When fourth-grader Jared Thomas grows up, he wants to play football.

More specifically, the Lisbon Elementary School student wants to play football at Glenelg High School, and in order to get there, he said he will get good grades and work hard.

Jared shared his goals and how he would accomplish them at an activity last week in which Glenelg's varsity basketball team came out to talk about setting goals with the elementary school students.

Coach Jansen McMillan encourages his junior varsity and varsity players to perform community outreach by reading to students and performing other activities with them.

He decided to organize the outreach based on his experiences as a student at Swansfield Elementary School, in Columbia.

"When I was in elementary school, I remember basketball players from Wilde Lake coming to talk to me," McMillan said of athletes from Wilde Lake High School. "I was excited. I couldn't believe it."

He added that, while on the basketball team at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he was able to speak to elementary school students.

McMillan believes his players gained a lot from the experience, and said he enjoyed watching them interact with the younger students.

"I was able to see a different side of them," McMillan said.

Amy Olson, the reading specialist at Lisbon Elementary, praised the effort.

"He's really trying to get them involved," Olson said of McMillan's work with his athletes.

On Jan. 16, Glenelg's junior varsity basketball team visited Lisbon's kindergarten classrooms to read stories and practice basic basketball skills, such as dribbling and passing, with the students.

At the varsity players' Jan. 26 visit to Lisbon's fourth-grade classes, players read Margie Palatini's "Mary had a Little Ham" -- a story about the trials and tribulations a pig must endure in order to become an actor. The students then recorded their personal goals and obstacles they might face in trying to accomplish it.

Toward the end of the visit, teacher Missy Howard asked her students to name some of the accomplishments of the Glenelg basketball players.

"They're good basketball players," one student said.

"They got good grades," another added.

Many of the Glenelg basketball players are former Lisbon students; some, including Gage Trawick, 18, were former students of Howard's.

"We are so tickled that you came to visit," Howard said to her former students.

Trawick said he enjoyed visiting as well.

"I definitely forgot how it was to be that little, but they seemed to know a lot about goals," Trawick said. "They all were dreaming big."

Trawick added that he looks forward to visiting again.

"We definitely want to make this an annual thing...during the basketball season," McMillan said. "We're really excited about making it bigger next year and in years to come."

* Fulton Elementary School will hold its third-annual International Night Fri., Feb. 5, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Activities will include a food tasting, dance performances and arts and crafts for children of all ages. The school is at 11600 Scaggsville Road, in Fulton. Call 410-880-5957 for more information.

* Students and staff at Reservoir High School will hold their own version of the popular show "Dancing with the Stars" to raise money for the American Red Cross Haiti relief fund Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5. The school is located at 11550 Scaggsville Road, in Fulton. Call 410-888-8850, ext. 245 for more information.

* The 2010 Howard County STEM Fair, to showcase students' work in science, technology, engineering and math, will be held Feb. 19 and 20 at Long Reach High School. The public open house and award ceremony will be on Feb. 20, 3-6 p.m. Snow days are Feb. 26 and 27. The fair will provide an opportunity for middle and high school students to represent their schools and compete in many academic categories. The school is at 6101 Dobbin Lane, in Columbia. Call 410-313-6616 for more information.

* The Norbel School will host an admissions open house Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. The Norbel School is a private school for grades 1-12 which provides an individualized educational program for students with learning challenges. The school is at 6135 Old Washington Road, in Elkridge. For more information, go to www.norbelschool.org or contact Frank Pugliese at 410-796-6700.

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 mroshan@patuxent.com.

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