CAROLYN SMITH, 11, ended her elementary school career last week having never, ever missed a single day of school.

The Hammond Elementary School fifth-grader was recognized for her scholarly stamina with a certificate at the school's farewell ceremony for departing fifth-graders.

"It just happened," said Carolyn, daughter of Rick and Louise Smith of Scaggsville. "I didn't try."

Louise says that part of the key to her daughter's perfect attendance was simply that Carolyn loves the place. "She's never asked not to go to school," Louise said. "It's been very easy."

Good health has also played a key role in Carolyn's streak. Her mother says that other than a bout of chicken pox in preschool, she has hardly ever been under the weather. The one illness that her mother recalls had no bearing on Carolyn's attendance streak -- it happened on the first day of a school vacation.

"Only she could schedule her sickness during spring break!" Louise said.

Louise noted her daughter's "thirst for knowledge" and enjoyment of school for motivating her to want to be in school every day. "It's great that she's blessed with health, but it's better that she really wants to be there," she said.

Impressive attendance seems to be the norm for the Smith family. Carolyn's younger brother Sean just completed third grade without absences, and older brother J.R. "is rarely out of school," their mother said.

Brother Craig, now a college student, had a nine-year streak, not missing a day of school from fourth grade through high school graduation. "He was determined to keep the streak going," Louise recalled. "Searching for colleges was interesting -- he refused to leave school to go look."

So what is the secret to such fortitude?

"They eat fairly well and get a good night's sleep," Louise said of her children. "And I'm really picky about washing hands before meals." She is also careful not to schedule appointments and checkups during school hours.

The idea of going to school faithfully might be a notion firmly ingrained in the family. Louise recalls an old family saying from her childhood in Massachusetts: "You go to work unless you have a lily on your chest," she said.

Louise also had an impressive school attendance streak. She never missed a day from fifth through 12th grade.

"Hearty stock," she summed up.

Lime Kiln choral note

The Lime Kiln Middle School chorus, composed of 91 seventh-and eighth-graders, earned an "excellent" rating with a silver award at "PAC For a Day," a festival sponsored by Performing Arts Consultants.

The event, held at Montgomery Blair High School last month, is not a competition, but a chance for a group to be rated by two adjudicators, said Nellie Hill, Lime Kiln music director. "I was really proud of them. They ought to be commended for how hard they worked," she said.

Unlike many other school choral groups, the Lime Kiln singers were accompanied by student rather than adult pianists. The pianists were seventh-grader Caroline Kim and eighth-graders Sam Drazin and Emily Rozanski.

The pupils were treated to an afternoon at Six Flags amusement park in Largo after their performance.

Mailbox makeovers

Some Jessup neighbors had a surprise when they went to fetch their mail last week: Their communal mailbox was uprooted and lying on the ground. It looked like the work of vandals or a hazardous driver. But in fact, it was part of a mailbox-maintenance project initiated by officials at the Jessup post office.

"Sometimes the carriers complain they're getting rusted out," said Linda Gray, lead clerk at the post office. "Time takes its toll, and they have to be fixed."

Most of the maintenance involves replacing the pedestal or repainting the boxes, some of which are nearly 20 years old.

In rare instances, the boxes will be hauled away temporarily and residents will have to retrieve their mail at the post office. "If they need to disappear, owners will be notified," Gray said.

Information: 410-799-8140.

Parting words

School is out for the summer, and you might imagine big, empty hallways and peace and quiet for the schools' few year-round employees.

Not so at Patuxent Valley Middle School.

"It's not quiet, it is never quiet. We have 200 kids in the hallways," said Sherri Kennedy, the principal's secretary.

Patuxent Valley, she explained, houses two summer school programs and two Parks and Recreation programs.

"There will be a day in August, maybe a week in August, when the halls will be empty," she said.

But Kennedy doesn't mind all the activity.

"It's very much a fun place to be," she said. "We just slip into a different gear."