The Arc of Howard County recently honored a number of Howard County students and educators for their efforts to make their schools more welcoming to students with disabilities.

The recipients were recognized for promoting "the positive inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in the life of the school community," according to a statement from The Arc, a group that provides housing, job placement, vocational training and other support services to those with developmental disabilities and their families.

Those honored include:

* First graders at Fulton Elementary School, for their "'everyone belongs' attitude and practice of inclusion."

* Wilde Lake High School English teacher Elisa Lopez and chemistry/physics teacher Nancy Miller, who taught two brothers who had severe learning disabilities.

* Thunder Hill Elementary School second-grade teacher Bree Pinsker, third-grade teacher Nancy McLaughlin and special education teacher Amy Cohen, who worked as a team to help students with developmental disabilities.

* Centennial High School's Bettina Turner and Ed Hohde for developing a curriculum for chemistry and physics that would "embrace the diverse abilities of students."

* Ilchester Elementary School students Shannon Soop, Alex Pearsall, Courtney Wall, Danial Flock and Katie Uh for "helping disabled classmates with learning, by playing together, by accepting their differences, and sticking with their friendships through good times and difficult times."

* Centennial High School student Christine Mattingly for helping students in her math concepts and applications class.

> Toni Erikson, a fifth-grader at Hollifield Station Elementary School, was named the Maryland winner of the "No Name Calling" Creative Expression Contest, coordinated by the No Name-Calling Week Coalition. She received an honorable mention for her story on the effects of bullying in school. The coalition was created by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing.

> The Mt. Hebron High School Marching Unit won numerous trophies at the Festivals of Music in Toronto April 6-10, according to a school press release. In the indoor competition, the cavalier flag team, cavalier swing flags, rifle team and dance team all won first place. In the concert band competition, the symphonic band came in second with an excellent rating, the symphonic winds came in second with a superior rating, and the wind ensemble came in first and won best overall concert band at the festival with a superior rating. In the jazz competition, the jazz ensemble won second place with an excellent rating, the Dixieland jazz combo won first place and best overall jazz band at the festival with a superior rating, and Tim Shneier was named best festival jazz soloist for the third consecutive year. The marching unit won first place and best overall parade performance with a superior rating, and the lancer drill team was named best auxiliary unit of the parade competition.

> The Howard County Parents for School Music recently named Ellicott Mills Middle School band director Richard Roberts and orchestra director Katherine Cammarata of Burleigh Manor Middle and Centennial High schools as their co-recipients for Music Educator of the Year.

> U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin announced June 3 that 19 students from the 3rd Congressional District had accepted appointments to four national service academies. Of those, four were from Howard County: Liam Conley of Columbia and Eric Diss of Hanover, both graduates of Long Reach High, accepted appointments to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jonathan Miller of Columbia, a graduate of Hammond High School, accepted an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; and Christopher Dattaro of Elkridge, another Long Reach graduate, accepted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

> Leadership Howard County has announced its selections to the Leadership U class of 2005, a youth program in which high school students are trained to prepare for leadership roles in the future. Students are selected based on their leadership potential, community involvement, and desire to bring positive change. The following students, listed by school, were selected to this year's class:

Atholton High: Katie M. Harrelson, Andrew Morse and Christopher G. Troendly; Centennial High: Jennifer M. Bonczar, Emily A. Cain, Carrie E. Gartner, Shayna H. Meliker, Amanda M. Pino, Sonya Saraiya and Linda Zheng; Glenelg Country School: Aleena Hasnain and Adam A. Ramada; Glenelg High: Jake E. Anderson, Colleen D. Brookfield, Doug S. Parker, Katherine Slick, Andrew J. Sotak and Afton K. Vechery; Hammond High: Kelsey Girard, Seth N. Orensky, Nikolaj G. Rossovskij and Ayma M. Rouhani; Howard High: Jasmine L. Johnson and William J. Swaim; McDonogh School: Brooke A. Staton; Mount St. Joseph High: Sean S. Dalton; Mt. Hebron High: Noor B. Oweis; Oakland Mills High: Nykeba R. Corinaldi; Reservoir High: Maureen M. Harvie; River Hill High: Sanjay B. Bhat, Samantha Choy and Rushi K. Tolati; Wilde Lake High: Michael J. Kappert and William B. Kolodner.

> Five students from Howard County competed in the Destination ImagiNation Global Final held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. May 25-28, according to the organization. The program asks teams of students to find a problem, develop an idea for a solution to the problem, and present the solution to judges. The Howard County team of Mary Geiser, Matthew von der Lippe, Rebecca Wilson and Colleen Klungness, all of Wilde Lake Middle School, and Niranjan Murali of Harper's Choice Middle School, had the challenge of creating a story that can be told without pictures. The team created a radio program and commercial, and placed 15th out of 39 teams in the competition. The team took first place at the regional level at St. Paul's School in Brooklandville and tied for first at the state level at Towson University.

> Ellicott Mills Middle School saw several music ensembles perform well at the Music in the Park festival at Hershey Park, Pa. June 4. The Concert Band I, Concert Band II, Mixed Choir I, Mixed Choir II, String Orchestra and Full Orchestra received superior ratings and took first place in their respective divisions. The Sixth Grade Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band received honors for best overall choir, orchestra and band in the Middle School/Junior High division. The Elkridge Landing Middle School Band and Strings also received several awards at the festival. The symphonic band won first place with a superior rating and the string orchestra took second place with a superior rating.

> Alison Tarwater, a 2005 graduate of Long Reach High School, received the John F. and Eula Mae Baugh SYSCO Scholarship, her family said. This scholarship honoring the first chief executive officer of SYSCO and his wife, goes to the children of a SYSCO employee. Tarwater will receive $12,000 per year for four years. She will be attending Harvard College, where she will pursue a degree in Near Eastern Civilizations.

> The Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City recently awarded a $12,000 scholarship to Drew Phillip Seeker of Centennial High School. The money will be spread over four years of college.

> The Howard County Foundation for Black Educational and Cultural Achievement, Inc. presented 25 $1,000 scholarships to students of Howard County high schools May 15. The amount was the most raised by the organization since the awards were first presented in 1979. To qualify, students must have at least a 2.5 grade-point average, be involved in community service or extracurricular activities, write an essay on a designated topic and take part in an interview. The winners, by school, were: Atholton High: Dana Christman; Centennial High: Chante Sessomes; Glenelg High: April Dorsey; Glenelg Country School: Antonio Ervin; Hammond High: Whitney Fears; Howard High: Andre Durham and Chauncey Dockins II; Long Reach High: Brandon Hutcherson, Channing McKindra, Johnny Montgomery, Brittany Taylor and Alycia Williams; Mt. Hebron High: Ashley Brooks, Danielle Haley, Jasmine Hicks and Rachel Spivey; Oakland Mills High: Monica Holloway; Reservoir High: Clayton Graha; Wilde Lake High: Christopher Atkinson, Jennifer Beckwith, Kamau Collins, Kele Darbouze, Deborah Girma, Miltonia Peal and Kevin Tomlinson.

> Comcast has announced the winners of the 2005 Comcast Student Achievement Awards in Howard County. The awards are given to students who have shown the most improvement in academics over four years of high school. The 12 students each received a $1,000 scholarship. The winners were: Matthew Paul Harman, Atholton High; Kimberly Pavlovsky, Centennial High; Elise Rub, Glenelg High; Ellen Blasi, Hammond High; Allison Stanley, the Homewood School; Raisa Llena Sherman, Howard High; Jordan Holmes, Long Reach High; Nicole Collins, Mt. Hebron High; Sandrine Wiggan, Oakland Mills High; Allyson Elizabeth Harshaw, Reservoir High; Heather Moore, River Hill High; and Debbie Jefferson, Wilde Lake High.

> Brett Morales, a junior at Atholton High School, was recently elected to serve a second term as president of the Executive Board at the school, according to members of his family. He also served as class president as a freshman and sophomore, served on the Howard County Association Board of Student Councils, attended the Maryland Leadership workshop in 2004 and will attend the Advanced Leadership conference in 2005. He has been accepted to the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington and has attended the Maryland Association of Student Leadership Conference for three consecutive years. He is an academic honors student, a member of the Atholton Future Business Leaders of America, and has been admitted into the National Honor Society and Who's Who Among American High School Students.

This is the last School Days column for the summer. The column will resume in late August. School announcements may still be forwarded to the Howard County Times/Columbia Flier for publication in the School Notices section. Send school-related items to School Days, Flier/Times, 10750 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, MD. 21044. Fax items to 410-997-4564 or e-mail cburroughs@patuxent.com.