ON THE PROWL ‘Tiger Lady’ recruiting artists for exhibition. A-9
NEWS: Bladensburg community workshop kicks off anti-bullying effort. A-3
The Gazette
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Parkdale High School sophomore becoming one of county’s best runners. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, October 16, 2014
25 cents
Peer-teacher plan set to start
A worldly celebration
Effort provides support, mentorship for struggling instructors
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BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Experienced teachers in Prince George’s County will soon be providing mentorship, support and evaluation to aid their struggling colleagues. On Oct. 9, the school board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the county teachers’ union to create the county’s Peer Assistance and Review, or PAR, program to assist in the professional development of struggling non-tenured teachers. “PAR came into existence with the frustration teachers had with the ‘sink or swim’ method of professional induction,” said
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Third-grader Heidy Funetes (front, left), 8, of Hyattsville represents El Salvador during a parade celebrating the variety of native countries of students at Ridgecrest Elementary School in Hyattsville on Oct. 1. Other countries included in the parade were Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Police: Body cameras aid transparency Laurel purchases more devices to eliminate ‘he said, she said’ issues
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BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
Body cameras worn by police officers may be have garnered attention in recent weeks after an unarmed teenager was shot by police in Ferguson, Mo., but some municipal police departments in Prince George’s have been using the devices for years. As other police departments across the country begin to consider purchasing the
technology, the Laurel Police Department has announced an increase in its own supply, which means 75 percent of its officers can now record their interactions with community members. Alan Nureni, 33, of Laurel said he sees the benefits of the body cameras Laurel police officers have been wearing since 2012 — from both a personal and professional standpoint. As an officer with the New Carrollton Police Department, he said he wears a camera himself. “It’s good for the public and it’s good for police officers,” said Nureni, who is also the owner of Ghodfrii T-shirts & Graphics on Main Street. “Everyone now
is recording more than ever...[the camera] shows transparency versus one side.” Chief Richard McLaughlin of the Laurel Police Department said transparency is one of the main reasons he ordered the cameras for his officers in 2012, when he said the department was one of the first in the region to use the devices. McLaughlin said the cameras first attracted the attention of international news media in 2012, and more recently of media from France and Germany after the shooting in Ferguson in August. He said the department recently purchased 12
See CAMERAS, Page A-9
Kenneth Haines, president of the Prince George’s County Educators Association. “This is one of the first steps towards teaching becoming a self-monitoring profession on par with medicine or law.” Haines said the PAR model reduces “trial and error” in teaching and provides regular feedback on instructional practices to new teachers. PAR currently has 15 teacher mentors, or consulting teachers, who will not teach in the classroom during their time in the position, but will monitor the progress of up to 15 client teachers, said Phil Catania, PAR instructional supervisor with the Office of Employee Performance and Evaluation. Client teachers are currently being identified, and the consulting teachers will begin servicing them in November,
See PROGRAM, Page A-9
Legislation aims to curb sex trafficking Three bills pass committee, will appear before council this year n
BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Over 130 documented cases of human sex trafficking have occurred in Prince George’s since 2013, but county legislation is currently under consideration which supporters hope will reduce those numbers. County Bills 79, 80 and 81 were passed with favorable rec-
ommendations by the Public Safety and Fiscal Management Committee on Oct. 9 and will be brought for introduction to the council at an undetermined date. The three bills are an important tool for law enforcement to use in curbing the forced prostitution of adults and minors in Prince George’s County, said D. Michael Lyles, chairman of the county’s Human Trafficking Taskforce. “One of the big issues driving human trafficking in the area, besides the demand, are
See TRAFFICKING, Page A-8
Residents, students reimagine Route 1 Think-A-Thon leads to exploring outdoor spaces, business development, design in College Park n
BY
ALICE POPOVICI STAFF WRITER
College Park residents and students at the city’s University of Maryland gathered Saturday to brainstorm a more pedestrianfriendly U.S. Route 1 – with music-filled gazebos, tree lined-sidewalks and a grocery store. The Think-A-Thon meeting at the College Park Community Center yielded outlines, sketches, lists and a lot of notes as about 60 people — among them univer-
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arts and culture, it’s a very easy way to enter dangerous spaces.” Parks said organizers framed the discussion early on by asking attendees to consider the roles of arts and culture in the redesign of Route 1. Once the different stakeholders began the discussion, she said they brought up other issues — crime, family life, business development and food — but the conversation focused on solutions rather than problems. “Route 1 needs to focus more on pedestrians...the streetscape. Trees would be nice,” said Liesl Koch of College Park. “Maybe if we started calling Route 1 Baltimore Avenue — maybe it would create a momentum of its own.”
See THINK-A-THON, Page A-8
NEWS
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
sity staff and elected officials — sat down to find creative solutions to the challenges of Route 1. In their discussions, attendees tried to address challenges such as too much traffic and a lack of independently-owned businesses, and tried to reimagine Route 1 as a space with more aesthetically-pleasing architecture, spaces for people to linger, art and music. The event, organized by the Center for Synergy at the university’s college of Arts & Humanities, is modeled on previous Think-A-Thons held in Baltimore. “The core idea is how to use the strategies and theories of the arts and humanities to address cultural and social problems,” said Sheri Parks, director of the Center for Synergy. “When you talk about
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CAMPAIGN OF AWARENESS County shines light on domestic violence.
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Volume 17, No. 42, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill addresses the Think-A-Thon, an Oct. 11 brainstorming event for a more vibrant and walkable Route 1, sponsored by the Center for Synergy at the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities.