A MINIATURE WILLY WONKA The chocolate factory comes to the Arts Barn. A-7
The Gazette
NEWS: Montgomery County Council building overhaul on hold. A-5
GERMANTOWN | CLARKSBURG
SPORTS: Spring Preview: Tennis, gymnastics, golf and volleyball are underway. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
25 cents
School community shares thoughts on next superintendent
On your feet, Hornets fans
Achievement gap, state tests and social emotional learning discussed n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Damascus High School wrestling fans cheer on the Hornets on Monday at the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s state wrestling tournament. Damascus won the Class 4A/3A team title, completing a sweep of team trophies. The Hornets won the state duals crown in February. See the full story in Sports, Page B-1.
Scams often directed toward county’s seniors There could be a crime lurking in your mailbox, or one nearby
n
BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, the saying goes. Yet each year many people open mail containing large checks they have “won,” an-
swered phone calls to learn they are the “big winner,” and exchanged cash, checks or credit card information in order to be eligible for their promised riches. Diane Hainer of Germantown knows the danger all too well. Her mother, an Olney resident whose name Hainer asked we not use, sent more than $3,800 in checks and money orders all over the world in response to “winning” notices
she got. “This is the strangest story I ever heard and I don’t believe I lived it,” Hainer said. “About three years ago, my mom started getting things from Publishers Clearing House. She really believed she would win. I know Publishers Clearing House is legitimate, but I think when you order from them other companies sell your name.” Soon her mother started
getting phone calls and mail from all over the world telling her she had won a car or money and all she had to do was send money for taxes, delivery fees, etc., Hainer said. Hainer caught on after learning her mother had sent $1,800 to post offices boxes in different places. At this point, she said the total she knows her mother sent has been $3,800, but she doesn’t
See SCAMS, Page A-11
Damascus educator a finalist for Teacher of Year n
Named one of three contenders BY PEGGY MCEWAN AND LINDSAY POWERS STAFF WRITERS
Damascus High School social studies teacher Joseph Gannon Jr. is one of three Montgomery County Public Schools teachers in the running for the county’s 2015– 2016 Teacher of the Year award, which honors one of the area’s top educators. Other finalists for the award are Josephine Luster, a fifth grade teacher in The Center Program for the Highly Gifted at Chevy Chase Elementary School, and Jill Raspen, a sixth-grade English teacher at Ridgeview Middle School in Gaithersburg. The three teachers received a Veteran Teacher Award from the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund. That award comes with a $1,000 prize and the chance to be named Teacher of the Year. The next teacher of the year will be unveiled April 21 at the Champions for Children Awards Celebration, hosted by the nonprofit Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education. Gannon — a graduate of Walt Whitman
1930707
See TEACHER, Page A-11
B-11 A-10 A-2 B-8 B-4 A-11 A-12 B-1
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT Silver Spring Stage play focuses on difficult parallels.
B-4
Elsen Oils shine in local markets
n
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Damascus High School teacher Joseph Gannon Jr. instructs students Monday morning in Damascus.
Volume 28, No. 8, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
Please
RECYCLE
See SUPERINTENDENT, Page A-11
Germantown family’s needs lead to a new business and careers BY
A&E
INDEX Automotive Business Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
High School in Bethesda — initially studied history to be a lawyer, but found his calling in education. This year he teaches four classes of Advanced Placement world history and a U.S. history class. After a move from Kennedy High School, Gannon, who lives in New Market, has worked at Damascus High since 1996. He developed two courses for the school, one economics class and the AP world history class. He said he enjoys presenting a range of cultures to his students in his world history lessons. Since 2001, Gannon has led student groups on 14 trips to countries around the world, from Spain to Greece to Peru. He said he wants his students to take away from his classes that “learning is good” and interesting. He also wants them to learn habits they can use inside and outside the classroom, including planning and timeliness. He said he holds high expectations for his students. “I tell them I consider them my sons and daughters,” he said. A lesson not lost on the students. “He honestly tries to relate to every kid
Montgomery County Public Schools community members contributed on March 4 to a wish list of sorts for the school district’s next permanent superintendent. About 30 people at a community forum at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda painted a picture of a leader who works to close the school system’s student achievement gap, considers the effects of state tests, and focuses on social-emotional learning. The county school board picked the firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to help find a permanent successor to former Superintendent Joshua P. Starr, who resigned in February. Larry Bowers, the district’s former chief operating officer, will serve as interim superintendent until he retires in June. The firm was set to host two community forums March 4 and 5. The March 5 forums were canceled after a snowstorm wal-
loped the area. Instead, another forum was scheduled to have been held at Gaithersburg High School at 7 p.m. Tuesday. At Walter Johnson High, forum participants focused on three main areas: desired attributes, district strengths to maintain or build up, and issues and challenges to address. The firm also asked people to submit on a form any specific individual they thought would fit the bill. Frances Frost, president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, said she wants to see the superintendent value parent input, give “serious consideration” to closing the district’s achievement gap, and look at different solutions to address overcrowded schools. A man who identified himself as a biology teacher at Walter Johnson said he wants a superintendent willing to say the district can fulfill the Common Core State Standards “without stressing our kids out with the PARCC,” referring to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers tests.
Necessity, it has been said, is the mother of invention and because they could not find the skin care products they needed, Elsabeth and Ansen Elvis of Germantown now have a thriving business selling their own. The Elvises are the owners of Elsen Oils LLC, a home-based company that makes and sells natural skin and hair care products. “About 2009, we noticed the products we were using on the kids — moisturizers and hair care products — were making their skin worse,” Ansen said. “We started looking at ingredients and found everything we were using started with water, petroleum or mineral oil. Everything had those ingredients.” So, he said, not able to find anything without at least one of those ingredients, they started
looking for natural products and ended up making their own coconut oil body lotion. That became their first product — coconut oil skin and hair lotion, made from scratch at home. The results were dramatic, both Elvises agreed. Their kids’ — they have four — skin started to shine and their hair looked healthier than ever. Even friends noticed the difference and wanted to use the products. Soon they were suggesting the Elvises sell their oils. “We thought if we were looking for [natural products] maybe others were too,” Ansen said. So, in 2012, Elsen Oils was formed and the family took their products on the road. Literally. “We went to a lot of flea markets, Eastern Market in D.C. and Fenton Street in Silver Spring, that was really good for us,” Elsabeth said. They also applied to have their products placed in local stores.
See ELSEN, Page A-11