Thursday, December 9, 2004

Westminster Eagle: 4th Annual National Inclusive Schools Week

Westminster Eagle: 4th Annual National Inclusive Schools Week

Students at Robert Moton Elementary participated by having several guest readers, including Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff and Superintendent Charles Ecker

Education Notes 12/08/04 Heidi Schroeder  

Carroll County Public Schools is celebrating its fourth annual National Inclusive Schools Week through Dec. 10, promoting the capacity of schools to provide education to an increasingly diverse student population - and in particular to those who have disabilities.

Among the schools participating in events during the week are Robert Moton Elementary School and Westminster High School.

This is the first year that Westminster High is celebrating the event.

Special education teacher Donna Dougherty said students have designed a brochure highlighting ways that Westminster High is an inclusive school. The brochure will be distributed in advisory sessions on Dec. 18, and will also be included in the parent newsletter.

In addition, students and teachers have designed an interactive bulletin board with information about Braille, American Sign Language and employment opportunities.

Dougherty said that although this is Westminster High's first year celebrating Inclusive Schools Week, the school has hosted Special Olympics events each spring for many years, and the school encourages students to volunteer for those events.

David Riley is the director of networking for the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, the sponsor of National Inclusive Schools Week. He said the institute has received positive feedback from communities that have been involved with the program.

"Our message is that this week should not be the only time where schools and communities consider this, but take a pause and celebrate what has been achieved, and do some deliberate thinking about what next steps need to be taken," he said.

>Students and teachers from Westminster High were among those who presented a session at the 84th Annual National Council for the Social Studies Fall Conference in Baltimore on Nov. 20. The session was entitled "Effective Strategies to Engage All Learners in Social Studies."

Participants learned how every student's voice can be heard in a classroom that provides for diverse needs. Christina Dougherty, teacher at Westminster High School, and her students presented a strategy called "Visual Discovery."

The following Westminster High School 11th grade students presented with Mrs. Dougherty: James Mangle, Samuel Porter, Becky Middleton, Ryan Coons, Megan Lynch, Erin Morgan, Kim Flanagan, and Celia Kelly.

>Manchester Elementary School has received national recognition for the efforts of students, parents, and staff to raise funds for the treatment and cure of diabetes.

The school was one of more than 1,145 schools nationwide to participate in the School Walk for Diabetes, and raised more than $33,000 for the American Diabetes Association. The fund-raiser was held April 6 with the theme, "Run with B.B. Wolf to Huff and Puff and Blow Away Diabetes!"

The school was awarded the National Championship banner and trophy, and Manchester was featured at the American Diabetes Association National Volunteer Leadership Conference, Nov. 19-21, in Chicago.

>East Middle School recently collected 1,250 cans of food for the month of November as part of the Character Education initiatives for kindness. The food items will be delivered to Carroll County Food Sunday and will benefit needy families in Westminster.

East Middle's SHOUT Committee started an initiative to collect spare change at lunch for grocery vouchers. Some students emptied the lunch change from their pockets and some brought in change from home. Students collected $360 and provided vouchers for three families for the holidays.

>The Maryland Department of Education has honored the following local schools with certificates for top performance on the 2004 Maryland School Assessments: North Carroll High, Sandymount Elementary, Spring Garden Elementary, Westminster High, West Middle and Winters Mill High.

Title I schools will receive financial awards, in addition to their certificates, as provided under the No Child Left Behind Act. Locally, these schools are Robert Moton Elementary and Runnymede Elementary.

>Students from Robert Moton Elementary School participated in Scholastic Read for 2005, the sixth annual children's read-a-thon, on Dec. 3. On this day in countries around the world, classrooms took time to read a book together for 2,005 seconds (approximately 33 1/3 minutes).

Students at Robert Moton Elementary participated by having several guest readers, including Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff and Superintendent Charles Ecker, in addition to characters Clifford and Miss Spider. For information on Scholastic Read for 2005, visit www.scholastic.com/readfor2005.

>The Board of Education of Carroll County will hold its regular monthly meeting tonight, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m. in Room 007 of the Board of Education offices, 125 N. Court St., Westminster. The public is invited. The agenda is posted on the Web site, www.carrollk12.org.

>The North Carroll High School National Honor Society will sponsor a silent auction tonight, Dec. 8, 5 to 9 p.m. in the cafeteria.

The auction will feature baked goods, crafts and sports memorabilia. All are invited.

What's happening at your school? Send items to Heidi Schroeder, education correspondent at The Westminster Eagle, at 121 East Main Street, Westminster, MD 21157. Items may also be faxed to 410-549-4274, or e-mailed to hschroeder@patuxent.com. 
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Newspapers Westminster Eagle, Westminster Mayor 2001-05 Dayhoff, Carroll Co Schools, Diversity, People Schroeder-Heidi Schroeder, 


20041208

Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/

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