Gavelek away at sea during what would have been his first school board meeting

The Baltimore Sun

It was supposed to be Andrew Gavelek's first meeting as a voting member of the Howard County Board of Education.

But a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity postponed the student board member's historic day.

"He didn't miss much," Diane Mikulis, the board chairman, said of Thursday night's meeting. "It was a light agenda."

Gavelek, a 16-year-old rising senior at Reservoir High School, was aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Shearwater, an 87-foot patrol boat, off the coast of North Carolina. Gavelek is part of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, which offers a two-week program that exposes young people to the rigors of sea life.

"I'm working with the Coast Guard right now, searching and protecting the homeland," Gavelek said from his cellular phone Friday.

"It's been absolutely amazing," said Gavelek, who is contemplating a future with the Coast Guard or the Navy. "It is a life experience that not everyone has. Just to take part in it is absolutely amazing."

Gavelek will also miss the next school board meeting, on July 26, to attend the Coast Guard Academy AIM (Academy Introduction Mission) program, a weeklong seminar that introduces prospective cadets to life at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

When he returns to the somewhat tamer waters of the Howard County Board of Education, Gavelek will be able to vote on everything except site acquisitions, condemnation, consolidation, architect selection, appointment and salary of the superintendent, collective bargaining issues, employee discipline and other appeals, appointments, the capital and operating budgets, and student suspensions and expulsions.

After years of contention and the crafting of legislation, Gov. Martin O'Malley approved a bill in May that granted Howard County's student member partial voting rights.

"I'm missing all this stuff, but I am keeping up with it," Gavelek said about his school board duties. "I have a lot on my plate. But I'm handling it all."

'Jeopardy!' challenge

Kriti Gandhi, who graduated from Centennial High School in May, is among 15 teenagers competing in the first-ever Jeopardy! Summer Games Teen Tournament this week.

Gandhi, 18, will make her television appearance Wednesday. In her round, she will compete against Lindsey Nicolai, 17, of Hampton, Va., and Amy Varallo, 17, of Aiken, S.C.

The tournament shows will air Monday through Friday, tomorrow through July 27. Jeopardy! is shown at 7 p.m. on WMAR (Channel 2) in Baltimore and at 7:30 p.m. on WJLA (Channel 7) in Washington.

The contestants were flown to Los Angeles in early March to tape the competition, which has a grand prize of $75,000. During the two-week competition, contestants will be whittled to three finalists, who will keep the money they earn in the last two games. The second-place finisher will earn at least $25,000; the third-place finisher will earn at least $15,000; semi-finalists earn $10,000. Each of the 15 competitors is guaranteed $5,000 for being selected for the tournament.

Gandhi is no stranger to television game shows. In May, she was an alternate on Centennial's It's Academic Super Bowl team. That team finished second and earned $10,750 in prize money for the school. Gandhi plans to attend McGill University in Montreal in the fall.

Dunking incentives

The final days of school at Swansfield Elementary boiled down to 1,300 balls and 165 dunks.

As a reward for good behavior during the Maryland School Assessment, Swansfield students were eligible to earn up to five balls each, which they then used at a dunking booth whose "victims" were Swansfield Principal Jonathan Davis, several teachers and an assistant principal. The chance to dunk the educators was incentive for students to take the test seriously.

Davis told board members Thursday that the students had a great time during the event. Of the 1,300 balls awarded to students, Davis and his staff were dunked 165 times.

Davis said the incentive worked.

"Students reread their answers to make sure that their answers mattered," he said.

Davis said the dunking booth will become a tradition.

"Students have already asked about [the] next MSAs," he said.

Holocaust education

The Jewish Museum of Maryland will offer its third Summer Teachers Institute on "Best Practices in Holocaust Education," a three-day seminar during which teachers learn the effects of the Holocaust on world and U.S. history, government, English language arts and world religions.

"Holocaust education is sometimes a very sensitive topic," said Deborah Cardin, director of education at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. "Teachers feel challenged in teaching it in a sensitive, compelling manner."

Over the past two years, 80 teachers from private and public schools -- including some from Howard County -- have completed training, Cardin said.

"They come away with so much education and thought," Cardin said. "They are able to make connections with things that are going on today."

The cost is $20 for two days of training, and $30 for three days.

This year's training will include: testimonials from Holocaust survivor and author Leo Bretholz; a tour of the Jewish Museum's Lloyd Street Synagogue, the state's oldest synagogue; a tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington; and a workshop on curriculum based on Holocaust survivor testimony.

"We need to make sure we are properly educating teachers and giving them proper training so that they can implement this in the classroom," Cardin said.

The application deadline is Friday.

Information or teacher registration: 410-732-6400.

john-john.williams@baltsun.com

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