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DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
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School pairing riles parents
School board
Student elected to seat Bethesda-Chevy Chase sophomore motivated to serve, empower peers
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Plan calls for shared campus in North Bethesda n
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
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In a nail-biter election, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s Eric Guerci secured enough votes to become the next student at Montgomery County’s school board table. Guerci, Guerci a sophomore at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, was elected by his fellow students to become the 38th student member of the board, or SMOB. The victory, he said, left him “shocked” and “honored.” “I really couldn’t believe it at first, but it’s starting to hit me now,” he said Thursday, the day after the election. Guerci garnered, 33,046 votes, or 52 percent. The other contender — Rachit Agarwal, a junior from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville — had 30,679 votes, or 48 percent. Guerci will take office in July, replacing current student board member Dahlia Huh of Clarksburg High School, who is graduating. The voter pool included
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Fifth-grade members of the Aqua Eagles club at Westbrook Elementary School in Bethesda line the banks of the Potomac River on Thursday in Potomac to release American shad fry they raised. The school has raised and released shad fry for the last 20 years.
‘Stay away from open mouths’
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Bethesda students offer advice to the shad fry that got away BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
There was a release party Thursday on the Potomac River, attended by Westbrook Elementary School students, teachers, parents, friends — and hundreds of shad fry. Students from the Bethesda school have raised American shad fry from fertilized eggs annually for the last 20 years, releasing them into the Potomac every spring. “We started the stocking program in 1995,” said Jim Cummins of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. “I wanted students to bear witness to [the need], so I connected with Westbrook. That winter the kids were involved and in 1996 three schools, Westbrook, Sidwell Friends and Poolesville Elementary School, partici-
See SEAT, Page A-13
See MOUTHS, Page A-13
Westbrook Elementary School fifth-graders gather around teacher Stephanie Herrington as she arrives to help release American shad fry into the Potomac River. Frederick Ryan (left) and Alex Bresnicky carry the third bucket of fry to the river bank.
Frustrated community members say they feel shut out of a project process for the possible pairing of Tilden Middle School and Rock Terrace School. Not only have their voices been missing, but the project plan is flawed, they told the Montgomery County school board April 27. Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers recently proposed housing about 1,200 Tilden students with about 100 from Rock Terrace on the same North Bethesda site on Tilden Lane. The county school board is expected to vote on the plan May 12. Rock Terrace serves students with significant cognitive disabilities and is currently housed in an aging building from 1950. Aiming to provide Rock Terrace with a better facility, the district identified Tilden’s upcoming construction project as a good opportunity to pair the special education school with a general education school. The combination of schools could mean a state contribution toward the project. Many speakers said the district had not given the commu-
See SCHOOL, Page A-13
Gaithersburg Book Festival Getting a Handel on hunger turns its eye to the margins Bethesda concert to raise funds for Manna Food Center
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Bethesda writer brings diversity to the forefront
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SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
At the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 16, attendees will be able to get a taste of diversity through panel discussions and stories in a variety of languages. “We almost never start off with a theme. Usually what happens is we go through our author recruitment process and our programming themes and at the end of that we see where we are,” said Gaithersburg Mayor and book festival founder Jud Ashman. He explained that as book festival organizers were looking over the authors they had and the books that were being featured they noticed
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the overlying theme. Ashman said he reached out to Ellen Oh of Bethesda, who is the founder of We Need Diverse Books and the author of the “Prophecy” series, to host a panel. Oh, who had participated in the festival in the past, explained that she’s been an advocate for diverse books for a very long time. Oh explained that the organization started a hashtag campaign with “#WeNeedDiverseBooks,” inviting people to tell their stories through social media with pictures and Tweets. “It wasn’t just about race, it was about LGBTQIA, it’s about disabilities, it’s about religious minorities, it’s about anyone who has been marginalized in our culture,” Oh said, referring to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual or allies of such people. She explained that when she was growing
See BOOK, Page A-12
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Local musicians hope to use the power of music to fight hunger in Montgomery County during a concert Sunday in Bethesda. Music for Food will host a 2 p.m. benefit concert at Christ Lutheran Church, 8011 Old Georgetown Road, to raise money for Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg. Music for Food is a Boston organization that hosts concerts to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief nationwide.
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MUSIC FOR FOOD BENEFIT CONCERT
n When: 2 p.m. Sunday
n Where: Christ Lutheran Church, 8011 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda n Cost: Free. Suggested donation of $25; $10 students and children. Proceeds benefit Manna Food Center. n Information: facebook.com/MusicForFoodDC; musicforfoodboston.org; mannafood.org
Sunday’s performance will feature viola soloists Wenting Kang and Ayane Kozasa. Manna board member Carla Krivak is also expected give remarks. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $25 for adults, and $10 for students and children. Rob Cinnante, general manager of Music for Food, said all proceeds will go to Manna
Food Center. “We’ve already raised a few hundred dollars,” Cinnante said. Ann Franke, formerly of Bethesda and a cellist who helped organize the event, said the musicians would match the amount raised at the show.
See HUNGER, Page A-12