The Howard County Middle School Tennis Tournament was well represented by sixth-graders at Elkridge Landing Middle School. Students Dylan Rankin and Ajay Chatim teamed up for a very capable doubles team. They challenged the team from Patuxent Valley, but unfortunately lost, 8-7, on the final game of their match. Max Balter faced tough competition from the singles player from Bonnie Branch, but conquered him to move on to the finals where he then easily won the championship with an 8-1 victory.

Congratulations to Max, Dylan and Ajay for excellent tennis skills and sportsmanship in this tournament!

Elkridge Elementary School was selected by the state management team to receive the 2008 Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Maryland Green Ribbon School Recognition Award.

This award program provides recognition to schools in Maryland that have implemented school-wide positive behavioral interventions. It shows that Elkridge has met specific criteria and demonstrated innovative, creative and functional ways of implementing and sustaining PBIS. Hooray for the innovative staff of Elkridge Elementary School.

"Kudos to you, your staff, members of your PBIS team and the students for all of your efforts in providing a safe and nurturing environment for your school! This is indeed how we continue to move from good to great," said Pam Blackwell, director for student services.

Rockburn Elementary School had its third annual Young Authors Tea at the end of the school year. Thanks to these teachers and staff members who organized and planned the event: Julie Moraz, instructional team Leader, and Eileen Nelson, Janet Moore, Sarah Dripps, Colleen Johnson, Julie Bixler and Genice Linaburg.

The focus of the second-grade young authors program this year was fairy tales. The children learned the characteristics of fairy tales, read traditional versions, and learned about "fractured" fairy tales.

A fractured fairy tale, the way I understand the concept, is when a familiar fairy tale is turned upside down and inside out using creativity in the process. For example, instead of "The Princess and the Pea," a student may have decided to write, "The Princess and the Big Orange Radish."

As you can imagine, they were using their imaginations and probably a little sense of humor too. With this newfound knowledge, they wrote fractured fairy tale stories of their own and a book was produced with the help of the Rockburn Elementary School PTA and many parent volunteers.

They began the project in March, and lasted for several dedicated months.

"We used graphic organizers and story maps and learned elements of a fairy tale. By mid-April, we had begun writing our stories," Nelson said.

The book assembly began in May, using the portable classroom outside as a production room. Many parent volunteers spent hours cutting the stories and using rubber cement to glue them in the books. Thanks to the PTA for purchasing the materials.

"All students, no matter their level or needs, were able to participate in this awesome project and be proud of their finished book at the end," second-grade teacher Colleen Johnson said. Tyler Young was pleased to announce, "I got to read to my grandparents who came to visit from Florida."

The pride of accomplishment was shining on that June school day.

"I had a board of student photos and the caption, 'Meet the Authors.' One of my girls walked by the board and said, 'I'm an author!,' " Janet Moore exclaimed.

The children had a wonderful, fun-filled day reading their books to many different families and community members.

"My mom came and I got to read my story to her and then I got to read with Jake's mom," Sergio Ayestas said. Julia Osbourne, said, "My favorite part was when we got to meet other parents. And my mom took time off of work taking care of kids that don't have homes and their parents don't have enough to take care of them."

"I loved it when we got to make the story and when we got to make the illustrations," declared Abigail Williams said.

The generous parents of Rockburn Elementary School donated cookies, muffins, fruit, water, iced tea and lemonade for the event. This made Jake Greasley, one young author very happy.

"We got to read books to each other and we got free food," Jake said.

user comments (0)