In Focus
- The North Point High School Environment club and science classes recently worked to create a wildlife habitat in front of the school. Students have planted aquatic vegetation around a freshwater pond to attract wildlife in the area to the habitat, such as beavers, birds, fish and other animals native to southern Maryland. The habitat's progress is monitored by North Point science teachers Ellen Estevez and Emily Rhode.
- C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School held its annual Fine Arts Festival on Tuesday, April 22, at the school. The fifth-grade chorus, as well as the fifth-grade band and strings groups, performed during the festival. The school hallways were also covered in student artwork to celebrate the event and included paintings, sculptures, collages and drawings. Barnhart students studied artists such as Claude Monet and Wayne Thiebaud and incorporated some of their artistic elements into their school projects.
- William A. Diggs Elementary School recently held a week-long schoolwide "plastic grocery bag contest" to help support community awareness of Earth preservation. Students across all grade levels competed against one another to see which grade could collect the largest number of plastic grocery bags. The Diggs fourth-grade class won the contest and filled more than 14 large recycling containers. Trex Company, a manufacturer of wood-alternative decking, railing and fencing products, plans to donate a bench to the school for their recycling efforts. The company recycles over 1.3 billion grocery retail bags annually.
- A fourth-grade class at William A. Diggs Elementary School will be featured in the Young American Poetry Digest. The class-authored poem, titled "Welcoming Snow" was chosen to be featured after Tammy Barnes, a fourth-grade teacher at Diggs, submitted the poem to the publication.
- Indian Head Elementary School students completed a 30-day Maryland School Assessments (MSA) review calendar in March to prepare for the tests, held the first two weeks of April. More than 50 third- and fifth-grade students worked to complete math problems and reading assignments during the challenge, and even continued to prepare during their spring break. Indian Head faculty and staff rewarded the students for their MSA preparation efforts by hosting a sock hop for the school.
- The Thomas Stone High School JROTC "Raider" team recently competed in a regional competition held March 15 at Sussex Technical High School in Delaware. The team took third place in the overall competition and earned first place in the Rope Bridge event, second place in the Land Navigation event and third place in the First Aid event. Members of the team include Jonathan Deleon, Aerielle Jackson, LaVincent Jackson, Christina Mills, Brandon Murray, Thomas Podorski, Erika Specht and William Turgeon. The team is coached by 1st Sgt. Douglas Otten, the JROTC instructor at Stone.
- Members of the Thomas Stone High School dance team recently competed in the Big Apple Championship held March 14 in Manhattan, NY. The team was awarded first place in the Small Varsity Pom category and third place in the Small Varsity Jazz category. Team members who competed were Tabatha Blanford, Kaitlyn Burch, Alison Cheseldine, Megan Kilgore, Shayna Moreland and Sara Rzechula. The dance team sponsors are Stone art teacher Martina Zinn and Shannon Corley.
- The Advanced Placement Environmental Science students at North Point High School recently helped launch a schoolwide recycling program in honor of Earth Day. The students are working to collect plastic bottles during lunch shifts and are offering incentives to participate, such as one piece of candy per bottle. Each classroom also has a blue recycling bin for students to recycle items such as white paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Keith Grier, Title IX Coordinator, or Patricia Vaira, Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Keith Hettel, Section 504 Coordinator (employees/adults), at Charles County Public Schools, central office building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, Maryland 20646. 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.
