Jennifer Celotta is a Montgomery County native who was born in Gaithersburg and graduated from Wootton High School in Rockville in 1989. Since then she has gone on to become a very successful television producer, writer, and director, including directing six episodes of the popular Netflix series Cobra Kai that is a television series sequel to the original Karate Kid films.

Celotta has an impressive résumé that includes writing credits on popular television series’ like, Home Improvement, The Office, Abbott Elementary, Malcolm in the Middle, and a lot more, including directing three episodes of The Office.


Created in conjunction with Strathmore and Woolly Mammoth’s co-presentation of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, the fellowship engaged eight high school fellows in six months of study, discussions, and creation at the intersection of arts and social change.

Their research and reflection covered Butler’s Parable novels, as well as many other works and creators including Audre Lorde, Sonic Youth, Terence Trent D’Arby, Danez Smith, Robin DiAngelo, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, the film “Sorry to Bother You,” the TV show “American Gods,” and more.


Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson’s cannabis brand, Tyson 2.0, announced its launch in four additional markets: Arizona, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania with Columbia Care. The expansion into Maryland will include two Montgomery County locations– in Chevy Chase and Rockville. Mike Tyson previously lived in Montgomery County, where his former home at Congressional Country Club sold last summer.

Per the press release: Columbia Care is Tyson 2.0’s exclusive national cultivation, manufacturing and distribution partner in the markets where it operates. The partnership was first announced in October of 2021, with products hitting shelves in November of 2021. Tyson 2.0 is now available in nine Columbia Care markets, with more planned in the coming months.


Tim Kurkjian will have his life-changing Cooperstown moment when he is presented the 2022 Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award as part of the Hall of Fame Induction in Cooperstown on Sunday. The 2022 Induction Ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, July 24, on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center.

Kurkjian attended Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he played on the school’s basketball and baseball teams. At the suggestion of his basketball coach, Kurkjian began writing for the student newspaper, The Pitch, and the school’s yearbook, “The Wind-up.” He eventually became the sports editor of The Pitch and realized that journalism would be the surest means of fulfilling his childhood dream of making a living in professional sports. He graduated from the school in 1974 and after some time away, still lives in MoCo today.


Billboard congratulated Montgomery County native ‘Joony’ via social media for the rapper’s first appearance on the Hot 100 this week. Joony, who is from Silver Spring and attended Springbrook High School, entered the list after being featured on Brent Faiyaz’s “FYTB.” The Billboard Hot 100 features the week’s most popular artists across all genres.

Faiyaz is from Columbia in neighboring Howard County, and rose to prominence after he was featured on the GoldLink single “Crew” alongside another local rapper, Shy Glizzy, in 2016. The song was certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA, and earned him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.


Selected artists will have the opportunity to display their artwork from October through March.

A panel of jurors will review the applications received during the call & select the artists for the upcoming year. The criteria for review includes the originality & technical achievement in the medium and the type & price of work appropriate for the Arts Barn’s typical patron.


Trevon and Stefon Diggs are both coming off of Pro Bowl seasons where the brothers dominated the NFL. The honors continue as the brothers, who are Montgomery County natives, are featured on the cover of the August 2022 edition of Sports Illustrated.

The issue features the brothers jumping for the same football, highlighting the fact that they play on opposite sides of the ball– Trevon is a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys while Stefon is a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. The piece is titled, “Bond of Brothers” How Family Forged NFL Stardom for Trevon and Stefon Diggs.


Olney Theatre is currently presenting a 2.5 hour (with 15 minute intermission) staging of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, which runs until July 24th. It features a cast of Deaf, hearing, and hard-of-hearing artists, and all shows are performed in ASL and spoken English and open-captioned.

PBS NewsHour recently profiled the production (video available below), which officially opened June 29 and continues through July 24. Actor Hugh Jackman also recently shouted out Olney Theatre’s production and the PBS profile on Instagram, referring to it as “incredibly heartwarming.”


The 1992 critically acclaimed film, A Few Good Men, is often noted for its ensemble cast of Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, and many other big Hollywood names, but a man who grew up in Montgomery County, Wolfgang Bodison,  plays a key role in the movie.

The plot follows the court-martial of two U.S. Marines, one played by MoCo’s Wolfgang Bodison, charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case. Bodison, who played the role of Lance Corporal Harold “Hal” Dawson, delivered a powerful performance in what was his first acting role.


By Sarah Elbeshbishi

Most students throw their hall passes away when they’re done with them. But Watkins Mill High School students may soon be trying to sell theirs. WMHS English and journalism teacher Sara Goodman Confino’s second book, She’s Up to No Good, isn’t even out yet, but it’s already a bestseller because of Amazon’s First Reads program. Just four days into the pre-release, Confino’s novel was the #5 book in the entire US Kindle store and was the number one bestseller in three categories, including humorous fiction.


Actor Michael Ealy has recently made a splash in his recurring role on ‘Bel Air’, the reimagined version of popular 90s sitcoms ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ which started Will Smith.  We’ve mentioned several times that Michael Ealy, then known as Michael Brown, graduated from Springbrook High School and grew up in Silver Spring (later attending the University of Maryland).

Earlier this week, reader Mekhi Leftwich, sent in some photos of Ealy from his time at White Oak Intermediate School (now White Oak Middle School) on 12201 New Hampshire Avenue, back in 1986, where he attended school prior to moving on to Springbrook.


View More Stories