YOU HEAR about tutoring programs designed to give struggling scholars a boost.

But a local math tutoring program helped high-achieving second-graders get on the fast track by teaming them with tutors who are on that track themselves - their sixth-grade counterparts at the school next door.

The program started in the fall at Bollman Bridge Elementary School, and it concluded last week with a pizza luau celebration.

The tutors, most of them Bollman Bridge alumni, came from Patuxent Valley Middle School each week for a 30-minute session with one or two of the younger children.

The program, dubbed "Patuxent-Bridge Math Tutoring Program," was the brainchild of Dave Bond, Gifted and Talented (GT) Program teacher for Bollman Bridge, and Lynda Ciardiello, who teaches Gifted and Talented math at Patuxent Valley.

"The idea is to take her GT math students and match them with above-level second-graders," Bond said. "There are a lot of programs for kids below grade level, but this takes kids that already have a lot of ability and moves them ahead."

Bond says that in recent years, he has seen a significant drop in the number of children who test into the above-grade-level math classes he teaches to fourth- and fifth-graders at the school.

"I was getting fewer and fewer students," he said. "I was hoping there was something we could do to make the kids more qualified. You want to take the higher kids and keep them moving."

The volunteer tutors, selected from the middle school's top sixth-grade math classes, spent one or two 80-minute "academic enrichment" periods a week planning a number activities for their young charges.

The lessons focused on problem-solving strategies and mental computation skills, usually through games and flash cards.

"They had to be prepared with three plans in case something didn't work," Ciardiello said.

The second-graders were not the only ones to benefit from the program - Ciardiello sees evidence that the tutors also sharpened their math skills and improved their organizational skills. They also learned how to captivate - and motivate - younger children, she said.

Ben Dean, 8, is one of the 28 second-graders who voluntarily traded recess for arithmetic once a week. "We play a lot of games and stuff, like how to count something and put them in groups," he said.

His favorite game is the "Sponge Bob Game," invented by some of the tutors. "If you get the question right, you get a little sponge thingy," he said.

Ben's sister, Emily, is one of the tutors. Other tutors are Courtney Bale, Emily Bauer, Samah Beg, Effie Rose Bourgin, Griffin Boyle, Devin-Marie Brown, Ian Gross, Grant Kuning, Rachel Lanspa, Kristina McHale, Marina Metzler, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Kevin Sanchez, Stephen Skojec, Hannah Dahlgren, Glorianna Woo and Brittany Diehl, this writer's daughter.

Bond says that the tutoring has made a difference, mentioning an increase in the number of second-graders who scored high on the math portion of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) this year. These figures, however, have not been released to the public.

"With this many kids scoring so high on the CTBS, we must be doing something right," Bond said.

Collection changes

The big challenge this week for many of us was to remember which day to put out trash and recycling. Residents in a large portion of southern Howard County were notified recently about changes in refuse-collection days, effective this week.

The last time there was such a sweeping change was five years ago, said Mark Kreif, operations supervisor for the Bureau of Environmental Services. "It's because of the growth in the county," Kreif said.

If you live in Jessup, Whiskey Bottom, Savage, Scaggsville, High Ridge or Huntington, you probably got a light-blue door hanger notifying you of the change. If you're not sure, or if your hanger blew away, call 410-313-6444 to check on your pickup schedule.

Parting words

For Kim Pratesi, assistant principal at Bollman Bridge Elementary, summer is a time to be a kid again. "What I've found recently, with having my own children, is that we do the same things we did growing up," said Pratesi, the mother of two young children.

One of her favorites? "Chasing the lightning bugs around with a jar," she said. "We do a lot of that now!"