QUIETLY AND conscientiously, teachers like Patricia Kompare of Highland are educating our children.
This spring, Kompare -- a teacher for 24 years -- was named the 1997-1998 Montgomery County Learning Disabilities Teacher of the Year.
Kompare is a special education teacher at the new James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring.
She was selected by the school's principal, Carole Goodman, to initiate new programs for learning-disabled students during the school's first year.
When Kompare received the award, she was on the staff of Wheaton High School, where she taught biology and physical science to special education students.
Kompare's fluent Spanish made her especially valuable at Wheaton High, which has a majority of Hispanic students.
Kompare was also responsible for a summer preparation -for-high-school program for ninth-graders who were judged to be at-risk for failure. And she worked with other staff members to identify students who might benefit most from the program.
She consulted with specialists, enlisted staff members, planned instruction and managed the logistics of the program.
In addition to being named Montgomery County Learning Disabilities Teacher of the Year, Kompare is one of 10 teachers nationwide who will be recognized by the Council for Learning Disabilities for her outstanding teaching and her commitment to students.
She will receive the award at a luncheon Nov. 7 at the Hyatt-Albuquerque Hotel in Albuquerque, N.M. The luncheon is part of the 20th International Conference on Learning Disabilities, titled "Threads of Tradition: Tapestries for Change," sponsored by the council.
Kompare says she focuses on her students' strengths, not their disabilities.
"Children all have multiple intelligences," she said. "If we just look at one intelligence, we are missing out on a lot of students' strengths.
"If we only concentrate on the weaknesses of a student, that student will never realize his potential," she added.
Kompare's husband, Ralph, her son, Kristian (a freshman at River Hill High School), and her daughter, Brittany (an eighth-grader at Clarksville Middle School), are proud of her.
A comforting heritage
Handmade quilts become treasured keepsakes -- as well as chronicles of family history.
On Friday and Saturday, members of the Pieceful Quilters of Glenelg displayed family heirloom quilts at Glenelg United Methodist Church.
Elmira Seibert, founder of the 18-year-old quilters group, is a quilting teacher, having taught for 20 years for the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.
Now, she is moving her quilting classes to her home in Glenelg, where she is having a studio built. The studio will be ready in January.
Seibert began quilting in 1963.
She followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Laura Bell Mullinix, and her mother, Elizabeth Mullinix, who pieced many quilts when Seibert was growing up.
Seibert's daughter, Betsy Ford, has been piecing a pink-and-green sampler quilt while her young granddaughters, Kristen and Taylor Barlow, have been learning the art.
Sample quilts from four generations of the Seibert -Mullinix family were displayed at the Pieceful Quilters' show.
Melany Graydon of West Friendship, a Pieceful Quilter, was proud of the five generations of quilts by the Jay-McTindal
-Graydon families that were on display at the show.
Her own favorite creation -- a 15-by-15-inch miniature called "Jack Frost Comes Calling" -- won first place this year in the Miniature Quilt category at the Maryland State Fair.
"December Morn," a pastel quilt made by Mae Sayles McTindal of Asheville, N.C. -- Graydon's maternal grandmother -- caught this visitor's eye.
And two quilts, called "Sunbonnet Sue" and "Farmer Fred" by Graydon's paternal grandmother, Sallie Mae Jay, were shown together for the first time since they graced the twin beds of Jay's granddaughters -- Graydon and Dana Jay Rutledge of St. Louis.
Graydon's 11-year-old daughter, Megan, designed and sewed her own quilt, called "Cats-n-Mice," and pointed out its subtle, intricate quilting pattern of tiny mice with button noses.
Graydon's younger daughter, Marissa, 8, submitted a crib quilt to the show that she made when she was 5 years old.
The Pieceful Quilters meet Thursdays at Glenelg United Methodist Church, 13900 Burntwoods Road.
The group's members work on individual quilts or collaborate on a quilt to be donated to charity.
A quilt called "Grant-A-Wish Stars," completed in 1996, hangs in the grand stairway of the Children's House at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
"Barnraising by Starlight," completed in 1997, was donated to the Therapeutic Recreational Riding Center Inc. in Glenwood.
The group is open to new members. To contact the Pieceful Quilters, call 410-531-6236.
Scholars at River Hill
The River Hill High School guidance office reports that 3,451 students applied for this year's Maryland Distinguished Scholars Program -- a scholarship competition sponsored by the state.
Of this number, there are 349 finalists and 459 semifinalists statewide.
Honorable mention status has been awarded to 2,643 competitors.
Seven River Hill seniors have achieved finalist status. They are David Adler, Emily Ashcraft, Stephen Glasgow, Kathleen Kelley, Maria Polise, Drew Woodbury and Sarah Youn.
Seniors Rosemary Dubel, Brian Parr and Brian Tarricone are semifinalists.
Nineteen seniors have received honorable mention. They are Kaveh Abrahi, David Anderson, John Alascio, Sarah Berson, Carolina Collison, Derek Dauberman, Heather Doyle, Joseph Lawrence, Alex Leaf, Benjamin Maloy, Morgan Newell, Heidi Nowack, Monica O'Neill, Christopher Park, Mary Patillo, Russell Popkin, Michael Prada, Heather Ring and Jessica Weeks.
River Hill finalists in the Maryland Distinguished Scholars Talent in the Arts Program are Larisa Stahl (drama) and Stephanie Waters (vocal music.)
Seniors receiving honorable mention in this competition are Jerome Fleg (instrumental music), Rebecca Foster (dance) and Cristina Green (visual art.)
Based on their October 1997 PSAT scores, River Hill seniors Kathleen Kelley and David Adler have been designated as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.
The honor places them among the top one-half of 1 percent of seniors in the state.
Kelley and Adler will compete for finalist status -- as well as corporate and college scholarship awards.
Pub Date: 10/22/98