Over the past few years, it has become a tradition for Folly Quarter Middle School to "adopt" a Latin American country to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. This year, Isabel Machado's Spanish students at FQMS have researched the history and culture of Ecuador to prepare their presentations for the culminating Hispanic Heritage Month assembly.

In addition to learning about the country, the students also try to do something for the country. Last year students raised more than $1,200 to purchase much needed school supplies for children in an extremely poor part of El Salvador. This year, in conjunction with Ecuador Mi Pais, students again would like to help impoverished Ecuadorian families send their children to school.

It costs approximately $300 a year to send a child to school in Ecuador. All of the families the students are learning about earn less than $280 a month, often to support a family of six.

So, once again, students are asking the FQMS community for help. If every child in the school contributes just $1, the Spanish students can come close to funding the education of two Ecuadoran children for a full year. Contributions are being collected every day during lunch shifts.

The month of learning about Ecuador culminated with a visit from Diego Bassante Oct. 21. Bassante is the agricultural attaché from the Embassy of Ecuador. In addition to his visit, there will also be a dance and play performed by Atamaica, a native group from Ecuador.

Fall Festival! Glenelg United Methodist Church invites you to celebrate fall Sunday, Nov. 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., as they host a fall festival. Activities will include a moon bounce, pumpkin decorating, face-painting, candy-in-the-haystack, arts, crafts, and jewelry vendors, cider, hot dogs, and sweet treats!

Come a bit early and enjoy the 9:30 a.m, church service and Sunday School, then plan to stay for the Festival. Some special fundraising and community service will also take place during the Fall Festival.

There will be a fundraiser football toss to benefit Noah Thyberg, a local elementary school student who had a heart transplant this past September. In addition, canned food donations for the Maryland Food Bank will also be accepted.

Glenelg United Methodist Church is at 13900 Burntwoods Road, Glenelg, MD 21737. In case of rain, the festival will be postponed until Nov. 8.

GUMC is also looking forward to hosting a free community concert presented by Brass of the Potomac Nov. 15 at 5 p.m.

The Brass of the Potomac is an ensemble of 30 professional musicians from around the Washington area, pulling their talents from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

The group enjoys performing full scale concerts for schools, community centers and worship centers. Plan to come out and enjoy an evening of patriotic music, traditional hymns, as well as some original works written just for Brass of the Potomac.

Students at Dayton Oaks Elementary School are learning how to go green and help save the environment from unnecessary waste. On a recent Wednesday, the school celebrated Waste Free Wednesday, as they tried to make as little trash as possible. Students were encouraged to bring lunches in reusable containers. Creative ideas included wrapping a sandwich in a cloth napkin. Packing potato chips and cookies in reusable plastic contaners, a thermos with soup and reusable water bottles. The idea was to encourage children to take everything home to be washed and used again, versus throwing away a bunch of extra trash.

Looking for a fun way to celebrate Halloween? How about participating in a 5k race and 1-mile zombie walk that will take place at Marriotts Ridge High School on the morning of Oct. 31, featuring prizes for serious runners as well as costumed participants?

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Marriotts Ridge Booster Club, which supports all extracurricular activities at the school.

The Mustang 5k stampede is an annual event, which will take a goulish twist this year, as the event falls on Halloween. Cash prizes, gift cards and gift certificates will be awarded to costumed participants, as well as serious runners.

Trophies will be awarded to top two runners in more than 10 categories.There will also be plenty of other tricks and treats planned for the event.

If you dare to participate, the race will begin at the witching hour of 9 a.m. The cost to participate in the 5 k run is $25 per person. Families with young children are encouraged to participate in the zombie parade for just $5 per little one.

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