Family Resource Center presents parenting events
The Family Resource Center of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools offers several parenting events this month and next.
Financial Aid Night: 7 p.m. Thursday at Annapolis High School, 2700 Riva Road, Annapolis. Sponsored by the Anne Arundel County Department of Guidance Counseling, parents and students are invited to learn about financial aid options for college.
PSAT, Understanding and Using Results and Advanced Placement Program Identification: 7 p.m., Jan. 7 at Annapolis High School, 2700 Riva Road. Sponsored by the Anne Arundel County Department of Guidance and Counseling. Information: 410-222-5430.
Getting Ready for High School and Beyond: 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 27 at Bates Middle School, 701, Chase Ave., Annapolis. Four-year planning, school-to-work transition and preparing for the college admissions process will be covered. Learn more about career planning and how to encourage your child to explore various career options. Information: 410-263- 0270.
Financial Aid Night: 7 p.m. Jan. 14, at Chesapeake High School cafeteria, 4798 Mountain Road, Pasadena. For parents of Anne Arundel County sophomores and juniors and seniors who are interested in financial planning for college. Information: 410-255-9600.
Parenting for Success facilitator training: 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Family Resource Center, Oakwood Elementary School, 330 Oak Manor Drive, Glen Burnie. Della Green, parent liaison, will guide counselors, educators and parents interested in how to facilitate parenting groups. Participants will gain techniques and skills necessary to design, market, facilitate and evaluate parenting groups in their schools or community. Information: 410-222- 6429.
Successful Transition to Middle School: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Jan. 14, Maryland City Elementary School, 3359 Crumpton, South Laurel. Very informal meeting for fifth-graders and their parents to come with questions and concerns about going to middle school. Information: 301-725-4256.
PSAT, Understanding and Using Results, Advanced Placement Identification, 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at Meade High School auditorium, 1 Clark Road, Fort Meade. All county senior high students and families are invited.
College students trim tree to benefit hospice
Anne Arundel Community College interior design students volunteered their creativity, skills and time to decorate a holiday tree at Tidewater Inn in Easton for a fund-raiser held last week to benefit the Talbot Hospice Foundation.
In keeping with the Festival of Trees theme of "Home for the Holidays," the students titled their 7-foot-6-inch tree "Home Sweet Home" and created individually designed houses and scaled models of traditional furniture as decorations. These models, made of balsa wood, were embellished with miniature dishes, cooking utensils, spice racks, milk bottles and holiday accessories.
The tree-topper included a clock tower accented with picket fencing, garlands and tiny, snow-dusted pine trees.
Their participation is through the college program and under the direction of Dimitra Tangires, AACC architecture and interior design instructor and faculty adviser to the AACC student chapter of the American Society for Interior Designers.
Christmas concert Friday at AACC Arnold campus
The Anne Arundel Community College Concert Band will present "Twas the Night Before Christmas" at 8 p.m. Friday in the Pascal Center for the Performing Arts on the Arnold campus.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Kevan Vanek of Catonsville, a part-time AACC instructor, will narrate Clement C. Moore's beloved poem about a visit from St. Nicholas, to music arranged by Newell H. Long.
Other holiday favorites to be performed include "Greensleeves," "A Fireside Christmas" and "We Need a Little Christmas," as well as songs from the musical Mame and patriotic songs and marches.
Tickets are $5 general admission and $4 for children younger than age 12 and seniors. They are available at the door an hour before the performance. Information: 410-777-7230.
Severna Park art teacher honored by organization
Suzanne Owens, art teacher at Severna Park Elementary School and Anne Arundel County Public Schools' art resource teacher, is the recipient of the 2003 National Art Education Association, Eastern Region Elementary Art Education Award.
The National Art Education Association will present the award April 4 at its national conference in Minneapolis
Owens is a resident of Severn. She attended Arundel High School and earned her bachelor of arts from Hood College, and her master of arts degree in art education from Towson State University. She has taught at nine elementary schools during the past 25 years and has served for the past eight years as director of Art Trek, a weeklong art program involving students from local schools at Arlington Echo.
At Severna Park Elementary School, Owens' art program includes participating in the fifth-grade three-day, two-night outdoor education program during which students use sketchbooks to record their visual observations. She also participates in all county student art exhibits.
Owens is a member of the Teacher Consultant Group of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution in Washington. She is Youth Art Month coordinator for Anne Arundel County Public Schools as well as the director for the 2002 Maryland Art Educators' Association State Conference. She has presented workshops on curriculum, outdoor education and art, and museum experiences at national and regional conferences.
AACC presents classes for holiday preparations
Anne Arundel Community College's noncredit courses can help make the holidays festive.
Explore holiday meals with "Elegant Italian: A Little Italian for the Holidays." This class shows how to prepare an Italian feast from salad to dessert. It meets from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute in Glen Burnie. The cost is $35.
"Cookies to Eat and Exchange" will be offered from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Brooklyn Park Middle School.
Two holiday sessions for children will be offered on the Arnold campus.
"Christmas, Chanukah and Crafts" is offered for ages 6 to 8 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, and for ages 9 to 12 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on the Arnold Campus. The cost is $37.
A "Traditional Christmas Crafts of America" for ages 6 to 9 is being offered at the Baldwin Hall Schoolhouse in Millersville. The cost is $58. The program is for ages 10 to 14 and will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Information: 410-777-2325.
Registration under way for AACC Weekend College
Anne Arundel Community College's Weekend College format offers a flexible way to earn college credits.
Registration is under way for spring classes, which could lead to an associate's degree or boost job skills for a job change or promotion.
Most are 15-week courses, such as "Principles of Nutrition," "History of Western Civilization 1" and "General Oceanography," beginning Jan. 22.
Several eight-week accelerated courses are also offered, such as "Fundamentals of Oral Communication," "Internet Fundamentals" and "Bicycling," from March 19 to May 15.
Courses of shorter duration are geared to specific fields of study, such as "Certification in Sanitation," a requirement for many hospitality courses; "Special topics: Physics Review for MRI Certification Exam," for radiological technology students; or "Seminar in Massage Therapy" for physical therapy assistant students.
Weekend College has staff available evenings and weekends to advise on course selection and help with registration.
The Weekend Instruction and Support office is in the Student Services Center and is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Information: 410-777-2976.
Spring online courses open for early sign-up
Anne Arundel Community College offers students the opportunity to sign up now for spring online courses.
Online classes are geared for students who have an unpredictable work or home schedule and need flexible course times.
Students may choose from 112 courses offered this spring, from general education requirements to courses tailored to specific jobs, such as business, computer programming, graphic design or legal studies. The 15-week and first eight-week sessions begin Jan. 22. The second eight-week session begins March 19.
To participate in AACC online courses, participants will need to have access to certain technology. Go to www.aacc.edu/diseduc/tech/gentechreq/ to check the requirements.
If home or work computers do not meet the requirements, students must use the computer lab at the Glen Burnie Town Center or in the Truxal Library on the Arnold campus. Some classes may meet on campus for discussion, quizzes, exams or science laboratories. All other classwork occurs online.
Information: 410-777-2739.
Gift-making workshop Dec. 15 at Paca House
The Historic Annapolis Foundation will offer a gift-making workshop for children from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 15 at the William Paca House and Garden, 186 Prince George St.
Youngsters will make presents with a golden theme during this drop-in event, in keeping with the foundation's 50th anniversary celebration.
Young artists will create golden nut ornaments and tinsel stars as well as gold-and-white woven paper heart ornaments from the Dutch tradition.
Participants will get a firsthand taste of 18th-century art, creating lemon pomanders by pushing whole cloves into citrus fruit until they're completely covered and then rolling the studded fruit in a fragrant spice mixture.
Once the gifts have been made, the children can create one-of-a-kind decorative gift bags to place their treasures in. Families will also receive a recipe for making golden toffee to place in their gift bags.
The cost is $6.50 for foundation members and $8 for others. One guardian is admitted for free when accompanied by a child. Advance registration and prepayment are required.
Information: 410-267-7619, Ext. 8146 or 410-267-7619, Ext. 2.
Calendar
Reading assistance:
Reading Assistance Program sessions will be held from 2:40 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays in Room 116 at Archbishop Spalding High School. A reading specialist and National Honor Society members will be available to help Spalding students. No fee or registration is required. Arrangements should be made if a student needs help in an advanced field of study. 410-969-9105.