educators

The gymnasium at Gunpowder Elementary School was filled with activity one recent afternoon, but not with the first grade physical education class. The teachers — not the students — were the ones dressed in colorful tights and sneakers, jumping rope and running sprint drills across the floor.

Carroll County Public Schools chose Brendan Gallagher as its 2016 Teacher of the Year. Gallagher is also the personification of two of the greatest challenges facing CCPS today: A salary scale that has not rewarded excellent, veteran teachers and an aging Career and Tech Center that cannot keep up with student demand.

Julie A. Somers, a beloved Baltimore County public schools social studies teacher and assistant principal, died April 22 from a stroke at her Oakenshaw home. She was 50.

Select teachers from Baltimore celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week in a presidential way, attending this year's Teacher of the Year Award at the White House.

Often the difference between a good schools CEO and a mediocre comes down to fit with the district. Therein lies the basis for the enthusiastic hope engendered by the appointment of Sonja Santelises as the new CEO of the Baltimore city schools. Unlike the departing Gregory Thornton, her strong suit is academic leadership.

Teacher Appreciation Week was celebrated a little early at Dumbarton Middle School this year

Tuesday's celebration of North Harford Elementary School being named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School for 2016 was all about the school's 410 students, but as local and state leaders reminded them, it was also about 56 members of the faculty and staff, as well as the Harford County Public Schools staff who support them and the many parents and community supporters who helped them get to Blue Ribbon status.

The Harford County Education Association announces its endorsement of Johnny Boker for Havre De Grace City Council.

Letter: Teacher attrition doesn't support need for higher salaries

I have taught in Carroll County Public Schools for 10 years but I was a student here first for 13. As I think back on the list of educators who taught,

The morning after the Carroll County's Board of Commissioners voted to approve a proposed budget, educators and community members from around the area gathered in Westminster to rally for higher education funding.

The administration's proposed budget, which is $48 million under the school system's record high request of $856 million and includes a $18 million increase in county funds from last year, is setting the stage for a budgetary clash.

It's budget time in Carroll County and you know what that means! Deja vu all over again. The education activists are lined up against the fiscal conservatives for a battle royale. Take no prisoners and to the victor go the spoils — or at least that's what the rhetoric makes it sound like.

After discussing a poem, I invited the students to imagine that they had a magic pencil. What could they think into being with it? Andrew wrote three sentences in response. "My pencil can bring my mom back to alive. And she can feel my hands hugging, like an angel. And she can smell my lotion and she writes a letter to me.

Rising numbers of minority students underscore need to recruit diverse college faculty

In a contentious year for the school system, Carroll County residents have the chance on Tuesday to vote for four candidates to advance to the general election.

Some low-income Maryland parents will be able to enroll their children in private or parochial schools next fall using state-funded scholarships recently approved by lawmakers.

Virginia G. "Ginny" Harris, a retired Baltimore public schools educator who later earned her real estate license, died Wednesday from Parkinson's disease at Keswick Multi-Care Center. She was 88.

For me, Ira Reid was no longer a black professor; he was a professor who was black. And for the first time in my life I understood that I could see beyond race and all of its associated pre-judgments, to the worth — in this case the extraordinary worth — of a fellow human being.

At Towson and at many other universities in Maryland, the percentage of black professors has barely grown in the last 20 years, and at some campuses, including at the flagship University of Maryland, College Park, the percentage of black faculty has actually declined between 1996 and 2014, according to data collected by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

Laurie D. Dixon, who taught science in are Christian schools for more than three decades, died April 5 at the University of Maryland Medical Center of complications after a double-lung transplant. The Ellicott City resident was 63.

The Harford County high school girls who are honored each year for their accomplishments in math and science at the annual Judith Resnik Luncheon are usually treated to a visit from a woman who has had a successful career in either field, but this year, the 12 honorees will have a chance to meet Mary Cleave, a former astronaut who knew the namesake of the luncheon.

The McDaniel College community lost a leader, a mentor and a friend with the passing of former Academic Dean and Professor Emeritus Melvin "Del" Palmer, who died Thursday, April 7 at the Lorien assisted living facility in Taneytown.

Hina Naseem¿s big break is a recent one. It came after she left her career as an eighth-grade science teacher at Ellicott Mills Middle School to raise her two boys. As a stay-at-home mom, she volunteered for Junior Achievement¿s advisory board.

It's budget season, and education funding remains a serious challenge to our taxpayers. We are caught in a repetitious "groundhog day" cycle. Each year, enrollments decline, so state funding declines. Then, to make matters worse, declining enrollments artificially inflate our average wealth-per-student calculation, which in turn results in yet lower appropriations from the state.

In marking its 20th anniversary this year, The Highlands School can teach us all a few lessons in what can be accomplished when a small group of dedicated people put their minds to something and won't be discouraged from attaining their goals, no matter what obstacles they encounter.

Jim Doolan, the sitting president of the Carroll County Public Schools Board of Education, is no longer seeking re-election to the school board.

Eight winners were chosen from nearly 400 nominees at the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce's 27th annual Outstanding Teacher Awards program Wednesday, and are now eligible to be named the county's Teacher of the Year in May.

The Highlands School, of Creswell, which assists students with ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2016

Carroll County's best teachers will be honored and eight will be named finalists at the 2016 Outstanding Teacher Awards, to be held Wednesday, March 30, at Westminster High School. The eight finalists then become candidates to be named the Carroll County Teacher of the Year later this spring.

Carroll County Public School teachers are now working to contract, putting in no extra hours beyond what is required by law and will continue to do so until a new contract agreement is reached with the school system.

The Howard County Board of Education has approved and signed an agreement with the Howard County Education Association that grants salary step increases to teachers for the next two fiscal years. The agreement, which the board approved by unanimous vote on Thursday, also compresses teachers' pay scale so that they reach their highest salary level after 25 years of service, instead of 29 years.

Quentin R. Lawson, educational adviser to Mayor William Donald Schaefer who later became executive director of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, died Monday of complications from prostate cancer at his Windsor Mill home. He was 83.

The Baltimore County Council on Monday will vote on whether to approve $485,000 for a pilot program that would extend the free meal program to all students, regardless of income, at Hawthorne Elementary, Riverview Elementary, Dundalk Middle and Dundalk High schools.

Sharalyn Heinly, a North Harford Middle School math teacher, was surrounded by family, friends and current and former students Wednesday evening as she was named Harford County Public Schools' Teacher of the Year for 2016

Nationwide, more than 280 colleges and universities now have food pantries. College administrators around the country say a growing number of students are struggling to pay for food and other essentials as tuition rates have risen, financial aid has fallen, and eligibility rules for college loans have tightened. At the same time, wages have stagnated and families hard hit by the Great Recession continue to struggle financially.

More than 40 Howard County teachers graded essays, tests and homework at the Columbia Mall Thursday afternoon so that the public could see the work hours they put in after school lets out.

Carroll County Public School teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject the best, final offer from the school system Tuesday night, setting the stage for contract negotiations to cease as both parties head to an arbitration process.

After three months of negotiations, the Howard County school board and educators union have come to a tentative agreement that would determine teacher salaries for the next two years. If ratified by members of the Board of Education and the Educators Association, the agreement would give educators a salary step increase for both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years.

The embattled Mount St. Mary's University president resigned on Monday amid growing criticism in recent weeks that drew national attention to the small Catholic university and stoked a debate over academic freedom.

Reynaldo G. Reyes, an internationally known concert pianist who had been a member of the music faculty at Towson University for more than 50 years, died Feb. 15 of a brain hemorrhage at Sinai hospital. The Lutherville resident was 82.

Daniel B. "Bix" Wheeler, former associate superintendent of physical facilities for Baltimore County public schools, who enjoyed refinishing antique furniture, died Feb. 16 of a brain hemorrhage at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 93.

Watering down the exam that tests students on the Common Core defeats the whole purpose of higher academic standards

Schools, development top list of concerns for many

In the 2014 election, four of the five county commissioners and three Board of Education members were endorsed by the Carroll County Education Association. Many of us in education had high hopes that the tide was turning; it seemed that anti-public education factions had been marginalized. There was much talk of the two boards working together to formulate long-range goals and plans for our county. Then school closings happened.

Carroll County's teacher of the year was among educators and lawmakers from both parties who spoke at a press conference held by the state's largest teacher's union Thursday in support of legislative initiatives seeking to reduce testing for public school students in Maryland.

Educators, lawmakers urge passage of bills limiting school testing

McDaniel College selected Julia Jasken as the new provost and dean of the faculty at a board meeting Friday.

Families gathered at William Winchester Elementary School on Wednesday evening, engaging in a number of activities for the school's first STEM Family Night, organized by fifth-grade teacher Mara Reinartz to spark student interest in the fields of STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics.