seniors in all 25 high schools. The recipients will each receive $10,000 to help ease the financial burden of attending college. Read more. List of recipients
2. Register Today for the Annual College Fair: Representatives from more than 300 colleges and universities will be on hand at the annual Montgomery County National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) National College Fair on Tuesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 19 at the Maryland Soccerplex, 18031 Central Park Circle in Boyds. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days and is open to Grade 11 students attending with their schools. The fair is also open to high school students and their families from 6:30–8 p.m. on April 18.
Per MCPS: Mark your calendars for the last car and computer sale of the school year! Students in the Montgomery County Students Automotive Trades Foundation (ATF) and Information Technology Foundation (ITF) will sell used cars and computers they have refurbished from 9–11 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, at Thomas Edison High School of Technology.
The cars and computers are refurbished and reconditioned by the students as part of the students’ classroom and lab studies. The sales provide students with the opportunity to practice their sales skills, earn Student Service Learning hours, and develop an appreciation for community involvement.
MCPS parents, staff and community members are invited to the first Special Education Parent Community Resource Fair on Saturday, April 29 at Gaithersburg High School. The resource fair will be held from 9 a.m.–noon, and will include a guest speaker, valuable community resources and vendors, and fun children’s activities, including a moon bounce, crafts and face painting.
The speaker will be Dr. Joy Banks, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. Dr. Banks is committed to exploring the intersection of race and disability and how societal norms contribute to the marginalization of adolescents and young adults identified with disabilities. For two decades, she has taught and lectured on race, disability and reading development. She has also served as department chair for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Howard University and as associate dean for Research and Development at Bowie State University.
One in three teens experience dating abuse. So the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Police, State’s Attorney’s Office, Family Justice Center and MCPS have teamed up for RespectFest to begin discussing what healthy dating relationships look like early on. RespectFest is currently running (April 10-16) with virtual seminars and events running through April 14th. Then the in-person festival will be held on Sunday April 16th from 1-4 p.m. at the Wheaton Community Rec Center and Park.
The family-friendly event will include activities to learn about dating violence, consent, how to help a friend, what the warning signs are and what the resources are in the community. There will also be performances, FREE food, yoga and self-defense demos, raffle prizes, a resource fair with other community organizations, and story-time at the Wheaton Library.
“My parents encouraged me to go to college, but I had no guidance on it as a first-generation student,” said Dr. Erwin Hesse, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Admissions Gambit. Raised in a low-income, immigrant parent household, Dr. Hesse overcame various obstacles during his K-12 years. Barely graduating high school, his counselor told him his only two options were to “get a job or join the military.” Instead, Dr. Hesse enrolled at Montgomery College and earned two associates degrees, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a masters degree from the University of Baltimore, and a doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins. Dr. Hesse has worked in admissions offices at Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown for over a decade reviewing thousands of applications, transcripts, and essays. In his last role at Amazon, Dr. Hesse created and led a national engagement program recruiting students from minority serving institutions to coveted tech and non-tech roles.
“This grant is a game changer for our students and their families. We feel honored to receive this prestigious grant and stand ready to make an impact in our community,” said Andrea Hesse, Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Admissions Gambit. Of a similar background to her husband, Mrs. Hesse faced great adversity to fund her secondary education, bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland, and graduate degree from University of Baltimore. She credits her education as the stepping stone to a fulfilling career in editing, marketing, and project management. “Many counseling departments are overworked and understaffed,” details Dr. Hesse. Unfortunately, the average high school counselor to student ratio in the US is 482-to-1. Admissions Gambit provides students and their parents a year-round educational consultant. Its services include advising on course selection, extracurricular activities, internships, summer programs, college choices, mock interviews, brainstorming essay topics, essay review sessions, and any other college admissions topic.