Do you remember looping strips of paper to make paper chains when you were small? Elkridge Elementary School students make paper chains each holiday season, festooning their school with color. But for these kids, each link cost 10 cents.
Here's the system: Students in each grade choose a charity to which they would like to donate money. Then for two weeks, the children buy their links, chaining paper through the halls.
At the end of Holiday Chain season, Principal Mary Mitchell measures the chains and the grade with the longest chain is the winner. All the money raised goes to the charity of the grade's choice.
The students have diverse tastes in charities. Kindergartners would send their money to Cedar Lane School's Penny Project to buy equipment to accommodate special needs children. First-graders would send the money to Juvenile Diabetes Association because a classmate is a diabetic.
Second-graders have picked the Leukemia Foundation and third-graders the homeless at Grassroots. Fourth-graders would donate money to the Help-A-Child Fund, which purchases school supplies such as backpacks and medical necessities such as eyeglasses or medication for needy Howard County children.
Fifth-graders chose St. Agnes Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The chains will be measured Wednesday. I'll announce the winner in my column next week.
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Tonight at 7, Rockburn Elementary School will hold its Winter Concert. The program will include the third-grade chorus and fourth/fifth-grade chorus and chime bells, led by vocal music teacher Eileen Bottamiller.
Instrumental teacher Kendall Davis will lead the band and strings in seasonal music.
The music department's accompanist is Dori Brain, who is a student with the Howard County schools' mentor program for the arts. Dori, a senior at Oakland Mills High School, hopes to major in vocal music in college next year and become a teacher after college.
She gets a head start in her education studies by spending her school afternoons at Rockburn Elementary, helping her mentor and learning the ropes in teaching.
Her mentor is Ms. Bottamiller, who taught Dori music in elementary school.
On display tonight in Rockburn's cafeteria will be student entries for the PTA's Reflections art contest.
Guest musician Mel Spears will entertain guests as they attend this "art opening." First-year teacher Eileen Nelson, who works with kindergartners, came up with an idea last year that is becoming an institution at Rockburn.
She wanted older students to return to the kindergarten to help her children learn to write. Last year third- and fifth-graders spent time with the kindergartners.
This year, the writing buddy program returned last month, with Dee Walsh's third-graders helping afternoon kindergartners and Carol Harris' fourth-graders working with the morning group.
Each Friday for 45 minutes, the older students go to the kindergarten room and take dictation from the kindergartners.
The older child will sometimes dot out the words, so the kindergartner must trace them. The buddies then share the story with the group, kindergartner prompted by older helper.
All the participants gain something in this program. The kindergartners' gain is obvious. But the older students enjoy this teaching activity as well.
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The Sunday school at Trinity Episcopal Church invites the community to its Christmas Eve family service at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The service will be completely child-run until Eucharist is served.
The children will perform a Christmas pageant as part of the service and give readings. About 50 children will be involved.
The church also sponsors a candlelight service at 11 p.m. Saturday.
Trinity Episcopal is at 7474 Washington Blvd. in Elkridge. For information or directions, call 799-7974.
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If you're new to the area, you may not know that several neighborhoods in Ellicott City put on free light shows every Christmas Eve.
Neighbors in Font Hill, Turf Valley and Centennial subdivisions light luminarias reminiscent of the old Southwest. The luminarias are specially coated paper bags weighted with sand and lighted by a candle.
Here are some hints on finding the luminarias: Font Hill community is a left off Route 144 going west; Turf Valley community is on the right off Route 40 going west, near Wallis Park; and the entrance to Centennial is across the street from Centennial High School off Centennial Lane.
The luminarias will be lighted at dusk and will continue to burn until they flicker out about 10 hours later.
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Cosmetology students attending Howard County School of Technology participated in the annual National Cosmetology Association competition.
Tava Hawkins of Oakland Mills High School won first place in hair design; Joy Boswell of Hammond High won third place in hair shaping; and April Derby of Oakland Mills High won third place in mannequin comb-out.
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I was having difficulties getting myself started on decorating and baking, the first steps in my Christmas preparation. So I jump-started my holiday spirit by taking tours of local historic homes.
On Sunday, I visited Wayside Inn, the beautiful stone home you see from Route 29 as you travel south. You can see the candles in the windows, a traditional signal to travelers that rooms are available. Of uncertain age, the house on Columbia Pike was the center of a working farm from the mid-1850s until the 1920s, when the farm was divided.
Innkeepers Margo and John Osantowski have lived in the house for almost 15 years. They remodeled and furnished it as an inn, opening it as a bed-and-breakfast in 1990.
Beautifully appointed in antique and reproduction furniture, the inn was decorated with Christmas greenery. Guitarist Bruce Casteel entertained in the parlor while in the brick and stone cellar were trays of home-baked cookies and soda.
On Monday, friend Mary Ann Horan and I visited Waverly Mansion. Libby Ewing, president of the Council of Howard County Garden Clubs, treated us to a tour.
While we toured the mansion, Die Leidersanger Madrigal Singers serenaded us with German carols.
My ploy was successful. The Christmas tree is now up, the wreath is on the door and butter is softening for cookies.