Folly Quarter Middle School recently conducted its 2012 Spelling Bee. Congratulations to Sarah Nalty for being their first Folly Quarter Spelling Bee winner! Sarah's next step will be to participate in the Howard County Library Spelling Bee March 9. The winner from that competition will move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Congratulations also go to Garrett Peters who was the runner up of the competition and he is the school's bee alternate. Other spelling bee participants included Narayani Wagle, Vasudha Jasthi, Tyler Lee, Colleen McAulay, Lynda Phillips, Brian Rohner, James Coyne and Nick Doran. A great job and effort was made by all.
Right next door, Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School also held its National Scripts Spelling Bee. Twenty-three fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in this annual event. Congratulations to Walter Donoughe and Harrison Muller for the first- and second-place finishes. Best of luck to Walter as he represents Triadelphia Ridge in the County Spelling Bee in March.
Several Bushy Park Elementary School students were recently honored by being selected to participate in county level bands. Fifth grader Katie Morrogh, who plays clarinet, will represent Bushy Park as a member of the Howard County Elementary GT Band.
Auditions for this band are highly competitive, and Katie earned this high honor by practicing some difficult music and auditioning in front of a panel of judges. Good luck to Katie as she begins rehearsals with the GT band.
In addition, Bushy Park Elementary School also had three students who were selected to participate in the Howard County Elementary Honor Band this year.
Representing Bushy Park in the 2012 Honor Band will be: Jeffrey Read, trombone; Aaron Ortwein, clarinet; and Zachary Schwinger, trumpet. Congratulations, as well, to these outstanding student musicians. All three boys were nominated by band and strings teacher Kathleen Rimlinger for membership in this year's County Honor Band because of their high playing ability on their respective instruments and their excellent work habits.
Several weeks ago I shared news of local students who participated in their school's annual PTA Reflections Program. Winners from the local schools had their pieces entered for competition at the county level. I have now heard back about some local middle school winners, whose entries will now compete in the State Reflections Program.
Congratulations to Barbara Brewer (film production), Paige Caine (literature), Bailey Heneghan (photography) and Benjamin Selnick (musical composition), all students at Folly Quarter Middle School, whose Reflections entries were winners at the Howard County level and have now advanced to the Maryland Reflections Contest.
At Glenwood Middle School, seventh-grader Logan Barragan received an Outstanding Interpretation of Theme Award, while seventh-grader Alexandra Wood received an Award of Merit for their photography entries. Seventh-grader Ryan Higgins received an Award of Excellence for his film entry, while seventh-grader Caroline Kwon received an Award of Excellence for her literature entry. In the Dance category, eighth-grader Sara Hart received an Outstanding Interpretation of Theme award for her entry.
Looking for a great deal on a prom dress? Don't forget about Project Prom Dress at the Howard County YMCA Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prom dresses have been collected over the past few months and the cleaned dresses will be offered for sale at the fraction of their original price.
All of the money raised through the resale of these dresses will benefit the American Red Cross of the Chesapeake Region, including local programs that can provide food, shelter, clothing and other help to disaster victims in Howard County.
Be sure to arrive early, because dresses will sell quickly. For more information, call 410-624-2035, email projectpromdresshoward@gmail.com or find Project: Prom Dress on Facebook.
Just a reminder that the food bank at Glenelg United Methodist Church will be open Saturday, Feb. 18 from 9 to 10 a.m. The food bank at GUMC is open the third Saturday of each month and will give out groceries from both the Howard County Food Bank as well as the GUMC Pantry for those in need of assistance.
For additional information, call the church at 410‐489‐7260 or email glenelgumcpantry@gmail.com.