Potomacgaz 020514 by The Gazette

A JOYFUL Noise

Area choirs gather to spread the word on a region rich in talent. B-5

The Gazette POTOMAC | NORTH POTOMAC

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

25 cents

New bus cameras nab illegal passers n

10 tickets issued in county this year

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Ten drivers who illegally passed a Montgomery County school bus in January were caught in the act by a new camera system. Since Jan. 2, five cameras on Montgomery County Public Schools buses have issued 10 citations, at $125 each, to drivers who passed a stopped bus while its stop arm was extended with flashing red lights, said Cpl. Rebecca Innocenti, a spokeswoman for county police. The cameras automatically record vehicles that pass a bus illegally. If an officer catches a motorist passing a stopped school bus, she said, the citation

Churchill’s Justin Spivak checks Wootton’s Austin Schoenfeld during play at the Rockville Ice Arena last month. A recent online petition aims to change ice hockey’s status and add it to the county school system’s group of about 30 varsity sports.

Gooooal:

GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

VARSIT Y ICE HOCKEY BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS

STAFF WRITER

ockey players in Montgomery County are used to competing against other high schoolers on the ice. The Maryland Student Hockey League they play in even includes several team names familiar to those in Montgomery County Public Schools: Montgomery Blair, Blake, Wootton and Winston Churchill, among others. The roughly 12 teams in the league’s

two Montgomery divisions, however, won’t be found under the schools’ list of varsity sports. Jeremy Skaife, a player on the Richard Montgomery hockey team, recently started an online petition to change ice hockey’s status and add it to the county school system’s group of about 30 varsity sports. As of Tuesday, the Change.org petition had grown to more than 1,000 signatures, including those from residents of Bethesda, Potomac, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Kensington and Poolesville. The petition is addressed to Superintendent Joshua P. Starr, the county’s board of education, high school prin-

Measure would help fund county candidates, but place limits on size of contributions BY RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

A bill to provide public funding for county executive and county council campaigns has drawn praise from a number of organizations dedicated to good government as an example for other jurisdictions to follow.

cipals and school system athletics ofﬁcials. In the petition, Skaife requests the school system provide support including morning announcements and website posts about the teams’ games and a “spirit bus” for the ﬁrst game of the season. Skaife also asks that players earn varsity letters. “Above all else, we believe that these students deserve to earn and receive recognition for their achievements, hard work, and dedication, as all other varsity athletes, with a Varsity

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Salt trucks wait at a parking lot in Gaithersburg to start salting roads Monday.

Wintry assault assails area salt stockpiles Cold temperatures, regular storms have kept crews busy

See HOCKEY, Page A-10

of special interests in government. Andrews said he’s been working on the issue since before his election to the council in 1998, including while serving as executive director of Common Cause Maryland from 1988 until 1994. That group’s current executive director, Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, praised the legislation Monday as something that could be used in other counties. “We absolutely believe that Montgomery County is setting the model for other counties to follow and for the state to fol-

See FUNDING, Page A-10

SPORTS

NEWS

FROG CALLING FrogWatch volunteers are part of a nationwide program to collect data on the amphibians.

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TOUGH DECISIONS FOR ATHLETES Players make signing day commitments too early because of recruitment pressure.

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See PASSING, Page A-10

School system ofﬁcials cite obstacles

Andrews proposes public funding for campaigns The bill, sponsored by Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg and co-sponsored by all eight of his council colleagues, would allow candidates to receive public money to help fund their campaigns, but places limits on the size of contributions for candidates who accept it. The bill was introduced Tuesday. Andrews, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for county executive in the June 24 primary, said Monday he believes the bill will encourage more candidates to run for ofﬁce and more residents to participate in campaigns, as well as reduce the inﬂuence

would be steeper: $570 and 3 points on their license. Innocenti said the tickets were issued on the following streets: Ridge Road in Damascus; Fairland Road in Silver Spring; West Lake Drive and Tuckerman Lane in Rockville; West Lake Drive and Tuckerman Lane in Bethesda; and Muddy Branch Road and East Deer Park Drive in Gaithersburg. The data from the bus cameras will help police further understand which areas in the county are the most problematic when it comes to this type of violations, Innocenti said. The cameras help police catch drivers whom they might not see or who would be difﬁcult to stop based on the topography of the road, Innocenti said.

Automotive Business Calendar Celebrations Classiﬁed Entertainment Opinion School News Sports Please

RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

Having survived last month’s polar vortex and with Punxsutawney Phil recently predicting six more weeks of winter weather, state, county and local ofﬁcials are keeping an eye on the toll this winter’s weather has taken on their supplies and budgets. Montgomery County has used slightly less than 50,000 tons of road salt since the winter season started in November, said Keith Compton, the chief of the Division of Highway Services in the county’s

Department of Transportation. At $52 a ton from the county’s supplier at the Port of Baltimore, that’s about $2.6 million worth of salt so far this winter. The county tries to keep about 30,000 tons on hand so it will always be prepared for a major storm. “That’s the comfort zone,” Compton said. County road crews responded to eight weather events in January, and also had to deal with a lot of ice created by the unseasonably cold temperatures that sometimes dipped into the single digits, Compton said. The State Highway Admin-

See SALT, Page A-10

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RECYCLE

Check out our Services Directory ADVERTISING INSIDE B SECTION

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

PEOPLE& PLACES More online at www.gazette.net

Bethesda, Damascus teens top orators Sareana Kimia and Caitlin Augerson may have a future in

politics. Kimia, a home-schooled sophomore from Bethesda, and Augerson, a senior at Damascus High School, took first and second place, respectively, in Montgomery County in the 78th annual 2014 American Legion High School Oratorical Contest on Jan. 25. Kimia will represent the county at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Southern Maryland District Contest at Clinton Post 259 in Prince George’s County, where she will face off against winners from Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Calvert and Charles counties. She represented Henderson-SmithEdmonds Post 86 in Rockville in the countywide contest. Augerson won the Damascus American Legion Post 171 contest Jan. 11, where she won $500 and qualified to move to the county round. The oratorical contest was created with the hopes of keeping high schoolers knowledgable about the U.S. Constitution and to better appreciate it. The American Legion also encourages leadership, clear speech and thoughts, and knowing the meaning of U.S. citizenship, according to the organization. The winner of Saturday’s contest will advance to the state finals March 2 at Towson University. State winners will compete in the national contest in Indianapolis.

PEGGY McEWAN

$20K grant going to the dogs More veterans will get help from Hero Dogs of Brookeville thanks to $20,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation. The grant is the result of an award to longtime Hero Dogs volunteer Ed Levien of Bethesda, who was named one of the foundation’s 2013 Bakken Invitation Honorees. The 10 honorees were selected because they have overcome health challenges and are making signiﬁcant contributions in their communities, according to a news release from Hero Dogs. Levien suffers from chronic pain and found relief through neurostimulation after more than a decade of suffering. Levien was given $20,000 to give to a favorite charity and he chose Hero Dogs. Hero Dogs is a nonproﬁt that raises, trains and places service dogs with veterans who have been wounded or have a medical condition. “Hero Dogs are provided at absolutely no cost to the disabled veteran,” Levien said. “They are trained intensively for more than two years to do almost everything that wounded vets are not able to do for themselves. They truly give the wounded a second chance at life.”

EVENTS

CIRA AUGERSON

Home-schooler Sareana Kimia of Bethesda won the countywide 2014 American Legion Oratorical Contest last month and Caitlin Augerson of Damascus High School took second. Pictured (from left) are Will Trotter, state facilitator of the oratorical program; Kimia; Augerson; and Colleen Mulroney, Montgomery County commander.

Silver Awards for Girl Scouts’ service in Bethesda The members of Girl Scout Troop 4728 in Bethesda have earned their Girl Scout Silver Awards. The Silver Award is the second-highest award for leadership and service in the organization, according to a news release from the troop. The girls’ award-winning projects covered a range of subjects: • Eliana Weiss created a resource website for Girl Scout leaders.

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Send items at least two weeks in advance of the paper in which you would like them to appear. Go to calendar.gazette.net and click on the submit button. Questions? Call 301-670-2070.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5 Morning Women Business Owners of Montgomery County, 8:15-9:30 a.m.,

Silver Diner, 12276 Rockville Pike, Rockville. 301-365-1755.

Second Annual Budgetpalooza, 7-9

p.m., Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave., Rockville. Free. montgomerycivic@yahoo.com.

THURSDAY, FEB. 6 Deaf Adults Relationship Therapy Group, 5-6:30 p.m., Jewish Social

Service Agency, 200 Wood Hill Road, Rockville. $75 per session, registration required. LKatz@jssa.org.

FRIDAY, FEB. 7 Stand-up Comedy, 8-9:30 p.m.,

GALLERY

Churchill’s Harrison Gu competes in the 100-meter breast stroke at the county public schools championships. Go to clicked.Gazette.net.

VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. $20. 540-657-8811. Pink Friday Dance Party, 8-11 p.m.,

Dance Bethesda, 8227 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda. $18. 301-951-3660.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8 University of Maryland Mid-Atlantic Small Flock Poultry Mini Expo, 8 a.m.-3

p.m., Agricultural History Farm Park, 18410 Muncaster Road, Derwood. $35 for adults, $15 for students younger than 18. 301-590-2807. Men’s Conference, 8:30 a.m., Church of the Redeemer, 19425 Woodﬁeld Road, Gaithersburg. 301926-0967.

Playgroup in the Park Parent Information Session, 9:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.,

Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. admissions@pgip.org. Fields of Green Internship Fair, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Bethesda Green, 4825 Cordell Ave., Suite 200, Bethesda. Free. 240-396-2440. Rumpelstiltskin, 11 a.m., Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave.,

SUN

Capital Wind Symphony Concert,

3 p.m., Winston Churchill High School, 11300 Gainsborough Road, Potomac. $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. 703-822-8282.

MORE INTERACTIVE CALENDAR ITEMS AT WWW.GAZETTE.NET Bethesda. $10. 301-280-6000.

Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Horse, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.,

Quince Orchard Library, 15831 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg. Free. 240-777-0200. Basketball Free Throw Contest by Knights of Columbus, 1-2:30 p.m.,

Mother of God School Gym, 20501 Goshen Road, Gaithersburg. Free. 301216-1941.

SUNDAY, FEB. 9 Community Breakfast and Speaker, 8:30-9:30 a.m., Concord-St.

• Zoe Zmola researched and videotaped a public service announcement promoting tolerance. • Carolyn Price planted a wildlife garden with food and water sources, nesting sites, and areas for shelter. She also taught younger Scouts about endangered species. • Katie Babbit, Megan McMorran and Elise Grossfeld redecorated the Greentree Shelter and raised money for supplies and familyfriendly movies. • Catherine Czajka, Colleen Cullinane, Clara da Silva and Annemarie Westermann baked hundreds of cookies for Bethesda Cares. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, 5910 Goldsboro Road, Bethesda. $6 adults, free for small children. 301-2293383.

SPORTS Check online for coverage of this week’s indoor track and field regionals.

For more on your community, visit www.gazette.net

ConsumerWatch Why do they use Roman numerals to number Super Bowls? Liz takes the field for this big-game trivia.

LIZ CRENSHAW

WeekendWeather FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Bethesda Row Cinema, 7235 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda. $15. 301-3653679.

Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C., 2:30-4:30 p.m., Bethesda Chevy

Chase Regional Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda. Free. 301320-6979. Swing! Swing! Swing!, 3 p.m., F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. $5 suggested donation. 240-314-8681.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 Coffee and Doughnut Fundraiser for Dress for Success, 7:30-9:30 a.m.,

BusinessSuites Gaithersburg, 9711 Washingtonian Blvd., Suite 550, Gaithersburg. $1. 301-978-3000. Nursery School Open House, 1011 a.m., Shaare Torah, 1409 Main St., Gaithersburg. Free. 301-869-9842.

LinkedIn II Workshop for Intermediate Users, 1-2:30 p.m., Jewish Social

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For Store Hours And Locations www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dlc

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GAZETTE CONTACTS The Gazette – 9030 Comprint Court

Service Agency, 200 Wood Hill Road, Rockville. Free. 301-610-8380.

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SUNDAY

Cinema Art Bethesda: “Footnote” Screening, 10 a.m., Landmark

MONTGOMERY COUNTY LIQUOR / WINE SALE 2/05/14 Thru 2/11/14 Now Open Seneca Meadows

A&E Round House hosts a thoughtprovoking “Seminar.”

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LOCAL Potomac man receives almost two years in prison for role in fraud Value estimated at $13 million BY KRISTA BRICK AND ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITERS

A Potomac man faces 22 months in prison and more than $100,000 in restitution for his part in a mortgage fraud scheme. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Jared Fanning, 35, to 22 months in prison followed by three years’ probation, for participating in a fraudulent mortgage wire-fraud scheme worth approximately $13 million.

Messitte also ordered Fanning to pay $108,355.21 in restitution — the amount of that prosecutors were able to attribute directly to him, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland’s ofﬁce. According to the release, from June 2006 through June 2007, Fanning helped real estate agents Michael Abobor, Daniel Ofei and others obtain mortgages for their clients. During that time, Fanning discovered that in the mortgage applications, the agents were using information that was probably false. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Ofﬁce, Fanning calculated debt-to-in-

come and told the agents their clients did not have sufﬁcient resources for the mortgage request, according to the release. Fanning was a successful loan ofﬁcer before engaging in the fraud with his co-defendants, said Steven Selzer, his lawyer. “I think for a while, he lost his sense of himself. Before and since, he’s a very humble human being. ... A lot of us believe in him,” Selzer said. The agents responded immediately with “forgotten” monthly income of hundreds of dollars or more, leading Fanning to suspect that the additional income information supplied by the

real estate agents was false. Despite Fanning’s concerns, he helped the agents obtain 24 mortgages totaling approximately $13 million, according to the release. Evidence presented at the hearing indicated that financial institutions lost more than $4.5 million as a result of the financial transactions in which Fanning played a part. Selzer said Fanning pleaded guilty to the charges he faced in 2010, but had to wait for three years before a sentence was imposed. “It’s made it very, very difficult for him, but, fact is, he did originate 24 loans and that’s quite a lot,” Selzer said.

Abobor, 38, and Ofei, 39, both of Bowie, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. Messitte sentenced Abobor to 51 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit $2,026,205 and pay restitution of $1,832,650. Messitte sentenced Ofei to 37 months in prison and ordered Ofei to pay restitution of $5,950,000. Two other co-conspirators — Emeka Udeze, 38 of Bowie, a licensed mortgage broker, and Shola Risikat Balogun, 47, of Upper Marlboro — have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing. kbrick@gazette.net sjbsmith@gazette.net

Man indicted in killing of fellow rock climber

Protest at Delaney’s ofﬁce

Bristow man charged with voluntary manslaughter

ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER

DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE

Protesters demonstrate Friday outside the Gaithersburg ofﬁce of Rep. John Delaney (D-Dist. 6) of Potomac, opposing the Trans-Paciﬁc Partnership. From left are Buddy Robson of Berwyn Heights with Teamsters Local 639, Pam Wilt of Catonsville with the Communication Workers of America and Betsy Johnson of Chevy Chase with the Maryland Sierra Club. They were urging Delaney to oppose reauthorizing the president’s fast-track privileges for issues such as the partnership.

A 31-year-old Virginia man accused of killing a man with whom he often rock-climbed at a national park in Potomac was indicted Jan. 29 in federal court. David DiPaolo of Bristow faces charges of voluntary manslaughter for allegedly using a climbing hammer to kill 69-year-old Geoffrey Farrar, another climber, in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in December, according to officials from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office. DiPaolo has an initial appearance Thursday in federal court in Greenbelt. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of voluntary manslaughter, according to Department of Justice officials. A lawyer for DiPaolo was not listed in online federal court records. Online court records show that DiPaolo had an argument with Farrar. “After the argument, DiPaolo walked to the bottom of the rockface and turned the corner. DiPaolo stated that the next thing he remembers is being choked by the victim,” investigators wrote in his charging documents. DiPaolo told police he hit Farrar in the head with the hammer because he was afraid he would lose consciousness, according to the criminal complaint. New York police arrested DiPaolo in New York on Dec. 29. “I’m sorry this happened. I didn’t want it to happen. I didn’t know it was going to happen,” DiPaolo told detectives after his arrest, according to his charging documents. sjbsmith@gazette.net

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GIA MORA IS EINSTEIN’S GIRL: VALENTINE’S DAY EDITION February 15

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AROUND THE COUNTY

Old school technology, c. 2014 Those who take the oath of ofﬁce, from 1777 to present day, sign the Oath Book

ALINE BARROS

Elementary grades seeing more academic emphasis BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Special education students around the county have been learning in a new way this school year. In elementary-level classrooms where teachers used to teach the Fundamental Life Skills curriculum, students are now participating in a new curriculum that incorporates more academic components alongside lessons about life skills such as shopping, traveling and interacting with the community. The change marks another shift in Montgomery County Public Schools to Curriculum 2.0, which aligns with the Common Core State Standards. Common Core is a set of education standards for English and math that Maryland, along with other states, chose to adopt. The school system’s general education curriculum has already transitioned to Curriculum 2.0 in kindergarten through the ﬁfth grade. This school year, however, marks the ﬁrst year of implementing curricular changes for elementary special education students with severe cognitive disabilities who were previously taught under Fundamental Life Skills. Most special education students have already been taught under the school system’s general education curriculum. Throughout the school system, about 650 elementary special education students are experiencing

White Flint groups get national award

Bethesda native is curator for Jewish Historical Society

2013 FILE PHOTOE

Montgomery County Circuit Court Clerk Loretta E. Knight congratulates Takoma Park Mayor Bruce R. Williams at his swearinginc ceremony in November. Knight, first elected in 2006, plans to retire this year. papers of the office; making legible entries of all proceedings; and making available, when requested in writing, copies of records, unless prohibited by law or court order. Knight keeps at least three books that date from 2008 to today. Previous Oath Books are kept in the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis. According to Henry Miller, director of research at Historical St. Mary’s City, in the 17th and 18th centuries taking an oath was a “big deal.” “It was a very important thing,” Miller said, adding that when Lord Baltimore appointed the first governor he requested in writing that the appointee had to “treat everybody equally.” The oath in Maryland is the same for each office and reads: “I

do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will support the Constitution of the United States; and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland, and support the Constitution and Laws thereof; and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment, diligently and faithfully, without partiality of prejudice execute the office of [office in which the appointee or candidate will take over] according to the Constitution and Laws of this State.” When a new judge is sworn in, the words change to “according to the Constitution and Laws of this State, and that I will not directly or indirectly receive the profits or any part of the profits of any other office during the term of my acting as Judge.” “All of [Lord Baltimore’s] officials had to take an oath,” Miller

said. Knight, who was ﬁrst elected court clerk in 2006, graduated from the Washington School for Secretaries in 1962. Knight swears in all the judges, police officers, firefighters, gubernatorial appointments, state’s attorneys, assistant state’s attorneys and elected officials in the county. Knight just swore in Cherri Branson, the new District 5 councilwoman, on Jan. 28 to serve on the County Council until Dec. 1. Knight is retiring at the end of 2014. Voters will elect her successor in November. When asked what does she think of the Oath Book, Knight replied, “Isn’t it just wonderful?” abarros@gazette.net

Curriculum 2.0 reaches severely disabled students n

InBrief The National Association of Counties gave Montgomery some kudos for its White Flint implementation program. The association gave one of its 2013 achievement awards to the county and other stakeholders for their collaboration in implementing the White Flint Sector Plan, which outlines a “metamorphosis from an area lined with suburban shopping centers and huge surface parking lots to a more dense, urban, mixed use ... locale,” according to the award announcement. Along with the county executive’s ofﬁce, the other groups sharing in the reward were Friends of White Flint, the White Flint Partnership, the White Flint Implementation Committee and the White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee, according to Friends of White Flint. The award was one of 18 the county received from the association last year.

STAFF WRITER

Inside the Oath Book are the signatures of state officials, law enforcement officers and judges, all vowing to uphold the rules of their office. It’s an old-fashioned concept in today’s tech-savvy age, but Loretta E. Knight, clerk of the Montgomery County Circuit Court, says helping people become “official” is an important tradition that must be kept alive. “I went over to swear in the firefighters just last week ... and afterwards I tell them: When your grandchildren or your great-grandchildren [are] looking for their greatgranddad or great grandmother ... they will go to the archives, and they will see your name,” Knight said. The clerk’s office has bound oath books from 1777 to 2014. Each hardcover book has 400 pages. The current book is wrapped in a white cloth that has Knight’s initials and volume number on its side. Each page has three individual oaths of office and signatures. When a new clerk is elected, that clerk uses the current book until all 400 pages are filled. Then a new book is started, with the new clerk’s initials along its spine. In 2013, Knight administered 119 oaths. The clerk’s office, established by the Maryland Constitution, dates to 1658 at the first Maryland settlement in St. Mary’s County. Knight said the Maryland government at the time needed someone to keep records independently, safe and in an impartial manner. Knight said the Oath Book was first named the Test Book. “It is a lot of work, but this is the fun part of my job,” she said. Knight explained that she is responsible for keeping custody of the oath book; maintaining records and

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

the transition from Fundamental Life Skills to the new curriculum, according to Gwendolyn Mason, director of special education services for the school system. Secondary schools with students learning the life skills curriculum will make their transition next school year, she said. The system’s curriculum for special education students has always been connected to state standards, which are more rigorous under Common Core, Mason said. To help the school system prepare for the transition, she said she has consulted with Diane Browder, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who has helped develop resources aligned with Common Core for students with severe cognitive disabilities. “It’s a very exciting time and we plan on really training our teachers and working with them intensely to help them make this shift,” Mason said. Curriculum 2.0 for these special education students will include the old curriculum’s community-based instruction, which teaches skills such as how to shop and travel, she said. “Our children have to have those experiences to enable them to develop those skills,” she said. “It’s not in any respect any shift from that.” Unlike most schools, Longview School in Germantown implemented the new curriculum in its elementary grades last school year. This year, they are implementing the curriculum in their secondary grades. In their lessons, Longview teachers previously started with the

life skills and then connected them to academic lessons, said Michelle Mach, Longview’s coordinator. Now, she said, teachers start with the academics and work in the life skills. “With this transition, the focus is deﬁnitely more academic to start with, but it’s a responsibility for us to integrate it into that community instruction,” Mach said. “In many ways, it opens some doors but as educators, it’s still our responsibility to make it functional and concrete.” Earlier this school year, Mach said, some Longview students went on a trip to Home Depot where they took part in both academic and life-skill exercises: they identiﬁed the geometric shapes they saw and also purchased materials for a class project. Elaina Yiallouros, who teaches first- through third-graders at Longview, said it has been challenging for school staff to plan and teach the general education curriculum in a way that their students are able to understand and use, while also incorporating life skills that the kids need. “We just have to be extremely creative,” she said. Yiallouros said she’s not sure if the new curriculum is working yet. “It’s too early to say, but we’re giving it our all,” she said. Since last year, Longview staff have used a program called “books in a box” — boxes that contain objects that help the students make multi-sensory connections to a story such as “Romeo and Juliet.” The school is collecting materials and developing a different set of boxes including objects that would help students understand more informational subjects such as sci-

ence. “It makes learning much more concrete,” Yiallouros said. Kim Redgrave, coordinator at Stephen Knolls Schools in Kensington, said her school has transitioned to the new curriculum in its kindergarten through fifth-grade classes. “It’s a huge transition, not gonna lie,” she said. Stephen Knolls’ students include those with mild and severe cognitive defects and multiple disabilities. Redgrave said the school started conducting workshops and training in August and will continue staff development opportunities throughout the school year. Stephen Knolls teachers previously pulled in “bits and pieces” of the general education curriculum and embedded them in lessons that emphasized life skills, Redgrave said. Kara Farrell — who teaches second-, third- and fourth-graders at Stephen Knolls — said students are now exposed to more academic material in subjects such as math, science, reading and social studies. The new curriculum is “certainly more demanding, but the students really enjoy learning about all the different subjects and the different topics that we get to explore,” she said. Farrell said the transition has not been difﬁcult with supports the school has provided to teachers. Curriculum 2.0 “itself can be daunting but because us teachers, we know our students, we know how to adapt it,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net

Zachary Paul Levine, a graduate of Walt Whitman High School and a Bethesda native, is the new curator for the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. Levine, who graduated from the University of Maryland and previously curated history and art exhibitions at Yeshiva University Museum in New York, now lives in Washington with his wife and their 13-month-old son.

Filing deadline for election in three weeks The filing deadline for candidates running for Montgomery County office — county executive, County Council, state’s attorney, clerk of the circuit court, register of wills, sheriff and board of education — is 9 p.m. Feb. 25. The county Board of Elections office at 18753 N. Frederick Ave., Suite 210, Gaithersburg, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and until 9 p.m. Feb. 25. For an appointment, call Brian McKevitt at 240-777-8502. Those applying to run for the Democratic or Republican central committees also may file with the county board. Candidates for other offices in the June primary should contact the Maryland Board of Elections at 410-269-2840 for deadlines and locations.

County seeks member for Ethics Commission Montgomery County is seeking to ﬁll a vacancy on its Ethics Commission. Among their duties, members provide advice on the county’s code of ethics, review and approve employment requests for employees, and investigate ethics complaints. Applicants must meet several conditions, including being a resident and registered voter in the county, and not being a lobbyist or politically active. Members serve four-year terms without compensation, though they are eligible for reimbursement for travel and dependent care costs. The commission meets monthly in Rockville. Those interested should send a resume and brief cover letter, along with home and employment addresses, as well as contact phone numbers and email addresses, to the ofﬁce of County Executive Isaiah Leggett, 101 Monroe St., Rockville, MD 20850 or to countyexecutive.boards@ montgomerycountymd.gov.

POLICE BLOTTER

Complete report at www.gazette.net The following is a summary of incidents in the Potomac area to which Montgomery County police responded recently. The words “arrested” and “charged” do not imply guilt. This information was provided by the county.

Weapons offense • On Jan. 18 at 8:11 p.m. at Morton’s Towing, 16227 Redland Road, Rockville. A ﬁrearm was found on the subject. Aggravated Assault • On Jan. 18 at 4:50 p.m. in the 1400 block of Esworthy Road, Germantown. The subject is known to the victim. Commercial burglary • On Jan. 16 at 4:34 a.m. at Game Stop, 12266 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Forced entry, took nothing. • On Jan. 21 at 1:20 a.m. at Subway, 5210 Nicholson Lane, North Bethesda. Forced entry, took nothing. • On Jan. 21 at 5:45 a.m. at Subway, 5286 Randolph Road, North Bethesda. Forced entry, took nothing. Indecent exposure • On Jan. 17 at 4:22 p.m. in the parking garage of Target, 5700 Bou Ave., North Bethesda. The subject exposed himself to the victim and ﬂed. Residential burglary • 1000 block of Carnation Drive, Rockville, between 10:45 p.m. Jan. 13 and 7:18 a.m. Jan. 14. Forced entry, took property.

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Gansler supports county push for school construction dollars n

Democratic gubernatorial candidate calls it ‘ﬁscally responsible’ BY

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County has another ally in its ﬁght for more school construction money. Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the governor’s race, is backing

the executives of Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties in their push to create a program for funding school construction. Gansler joins Del. Heather R. Mizeur, one of his opponents for the party nomination, in support of the push. Mizeur (DDist. 20) of Takoma Park is a cosponsor of legislation to create the program. In a statement Friday, Gansler said the portable classrooms, leaky roofs and inade-

quate bathrooms cited as issues at many aging schools are not hallmarks of the best education system in the nation, but rather symbols of a system that serves some and not others. Maryland was previously ranked no. 1 in education by Education Week, but this year that publication changed its system from a ranking to a grade and Maryland fell below seven other states. “With the endless stream of gambling revenue that the ad-

ministration promised will fund our schools, we should fully expect Lt. Gov. [Anthony] Brown to submit this as one of the signature pieces of legislation for the administration this session,” Gansler said. Brown (D), also running for governor this year, was unavailable to comment due to the death of his father. Gansler, Brown and Mizeur will face each other in the June 24 Democratic primary. In his letter of support to

the county executives, Gansler called the proposal “ﬁscally responsible.” “Your proposal enables the state to support county-led efforts, at primarily county expense, to obtain construction bonds that will go directly to schools and not be diverted to projects for special interests,” he wrote. “This investment of state resources will be repaid tenfold in the increased success of our students.” County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said existing state

funding for school construction in Montgomery goes to cover the ever-increasing enrollment at Montgomery County Public Schools. About 2,000 new students enroll each year, he said. Montgomery County’s priority this session is having the state establish a steady, predictable stream of money to leverage borrowing for school construction. kalexander@gazette.net

O’Malley signs bill establishing retroactive health insurance program n

‘If it affects just one family, it is worth the effort’ BY

gram or those with an employer sponsored group health insurance plan with comparable benefits, according to the analysis. Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve (DDist 17 of Gaithersburg) said the measure was a good idea. “It’s a question of fairness,” he said. “These are people who in good faith tried to sign up. We should try to help them our until the website is running smoothly.” Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Chairman Michael Higgs said the new law was “flawed legislation.” “My problem with this bill is it’s open-ended. Nobody has any idea how many people this is going to affect and how much money it will cost taxpayers. It is essentially a blank check,” he said. The legislative analysis noted that the costs can’t be calculated. “The exact [cost] cannot be reliably quantified and will depend on the number of people who qualify as bridge-eligible individuals, the number of those individuals who choose to enroll in MHIP, the plan selected and the total health care expenditures incurred during enrollment,” it read. “Funds are anticipated to come from the MHIP fund balance. Sufficient funds are available for this purpose, and no additional State funds should be required.”

PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on Thursday signed a bill allowing retroactive health care benefits for state residents who tried and failed to register on the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange before the Dec. 31, 2013, deadline. The bill also provides retroactive benefits for residents eligible for the Maryland Health Insurance Plan, a program for medically uninsurable individuals not eligible for other coverage. The measure was introduced Jan. 9 and passed on Jan. 29. Before signing the bill, O’Malley said it could help as many as 1,400 people. “The reason we do this is because if it affects just one family, it is worth the effort,” O’Malley said. Previously, the Maryland Health Progress Act of 2013 closed enrollment in MHIP on Dec. 31, 2013, as enrollees would be eligible for health insurance through the individual market or exchanges. Technical problems enrolling have changed that. “Bridge-eligible individuals,” those who qualify for retroactive coverage under the new law and their dependents, are those who prove they tried but failed to obtain insurance through the exchanges, a legislative analysis said. It does not include those eligible for coverage under Medicare, Medicaid, the Maryland Children’s Health Pro-

MARYLAND GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

(From left) Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Gov. Martin O’Malley and House Speaker Michael E. Busch signed emergency health insurance legislation Thursday in Annapolis.

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Frog-watchers heading to the wetlands Frosh, Simmons aim for dog-bite solution Part of a nationwide program to collect data on the amphibians n

Lawmakers hope bill addresses Court of Appeals ruling on liability n

SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER

Can you tell the difference between the sound of your neighbor struggling to play the banjo and the call of the green frog? More than two dozen county residents leapt at the chance to learn and help scientist gauge the health of the area’s wetlands. Scientists are enlisting local nature lovers to help them collect data on frogs and toads in Montgomery County. The information, which will build upon a nationwide database, helps scientists keep track of population levels of different species and ecosystem health. Frogs and toads are wetland indicator species — the strength of the population reflects how the ecosystem is faring. This is the first time Montgomery County is implementing the FrogWatch program. On Thursday, 26 volunteers gathered at the Rockville library for their first training session. Starting in March, they’ll note levels of frog and toad calls they hear at designated locations near ponds and wetlands, where amphibians live. The second training event will be a field session in mid-March. If more residents express interest, coordinators said they might schedule additional training sessions. FrogWatch is run by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit in Silver Spring. The association has partnered with the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection to bring data collection to the county. Volunteers can track a site identified by the department, or register their own. By partnering with FrogWatch, the department hopes to raise awareness of habitat and species vulnerability. “Wetlands are a concern, as well as the loss of frog species” from fungal infections, said Jessica Jones, a program manager with the Department of Environmental Protection. “There’s been a loss of wetlands throughout the country,” she said. Much of the loss comes when “sometimes people don’t know that they have valuable habitat in their backyards,” and drain or fill wet areas, Jones said.

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RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.

A southern leopard frog makes a sound “like you’re rubbing rubber together,” says Ken Mack. Staff members explained how to monitor the amphibians — once a week for three weeks, at least 30 minutes after sunset in proper weather — and enter the data online. If it’s too windy or rainy, they might not hear the calls. It must be above 35 degrees for frogs and toads to be active. Volunteers note how many frog and toad calls they hear and record the weather that night. The hard part comes in memorizing the calls of a dozen or so different species, which differ vastly. Wood frogs sound like ducks. They are one of the few species that can live as far north as Alaska, due to a compound in their blood that keeps them from freezing. Spring peepers make a high-pitched peep. “It’s like the harbinger of spring — let’s you know when it’s going to warm up outside,” said Ken Mack, water quality specialist for the department of environmental protection. The pickerel frog makes a snoring croak sound and the southern leopard

frog “sounds like you’re rubbing rubber together,” Mack said. For the northern cricket frog: “I like to think of their call as bouncing glass marbles off of each other,” he said. The green frog — the most common in the area — sounds “like someone who is trying to learn the banjo and not doing a very good job,” he said. Mack encouraged volunteers to come up with their own mnemonics and comparisons to remember the calls. Karen Sommer Shalett learned about the program from a Bethesda-Chevy Chase neighborhood listserv and took her two sons, Simon, 6, and Nathaniel, 8. She said that they recently lost an 8-year-old family member, and nature lover, to cancer. FrogWatch is a way for them to honor him while giving back, she said. Plus, Simon and Nathan love animals, too. “We wanted to teach the kids that you can do something with your passion and still give back,” she said. sscully@gazette.net

A bill backed by Montgomery legislators may help resolve whether certain breeds of dogs carry greater liability for their owners. The state has been trying to ﬁgure out how to handle dog attacks since a 2012 Maryland Court of Appeals decision. The court ruled that the owners of dogs or the property where they live are liable for injuries sustained if a dog bites someone. There has to be proof that the owner knew that the dog was a pit bull or a mixed-breed pit bull. The court decision was later altered to apply only to purebred pit bulls. The decision drew criticism from legislators, dog lovers and animal rights groups. Since then, the General Assembly has tried to create a new standard. Now, Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda and Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville hope to break through the impasse. Their bill, cross-filed in the House and Senate, increase protections for victims of dog bites by not requiring them to prove in civil actions that an owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous, Simmons said. The bills also let an owner call witnesses to testify that the dog was friendly and not dangerous and that the incident was isolated or unpredictable. “Every case becomes a jury question [to ﬁgure out],” Simmons said. Frosh said he believes the bill is fair to all parties connected to a dog bite and “goes straight down the middle” between victims and dog owners. Dog bites make up about 0.2 percent of total injuries from external causes — including vehicle crashes, slipping and falling, and

other reasons — that required hospitalization, Simmons said. Between 2005 and 2011, there was one death in Maryland from a dog bite, compared with about 5,000 deaths from motor vehicles, he said. A hearing on the Senate version of the bill is scheduled for Thursday in the Judicial Proceedings Committee. Simmons said he hopes the bill will “move the ball forward” on the dog issue and break through the impasse the issue has created. Meanwhile, a bill sponsored by Del. Sheila E. Hixson (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring would nullify the Court of Appeals pit bull ruling by declaring that no dog can be determined to be potentially dangerous based solely on its breed, type or heritage. House Majority Leader Kumar Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg and Del. Benjamin F. Kramer (DDist. 19) of Silver Spring are among the co-sponsors. The bill would prohibit counties, municipalities or property owners from refusing to let residents own certain types or breeds of dogs. Hixson, a longtime dog lover who said her granddaughter owns a pit bull, said she believes that supporters “have a shot” at getting the bill passed this year. “These dogs aren’t born that way. They’re trained,” she said. A number of states have laws that say prohibitions on dogs can’t be breed-speciﬁc, she said. Simmons said Hixson’s bill is well-intentioned, but it was essentially tried several years ago when the issue ﬁrst came up and did not have enough support in the Senate. The Senate hasn’t given any indication it’s willing to consider a bill that would repeal the court’s decision, Simmons said. Hixson said she believes her bill differs from previous legislation in that it would apply statewide rather than leave the issue up to each county. She said she’s talked with Simmons and Frosh about potentially adding parts of her legislation to their bill.

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As governor, George would seek basic change Churchill alumnus ‘I think we have a lot of money that is in waste, and I’m going to prove that,’ says Republican n

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

Father. Grandfather. Actor. Jeweler. Businessman. Volunteer. Lawmaker. Maryland Del. Ronald A. George has had many titles. But before he retires, George, 60, looks to add one more to his list: Governor. “My love for the state, it runs deep,” he said. Although George is running for governor in the Republican primary this June, he said his campaign is not ego. In fact, he wants nothing more than to look toward his retirement. But he said he cannot turn his back on problems when he sees a solution. “This is about sacriﬁce,” he said of his campaign. “I want to fundamentally change Maryland into a state that cares about the people’s money and uses it wisely.” Raised in Howard County as one of seven siblings, George grew up in Maryland’s countryside and on the shores of Anne Arundel County. George said his father could

not afford to send him to college. In June 2013, George anSo instead, George attended nounced his campaign to be Bowman Technical School to the state’s next governor and study jewelry design and repair. released a 10-point promise for Putting his skills as a jeweler Maryland. to work, he moved to Syracuse, In his plan, he promised to N.Y., and opened his own shop. lower taxes, offer a tax incentive He put himself through college for buying products locally, balat Syracuse University, ance the state budget, studying visual perrestore good governforming arts. ment, increase public After graduation, safety, promote effecGeorge moved to New tive education, make York City to act. He energy more affordsaid he was cast on a able, create a proactive soap opera, and also transportation plan, did some off-Broadprotect and restore way theater work. natural resources and George During his years in the protect the rights New York, he said he became an guaranteed citizens by the Conactive volunteer at an emergency stitution. shelter and help center for chil“I’m a reformer,” he said. “I dren. ﬁnd solutions.” “I couldn’t stand seeing the In his time as a lawmaker, kids on the street, so I got in- George said he has passed laws volved,” he said. including those that prevent After meeting his wife Becky, Maryland from investing in nathen a ballet dancer, he said tions that ﬁnance terror, establish they knew that New York was energy net metering for municinot where they wanted to raise palities, and require immigrants a family, so they returned to his to provide proof of presence to home, Maryland, where he re- obtain a drivers license. turned to the jewelry business. But George said there reIn 1991, he opened Ron mains tremendous waste in George Jewelers on Main Street state government. As governor, in Annapolis, with a picturesque he wants to turn that around view of the Maryland State and implement independent House, the building where 16 audits of all departments. years later he would begin serv“As a business person, I ing District 30 as a delegate. want to make sure money gets

where it’s supposed to, there isn’t waste and it gets results,” he said. “I think we have a lot of money that is in waste, and I’m going to prove that.” George has yet to name a running mate for the election and has until the Feb. 24 deadline to do so. He has also yet to set a fundraising goal. Donors to Republicans tend to hold onto their money until there is a clear frontrunner, he said. “They don’t realize that ties your hands,” he said. George’s January campaign ﬁnance ﬁling showed he raised $136,384 in the last year. His cash balance as of January was a bit more than $10,200. “We never raise as much as Democrats do,” he said. In the June GOP primary, George faces Harford County Executive David R. Craig, former political action committee chairman Charles Lollar, Baltimore businessman Brian Vaeth and recently announced candidate Larry Hogan. George said it is hard for voters to see a Republican as the next governor, but he is a different kind of candidate. “It’s not about party. It is about who has the best solutions,” he said. kalexander@gazette.net

‘Worst-case scenario nightmare’ for cop who killed son Police: Son killed mother; father on routine administrative leave n

BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER

James Stirkens knew his wife’s attacker all too well when he found him stabbing her to death in an upstairs bedroom last week. To try to save her, he shot and killed the man — his son. The killings happened at about 8 p.m. Jan. 29 in the family’s two-story home in the 7400 block of Lake Katrine Terrace in Gaithersburg, according to police. Stirkens, a 27-year veteran of the Montgomery County Police Department, discovered his 25-year-old son, Christopher Stirkens, using garden shears to attack Denise Stirkens, according to The Washington Post. To defend his wife, Stirkens, 58, shot their son, killing him, said police spokesman Capt. Jim Daly. Fire and rescue personnel took 53-year-old Denise Stirkens to a local hospital, where she died. “Her injuries were stab wounds,” Daly said. James Stirkens, a police sergeant, called 911 immediately after the shooting and stayed on the phone until police arrived. Stirkens, 58, has been placed on routine administrative leave while police investigate the slayings, Daly said. Internal affairs staff also will investigate after the initial investigation is completed. No charges have been filed. Police have not said how many times Stirkens shot his son or if the handgun used was his personal weapon or a department-issued firearm. Police did say that they don’t know what prompted Christopher Stirkens to attack his mother. The man had had run-ins with the law, online court records show, but those were for relatively minor, nonviolent transgressions: marijuana-related charges in 2009 and 2012. In one case, charges were dropped. In the other, he pleaded guilty and was fined $150. It’s also unclear if Christopher Stirkens had any mental problems. “We’re looking at all possibilities to see if there’s a mental health component, a substance abuse component. ... It’s certainly part of the investigation,” Daly said. The Stirkenses lived at the Lake Katrine Terrace home for about 20 years, according to police. No one else was in the home at the time of the killings. According to Denise Stirkens’ Facebook page, she had worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and for Montgomery County Public Schools. She was also a “Dance

Mom” at the Dawn Crafton Dance Connection in Gaithersburg. After the slayings, Crafton posted a note on her group’s Facebook page reacting to the news. “We have lost a wonderful, caring, ‘Dance Mom’ and friend of more than 20 years. She was a treasured, supportive member of our dance family and always had a big hug for us. ... Her loss is just heart breaking,” Crafton wrote. James Stirkens’ Facebook page had photos of himself with his wife, who had family portraits on her page with her husband and their three children. “It is a tragic situation,” Daly told reporters Thursday morning. Marlin Tyner, 29, a neighbor, said Christopher Stirkens was withdrawn. “If you talk to him, he’s quiet,” he said. Tyner said he had heard problems at the home. “I heard screaming and stuff, but whenever they came outside, everyone acted [like] everything’s OK,” he said. But neighbors also called the elder Stirkens a calm, levelheaded man and a good neighbor. “There’s probably never been a cross word coming out of [James Stirkens’] mouth,” said a man who lives a few doors down from the Stirkens home. Christopher Stirkens attended Col. Zadok Magruder

High School in Rockville and played on the school’s basketball team as a senior before graduating in 2006, according to Magruder coach Dan Harwood. That season, the team went 22-3 before losing in the regional championships, he said. “We’re all kind of shocked over here at Magruder. When he was here, he was a really good kid, a really quiet kid,” Harwood said. Stirkens attended the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore for a year, in 2006-07, according to school ofﬁcials there. He also had studied at Montgomery College, according to his Facebook page. “We’re all traumatized on one level or another,” said

Cmdr. Don Johnson, James Stirkens’ commanding ofﬁcer in the Third District. “Everybody in the police family is very devastated by this event.” Stirkens has worked at the station, which serves the highactivity downtown Silver Spring area, as a patrol sergeant the last six years, he said. Stirkens has been reliable, trustworthy and knowledgeable, he said. “He provides that senior experience every commander needs to have at the station,” Johnson said. “You just can’t imagine what he’s going through. ... You can’t picture that worst-case scenario nightmare,” he said. sjbsmith@gazette.net

throws his hat into crowded delegate race in District 16 Legalizing marijuana, single-payer healthcare and free college are his top issues

the gay marriage movement did,” Dennis said. “I want to make sure that we do it right.” Doing it right would mean taxing it in such a way that proceeds could be used toward childhood education, Dennis said. BY AGNES BLUM Another issue he’s like to SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE champion is Maryland movThe first time Peter Dennis ing to a single-payer health ran for an open seat in District care system. “I do not see any sense in 16 in 2010, he was just getting all the money that we waste the lay of the land. “I wanted to get the experi- in insurance companies,” he ence of the process of running said. “Single-payer is a much for office,” Dennis, who splits better model.” And thirdly, as a dual citihis time between Potomac and zen -- he also holds New York City said. citizenship in the But this time, United Kingdom the 33-year-old is in -- Dennis said he it to win it. District would like to see the 16 encompasses Free State live up to Bethesda, Cabin its name and make John, Glen Echo higher education and parts of Chevy free by offering free Chase, Potomac and tuition to public uniRockville. Dennis versities in the state. Having just filed “I would like to see Maryhis paperwork last week, Dennis said he is still fleshing out land offer that to citizens,” his campaign. But he doesn’t Dennis said. Just how the state would plan on hiring anyone or even taking on a roster of volunteers. pay for all that is something “I am self-running the Dennis said he hasn’t worked campaign because I want to out yet. But, he pointed out, run a different kind of cam- it’s early in his campaign. So paign,” Dennis said. “I want to early, he hasn’t had a chance to launch a website yet. get money out of politics.” Filing for the District 16 Dennis, who grew up in Bethesda and graduated delegate race makes Dennis from Winston Churchill High the ninth candidate -- and one School, earned his undergrad- of seven Democrats. District 16 is now repreuate degree from Boston College and his law degree from sented by Sen. Brian Frosh and Dels. Bill Frick, Ariana Kelly Catholic University. An attorney with immigra- and Susan Lee. All four are tion law experience, Dennis is Democrats. Kelly is planning also the founder and CEO of to run again, Frick will fight it Perfect Republic LLC, which out for attorney general with Frosh, and Lee is running for develops web applications. If he makes it to Annapo- Frosh’s Senate seat. The primary will be held lis, Dennis said one of his top priorities would be guiding a June 24 and the general election Nov. 4. marijuana legalization bill. “This is a movement that ablum@gazette.net is starting to move faster than

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District gains discretion in disciplining students n

School system updating policy to follow new state regulations BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County school administrators can use discretion for disciplinary action against students involved in major offenses, after the state school board adopted new regulations on Jan. 28. In addition, the regulations call long-term suspensions and expulsions as “last resort options,” and outlines what schools must do to help suspended students receive certain services, according to the state board’s proposed regulations. Montgomery County Public Schools and other Maryland school districts have until the beginning of next school year to update their policies. Lori-Christina Webb — executive director to the county school system’s deputy superintendent of teaching, learning and programs — said schoollevel administrators now can use discretion to decide more serious disciplinary cases. Such decisions were previously guided by minimum and maximum discipline outlined in the school system’s policy, she said. Webb said school administrators previously could use discretion for the “vast majority of offenses,” but not the most serious offenses. “This codiﬁes the author-

ity of the school-based administrator to use their judgment and discretion,” Webb said. The school system’s current Student Rights and Responsibilities policy includes several student actions that call for a mandatory recommendation of expulsion and mandatory referral to police. Those actions include possession of a bomb or a bomb threat, possession of ﬁrearms, a violent physical attack on a student or staff member, intent to distribute or distribution of controlled dangerous substances, and possession of weapons used to cause bodily harm or injury. The same policy lists other student actions that require “discretionary school-based consequences” and mandatory police referral, which include setting a ﬁre, gang-related incidents, possession or use of intoxicants, sexual offenses, hate violence, and theft over $500 for a single incident. Webb said the new regulations mark a “positive change,” as administrators at a school who are close to the situation can understand the context of an offense better and “look at the totality of the circumstances.” Another aim of the regulations: to end “disproportionate impact” on minority and special education students. Webb said she hopes administrators already used discretion on student conduct in certain cases, such as bringing a butter knife to use on a lunch item or chewing a pastry into the shape of a weapon. The

pastry incident led to the suspension of a second-grader in Anne Arundel County. Chrisandra Richardson, associate superintendent for special education and student services, said the school system will continue to identify best practices for student discipline by looking at individual schools’ methods. The new regulations triggered “a new sense of urgency” to existing work, which also includes efforts to improve school climates and build relationships between school staff and students, she said. Richardson said the school system always provided work for suspended students, as required by the regulations. Now, the system will provide a required liaison between teachers and a suspended student or the student’s parents. The school system already used school liaisons, Richardson said. “This just formalizes that entire process,” she said. She said a school system work group has worked for more than a year and a half in anticipation of the state’s regulation changes, which have been discussed for several years. Technical changes to the policy will be easy, Richardson said, but the “deeper” underlying implications will be more challenging. Both ofﬁcials described the importance of offering support to help individual school needs. “We feel like the work that we have to do is again not just informing people ... but really

in supporting schools and all of our staff,” Richardson said. Marc Cohen, principal at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, said kids should be treated as individuals. “We have a responsibility to be thorough in our investigations, to listen to everybody involved and make decisions that are in the best interests of the students involved in each of these different [cases],” he said. Cohen said discretion in discipline is challenging — families want consistency. The five major offenses “very rarely” come up at Seneca Valley, he said, but school staff discusses discipline. “We talk about it all the time,” he said. “Not about a need for more discretion, but about matching the consequence to the behavior.” Over the next few months, he said, school staff will talk with parents such as what triggers the behavior in more serious offenses. Another topic will be how to work with students who commit offenses and who do not have a support system at home to help them. James Fernandez, principal at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, said he doesn’t think the state regulations will change much for the school system because discretion already plays a role in “the big ﬁve.” Fernandez said that if a student commits a seemingly serious offense, the school will recommend expulsion to the school system’s central ofﬁce, but can evaluate whether that is the right call.

“It was wretchedly scary. You’re thrown into this whole world of medical jargon and doctors.” Lindsay Haley

RAPHAEL TALISMAN/FOR THE GAZETTE

Samantha Haley, 10, of Damascus plays “Can-Can” during talent night Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mount Airy. Samantha was born with heart defects due to congenital heart disease.

Through her heart treatments, girl never misses a beat Youth thrives through running, love of music

SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER

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Ten-year-old Samantha Haley sits shyly on the couch at home in Damascus, legs curled beneath her, her freckled face tilted downward. She’s uninspired by conversation about pacemakers, heart defects and surgery. She looks up and laughs as her brothers, Jack, 6, and Connor, 2, race around the living room, crashing into things and causing the habitual mayhem of little boys. Usually Samantha’s right there with them, minus the crashing, which could jeopardize her pacemaker. Samantha has relied on a pacemaker to make her heart beat since her second month of life. A pacemaker is a small device implanted under the skin that uses electronic stimuli connected by tiny wires to the heart to keep it on rhythm. Samantha timed her most recent surgery — to replace her pacemaker about a year ago — so she would recover in time for her next 5-kilometer run with Girls on the Run. It was the fourth surgery she has undergone. Because of her pacemaker, Samantha can’t play contact sports. But that certainly doesn’t hold her back. “I do triathlons and 5ks,” she said. This week, Feb. 7 to Feb. 14, is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects. They affect about 1 in 100 infants — 40,000 every year — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “When she was two weeks old, I went to a routine checkup and they said she had a heart murmur. And I wasn’t really concerned at ﬁrst,” said Samantha’s mother, Lindsay Haley. She knew that many people have harmless heart murmurs. Holes usually are detected at around two to six weeks, said Dr. Gerard Martin, a cardiologist who specializes in congenital heart disease for Children’s National Health System. Screenings, during sonograms and by testing babies’ oxygen levels and pulse after birth, reveal the majority of heart defects, but holes in the heart can go unnoticed, Martin said. Maryland, along with about 33 other states, now require screening by law, he said. Everything was normal in the ﬁrst two weeks for Samantha, except she was having trouble eating, which turned out to be related to her heart. The pediatrician referred her to a cardiologist right after the appointment, who told Haley that Samantha had holes in her heart and sent her to a hospital for immediate treatment. “It was wretchedly scary,” Haley said. “You’re thrown into this whole world of medical jargon and doctors.”

Two months later, “they did open-heart surgery to repair the holes,” she said. But after the repairs, half of Samantha’s heart couldn’t beat on its own. One week later, Samantha underwent another surgery to have a pacemaker implanted. When she was 16 months old, a new one was installed. “They said that one would last 10 years, but she’s very active,” Haley said. Samantha wore it out in 8. At 9, she got another. How many years will this one last? “We’re thinking 7,” Haley said. When the conversation turns to books, Samantha perks up. “I like to read and draw,” she said. “I like pretty much any book.” She’s working her way through the Harry Potter series. She loves Greek mythology, too — Poseidon is her favorite of the gods. “I want to be a music teacher when I grow up,” she said. On Jan. 30, Samantha showed off her love of music at a talent show at the family’s church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mount Airy. She had prepared songs on the piano and guitar, and a violin duet with her best friend, Kaylee Walsman. In the car on the way there, Samantha turns from reserved to downright chatty, talking about her friends, an upcoming school performance, and her teacher, Steven Zimmerman — the funniest in the fourth grade at Clearspring Elementary in Damascus, she said. In front of a small crowd of friends and parents, Samantha opens the talent show, playing “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” on the piano. Following several other performances, she and Kaylee go on stage to play “Lightly Row” on the violin. They’ve been taking lessons together the past several months. After the song, Samantha lowers herself near the floor, crouching intently over her guitar strings to play “Ode to Joy” — the same song Samantha’s mother walked down the aisle to as she married Samantha’s father. She has taught herself to play since receiving the guitar last Christmas. Haley said she and her husband, Larry, turned to religion when Samantha was undergoing intensive treatment and surgeries in her ﬁrst months of life. This community came to their side, with meals and support. In terms of medicine, Martin said, “It has changed dramatically. How we do things has gotten much better over the last two decades. The results of treatment in this era are very successful.” An audience member wore a T-shirt the family made for Samantha’s last surgery, with illustrated faces of all of the kids in Samantha’s class, grouped in the shape of a heart. All of the kids wore it on surgery day. Beneath the smiling faces, it reads, “and the beat goes on.” sscully@gazette.net

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FUNDING

Continued from Page A-1 low,” Bevan-Dangel said. She said Howard and Anne Arundel counties are two that might take up similar legislation soon. Andrews’ bill also drew support from Kate Planco Waybright, executive director of Progressive Maryland, who said in a release from Common Cause Monday that public funding

shifts campaigns away from big donors and toward regular voters. Waybright could not be reached for comment Monday. The bill would limit candidates who accept public financing for their campaign to donations of $150 or less from voters registered in Montgomery County. In order to qualify for the matching funds, candidates for county executive would have to get 500 in-county individual contributions and raise $40,000;

at-large council candidates would be required to attract 250 individual contributions and raise $20,000; district council candidates would need 125 contributions and raise $10,000. County executive candidates who qualify would receive $6 for every one dollar of the ﬁrst $50 of an in-county contribution; $4 for every dollar of the second $50 and $2 for every dollar of the third $50. Council candidates would get $4 for each dollar of the ﬁrst

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$50; $3 for each dollar of the second $50 and $2 for each dollar of the third $50. Andrews said he thinks that will give candidates a strong incentive to seek out as many new contributors in the county as possible and getting those people involved in the political process. The bill doesn’t put a limit on the overall level of spending, as long as donors stay within the $150 limit, Andrews said. But public financing is

capped at $750,000 for county executive candidates, $250,000 for at-large council candidates — who run countywide — and $125,000 for council candidates running in a district. Andrews said the bill isn’t meant to ﬁnance an entire campaign, but just to be “a bridge to raising enough funds to be competitive.” While groups like Common Cause can’t do much to bring down the costs of running, they can ﬁnd better ways for candi-

dates to get that money, BevanDangel said. Polls show a bipartisan concern about the inﬂuence of money in politics, she said. The General Assembly gave counties the ability last year to pass bills such as Andrews’, and Bevan-Dangel said the Montgomery bill would hopefully inspire other counties to take action that could hopefully lead to a bill passed on the state level. “We know others are watching,” she said.

SALT

salted is important to helping keep the county’s transit system open. That means that a severe storm won’t damage the county economically by shutting down businesses or keeping workers and customers from getting to work, Compton said. But most important is making sure people can get wherever they need to go safely. “It’s all about public safety,” he said. Takoma Park has gone through about 450 tons of the mix of salt and sand that it puts on roads, said Daryl Braithwaite, the city’s director of public works. This year’s cold temperatures have meant that crews have had to work more days of extra shifts to keep treating roads where ice would often refreeze at night after it partially melted during the day, she said. That has forced the city to already spend close to the nearly $33,000 it had budgeted for salt and the $20,000 for overtime, Braithwaite said Monday. The city usually plans for about three storms per year with overtime and heavy treatment of streets, a point that’s already been reached. “At this point in the year, we’ve pretty much spent all that we’ve budgeted,” she said. With forecasts calling for the possibility of more snow this weekend, Buck said the highway agency’s crews will be out to deal with whatever weather comes. “All we can do is look at the next forecast,” he said.

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A car illegally passes a stopped school bus dropping off children in Olney. New cameras on some buses are designed to catch such drivers.

PASSING

Continued from Page A-1 “It certainly assists patrol ofﬁcers’ efforts to enforce the law,” she said. The program currently has 10 cameras — five cameras were recently added but were not issuing citations. Innocenti said 15 more

HOCKEY

Continued from Page A-1 Letter,” the online petition said. William Beattie, the school system’s director of systemwide athletics, said ice hockey presents several challenges that hinder it from becoming a varsity sport. The school system carefully weighs many factors when considering whether to add a varsity sport, Beattie said. The system also only takes on a new varsity sport if it has full oversight of the sport, including funding, facilities and coaches, he said. “A sport is either a sport that is under the auspices of the school system or is totally not under the

cameras will be installed by the end of February on school buses that run routes with the most passing incidents. That will bring the total number of school buses equipped with the cameras to 25. Wiring for the cameras will be installed on 75 more buses so the cameras can be swapped among the buses. The county also has the auspices of the school system,” he said. “You can’t halfway supervise something. You do it all the way or you don’t do it.” Beattie listed a number of sports that have made an unsuccessful bid for varsity: inline skating, rugby, badminton, skateboarding, horseback riding, ﬂag football, cycling, dodgeball, kickboxing and crew. Beattie said the hockey teams, like other community groups, are allowed to use the name of a school community but that they are “completely separate and distinct.” One consideration, Beattie said, is whether the school system has the proper facilities to house the sport. In the case of ice hockey, he said, the school system doesn’t

ability to purchase up to 75 more cameras during its contract, according to an Oct. 22 memo from Montgomery County Council staff. The County Council enacted a law in March 2012 that enables police to install and operate cameras on school buses to catch drivers who pass the vehicles when they are stopped have any ice rinks, and there are only a few in the area. If hockey were a varsity sport, it would have to be possible for each of the school system’s 25 high schools to have both girls and boys teams and all those teams would need to use those few available rinks, he said. Beattie said it would also be “almost impossible” for some county schools to have hockey teams because of the expenses involved and the location of the area’s few ice rinks. Other factors include the supervision of games and the availability of teachers to coach. Paul Lofgren — who has coached the Richard Montgomery team since its inception about 11 years ago — said that hockey becoming a varsity sport

FILE PHOTO

and operating their ﬂashing red lights. Ultimately, Innocenti said, the goal goes beyond catching scofﬂaws. “Our goal is for people to be informed about the law and know the law and stop for stopped school buses,” she said. lpowers@gazette.net is “not going to happen.” The main obstacle is the lack of ice time available to teams, he said. The area’s ice rinks include ones in Cabin John, Rockville, Wheaton, Columbia and College Park, but some are too far away and others are too busy, Lofgren said. Lofgren said he has a good relationship with Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. “That’s not the norm,” he said, citing one team in his Montgomery division that is not allowed to use the school colors. If hockey were to become a varsity sport, Lofgren said he thinks it would help his team raise more money — no small thing when it comes to a sport

istration has had to use liquid magnesium, designed to make salt effective at much lower temperatures, in the state’s metropolitan areas where it’s usually not needed because the temperature of the pavement doesn’t generally get as cold as it has this year, said spokesman David Buck. About the only bright side has been that the cold temperatures have usually made the snow fluffy and easier to plow, he said. Buck said the winter has been a tough one around the state, with Garrett County accumulating more than 100 inches of snow and Ocean City getting about 13 inches. The highway agency has activated its emergency operations center 24 times since November to coordinate the response to a weather event, Buck said. The agency already has spent about $70 million on winter operations, and has used about 288,000 tons of salt to treat the 17,000 “lane miles” of roads around the state that it’s responsible for, Buck said. Different types of weather call for different responses from road crews, Compton said. When they’re dealing with snow, crews can plow the roads and then put down a light covering of salt, Compton said. But the only treatment for ice is salt. “It’s really all about the management of the pavement,” Compton said. Keeping roads plowed and that includes expensive equipment and ice renting fees. Lofgren said he understand’s the school system’s position and that “their hands are tied financially.” “It would open up the floodgates” of other teams who would also want the varsity label, he said. Johnathan “JT” Burton, head coach of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase team, said the petition’s concept is not a new one and that he supports it. He said he also thinks that hockey won’t become a varsity sport. Taking on hockey would involve high costs Burton said he doesn’t think the school system will offer to cover. “In a perfect world, the county would cough up the

rmarshall@gazette.net money to fund us,” he said. “You would probably get more kids playing.” Burton said it costs his team about $30,000 to play each season — most of which goes to renting ice time — and that each player chipped in $1,300 this season. Burton said that, though he has a good relationship with the high school’s principal, the hockey team is “disconnected” from the school. “I feel that the county (school system) would have a hard time basically taking responsibility or having that liability of having an off-campus event that could impact them negatively,” he said. lpowers@gazette.net

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BUSINESS

Miller, Busch unveil bills to boost business climate n

BizBriefs

Business leaders applaud coordinated agenda

Have a new business in Montgomery County? Let us know about it at www.gazette.net/newbusinessform

KEVIN JAMES SHAY

Rockville moving business opens

STAFF WRITER

Maryland’s top two legislative leaders have unveiled a series of proposals that include a commission to review the business climate and bills to reduce the estate tax and provide more tax credits and business funding. The agenda marks the first time that state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Dist. 30) have jointly proposed a legislative business package. “I don’t think I have ever seen this level of coordinated effort between two presiding ofﬁcers in the General Assembly before,” said Mathew Palmer, senior vice president of government affairs for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. “We are very happy and encouraged by this development.” Norman Augustine, a former CEO of Bethesda defense giant Lockheed Martin, will chair the commission. Other members are expected to be announced in the next few weeks, picked from the business community. The commission will begin work this session and issue a report in December. Business leaders have long discussed that jobs and residents are moving to Virginia and other states because of tax purposes. “The commission is part of a long-term strategy for economic development in the state,” Palmer said. “This means we will be talking about issues on how to make Maryland the leader in job creation not just this year, but next year and in future years.” The estate tax bill, which was introduced in the Senate on Thursday, would phase in Maryland’s estate tax to match the federal tax over four years. Maryland’s estate tax only allows a $1 million exemption, while

Brooke Wilson and Les Wilson of Rockville are now Two Men and a Truck. The new franchise operation offers local and long-distance residential and commercial moving services with licensed, bonded movers and drivers. It covers East Coast moves from Maryland to Atlanta. Its phone number is 301-468-2636; its website is twomenbethesdawashingtondc.com; and it also can be found at facebook.com/moversinmaryland.

Resmark Cos. opens Chevy Chase ofﬁce

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

House Speaker Michael Busch checks a vote on the first day of the Maryland General Assembly on Jan. 8 in Annapolis. the federal estate tax allows an exemption of $5.25 million, meaning someone could have an estate of $5 million and not be taxed by the federal government. Maryland and New Jersey are the only two states to have both estate taxes and inheritance taxes. Similar legislation proposed last year, which did not pass, would have reduced state revenues by $13.6 million in fiscal 2014, $43.8 million in fiscal 2015, $59.5 million in fiscal 2016, $79.3 million in fiscal 2017 and $87.3 million in fiscal 2018, according to a legislative analysis. But that reduction would be made up by many more retirees remaining in Maryland rather than moving to Virginia, Delaware, Florida or other states where “death taxes” are not so high, advocates said. Senate Minority Leader Sen. David R. Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market noted that the Democratic leaders are coming around to sup-

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port measures he and other state Republicans have for years. “There is a greater realization that this situation is harming communities,” Brinkley said. He added that he was glad to see that the Democratic leaders are supporting more proposals to help the private sector, though he said they “could have been done all along.” “Welcome to the pool,” Brinkley said. Clark Kendall, president and founder of Rockville ﬁnancial advisory ﬁrm Kendall Capital Management, said he sees clients making decisions to leave the state on a recurring basis. “These are middle-class people, who have prudently saved and own a modest-sized house in Montgomery County,” he said. “It’s not unusual for them to have more than $1 million saved up. You cannot really retire comfortably in Montgomery County without $1 million or more saved.”

Most clients of Kendall who live in Maryland have family members in the state and want to remain there when they retire, he said. But when they learn that it will cost them $200,000 or so in death taxes to stay in Montgomery rather than move across the river to Virginia, a good number decide to move, he said. “This tax is very short-sighted,” Kendall said. Kendall, the Small Business Committee co-chairman of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, said he talked about the issue with local legislators who were receptive at the chamber’s legislative reception on Jan. 27 Miller and Busch’s agenda also includes legislation for a seed fund for cybersecurity start-ups and to assist universities with tax credits and endowments. kshay@gazette.net

The Resmark Cos. of Los Angeles, a real estate investment adviser, has opened a new ofﬁce at 5425 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 600, Chevy Chase. In addition to other projects in the region, Resmark, in a joint venture with Duball Woodmont, is developing luxury condominiums in downtown Bethesda called Woodmont View. Alexandra Johns will be senior vice president for investments in Resmark’s land and housing division, responsible for managing its portfolio of investments and originating new projects for Resmark in the mid-Atlantic region.

Adventist Home Health earns award Adventist Home Health has been named a 2013 HomeCare Elite agency, a compilation of the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified home health agencies in the U.S. This is the fourth time and the second consecutive year Adventist Home Health was recognized. The award is sponsored by the OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation and DecisionHealth. Adventist Home Health is the only agency in Montgomery County and one of only five agencies in the state to achieve the recognition. HomeCare Elite winners are ranked by an analysis of publicly available performance measure in quality care outcomes, best practice implementation, quality improvement and consistency, patient experience and financial performance, according to a press release from Adventist Health Care. The list of 2013 HomeCare Elite agencies can be found at www.nationalresearch.com/ homecareelite.

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SCHOOL LIFE

Scientists share experiences to encourage interest in STEM careers Forensic anthropologist speaks at Rockville High

PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER

Rockville High School ninthgrader Annabelle Heister is interested in forensic science and watches crime investigation shows on TV. Last week, she got to hear the real life experiences of forensic anthropologist Franklin Damann from the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring. Damann spoke Jan. 29 to biology students at the Rockville school as part of the “Nifty Fifty (times 3)” program that sends scientists to local middle and high schools to encourage interest in science careers. Nifty Fifty, which originally sent 50 scientists to schools, but which has grown to include more, precedes the USA Science and Engineering Festival, which is scheduled to be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention

Center in Washington, D.C., April 26-27. The festival is free and open to people of all ages, Lawrence Bock, the festival founder said. This is the third Nifty Fifty speaker series held in Montgomery County. “This is a nice way to get into forensics, a good sneak peek,” 14-year-old Annabelle said. “I like hearing about all his own experiences.” Accompanying his talk with slides, Damann showed the students how scientists take a box of bones and bone-like fragments and make sense of them. Some of the objects collected at a crime scene or site of a disaster might be food fragments like chicken wings or even very old wood. A scientist needs to use education and experience to put together a correct picture, Damann said. He said the most interesting part of his career has been helping family members get answers about what happened to their missing loved ones. “On the forensics side I like being able to use skills I’ve

PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE

Franklin Damann, forensic anthropologist at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, speaks to students Jan. 29 at Rockville High School. Damann was one of the Nifty Fifty (times 3) program that brings scientist to middle and high schools ahead of the USA National Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., April 26-27. learned through school and professional work experience to help [families],” he said. Damann spent a number of

years working for the Department of Defense Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command Central Identiﬁcation Labora-

tory in Hawaii where he did ﬁeld work throughout Southeast Asia searching for missing service members. He showed students photo of places where he did the work and specific techniques used. One grid, sectioned so scientists would know exactly where items came from, overlaid a photo of the area to give an even clearer picture of the terrain. Another showed Damann sitting on location writing in his notebook. “It is important to document everything,” he said. Ninth-grader Jonathan Leroy, 15, said he thought the talk pretty interesting and though he does not yet know what his career path will be thinks it is important to keep and open mind about possibilities. “We saw a lot of new things about bones and how they decay,” he said. Sarah Day, who teaches biology for grades 9-12, said Damann’s talk was a good opportunity to expose the students to a different career in science. “I love how he showed the

data,” she said. “That is the kind of critical thinking we are trying to get the students to use.” The USA Science and Engineering Festival was ﬁrst held in Oct. 2010, another was in 2012 and this, the third, will be April 2014. It was started by Bock, an entrepreneur who said he had trouble ﬁnding scientists to hire. People were not going into science careers he said, so he decided to do something to show students the possibilities of science and encourage them to go into science careers. Bock said he does not have enough long term data to know if the Nifty Fifty speakers and the festival are making a difference, but he said he does have data proving more people and interested in attending the festival each year. more than 34,000 people have registered for the festival’s “Sneak Peek Friday,” which is open to school groups and military, up from 14,000 in 2012. “You get what you celebrate,” Bock said, explaining the festival. “It’s a cool event and it has grown tremendously.”

Northwood High School in Silver Spring, who was named Patricia Behring High School History Day Teacher of the Year, and Brian Mitchell of the Bullis School in Potomac, who received the StarSpangled 200 Special Prize from the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission. Mitchell also was a state finalist for his senior individual documentary, “Baltimore Polytechnic Institute: A Model of Desegregation Before Brown.” The award is given to an outstanding entry that incorporates one or more of four themes: courage, unity in diversity, inspiration or preparedness. Elsa Sellmeyer, a homeschooler from Montgomery County, received an Outstanding State Entry Award for her junior paper, “Railroad Tracks, Land Tracts, and Digestive Tracts: Turning Points in the Development of Montgomery County, Maryland.” Oriana Theo of the Bullis School was a finalist for her senior individual performance, “When Hope Fell From the Sky: The Berlin Airlift.” Emily Zhou of Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring was a finalist in the junior individual website category for her site, “Chemical Safety Since the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.” Rachel Gold, Anne Kim and Ankita Reddy, all of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, were finalists in the senior group documentary category for “Morality and Immortality: The Cultivation of Human Cells.”

ganizations that have made exemplary contributions to public education in the county. Nominations will be accepted in the following categories: community individual, community group, business, public schools staff, school service volunteer and individual. The individual pioneer award nominees are individuals who currently may not be active, but have made extraordinary contributions in the past. The nominee’s contributions must have had a profound effect on the school system over a sustained period of time. Nomination forms are available in six languages on the board’s website, montgomeryschools.org or may be obtained from the board ofﬁce, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. To receive a nomination form by mail, call 301-279-3617. Completed nomination forms must be received by 5 p.m. Tuesday. They may be mailed to the above address, faxed to 301-279-3860 or emailed to Becky_Gibson@ mcpsmd.org.

EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Students get lessons in engineering and design Not many elementary school students get to design their own cars, but several ﬁrstthrough fourth-graders at Redwood Montessori Academy in Rockville did just that Jan. 28 as part of the Baltimore Museum of Industry’s “Design It!” series. After deciding the front, back, top and bottom of their designs, students attached axles and wheels and took their vehicles for a test drive down a wooden ramp, just to make sure their creations rolled straight and stayed in one piece. “The lesson is for them to learn what an engineer is, how an engineer makes cars and what a car can do without an engine,” said Candi Claggett, an educator from the museum. Claggett said the museum offers a number of outreach programs because it is not always possible for schools to arrange ﬁeld trips to Baltimore. She helped the students with their test runs, calling out distances the cars traveled and making suggestions for better results. “Look at this,” she told one student who could not make her car go straight. “Can you see anything wrong?” Quickly the child realized one axle was taped on at an angle. She made the adjustment and soon sent her car down the ramp with a much better result. That’s what an engineer does, Claggett said: tests and makes adjustments. After a few runs, students were each given a balloon to blow up and attach to their cars as “engines.” Fourth-grader Joey Moeller was enthusiastic about the project, testing and adjusting his car, trying to get longer and longer runs. “I learned that a car with even, straight axles goes

straighter, therefore farther, “ he said. He also learned that a car with an engine goes farther and the amount of air in the balloon made a difference. In his case, the distance increased by an average of 6 feet per run. Fiorela Consanza, also a fourth-grader, said her car went faster with the balloon attached. “I think it’s the air that’s blowing behind it,’ she said. “It gives it a boost.” With only a few balloons popping, and wheels ﬁrmly attached, all the young engineers were able to get successful runs from their cars and learn the importance of a well-engineered design. “Nothing teaches a child more than doing,” said Dianna Souder-Bond, Redwood’s owner and director.

Workshop focuses on helping students succeed The McLean School of Maryland will hold its ﬁfth annual

Cecily’s Advocacy Workshop, “Unlocking Potential: Helping Students Soar!” from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the school, 8224 Lochinver Lane, Potomac. The workshop offers resources and information for parents, educators and child development professionals and will include two keynote speakers, morning and afternoon breakout sessions and a student panel: “Sharing What We Learned: The Students’ Journey Through School.” The opening keynote speaker, William R. Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist, will discuss “Stress, Meditation and the Developing Brain.” He will examine ways in which stress shapes brain development in children and teens and look at the accumulating research evidence that indicates that by reducing stress, meditation can

PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE

Fourth-grader Fiorela Conanza prepares to test her vehicle during a science lesson Jan. 28 at Redwood Montessori Academy in Rockville, presented as part of an outreach program of the Baltimore Museum of Industry. facilitate healthy brain development. The closing speaker, Susan Piver, a New York Times bestselling author and meditation teacher, will discuss “The Path and Practice of Mindfulness,” covering the roots of mindfulness meditation. Other topics include the following: • What it means to “know” a word: semantic knowledge and the emerging reader. • The use of art therapy to help facilitate communication and focusing. • How to motivate children to motivate themselves. • College success for students with learning disabilities. • How dialectical behavior therapy is used to help regulate intense and painful emotions in teens. • Helping parents understand and support their child’s path to independence, especially for those who face challenges. • The role diet plays in helping to restore and maintain well-being. The workshop costs $25.

For more information and to register, visit mcleanschool.org/ cecily.

History day students and teachers honored The Maryland Humanities Council announced that 15 Maryland middle and high school students who received national honors at the National History Day competition and three outstanding History Day Teachers were recognized Jan. 27 at sessions of the state Senate and House. Each of the students won awards at the 2013 Maryland History Day competition held April 27 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, plus honors at the National History Day contest. The national competition is held annually at the University of Maryland, College Park, and involves more than 3,500 students from 50 states plus Washington, D.C., Guam, American Samoa and international schools in China, Korea and South Asia. Honored from Montgomery County were Alix Medor of

Board seeks nominations for service awards The Montgomery County Board of Education is seeking nominations for its 17th annual Awards for Distinguished Service to Public Education. The awards recognize and show appreciation to individuals — including students — plus groups and or-

Public input wanted for Black Hill nature programs Residents are invited to learn about nature programs at Black Hill Regional Park and discuss what they would like the park’s nature center to offer at a program from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Black Hill Visitor Center, 20926 Lake Ridge Drive, Boyds. Adults and families are invited to the center for dinner and nature activities and the opportunity to shape educational programs, trainings and resources offered through programs. Pizza and beverages will be provided. Reservations are requested. Email Katrina.Fauss@ montgomeryparks.org or call 301-528-3482.

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Alison.Tompkins@LNF.com 1905524

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THE GAZETTE

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CELEBRATIONS HEALTH CALENDAR THURSDAY, FEB. 6 Girls on the Run: Heartsaver AED and CPR, from 6-10 p.m.

at Suburban Hospital, Lambert Building (Second Floor), 8710 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Learn the latest AED training and lifesaving techniques. This course is for GOTR coaches only. $20. www.suburbanhospital.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 11

Fields Bonnie and Lawrence “Larry” Fields, longtime residents of Gaithersburg, celebrated their 50th anniversary on Feb. 3, 2014. The couple eloped secretly and were married at the courthouse in Towson on Feb. 3, 1964. They celebrated with family and friends at a previously planned ceremony followed by dinner and dancing at Adas Israel Synagogue in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 1964. Bonnie and Larry have two sons and six granddaughters. Dr. Fields maintained a dental practice in Gaithersburg for more than 40 years, retiring in 2007. Bonnie had been the ofﬁce manager and bookkeeper with the dental practice. They are pictured in Florence, Italy, on a trip in October 2013.

Pre-Operative Joint Class, from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Suburban Hospital, 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. For patients scheduled for joint replacement surgery or directed by their surgeon to attend prior to scheduling. You and your family member (or designated “Coach”) will learn about pre-operative preparation and post-operative care. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org. Fine Tune Your Diabetes, from 6:30-8 p.m. at Suburban Hospital CR 3 (second ﬂoor), 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Go beyond the basics! Through an open discussion format led by a Certiﬁed Diabetes Educator, get the support you need to manage your diabetes. Explore your concerns and challenges in diabetes management, and engage in conversations with others living with diabetes. Class size limited to eight participants. Registration required. $20. www.suburbanhospital.org.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 Diagnosing Heart Disease,

from 1-2 p.m. at Friendship

Heights Community Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase. Dr. Eva Hausner, cardiologist, will lead a discussion on echocardiography and other noninvasive tests that can be used to determine if you’ve had a heart attack. She will also review the signs and symptoms of heart problems and preventive strategies such as diet and exercise. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 13 Choosing Smart for Your Heart, 1-2 p.m. at Rockville

Senior Center, 1150 Carnation Drive, Rockville. Learn strategies to keep your heart healthy and happy with the choices you make each and every day. Free. www. suburbanhospital.org. Better Breathers Club, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Suburban Hospital, CR 1/2 (second ﬂoor), 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Be part of a patient-centered and community-based club that supports persons with chronic lung disease including COPD, asthma, idiopathic pulmonary ﬁbrosis and lung cancer. Families, friends and support persons are welcomed. Registration required. Free. www.suburbanhospital.org.

SUNDAY, FEB. 16 Childbirth Express at MedStar Montgomery, from 1-5

p.m. at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, Olney. Condensed version will prepare couples for their labor and birth experience. Class is presented in lecture/ video format. To enhance what you learn, hands-on instruction

available by taking the Lamaze Techniques class. Hospital tour included. $75. www.medstarhealth.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 18 Guided Cancer Nutrition Tour at Whole Foods, 2-3 p.m., Lynda

McIntyre, RD, LD, oncology dietician specialist, will lead a guided supermarket tour focusing on foods that are beneﬁcial during and after cancer treatment. She will share shopping tips and healthy cooking advice while you sample food provided by Whole Foods. Have fun while you gain valuable information! Open to cancer survivors and their family members. Registration required; Call 301-896-3939 for store location. www.suburbanhospital.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 25 AARP Driver Safety Class at MedStar Montgomery, 10 a.m. to

3 p.m. at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, Olney. The nation’s first and largest refresher course for drivers age 50 and older has helped millions of drivers remain safe on today’s roads. Course is designed to help tune up driving skills, explain safe driving strategies, and update knowledge of the rules of the road. Learn about normal age-related physical changes, and how to adjust driving to allow for these changes. Reduce traffic violations, the likelihood of crashes, and chances for injuries. Some insurance companies operating in Maryland consider drivers who take the course qualified for an auto insurance premium reduction or discount. $15 for AARP

members; $20 for nonmembers. Checks should be made payable to AARP to secure your registration. Mail to: MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, Planning & Marketing, 18101 Prince Philip Dr. Olney, MD 20832. www.medstarhealth.org.

UPCOMING Yoga for Women Cancer Survivors, from 7-8:15 p.m.

Mondays to March 31, at Sibley Medical Building Conference Room 2, 5215 Loughboro Road, NW, Washington, D.C. Weekly meditative gentle and restorative yoga using mindful movement, balance and breathing techniques to help women with a history of cancer to reduce anxiety, improve quality of life and regain sense of self. $10 per class, $30 per month, scholarships available. Walk-ins welcome with cash/check if space permits. 202-243-2320. www.suburbanhospital.org.

Meditation and Mindfulness: Tools for Alleviating Stress Post Cancer Diagnosis, from 7-8 p.m.

Thursdays to March 27 at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Private Dining Room 3 (next to cafeteria), 5255 Loughboro Road, NW, Washington, D.C. Join facilitator Ashley Nunn and others with a history of cancer to learn about and practice a relaxation technique that uses focus on breathing. This practice has been shown to be effective in reducing stress, anxiety and loneliness; improving sleep; and boosting immune system. No prior experience required. Walk-ins welcome. Register at Sibley.org or call 202-243-2320. Free. www. suburbanhospital.org.

RELIGION CALENDAR UPCOMING Tikvat Israel Congregation, 2200 Baltimore Road, Rockville, will host an evening of communal Hebrew singing, Seeds of Song Community Erev Shira, from 7:30-9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9. Featuring Israeli folk songs, the event will be led by four area musicians and a powerpoint presentation of song selections in Hebrew and transliteration. $10 at the door; no charge for school-aged children. 301-570-8422.

McAllister, Tardif Katie McAllister and Brian Tardif were married on May 4, 2013. Their parents are Julie and Michael Bobrow of Damascus, Stephen McAllister of Frederick, Shelley Tardif of Forest Hills and Jeffrey Tardif of Friendswood, Texas. The ceremony, ofﬁciated by Mr. Andrew Reich, took place waterside at the Bond Street Pier in Fells Point, followed by a reception at The Admiral Fell Inn. The bridesmaids were Heather McAllister, Jessica Bobrow, Megan Bobrow Sparks, Kelly Secoura, Kristie Sweeney and Ashley Oliver. The groomsmen were Matthew Noble, Matthew Tardif, Brian Stromberg, Brian Haas, Peter Lutz and Bryan Watts. Katie and Brian both graduated from Towson University. Katie currently teaches at The Chesterbrook Academy in Naperville, Ill., and Brian is a senior account manager for The Boston Beer Co. in Chicago, Ill. The couple honeymooned in Las Vegas.

PLACING AN ANNOUNCEMENT

ONGOING Damascus United Methodist Church, 9700 New Church St., Damascus, offers traditional Sunday morning worship services at 8:15 a.m., a youth contemporary worship service at 9:30 a.m. and a service of liturgy and the word at 11 a.m. with Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. for all ages during the school year. www. damascusumc.org. Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 7730 Bradley Boulevard, Bethesda, offers services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. each Sunday, with Sunday School for all ages scheduled at 10 a.m. Child care is offered from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. A fellowship and coffee hour follows

the 8:30 a.m. service. 301-365-5733, www. elcbethesda.org.

Liberty Grove United Methodist Church, 15225 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, conducts Sunday morning worship services at 8:30, 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sunday school, nursery through adult, is at 9:30 a.m. 301-421-9166. For a schedule of events, visit www.libertygrovechurch.org. “MOPS,” a faith-based support group for mothers of children, birth through kindergarten, meets from 9-11:30 a.m. the ﬁrst and third Wednesdays of the month at the Frederick Church of the Brethren, 201 Fairview Drive, Frederick. Child care is provided. For more information call 301-662-1819. Email mops@fcob.net. Neelsville Presbyterian Church, 20701 Frederick Road, Germantown, has returned to its fall worship schedule, with services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays. Sunday School for all ages at 9:40 a.m. www.Neelsville.org. Providence United Methodist Church, 3716 Kemptown Church Road, Monrovia, conducts a contemporary service at 8 a.m. followed by a traditional service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday mornings, with children’s Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. and adult Sunday school at 11 a.m. For more information, call 301-

253-1768. Visit www.kemptownumc.org. Trinity Lutheran Church, 11200 Old Georgetown Road, North Bethesda, conducts services every Sunday, with child care from 8 a.m. to noon and fellowship and a coffee hour following each service. 301-881-7275. For a schedule of events, visit www.TrinityELCA.org. Chancel choir auditions and rehearsals, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at Liberty Grove Methodist Church, 15225 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville. Call 301-421-9166 or visit www. libertygrovechurch.org. “Healing for the Nations,” 7 p.m. every ﬁrst and third Saturday of the month at South Lake Elementary School, 18201 Contour Road, Gaithersburg. Sponsored by King of the Nations Christian Fellowship, the outreach church service is open to all who are looking for hope in this uncertain world. Prayer for healing available. Translation into Spanish and French. Call 301-251-3719. Visit www.kncf.org. Geneva Presbyterian Church, potluck lunches at 11:30 a.m. the second Sunday of each month at 11931 Seven Locks Road, Potomac. There is no fee to attend. All are welcome to bring a dish to share; those not bringing dishes are also welcome. Call 301424-4346.

The Gazette prints engagement and wedding announcements, with color photographs, at no charge, as a community service. Copy should be limited to 150 words and submitted in paragraph form. Announcements are subject to editing for space. Please include contact information, including a daytime telephone number. Photos should be professional quality. If emailing photos, ﬁle size should be a minimum of 500 KB. Wedding announcements should be submitted no later than 12 months after the wedding. Send to: The Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, or email kgroff@gazette.net. Montgomery County celebrations are inserted into all Montgomery County editions.

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The Gazette OUROPINIONS

Forum

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

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Introspection

It’s tough work for a municipality to make sure residents, groups and businesses are following its laws. But we were surprised — and somewhat flattered — that the city of Gaithersburg relied on a Gazette story and photo to condemn a Woodland Road building. The 192-square-foot structure in Darline Bell-Zuccarelli’s backyard has come to be known as the “tiny house.” Relying on Internet research and a local Home Depot, she and her husband, Gilmar Hernandez, constructed it for about $15,000. Bell-Zuccarelli said she hopes her daughter, who couldn’t afford a place of her own, could stay in the backyard building, which has a living room, a sleeping loft, a bathroom and a kitchenette. However, the building permit Bell-Zuccarelli received from the city is for a shed. We can understand why city officials thinking “lawnmower and bicycles” would be taken aback when they saw a miniIN TWO Based on what RECENT CASES, apartment. they saw in the newspaper GAITHERSBURG’S — and the zoning law, which INSPECTION allows one dwelling unit per PROCESS FALLS lot in that neighborhood — city officials put up a “conSHORT demned” sign. Surely, there was a lack of communication, both ways. Why wasn’t the layout of the “shed” apparent by the time an electrical inspection was done? Or did Bell-Zuccarelli go off on an unpredictable tangent after the city had signed off? Either way, a simple chat along the way — before the condemnation — would have cleared up the discrepancy. A more curious set of inspection circumstances arose after a boy drowned in a pond in the Crown neighborhood last month. Ten-year-old D’Angelo Jayvon McMullen of Rockville was walking on it with two other boys when the ice gave way and they fell in. The other boys survived. The pond was supposed to be surrounded by security fencing, but clearly wasn’t at the time of the accident. City officials said at the time of the drowning that the site previously had passed safety fence requirements. When did that fence go away? It’s hard to say. Inspection records shared at The Gazette’s request show a hodgepodge of information about inspections in the development, but nothing specific about this pond meeting this fence requirement. Yet, the inspection reports clearly have a line marked “safety fence” and a place to check under “approved,” “denied” or “maintain.” That line is blank on each report The Gazette reviewed. A city official told us that we should assume that the lack of a violation indicated on the form must mean it passed inspection. That’s a strange system. There are 20 lines for categories on the inspection form. The city apparently regularly looked at the project’s compliance for certain categories — sometimes five categories, sometimes six, sometimes seven in each inspection, according to the comments and marks on the forms. Safety records like this should be kept and maintained with the public in mind. Conduct inspections and note the results as if the average person is reading them and wants to know what’s right and what’s wrong.

Welcome to the council

Cherri Branson won Valerie Ervin’s seat on the Montgomery County Council last week in a council vote over 17 other candidates. Branson, who has spent more than 24 years as a congressional aide, will represent District 5 at a time when the council has plenty on its plate. For one, the nine members have an upcoming decision on the future of development in Clarksburg. It’s a thorny issue with vocal environmentalists demanding a “no” vote. Although some Clarksburg residents support the environmentalists, many are anxious that no development will be a further delay of the services and amenities they’ve been promised for years. It won’t be an easy vote. Branson also takes over Ervin’s seat on the council’s Education Committee. For the foreseeable future, the committee will be considering the capital budgets of Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery College. Here, she’ll be forced to weigh the conflicting interests of parents who want progress on school expansion and modernization against a panoply of needs. County Executive Isiah Leggett is lobbying Annapolis to send more school construction dollars to Montgomery. If the effort falls short, Branson will be at the cutting edge of parent disappointment. While working on the capital budget, the council will take up the operating budget. Again, she’ll have to weigh more conflicting interests: needs and wants versus resources. Also in the mix are Councilman Roger Berliner’s slate of environmental bills and Councilman Philip M. Andrews’ proposal for publicly financed council elections, which on reflection, will probably be the easiest votes of her temporary time on the council.

The Gazette Karen Acton, President/Publisher

LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR

Ultrasounds are not for ‘baby showers’

As a local radiologist with over 30 years of experience in doing obstetric ultrasounds, I am dismayed at your providing free advertising for this service. [“‘It’s a ... ’: Ultrasound company delivers the news,” Jan. 29] Ultrasound is not a recreational tool for “baby showers” and for sex determination. It is a highly sophisticated medical imaging device for detecting not only fetal health and growth but also a study of the maternal pelvis, ovaries and cervix during pregnancy to name a few things. It takes years of training to be able to recognize subtle abnormalities and signs that

could indicate a pregnancy in trouble. I find it unconscionable for entrepreneurs like Ms. Seleshi to take ultrasound equipment on the road for amusement and profit. Although I have no doubts about the qualifications of Ms. Seleshi in her day job, I am concerned that in the setting of a party or shower much could be overlooked. And what about the scenario where she recognizes an abnormality during the event that is, according to one of her clients, “better than the Super Bowl?” Is such an atmosphere appropriate for a discussion that would necessarily have to follow, which is

Birth control no solution to swelling deer populations In “We don’t need hunts to manage deer” [letters, Jan. 15], the author says studies show hunting deer actually causes increases in the population by allowing the vegetation to thrive producing an increased food supply for the deer. Using this logic, I would suggest we need to allow unregulated blue crab fishing and encourage everyone to shoot at giant pandas and bald eagles so we can increase the populations of them, too. At some point some common sense needs to be applied. The deer have adapted to suburban living and are at historic high population numbers. We have not taken the deer habitat, we have created the perfect utopian deer habitat with lush gardens and lawns and few predators. The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Society and the Sierra Club are all publishing reports showing dire consequences if we don’t do something about the overpopulation of deer and warning of complete destruction of our remaining forests if nothing is done soon. These are all pro-wildlife groups that are seeing the damage as the deer population continues to explode on the East Coast, not a bunch of right-wing gun nuts. ... I am an animal lover and enjoy the forests, and I have devoted a great deal of my time to searching for cost-effective alternatives to deer hunting. The author mentions birth control as a solution. Currently there is no contraceptive that works in an open environment. Many problems exist with contraceptives for deer. There is currently no effective contraceptive that can be given by dart or any other method that does not involve tranquilizing the deer first at significant costs in manpower and dollars. All contraceptives must be administered at least once a year (or more) and the

deer must be tagged so that those administering the contraceptives know which deer have been dosed and also to warn that the meat is no longer fit for human consumption. There are also other unknown consequences to contraceptives for deer. Say the deer is hit by a car or dies from old age. How would you prevent other wildlife from feeding on the drugged meat? Would you allow bald eagles or other endangered species to feed on the carcass? Contraceptives may be a viable solution for a fenced area like NIST in Gaithersburg using massive amounts of federal tax dollars for a handful of deer but it is not feasible in a non-fenced environment. Some animal rights groups have made propaganda announcements saying they would pay for contraceptives or sterilization of the deer. What they are not telling you is they are not covering the cost of tranquilizing, then tracking the animals. The $20 cost of the contraceptive is nothing compared the cost of paying a licensed and certified expert to sit in the woods for six to eight hours per deer to dart and track the deer each year. ... As for the deer somehow being a benefit for the forests, just listen to those who have devoted their lives to protecting it or just do a simple test and plant a tree yourself and see how long it takes for the deer to come and destroy it before it has a chance to mature. Trees do not live forever and unfortunately there are no saplings surviving to replace the aging trees. Nature has a way of adjusting. I’m sure the coyote population will soon be positively impacted by the abundance of deer. I wonder if your readers will consider that more humane than hunting?

Kevin Kommit, Rockville

usually conducted within the privacy and conﬁnes of a medical ofﬁce? The clients of Ms. Seleshi would be better advised to invest the money into their copays and have a physician-prescribed ultrasound in a medical facility with the physician performing the study and overseeing the technologist. I certainly hope she was smart enough to take out malpractice insurance.

Dr. Peter S. Dunner The writer is part of Washington Radiology Associates of Potomac.

Elk River and Ten Mile Creek

The Elk River chemical leak that suddenly left 300,000 West Viriginians without tap water is a reminder that clean, fresh water is scarce and that any degradation of Ten Mile Creek threatens the security of families throughout our region, especially those with pregnant women, children or seniors. Few of us, I suspect, want to have to compete for bottled water at markets or be dependent upon the government to truck in water supplies.

Cheryl Camillo, Rockville

Alternatives to school construction costs Having read The Gazette’s article about pressuring the state for more school construction funding for Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties [“Montgomery, allies vie for school construction funds,” Jan. 14], I was struck by the absence of any discussion about including efforts to involve the local, large commercial construction builders in negotiations. By that I mean: a) Obtaining proposals to build schools from the plans provided by the local school board(s); b) Negotiate lease-back agreements of 20-30 years between the builders and the schools; c) Teachers, administrators, maintenance and busing programs, staffs, etc., continue to be provided and paid for by the schools. This would eliminate the huge up-front cost of construction. Does no one think that this could be a way to go? If not, why not?

E.D. Boyd, Gaithersburg

WRITE TO US The Gazette welcomes letters on subjects of local interest. Please limit them to 200 words. Send submissions to: The Gazette, attention Commentary Editor, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; fax to 301-670-7183; or email to opinions@gazette.net.

9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 | Phone: 301-948-3120 | Fax: 301-670-7183 | Email: opinions@gazette.net More letters appear online at www.gazette.net/opinion

Douglas Tallman, Editor Krista Brick, Managing Editor/News Glen C. Cullen, Senior Editor Copy/Design Meredith Hooker, Managing Editor/Internet Robert Rand, Managing Editor/Presentation

Andrew Schotz, Assistant Managing Editor Nathan Oravec, A&E Editor Ken Sain, Sports Editor Dan Gross, Photo Editor Jessica Loder, Web Editor

Dennis Wilston, Corporate Advertising Director Doug Baum, Corporate Classiﬁeds Director Mona Bass, Inside Classiﬁeds Director

Jean Casey, Director of Marketing and Circulation Anna Joyce, Creative Director, Special Pubs/Internet Ellen Pankake, Director of Creative Services

POST COMMUNITY MEDIA Karen Acton, Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Michael T. McIntyre, Controller Donna Johnson, Vice President of Human Resources Maxine Minar, President, Comprint Military

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Biggest disappearing acts of 2013 • The Grahams. After 80 years the Graham family sells the struggling Washington Post to billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, which, ironically, helped kill classified advertising. Also disappearing in 2013 was the Post’s ombudsman position, the readers’ advocate. • The Allbrittons. Bob Allbritton sells eight TV stations, including the D.C. area’s WJLA (Channel 7), to Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcasting. • The Washington Examiner. Drops its print edition, abandons local news and MY MARYLAND becomes an BLAIR LEE online national news service. • Maryland Life Magazine. Closes its doors due to circulation and ad shortfalls. • Baltimore’s Grand Prix. The city’s Labor Day IndyCar race never made financial sense and finally dies a quiet death. • Ed Papenfuse. This living piece of Maryland history, the state archivist, retired after collecting and preserving precious state artifacts and records for 38 years. • Sen. Norman Stone. The senator from Dundalk is calling it quits after 13 terms (52 years) in Annapolis. When they tried gerrymandering his district in 2002, the senator — quiet, dignified and humble — sued and won. Who says nice guys finish last? • Alex Mooney. This Frederick Republican lost his Senate seat in 2010, so he became state GOP chairman and, in 2013, moved to West Virginia, where he’s running for Congress. • Delegate Sam Arora. No Montgomery lawmaker ever lost re-election by raising taxes, failing to bring home the bacon or selling the county down the river. But Montgomery delegate Sam Arora was shunned by the Democratic party and saw his career ended for voting against gay marriage. • Morris A. Mechanic Theatre. Baltimore’s playhouse for touring Broadway plays is razed after a 40-year run. • Little Italy. Five restaurants in Bal-

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timore’s iconic eating district close in 2013. End of an era? • White Flint. Montgomery’s upscale mall is being replaced by a trendy mixed-use town center. • Blockbuster. Another Internet victim, the once-pervasive home video chain announced that its last 300 stores are closing. • The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk. Canceled, again, the traditional spring bridge-closing and pedestrian walk fell victim to state budget cuts. • Incandescents. General-service incandescent light bulbs phased out in 2013 by government edict after 100 years of use. • Redskins “Hogettes.” Football fans cross-dressed as sows? Weird, yes, but it got them on TV every week. The Hogettes call it quits after 30 seasons.

Worst moves of the year • As Maryland’s Obamacare website exchange crashes spectacularly, its director, Rebecca Pearce, goes on a Caribbean vacation and, when she returns, is dismissed from her $175,000 job. • Responding to gay activists, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett asks the Fillmore Music Hall to cancel a band whose lyrics offend homosexuals. • The Anne Arundel school system suspends a 7-year-old who nibbles his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun. • Several thousand Baltimore city residents are awakened before 6 a.m. when the mayor’s back-to-school celebration robocall is sent too early. • Andre Henry, suspected of committing eight Montgomery County burglaries, is ﬁnally nabbed when he leaves two pages of his criminal court records at the scene of his latest break-in. • Ignoring the city legal department’s opinion that the bill is unconstitutional, the Baltimore City Council requires that a majority of workers for city contractors and citysubsidized projects be Baltimore city residents. • Brunswick elementary school students are stranded at bus stops when the school system fails to notify parents of new bus stop locations. • Ocean City Councilman Brent Ashley, linking tourism decline with unsightly saggy pants, proposes a ban on clothing hanging more than

3 inches below the waistline. Ashley says he wants to turn Ocean City into “Maryland’s ﬁrst crack-free city.”

Best moves of the year • The state increases ICC speed limits to 60 mph. • Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Newman vetoes the council’s “rain tax.” • Maryland’s highest court rules that it’s up to the legislature, not the courts, to decide the state’s negligence standards. • State health authorities shut down four abortion clinics after a patient dies and widespread violations are discovered. • When a female cop sues Baltimore city for firing her because she married a convicted murderer who’s a gang member of Dead Man Inc., the court dismisses her case. • Salvation Army volunteers find a $1,300 gold coin dropped into their kettle by an anonymous donor outside a Frederick Giant. • Heroic WSSC workers refuse to give up on a broken valve that threatens a countywide water shutdown in the midst of July’s heat wave. Working non-stop in waist-deep underground water, they fashion new parts and save the day. • Angela McCaskill, Gallaudet U.’s chief diversity officer, who was fired when she signed a petition bringing Maryland’s same-sex marriage law to referendum, sues the school for unlawful discrimination. • State Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Democrat, crosses party lines, endorsing Republican Sen. Allan Kittleman for Howard County executive. • Managers of Baltimore’s Burns Arena cancel “Touch of Flavor,” a twoday event featuring classes on hot wax, sex-dungeon safety and rope bondage, because children also use the arena. • NFL Ravens star receiver Torrey Smith gets married, cuts off his dreadlocks. Blair Lee is chairman of the board of Lee Development Group in Silver Spring and a regular commentator for WBAL radio. His column appears Fridays in the Business Gazette. His past columns are available at www.gazette. net/blairlee. His email address is blairleeiv@gmail.com.

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LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR

Speed cameras an obvious effort to feed county coffers

Long ago living in New England, I was constantly reminded by traditionally aloof New Englanders that if I drove South always remember to watch for southern speed traps. These speed traps, said the New Englanders, had only one real purpose, to line the pockets of southern politicians. I never did have enough money or a car to test that theory but now many years later I ﬁnd the concept seems to be alive and well in Montgomery County. Oh to be sure, I just received a ticket for allegedly exceeding the speed limit. The camera clicked and unless I want to spend time and money I do not have to ﬁght the charge, I will have to pay up. What is so sad about this scheme is its transparency. The camera program is an obvious effort to pull more money into the county coffers. Despite all the false rhetoric about improving public safety, I doubt anyone who has taken a close look believes otherwise. So perhaps the “Yankees” were correct and the old South is alive and well in Maryland armed with fancy new technology and glib public relations people. For my part, I absolutely agree that driving a car in Montgomery County has become a very dangerous sport. Drivers are reckless. Very excessive speed combined with aggressive behavior is everywhere. Rude, boorish behavior is the norm. Drivers are inattentive. In recent years, I have been struck three times by cars whose drivers were not paying attention. ... People cover their plates with plastic so they can

speed but not have their plates detected. The important point is that the speed camera scam does very little to address these problems and, in fact, makes the problem worse because it results in fewer traffic patrols as more is left to the cameras. There is a lot more that could be said in criticism of the program but instead I will offer two suggestions which if adopted should reduce the number of complaints and benefit all of us. First, funds raised in this manner should not contribute to the general fund. Instead the revenues (net) should be directed to the most needy. Shelter programs might head the list. In an ideal world offending drivers might be given an opportunity to contribute to an officially approved charity of their choice but here I may be unrealistic in thinking the county could be that creative. Second, all incentives to push the envelope should be removed. This means capping the payments and return on investment to companies at some predetermined level even if the number of tickets issued at a given location continues to increase. Start with these two changes and then address the more complex issue of how many cameras are enough and where exactly should they be placed and most importantly why. If we can clean up our rivers by paying for plastic bags, surely we can help improve the lives of the most unfortunate by paying for our unintentional lawlessness.

A.J. Corazzini, Bethesda

More opposition to Cabin Branch I am offended by the letter written to the editor from Sandy Barrier [“More support for Cabin Branch,” Sept. 4]. I am part of the Clarksburg community that she refers to as supporting the outlet mall and I am adamantly opposed to an outlet mall. It is no surprise that the owner of the Clarksburg Town Center, a commercial enterprise, would welcome more people to spend more money in

his shops (as reported by Sandy Barrier). However, the people who live in Clarksburg and who appreciate Clarksburg for more than an area of unnecessary shopping opportunities are opposed to an outlet mall. Sandy Barrier may be an outlet mall fan but she does not represent the Clarksburg community.

Karon deSilva, Clarksburg

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THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

PAINT BRANCH GIRLS’ BASKETBALL DEFEATS KENNEDY, WINS ITS DIVISION, B-3

SPORTS POTOMAC

www.gazette.net | Wednesday, February 5, 2014 | Page B-1

More than sprints

HOW THEY RANK BOYS The 10 best boys’ basketball teams in Montgomery County as ranked by The Gazette’s sports staff:

Rank

School

Record Pts

Bullis

17-3 60

Montrose Christian 12-5 54

Springbrook

14-2 44

St. Andrew’s

14-4 41

Montgomery Blair 13-2 40

Gaithersburg

13-2 28

Walt Whitman

12-3 26

Clarksburg

12-4 19

Rockville

12-3 9

10.

Poolesville

11-4 6

Others receiving votes: Jewish Day, 2; Col. Zadok Magruder 1.

BEST BET

Rockville at Springbrook, 7 p.m. Tuesday: One of the county’s

top 3A/2A teams takes on one of the top 4A teams.

TOP SCORERS

Name, school A. Trier, Montrose Christian J. Friedman, Sandy Spring W. English, McLean I. Kallon, Wheaton J. McKay, McLean N. Segura, The Heights J. Bradshaw, Einstein M. Adkison, St. Andrew’s K. Williams, Kennedy R. Edwards, Paint Branch

PPG 25.5 22.8 22.1 20.4 20.3 19.7 19.1 18.9 18.9 18.8

GIRLS The 10 best girls’ basketball teams in Montgomery County as ranked by The Gazette’s sports staff:

Rank

School

Record Pts

Damascus

14-2 60

Walt Whitman

13-2 54

Paint Branch

14-2 48

John F. Kennedy 11-2 42

Holy Child

17-3 34

Gaithersburg

10-4 29

Seneca Valley

13-3 20

Poolesville

12-3 19

Thomas S. Wootton10-6 14

10.

Magruder

10-5 4

Others receiving votes: Good Counsel 3; Churchill 2; W.Johnson 1.

BEST BET

Damascus at Seneca Valley 7 p.m. Tuesday: The Swarmin’ Hor-

nets won the ﬁrst matchup by only ﬁve points, so an upset is possible.

TOP SCORERS

Name, school L. Belton, Bullis K. Prange, Damascus S. Addison, Wootton J. Karim-Duvall, Churchill D. Lerner, Jewish Day B. Beckwith, Quince Orchard D. Harris, Paint Branch K. Meredith, Northwest K. Porter, Bullis K. Colston, Paint Branch J. Craig, Seneca Valley

1905874

PPG 20.6 19.7 18.4 18.1 18.1 17.9 17.8 17.2 16.8 16.6 16.5

Paint Branch sets meet’s 1,600-meter relay record

STAR HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES, RECRUITED BY MANY COLLEGES, OFTEN FEEL PRESSURE TO DECIDE TOO EARLY

BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

TRAVIS MEWHIRTER STAFF WRITER

For Potomac High School’s Quadree Smith, it was a coach’s contract extension. For Damascus’ Zach Bradshaw, it was NCAA sanctions. For Suitland’s Taivon Jacobs, it was a daughter. For Montrose Christian’s Justin Anderson, it was a coaching change. For other college recruits, from Division III to Division I, it could be one of an endless list of reasons for reneging on a verbal commitments to sign with another college. For now, Smith remains loyal to the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, but he has since reopened his recruitment as he waits a possible contract extension for coach Wes Miller. Bradshaw ﬁrst said he would play football for Penn State, but switched to Virginia after the school was hit with severe sanctions that would keep them out of bowl games for most of his time there. Previously, Jacobs reneged on his verbal to play football at Ohio State and is now playing for Maryland. After Gary Williams retired in 2011, Anderson signed with rival Virginia rather than the Terps, where a new coach — Mark Turgeon — who hadn’t recruited him would be taking over. Some coaches, take former Montrose Christian coach Stu Vetter, Our Lady of Good Counsel offensive coordinator Tom Crowell and Suitland football coach Ed Shields, see this as a growing trend as the recruiting process begins at earlier and earlier ages. Others, such as Riverdale Baptist basketball coach Lou Wilson, say it has been happening for as long as he’s been involved in the business, but is only now beginning to become so exposed as the media continues to dedicate staggering amounts of attention to the college recruitment process. “I’d say this has been something that’s been going on for awhile,” Wilson said. “And I tell you, there are so many reasons to verbal with one school and then at the last minute sign with another school.”

Former Montrose Christian basketball player Justin Anderson goes up for a dunk during the Capital Classic. FILE PHOTO

See PRESSURE, Page B-2

There has never been a shortage of athleticism on the Paint Branch High School boys’ track and field team in fifth-year coach Dessalyn Dillard’s eight years with the program, but the Panthers have not historically had the versatility to truly compete for a Montgomery County team championship. Known for its proficiency in the shorter distances, Paint Branch’s increased range this winter led to last week’s first boys’ indoor track and field county title in school history. “Paint Branch was always known as ‘that sprint school,’” Dillard said. “The last few years, slowly but surely we’ve been increasing our presence on the state level with the distance events. We knew we had something special with this group of athletes, it was a matter of it coming together for them at the right moment. This was very important for our team, it’s something we’ve been preparing for, for a while.” The title run started last spring, said junior Lorenzo Neil, who finished third in the 800-meter run and eighth in the 500-meter dash at counties. A subpar performance during the county’s outdoor track and field competition last spring hit the Panthers hard and provided them with the drive they needed to come together and work as a unit in the months since. The core of this year’s team came in as promising freshmen three and four years ago, but have truly matured within the sport over the past year, Dillard said. The development of

See SPRINTS, Page B-2

Sherwood sophomore thrust into limelight n

Defending 100-yard butterﬂy state champion helps keep Warriors aﬂoat BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

There is a fairly long list of events Sherwood High School sophomore Morgan Hill could swim, and do well in on Saturday at the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships, scheduled to be held at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center — 200-yard freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 butterﬂy, 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Awaiting her in any one of them will be a national-caliber athlete. “All of her events will have some stiff competition,” Sherwood coach Brendan Lees said. “Either she’ll be swimming [Olympic gold medalist] Katie

Sherwood High School’s Morgan Hill practices her backstroke on Monday. Hill is a contender at this weekend’s Metros. Ledecky, [Metros record holder] Kristina Li or Caroline McTaggart.” The good thing for Sherwood is that Hill is not easily addled, as she proved in her 100-yard butterﬂy win as a fresh-

man in last year’s season-ending Class 4A/3A state meet. Just 14-years-old she was the youngest top 15 performer in both events she raced at last year’s Metros — Hill ﬁnished ﬁfth in the 100-yard

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

butterﬂy, sixth in the 500-yard freestyle. Last year’s results were just the start, though. Hill has rapidly dropped

See SHERWOOD, Page B-2

THE GAZETTE

Page B-2

SHERWOOD

Continued from Page B-1 time across the board in the 12 months since, Lees said, and the experience she gained last high championship season will be vital to the Class 4A/3A state runner-up Sherwood’s success this postseason since she is not the team’s highest scorer. “[Hill] just has a great racing mentality, she knows how to get herself prepared for races,” Lees said. “She thinks ahead of time. Even when she knows she might not have [great competition] she still wants to have a good race,

PRESSURE

Continued from Page B-1 Of all the various explanations local coaches offered in explaining why an athlete would rescind a verbal commitment — personnel changes (Quadree Smith’s and Justin Anderson’s reasoning), proximity to home, having a child (Taivon Jacobs’), a sick family member, what have you — each eventually circled back to one distinct reason: pressure. Athletes are under it from

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

she’ll work on little things.” Lees and Hill admitted they were unsure of what this winter would hold for Sherwood. Graduation stripped the Warriors of their top two scorers and 30 percent of their overall points won in last year’s third-place finish at Metros, their highest in recent history. But Saturday’s second straight Montgomery Division II title was a promising start to the postseason. Hill won every event she contested — 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard medley relay, 400yard freestyle. The latter is the one that clinched the win.

Hill said she does feel more pressure to perform but has embraced her role as a go-to and is motivated by the opportunity to help the Warriors. Lees said she has become a great leader by example despite her youth. Continued success — Sherwood has ﬁnished in the top 5 at Metros three of the past four years — has been helpful in keeping the program an option for swimmers that may have chosen to go elsewhere in the past, Lees said. The addition of sophomore Our Lady of Good Counsel transfer Margarita Ryan, who reached the ﬁnal of the 100-yard backstroke at last

winter’s Metros and a talented freshman class, also seem to have helped Sherwood recover some of the points it lost. “You worry about if there’s going to be a lull, kids in our area have some choices as to where they want to go to school,” Lees said. “I do think one of the things that’s helped us with the girls team is [recent success]. Last year ﬁnishing third, we beat Good Counsel for the ﬁrst time and the girls were extremely excited. I think girls in the cluster see that and get excited that they can be part of a program that has that sort of success.” Primarily Sherwood’s dis-

tance freestyler and butterﬂier a year ago, Hill has come in to her own as a top sprint freestyler and said she prefers the shorter races these days. She credited increased training — Hill works with former Good Counsel star Jack Conger’s coach Sue Chen — with improving her strength, which translates in her sprinting. Hill was a three-sport athlete until eighth grade but dropped lacrosse and basketball that year to focus more seriously on swimming. She chose the aquatic sport because of the tangible evidence of improvement swim times provide. She’s

certainly progressed quickly and has positioned herself as a major contender this championship season and her results will play a major role in Sherwood’s continued success. “I think mental toughness is a huge quality, you don’t ﬁnd a whole lot of real young swimmers having quite as much as she does,” Lees said “Last year at states was the biggest testament to that, she kind of came out of nowhere to win the 100 ﬂy. … I was kind of surprised this year, I expected more of a drop off but we’re right back up there.”

their very ﬁrst conversation with their very ﬁrst college coach. It is then upped a notch when a verbal offer — sometimes as early as middle school — is extended their way. And then things can begin to spiral out of control when dozens more throw their name into the mix, each with their own attractions and incentives — playing time, championships, professional development — to consider. “One of our receivers just got offered by Michigan State,” said Crowell, who also coaches the boys’ basketball team at Spring-

brook. “So let’s just sign the papers right now. But it doesn’t work like that anymore. He’s got to wait until next February to sign and now he thinks he’s got to live up to these expectations. If they offer you right now, the kid should be able to sign right now if he wants to. It’s out of control.” “Personally,” Vetter added, “I would eliminate the verbals and have a signing period in April. If a player didn’t have to make a decision until April there wouldn’t be much pressure.” Shields, though he feels for

the athletes under the everwatchful eye of the college coaches, says it’s also a wise move on their part to begin talking to kids before they can even drive a car or take their SATs. “You want to be the ﬁrst to offer, which makes sense,” he said. “You want to be the one who discovered them. That’s the smart thing for the coaches because you want them to commit.” But when coaches offer too early, it could just as easily backﬁre. Athletes oftentimes get overexcited or want to shed the

pressure of recruiting so they hastily pledge before realizing that bigger universities or better fits could also come calling. Such was the case for Nigel Johnson, a former Riverdale Baptist guard. Now at Kansas State, Johnson had been verbally committed to play for George Washington for nearly a year. About a month prior to signing day, he took stock of his talent and figured he could go someplace higher, so he reopened his recruitment with GW as a firm backup plan. Within a week he had switched to Kansas State.

“He thought his opportunity to play at the next level would be greater playing at Kansas State, playing in the Big XII,” Wilson said. “And the point guard situation was up in the air so he thought he’d be able to play right away.” So, is there a solution? Recruiting — and therefore commitments of all kind — is an inevitable part of college sports. Shields believes Crowell is onto something when he suggested if a college extends an offer — verbal or physical — that the athlete should be able to sign that day rather than wait until designated signing periods. Vetter believes verbal offers and commitments should be removed entirely. Either way, reneging would become all but a moot practice. “Once you’re signed, you’re locked,” Shields said. “I think you should be able to move [signing] up. It would settle things down very quickly.”

jbeekman@gazette.net

tmewhirter@gazette.net

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1906493

Continued from Page B-1 the Silver Spring-based USAJA Track and Field Club, which includes athletes from James H. Blake, Sherwood, John F. Kennedy, Springbrook and Wheaton, has also played a major role in Paint Branch’s recent ascent to the top of the county, said Dillard, who served as the club’s coach. The Panthers’ mid-distance and distance runners — and even some of the sprinters — focused on improving their endurance during the fall cross country season so everyone showed up for the winter season in shape and ready to go. “They realized that the people they were competing against during the school year, compete in the summer and [if] we were going to be competitive [during the school year] we had to make sure we covered all our bases,” Dillard said. Creating a winning lineup for track championships is like piecing together a puzzle, Dillard said. It’s not necessarily about winning every event — the likelihood of that happening is slim to none — but picking up as many points in each event as possible. It’s not just the team’s overall range that has propelled Paint Branch this winter, but each individual athlete’s versatility within that. This enabled some athletes, such as Neil, to take on new events in order to replace points lost by those who graduated a year ago. “We have distance athletes who can drop down to run middistance, sprinters who can move up and who can switch over to jumps,” Dillard said. “Our versatility worked in our favor; we don’t have a lot of single event kids.” Clifton Green’s performance last week perfectly exemplifies that as he followed up a win in the long jump by joining forces with Oliver Lloyd, Dewayne Haamid and Noel Njem to set a meet record (3 minutes, 29.89 seconds) en route to winning the 1,600-meter relay. While the Panthers only won four of 14 events — two were relays, which are worth more — they finished in the top 8 of all but one event, including top 3 performances in seven events. Paint Branch also finished two athletes in the top eight of two events. Devonte Johnson won the shot put and Ire Hussein, Neil, Haamid and Lloyd took the 3,200-meter relay. Last week’s county title was a milestone for the Panthers, but it was only the first step toward the region and state titles they have their sights on. “Counties is something to be happy about but I don’t believe we need to be too happy,” Lloyd said. “I always believed trying to be successful was the hard part but being successful is the hardest part.”

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Page B-3

Paint Branch wins division Gaithersburg rising, Whitman wins 12th straight game

BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE

Montose Christian’s Anthony Cabbagestalk goes over St. Vincent Pallotti’s Michael Ashley to score on Saturday.

Basketball teams ﬁnd the wins in the losses Coaches say losses can be good during a long season

Springbrook High School boys’ basketball coach Tom Crowell found something to like in one of his Blue Devils’ low moments of the season. “I tell you what,” Crowell said, “That [loss] might have been the best thing that could have happened to us.” The ‘that’ Crowell was referencing was a 55-52 loss to Clarksburg on Jan. 17, the Blue Devils’ first in 21 days. The defeat, while having its obvious drawbacks on the team’s record and playoff bye aspirations, can sometimes carry far more beneﬁts down the road. It was a humbling learning experience, and exactly “what we needed,” Crowell said. He’s not alone in his assessment of the value of a loss. Numerous other teams around the county have benefitted

from a setback somewhere along the lines. Though it’s never an enjoyable experience, a loss can produce anything from a boost in motivation, pinpointing a vulnerability, or opening a coach’s eyes how to best scheme against a particular opponent or style of play.

BOYS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY TRAVIS MEWHIRTER So, what good has come out of Springbrook’s loss to Clarksburg? Four straight wins by margins of 14 (against John F. Kennedy), 36 (Winston Churchill), 37 (James H. Blake) and four (Richard Montgomery) in which starter Isaiah Eisendorf didn’t play and his replacement, Jermaine Ukaegbu, sprained his ankle. It’s not only Springbrook who has bounced back higher than it had previously been

prior to a defeat. After the Coyotes lost to Col. Zadok Magruder on Jan. 6, they tore through Thomas S. Wootton, Northwest, Springbrook, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase and ascended to the No. 6 spot in The Gazette rankings. Current No. 5 Montgomery Blair dropped a game to Monsignor Farrell out of New York over the holidays and hasn’t lost since, stringing together wins against Churchill (70-54), Richard Montgomery (55-41), Walter Johnson (88-37), then No. 10 Walt Whitman (61-56), Blake (61-52), Paint Branch (64-47), then No. 9 Poolesville (60-41) and B-CC (58-48). Montrose Christian has fared much the same since being stunned by Takoma Academy on Jan. 6. The Mustangs have put together six consecutive wins following that loss and not a single opponent has come within 16 points of them. tmewhirter@gazette.net

Wootton’s football coach dismissed Spinner said he and his staff were let go in last week’s meeting

ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER

Thomas S. Wootton High School football coach Tyree Spinner and his assistants were dismissed last week, Spinner said. Spinner said he learned of his dismissal in a meeting Jan. 29 with Athletic Director Christopher Thompson and Principal Michael Doran. Spinner, hired in January 2012, compiled a 9-11 record in his two seasons leading the Patriots. “My tenure as [coach] was a very successful one,” Spinner wrote in a text to The Gazette. “Not only did we continually progress on the ﬁeld via overall record, breaking records, breaking losing traditions and mindsets … we built a family, a

brotherhood that they will use throughout the rest of their life.” Thompson confirmed the coaches were no longer on staff and declined further comment, writing in an email to The Gazette that this was a “personnel matter and beyond anything I would be at liberty to discuss.” Spinner led Wootton’s junior varsity team before taking over as varsity coach prior to the 2012 season. He replaced Eddie Tolliver, who went 6-14 in his two years coaching Wootton. The Patriots were 5-5 last fall, including a forfeit (ineligible player) that negated a 41-0 victory against Walter Johnson. Spinner said he intends to continue coaching. “I love this game and I love building boys into young men through this great sport,” Spinner wrote. Wootton’s last winning sea-

GEORGE P. SMITH/FOR THE GAZETTE

Thomas S. Wootton High School football coach Tyree Spinner led his Patriots to a 9-11 mark in two seasons (that record includes a forfeit loss).

son was 2008, when the team went 7-4 under Greg Malling. egoldwein@gazette.net

Track athletes perform well at Virginia Tech Holton Arms wins WMPSSDL championship n

Many of Montgomery County’s top track and ﬁeld athletes followed up the Jan. 29 public schools’ county championship meet with a trip to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday and Saturday. Times at the meet can be used for regional cuts. The highly competitive meet, which features both public and private school athletes, drew out some top performances; many county athletes earned their New Balance Indoor Nationals qualifying times. Among the county’s top performers were John F. Kennedy’s Devon Hairston, who won the 55-meter dash in a national qualifying time of 7.51 seconds, and Bullis senior Simone Glenn, whose second-place ﬁnish in the 300-meter dash (38.82 seconds) set a new county (public and private school) record, according to Mocorunning.com. Glenn

replaced former Northwest High star Olivia Ekpone’s 2009 mark (38.96). — JENNIFER BEEKMAN

Swimming and diving The Holton-Arms School swimming and diving team won its second consecutive Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swimming and Diving League

PREP NOTEBOOK BY GAZETTE STAFF championship Saturday with a 310-244 advantage over runnerup and Independent School League foe Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. The Panthers, who won their ninth ISL title in 11 years a week ago, were propelled by individual wins from Caroline McTaggart (100-yard freestyle) and Isabelle Jubin (50-yard freestyle) and wins in the 200-yard

freestyle relay (Alexis LeMone, Sydney Mathis, Halsey McKinney, McTaggart) and 400-yard freestyle relay (LeMone, Jubin, Emma Raynor, McTaggart). Stone Ridge junior and Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky won the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. Her time of 2:01.78 in the latter set a new mark, breaking a 14-year-old record by ﬁve seconds. Georgetown Prep won six events in a second-place ﬁnish at WMPSSDLs. Grant Goddard (200-yard freestyle), Carsten Vissering (100-yard freestyle) , Samuel Tarter (200-yard individual medley) and Brandon Goldstein (100-yard butterfly) picked up individual race wins. Goddard, Vissering, Matthew Hirschberger and Adrian Lin won the 200-yard freestylerelayandGoldstein,Goddard, Lin and Hirschberger closed the meet with a win in the 400yard freestyle relay. — JENNIFER BEEKMAN

Paint Branch High School clinched its second consecutive division title on Friday after defeating John F. Kennedy for the second time this season. Soﬁlia Ngwafang led the Panthers with 14 points while junior Daisa Harris (10 points) was honored at halftime for joining the 1,000-point club. Tyra Sinclair had nine points while Kiara Colston had eight in the Panthers’ 49-41 victory.

GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY ERIC GOLDWEIN The Panthers (14-2, 5-0 as of Monday) have won their past four games. “It was a really hard fight, we knew we had to put all the attitudes aside,” said Ngwafang, a sophomore. “... This was important [heading toward playoffs] because we need to know we can play against these types of teams and pull out hard wins.” Daysha Adams scored 13 points, Makeda Wright had 10 and Kiara Arnold had nine to lead Kennedy (11-2, 5-2), which has not lost outside of its two matchups against Paint Branch. The Panthers won 53-49 in the first meeting. “It was a great feeling [to close out the win], we worked together as a team, [Kennedy] put up a big fight,” Ngwafang said. “We have been working a lot on post moves. We had a statement to make.”

straight win and tenth in their last 12 games. “People called me after [our first game against Magruder] and I told them to watch out, that Magruder is a good team,” Gaithersburg coach Adrian McDaniel said after the game. “They beat the bricks off us the ﬁrst time but [Tuesday] we played like we know how. I knew if we could set the tempo, we’d be OK.” Magruder (10-5, 5-3) and Thomas S. Wootton (10-6, 7-2) trail Gaithersburg in the Montgomery 4A West Division.

Gaithersburg not slowing down

Whitman wins its 12th straight

Gaithersburg is playing its best basketball heading into the ﬁnal stretch of the regular season after a win over Northwest and a payback victory against Col. Zadok Magruder. The Trojans (104, 8-1) defeated the Colonels 53-43 on Jan. 28 after losing to them 60-38 earlier in the season. Senior Janessa Fauntroy scored 20 points to lead the Trojans to their fourth

Whitman extended its nearly two-month win streak to 12 games after a 51-40 victory over Poolesville (12-3, 5-1) on Jan. 28. Junior Nicole Fleck scored 10 of her season-high 16 points in the ﬁrst quarter as the Vikings (13-2, 5-0) jumped out to an 18-10 lead and held on for the victory. “I made my first shot and then we started running plays for me,” Fleck said. “My

FILE PHOTO

Nicole Fleck (right) of Walt Whitman High School drives to the basket against Tara Thompson of Reservoir during a summer league game.

teammates got me open, and a lot of people on the team weren’t making shots they normally make and I put it in. So it worked out.”

Bullis senior named All-American Bullis School’s Lynee’ Belton was named a McDonald’s All-American on Wednesday and is set to play in the 37th annual high school basketball showcase. Belton, who signed on to play basketball with Duke University, is averaging a team-high 20.6 points per game after sitting out the ﬁrst 12 games with a concussion. The 6-2 center senior helped lead the Bulldogs to the Independent School League “AA” Division championship last season. The McDonald’s AllAmerican games are scheduled for April 2 at Chicago’s United Center. egoldwein@gazette.net Jennifer Beekman and Harvey Valentine contributed.

THE GAZETTE

Page B-4

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Clarksburg’s versatile senior commits to Elon Anyangwe recorded 12 sacks, ﬁve touchdowns in ﬁnal season n

ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER

FILE PHOTO

Clarksburg High School senior Bruno Anyangwe competes against Poolesville during a passing league game.

FILE PHOTO

Georgetown Prep’s Grant Goddard swims the 100 butterﬂy at the 2013 Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships.

The three-year varsity player has even spent some time as a place kicker. “He’s not going to be a scholarship kicker, we’ll put it that way,” Hurd said. “But he did an admirable job when we asked him to do so.” Anyangwe started playing football in fourth grade and has always had good size in comparison to his peers. He said he improved significantly in eighth grade, when he was a running back for the Clarksburg Sports Association’s team. In his first game, he remembers scoring four touchdowns on six rushing attempts, sitting out the end of the game because of the mercy rule. That would happen again in about eight of the 10 games that season, he said. Playing so many positions and learning their plays came naturally, Anyangwe said. “Receiver is the only thing I really have to remember,” Anyangwe said. “On defense, it’s mostly instincts for me. I know what the plays are, then I just have to play ball.” Brooks, an offensive and defensive lineman, has been competing against Anyangwe in practice since the two were freshmen. He remembers Anyangwe recording two interceptions in his very first varsity scrimmage against Paint Branch and he is confident that his teammate will continue his success at the college level. “Whatever he puts in, is what he’ll get out,” Brooks said. “That’s how I feel about it.” egoldwein@gazette.net

Little Hoyas seek ﬁrst Metros title since 2010 at this weekend’s meet n

BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER

The Georgetown Prep School swimming and diving team’s lineup for Saturday’s Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swimming and Diving League championships might have seemed a bit strange. Two-time defending Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving 100-yard breaststroke champion and last year’s 200-yard individual medley winner Carsten Vissering was in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle. The team’s top butterflier, Grant Goddard, was in the backstroke. Little Hoyas coach Matt Mongelli had his reasons. Good ones. “I want to make sure they remember how to race,” Mongelli said. “They have to know how to race even though it’s not their No. 1 event. I want them to stay mentally fresh. I [switch the events for] all the kids on the team because I don’t want them to get stuck in that rut that you’ve swum the same event every week.” Despite most of Prep’s swimmers competing in off events, the Little Hoyas finished just 16 points behind three-time defending Metros champion Gonzaga in first place Saturday, which bodes quite well for their chances in Saturday’s Metros at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center. It would be Prep’s first championship in four years after winning the title seven straight times from 2004-10. “We’re confident, but anything can

happen,” Mongelli said. “It’s our goal to go in there and try to win the meet and there is a good chance the way we placed [at WMPSSDLs and East Coast Catholics] without our 100 percent strongest lineups. That’s where we are and I think we have a good shot at it Saturday.” The strength of this year’s Prep team, which is rooted in versatility as much as sheer star power, has been three years in the making. It’s not unusual for the program to draw in one or two national-caliber athletes each year but when a freshman class featuring five of the Washington, D.C. area’s most promising young swimmers arrived two years ago, a lot of external high hopes were inevitably placed on what they could do for a seemingly free-falling Little Hoyas program — Prep followed up a Metros win in 2010 with a fourth-place finish in 2011. No pressure, right? “You can find that many [high level swimmers] on one team but to have that many kids of that level in one class, that is something special of that group,” Mongelli said. “I think everyone expected when they came in that we should just win but five guys don’t make a team. You need more than that, you need eight swimmers to make up all three relays at Metros. I think there was a lot of pressure for them to go out and win and I think that was a little bit unfair [to put on these kids].” Though Prep has not reclaimed the coveted Metros title it has gotten closer to Gonzaga each of the past two seasons and have had their eyes on this winter’s season for two years, Vissering and Goddard agreed. The two have each won three individual Metros titles, two a year ago and one apiece as freshmen. Their classmates, Brandon Goldstein and Adrian Lin, who

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both tallied two top 5 finishes in 2013, and Joseph Snodderly, who finished sixth in the 500-yard freestyle a year ago, have made great strides last year and have taken another giant step forward in 2013-14. “A lot of sports teams at Prep have fallen off [recently] and we really want to get swimming back and have it be the best,” Goddard said. Prep has also found the right pieces to complement its five junior stars in the past couple years, Mongelli said. One of them, freshman distance freestyler Matthew Hirschberger, arrived as a transfer from Florida this year. The 13-year-old finished third in his Prep debut at the Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swimming and Diving League championship Saturday. The National Age Group (boys 13-14) record holder in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9 minutes, 2.37 seconds). Prep has the top talent to take Saturday’s title but its versatility is what truly sets it apart from the field. The Little Hoyas have a title contender, often two, in every single event. Intimidatingly enough, they have posted some of the area’s top times even when they’re in off events. The Little Hoyas look to reap the benefits of that versatility with their first relay wins in three years — those events are worth double. “This year has definitely been a huge focus for us,” Vissering said. “We’re super excited to try and reclaim our Metros title. I think a lot of our swimmers have really matured physically and we’ve all been doing really well this season with our club team[s], so that really sets us up well. We’re all really devoted to winning this title for Prep and getting the program back on top.” jbeekman@gazette.net

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Juniors give Prep an edge at Metros

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Clarksburg High School’s Bruno Anyangwe floated from position to position during his three varsity seasons, scoring touchdowns, sacking quarterbacks and even lining up for the occasional kickoff. But this summer, the senior plans on settling into just one position when he heads to Elon University on a football scholarship. Anyangwe, a second team All-Gazette defensive lineman, committed to play football for the North Carolina school, where he will play outside linebacker, Clarksburg coach Larry Hurd said. “I’ll probably miss [playing other positions],” Anyangwe said. “But I’ll probably be happier because I’ll get to focus and perfect an art at linebacker.” Anyangwe (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) has a rare combination of size and athleticism that has helped him succeed in a variety of roles with Clarksburg. Since joining the school’s junior varsity team as a freshman, he has played fullback, tailback, Wildcat quarterback, receiver, defensive lineman, linebacker and safety. “I mean, we know we can give him the ball in different ways,” senior teammate Daequan Brooks said. “It was a good advantage. It worked out for us in the long run.” Anyangwe constantly pressured opposing quarterbacks, registering 12 sacks in a senior season that included a five-sack game against James H. Blake. “He’s a very strong young man, put together well,” Hurd said. “He’s got great quickness off the ball. He has a knack for making big plays.” Anyangwe said receiver was among his favorite positions. As a senior he caught 22 passes for 297 yards and five touchdowns. He saved his best for last, with five receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown in his final high school game, a 42-21 loss to Quince Orchard in the 4A West Region semifinals.

MOVIE REVIEW

LET’S GET AWKWARD? Zac Efron stars in a romantic comedy that sets a low bar.

The Gazette’s Guide to

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Arts & Entertainment

www.gazette.net

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

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STRATHMORE HOSTS FIRST-EVER CONCERT BY LOCAL GOSPEL GROUPS

Gospel truth The

VIRGINIA TERHUNE

STAFF WRITER

ospel lovers needn’t look too o far f afield to appreciate some first-class local choirs. fi “There’s a lot of great, rich r choral talent in the area, and it hasn’t really been explored,” said Georgina Javor, program director at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. On Saturday, Strathmore will host a show called “Make A Joyful Noise: Best of Maryland Gospel,” featuring three choirs from Prince George’s County. Two are church choirs — the James E. Jordan, Jr. Adult Choir associated with the Refreshing Spring Church of God in Christ in Riverdale, and the Tribe of Judah choir associated with the Victory Temple Redeemed Christian Church of God in Bowie. Javor has also invited the well-known Oxon Hill High School choir. Each choir will perform its own mix of traditional and contemporary gospel music. “They’ll run the gamut of the repertoire,” Javor said. There will be some a cappella

See GOSPEL, Page B-8

The James E. Jordan, Jr. Adult Choir from Riverdale, directed by Courtney King (foreground), will perform with two other choirs from Prince George’s County on Saturday at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The show, “Make a Joyful Noise: Best of Maryland Gospel,” is the ﬁrst time Strathmore has brought together local church choirs to perform on stage.

PHOTOS FROM MARGOT SCHULMAN

LOVE TRIANGLES: Damascus Theatre Co. to present ‘A Little Night Music’ n The Damascus Theatre Company presents “A Little Night Music” at the Arts Barn Theatre in Gaithersburg. (From left) Liz Weber as actress Desiree and David Fialkoff as successful lawyer Fredrik. Formerly lovers, they meet again decades later when Desiree comes to town for a performance. ELLI SWINK

Sondheim’s musical mixes and matches mates BY

VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER

The key to director Scott Richards’ vision for the Damascus Theater Company’s production of “A Little Night Music” is that the audience relate to the characters. To that end, Richards moved the 1973 Stephen Sondheim musical, originally set in Sweden in 1900, to the present day. “It’s a period piece — I think the bustles and petticoats make it harder to relate,” he said. Produced by Elli Swink and boasting a cast of 17, the show will feature a live orchestra under the direction of Keith Tittermary and run from Feb. 7-23 at the Arts Barn Theatre in Gaithersburg. Richards said that although it is set in the present day, the

See MUSIC, Page B-8

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC n When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, to Feb. 23; 8 p.m. Feb. 20; 2 p.m. Feb. 22 n Where: Arts Barn Theatre, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg n Tickets: $16 residents; $18 non-residents n For information: 301-258-639, damascustheatre.org, gaithersburgmd.gov

THE GAZETTE

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Many

‘VOICES’ The Washington, D.C.-based Company E will present “VOICES,” featuring choreography by artists from six countries and the world premiere of celebrated Italian choreographer Walter Matteini’s “POLVERE,” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring. “VOICES” is Company E’s ﬁrst concert in the U.S. in more than a year, during which time the company toured the globe, from Kazakhstan to Argentina, Spain, Italy and Tajikistan. For more information, visit montgomerycollege.edu/cac. Visit companye.org.

PHOTO BY PAUL GORDON EMERSON

Company E returns to the U.S. for two nights with the world premiere of “POLVERE” by renowned Italian choreographer Walter Matteini and other dances in an evening of international voices and visions. Pictured are Jason Garcia Ignacio, Robert J. Priore and Julia Stiefel.

STRATHMORE

Inscape, featuring the world premiere of Justin Boyer’s “Lament,” will kick off Strathmore’s new Music in the Mansion capsule concert series on Sunday.

Inscape and beyond Strathmore’s Music in the Mansion capsule concert series kicks off with Washington, D.C.-based quartet Inscape, featuring the world premiere of Justin Boyer’s “Lament,” at 3 p.m. Sunday in North Bethesda. Composers will be in-house throughout

the Strathmore series to experience performances of their world and Washington premiere works and to meet with audience members. The six-concert series continues to May 15, with scheduled works from composers Jeremy Gill, Gabriel Kahane and Louis Andriessen. For Sunday’s concert, Inscape will perform Brahms and Barber, juxtaposed with Boyer’s string quartet featuring clarinetist Evan Solomon and baritone James Rogers, as well as a piece by Richmond, Va.-born electronic and symphonic composer Mason Bates. For a complete schedule, visit strathmore.org.

February folklore

All that glimmers

The Folklore Society of Greater Washington, celebrating its 50th anniversary, will once again host its annual Midwinter Festival from noon to

“This is a story that’s old as old, of how a girl turned straw into gold.” Mike Kenny’s unique interpretation of

10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Takoma Park Middle School, 7611

“Rumpelstiltskin”

Piney Branch Road, Takoma Park. This PHOTO BY STEVEN C. TUTTLE year’s schedule feaThe Folklore Society of Greater Washington will tures “Astrocappella” songs with math-and- host its annual Midwinter Festival on Saturday at the Takoma Park Middle School. Pictured: The aerospace oriented Morris Dancers. group The Chromatics, high-energy roots music with Glyn Collinson and Andrew Marcus, two dance tracks, seven workshop and performance sites, sing-alongs, storytelling and much more. An evening program, from 7:30-10:30 p.m., will feature a simultaneous concert and a contra dance. Food and craft vendors will also be on site. For complete ticketing information, visit fsgw.org.

will spin a wondrous fairy tale

from Wednesday to March 16 at Imagination Stage in Bethesda. Di-

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PHOTO BY JEREMY RUSNOCK

rected by Janet The Miller’s Daughter (Katherine Renee Turner) Stanford, the prowatches in amazement as Rumpelstiltskin duction blends (Matthew Pauli) spins straw into gold. “Rumpelwitty poetry, live stiltskin” runs from Wednesday to March 16 at ﬁddle music and Imagination Stage. magical characters for an adventure designed with ages 5-10 in mind. Tickets start at $10. For more information, visit imaginationstage.org.

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

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IN THE ARTS DANCES

Band, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9; Doors Wide Open, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12; Zoe, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13; Valentine’s Day with the Softones, 8 p.m. Feb. 14; Gia Mora is Einstein’s Girl featuring Charlie Barnett, 8 p.m. Feb. 15, call for prices, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 240-330-4500, www.bethesdabluesjazz.com. BlackRock Center for the Arts, District Comedy, 8 p.m. Feb. 15; The Exquisite Corpse Project, 4 p.m. Feb. 16, call for tickets, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. 301-528-2260, www.blackrockcenter.org.

Carpe Diem Contra Dance, Feb. 13, Caller: Ann Fallon, Music by Gary Wright and Leah Weiss with Ahren Buchheister, 7-7:30 p.m. contradance workshops, 7:30-10 p.m. Contras & Squares, second Thursdays, Great Hall, Silver Spring Civics Center, One Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring, $10 for general admission, $8 for members, $5 for students and those without income, www.carpediemarts.com. Hollywood Ballroom, Feb. 5, International Ballroom and Latin Night, classes from 7:30-8:30 p.m., open social practice dance from 8:30-10:30 p.m. ($15 for classes and dance, $10 for classes only, $10 for dance only); Feb. 6, 13, Tea Dance from 12:30-3:30 p.m. ($6); Feb. 7, dropin lessons from 7:30-9 p.m., West Coast Swing Dancing with Dance Jam Productions at 9 p.m. ($15); Feb. 8, Latin Night with Mr. Mambo, workshops from 8-10 p.m., dance from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. ($18 for workshop and dance; $15 for dance only); Feb. 9, free Rumba lessons at 7 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8 p.m. ($16); Feb. 12, free Foxtrot lesson at 7:30 p.m., Social Ballroom Dance at 8:15 p.m. ($16); 2126 Industrial Highway, Silver Spring, 301326-1181, www.hollywoodballroomdc. com Now and Then Dance Studio, Saturday ballroom dances, second and fourth Saturdays, beginner group lesson at 8 p.m., open dancing at 9 p.m., $10 cash at door (all men admitted at half-price throughout October), 10111 Darnestown Road, Rockville. 301-424-0007, www.nowandthendancestudios.com. Scottish Country Dancing, 8-10 p.m. Mondays, steps and formations taught. No experience, partner necessary, T-39 Building on NIH campus, Wisconsin Avenue and South Drive, Bethesda, 240-505-0339.

Institute of Musical Traditions — Takoma Park, TBA, Takoma Park Commu-

nity Center, call for prices, times, Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, 301-960-3655, www.imtfolk. org.

Institute of Musical Traditions — Rockville, Nuala Kennedy, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17;

Carrie Newcomer, 7:30 p.m. March 8, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Road, Rockville, call for prices, www.imtfolk.org. Strathmore, Best of Maryland Gospel Community Sing, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7; Tosin CD Release Party, 8:30 p.m. Feb. 7; Jessica Krash: On the Cusp of Romanticism, 1 p.m. Feb. 8; Make A Joyful Noise: Best of Maryland Gospel, 8 p.m. Feb. 8; Inscape featuring Evan Solomon & James Rogers, 3 p.m. Feb. 9; Historic Home Tour, 11 a.m. Feb. 10; Specialty Tea: Valentine’s Tea, 1 p.m. Feb. 11-12; AIR: Nistha Raj, Hindustani violin, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12; WPAS: St. Petersburg Philharmonic, 8 p.m. Feb. 12; Guitar Passions: Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan & Romero Lubambo, 8 p.m. Feb. 13; Valentine’s Day Dinner, 6 p.m. Feb. 14; Marcus Johnson and the Urban Jam Band, 8 p.m. Feb. 14; Specialty Tea: Teddy Bear Tea, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Feb. 15; BSO: Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique, 8 p.m. Feb. 15, call for venue, Locations: Mansion, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda; Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, 301-581-5100, www.strathmore.org.

Glen Echo Park is at 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Blues, Capital Blues: Thursdays, 8:15

p.m. beginner lesson, 9-11:30 p.m. dancing to DJs, Glen Echo Park’s Spanish Ballroom Annex, $8, www.capitalblues.org. Contra, Feb. 7, Eva Murray and Gigmeisters, 7:30 p.m. lesson, 8:30 p.m. dance, Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $10, www.fridaynightdance.org. Contra & Square, Feb. 9, Greg Frock with Terpsichore, 7:30 p.m., Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, $12 for general, $9 for members, $5 for students, www.fsgw. org. English Country, Feb. 5, Caller: Rich Galloway; Feb. 12, Caller: Anna Rain; Feb. 19, Caller: Carol Marsh; Feb. 26, Caller: Dan Gillespie, 8 p.m., Glen Echo Town Hall (upstairs), www.fsgw.org. Swing, Feb. 8, Red Dress Ball with the Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra, lesson at 8 p.m., dancing at 9 p.m., Glen Echo Park, $15, www.ﬂyingfeet.org. Waltz, Feb. 16, MacArthur Boulevard,

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ON STAGE

PHOTO BY SONIE MATHEW

Sam Ludwig stars at J. Pierrepont Finch in Olney Theatre Center’s production of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” 2:45-3:30 p.m. lesson, 3:30-6 p.m., dance, $10, www.waltztimedances.org.

MUSIC & DANCE Arts Barn, Singer Songwriter Concert Series, Slaid Cleaves with Tony Denikos, Feb. 22, 3 p.m. workshops at the Arts Barn or Kentlands Mansion, 7:30 p.m. concerts

at the Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. 301-258-6394, www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, M-Law and the Prophets of Jazz,

7:30 p.m. Feb. 5; Next Best Thing Presents “Bruce in the USA,” 8 p.m. Feb. 6; Deanna Bogart Band, 8:30 p.m. Feb. 7; Sleepy Labeef with The Daryl Davis

Adventure Theatre, “Miss Nelson is Missing,” to March 9, call for prices, times, Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, 301-634-2270, www. adventuretheatre-mtc.org. Arts Barn, “A Little Night Music,” Feb. 7-23, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg, 301-258-6394, www.gaithersburgmd.gov/ artsbarn. Imagination Stage, “Rumpelstiltskin,” Feb. 5 to March 16, call for prices, times, Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, www.imaginationstage.org Olney Theatre Center, “How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying,” To Feb. 23; call for prices, times, 2001 OlneySandy Spring Road, Olney, 301-924-3400,

www.olneytheatre.org. The Puppet Co., “Tales of Beatrix Potter,” To Feb. 9; Tiny Tots @ 10, select Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, call for shows and show times, Puppet Co. Playhouse, Glen Echo Park’s North Arcade Building, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., $5, 301634-5380, www.thepuppetco.org. Round House Theatre, Bethesda, “Seminar,” Feb. 5 to March 4, 4545 EastWest Highway, Bethesda. 240-644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org. Round House Theatre, Silver Spring, “Impossible! A Happenstance Circus,” to Feb. 9, call for show times, 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, $15 for general admission, $10 for subscribers, patrons 30 and younger and seniors, 244-644-1100, www. roundhousetheatre.org. Silver Spring Stage, “Superior Donuts,” Feb. 21 to March 15, Woodmoor Shopping Center, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, see website for show times, www.ssstage.org. The Writer’s Center, Poets Elizabeth Arnold and Sarah Arvio, 2 p.m. Feb. 9, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, 301-6548664, www.writer.org.

VISUAL ART Adah Rose Gallery, “Residue,” Sharon Butler, Michael Callaghan, Steven Charles, J.D. Hastings and Toni Tiller, to Feb. 9, 3766 Howard Ave., Kensington, 301-9220162, www.adahrosegallery.com The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum, TBA, hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10001 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. 301-897-1518. Gallery B, TBA, gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E. www. bethesda.org. Glenview Mansion, Gordana Gerskovic, experimental photography, to Feb. 21, Rockville Civic Center Park, 503 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. www.rockvillemd. gov. Marin-Price Galleries, “The Way of the Horse,” Feb. 18 to April 18, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, 7022 Wisconsin Ave., 301718-0622. VisArts, Ryan Rakhshan: “SLOW,” ongoing, second-ﬂoor lobby and VisArts rooftop; Inna Alesina: “Test Kitchen for Change,” to Feb. 9, Common Ground Gallery, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, 301-3158200, www.visartsatrockville.org. Washington Printmakers Gallery, “Fourth Annual Excellence in Printmaking Exhibition,” to Feb. 23, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, second ﬂoor, 8230 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, www.washingtonprintmakers.com.

THE GAZETTE

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

AT THE MOVIES

‘That Awkward Moment’: Sex and the city and three bros MICHAEL PHILLIPS

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

More grating than peppy, the Manhattan-set romantic comedy “That Awkward Moment” proceeds as a series of awkward moments in search of a premise and a protagonist a little less stupid. Zac Efron bed-hops around as writer-director Tom Gormican’s narrator/hero. He’s a graphic designer whose life is one long hookup interrupted by beers and shots and trash-talk and Xbox with guy friends. This lady-killer, meant to be fetchingly blase on the surface and a fine fellow underneath, comes off like such a pluperfect egotist, you find yourself rooting for everyone but him. The casting exacerbates matters. The film stars Efron and co-stars several other youngish performers more interesting and wittier than Efron. We could start that list with Mackenzie Davis, a genuine talent with unpredictable

THAT AWKWARD MOMENT n 2 stars n R; 94 minutes n Cast: Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Mackenzie Davis, Imogen Poots n Directed by Tom Gormican

comic timing and a self-effacing quality. We could move on to Miles Teller (demeanor of a Cusack, voice like Jonah Hill, but with his own thing), lately of “The Spectacular Now.” Or to Michael B. Jordan of “The Wire” and “Fruitvale Station,” stuck playing a neutered tagalong to his horn-dog pals. Or to Imogen Poots, the woman who shakes Efron’s character out of his arrested adolescence. Gormican’s gimmick goes like this. When Mikey, the Jordan character, gets dumped by his wife, Jason (Efron) and

FOCUS FEATURES

Zac Efron and Imogen Poots star in Focus Features’ “That Awkward Moment.” Daniel (Teller) make a vow with Mikey to stay single and horn-doggy forever. No serious relationships! But they all start falling for their respective special someones and then go to aggravating lengths to hide the

fact they’re falling. The women are doormats, waiting for the men to grow up, or not. It’s nice to see a movie in love with New York City, but “That Awkward Moment” sets such a low bar for Jason’s re-

demption it becomes a drag. When Jason hits rock bottom, emotionally speaking, he fails to show up at his sort-of-girlfriend’s father’s funeral. Efron does his limited, earnest best to activate the drama inside

the comedy, while everybody else practices their throwaway technique. The best scenes belong to Davis and Teller; they’re loose and truthfully awkward, as opposed to artiﬁcially so.

Maynard novel loses credibility on screen BY

MICHAEL PHILLIPS CHICAGO TRIBUNE

(From left) Kate Winslet is Adele and Josh Brolin is Frank in “Labor Day.”

The thesis of “Labor Day,” taken from Joyce Maynard’s novel, was summed up well by The Washington Post headline affixed to the Post’s book review: “Sometimes it’s okay to pick up a scary drifter.” In the fictitious town of Holton Mills, N.H., 13-yearold Henry has become the emotional caretaker for his depressed, agoraphobic single mother, Adele. Numerous miscarriages have eroded her sense of stability; monthly trips to the local supermarket are all she can handle. On one of those shopping trips, Henry’s confronted by a prison escapee, Frank, who is bleeding from the gut (he escaped during surgery), and is looking for a place to lie low for a while. Half-threateningly, half-reasonably, he persuades Adele to aid in his plan. Over an eventful and sundappled Labor Day weekend, Frank reveals himself to be the honor-bound, charismatic handyman of Adele’s dreams. He teaches Henry to throw a baseball. He teaches a wheelchair-bound neighbor kid to play baseball. He changes the oil in Adele’s station wagon. And in the most solemnly cringe-worthy scene of the new movie year, Frank pries open Adele’s and Henry’s love-starved hearts with his stunning kitchen skills, as he bakes his newfound makeshift family a peach pie with a crust so flaky and filling so photogenically luscious, it’s as if he has become the star of his own show: “Top Chef, Convicted Murderer Division.” We can buy a lot in fiction, on the page. The movies make romantic balderdash easier to swallow in some ways but tougher in others. Writer-director Jason Reitman’s studious adaptation of “Labor Day” has too much taste and highminded respect for Maynard’s book to play up the pulpy ex-

w No ing! w Sho F.

Scott Fitzgerald Theater

603 Edmonston Dr. Rockville, MD 20851

240-314-8690

www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre

Tamburitzans

Multi Cultural Song and Dance Company Saturday Feb 8 at 7 p.m. $36 to $28

ploitation angle. So we’re left with some first-rate actors doing what they can to fill every sensually fraught glance with trace elements of human character. Kate Winslet has such sound and reliable dramatic instincts (That Face doesn’t hurt, either) she very nearly makes something of Adele. Josh Brolin lets his mellow, insinuating voice do the heavy lifting as tightlipped Frank, a hunky amalgam of Shane and a drifter out of an William Inge play. Gattlin Griffith is young Henry, in the throes of confused adolescence; Toby Maguire provides the voice-overs as older Henry, looking back at the Labor Day weekend of his youth, when an escape to Canada was on the horizon and his feelings regarding Frank, and Henry’s amiable but distant birth father (Clark Gregg), made for some serious soul-searching. Reitman has made his considerable name on a peppy, slick brand of comedy, beginning with the gently satiric “Thank You for Smoking,” moving on to “Juno” and “Up in the Air,” though others prefer the meaner edge of his recent “Young Adult.” “Labor Day” is Reitman’s fifth feature and his first tonal misfire. For all his skills, Reitman hasn’t fully mastered the director’s most important tool: the B.S. detector. If he had, he wouldn’t have allowed composer Rolfe Kent to lard the film’s pie-baking sequence with the most egregiously sensitive solo guitar lines ever heard outside a freshman dorm room.

LABOR DAY n 2 stars

Rockville Concert Band

n PG-13; 111 minutes

Swing! Swing! Swing! Sunday, Feb 9 at 3 p.m. Free, $5 suggested donation

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PHOTOS BY DALE ROBINETTE

Gattlin Grifﬁth is Henry in “Labor Day,” written for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air.”)

n Cast: Josh Brolin, Kate Winslet, Gattlin Grifﬁth, Clark Gregg n Directed by Jason Reitman

THE GAZETTE

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Page B-9

Writer’s block: Round House brings Broadway play ‘Seminar’ to Bethesda n

Actor, director celebrate 16th show together BY

WILL C. FRANKLIN STAFF WRITER

Collaboration is nothing new for director Jerry Whiddon and actor Marty Lodge.

THEATER The two have worked together on 15 different shows at the Round House Theatre over the years. “Seminar,” opening Wednesday at Round House Theatre Bethesda, will be the 16th play for the duo. “We’ve done comedy, we’ve done tragedy, we’ve done just about everything,” Lodge said. “We’ve turned comedies into tragedies and tragedies into comedies,” Whiddon added, laughing. Lodge, who spent time in Los Angeles and is now working in Chicago, said Whiddon was instrumental in helping him grow as an actor. “When he was running this theater, he put me in the company here and he gave me roles that I would not have normally gotten at other theaters,” Lodge said. “It really gave me a chance to stretch and grow. I owe him a lot.” From Whiddon’s standpoint, the partnership has been mutually beneﬁcial. “It’s been a very fruitful relationship,” Whiddon said. “We can feel comfortable with

SEMINAR n When: Wednesday, Feb. 5 to Sunday, March 2 (contact theater for speciﬁc show times) n Where: Round House Theatre Bethesda, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda n Tickets: $35-$50, plus $5 service charge n For information: 240-6441100; roundhousetheatre.org

each other and feel comfortable sort of pushing each other. He pushes me, I push him.” Lodge moved to Los Angeles eight years ago, but this is the ﬁrst time the two have worked together in at least a decade. “It doesn’t feel like [it’s been that long], though,” Lodge said. “We picked up right where we left off.” “Seminar,” written by playwright Theresa Rebeck, premiered on Broadway in 2011. The story revolves around four young writers who pay $5,000 for a 10-week writing seminar with a seasoned writer, Leonard. Lodge plays Leonard, who is in charge of teaching these four would-be writers. “These young writers sort of bang up against this immovable object, which is this bitter, brilliant editor, teacher who is just so concentrated on the work and he is so torn up by his own past, in a sense, that he really just knocks these writers off their feet,” Whiddon said. “They

Director Jerry Whiddon and actor Marty Lodge have a discussion about “Seminar,” their 16th show together at Round House Theatre. are struggling for their balance the entire play. “It’s one of those contemporary comedies.” Lodge said he likes to try to get back to the Washington, D.C., area every year or two to do a show since he has family here. When Lodge saw Round House had “Seminar” scheduled on its website, it piqued his interest. “I knew Alan Rickman had done it on Broadway, then I saw Jerry was directing it,” Lodge said. “I approached the theater myself and said, “Hey, is there any way you guys would consider me for that part?’ Then I read the play and it’s just a juicy, juicy role. It’s going to be a lot of fun to do in front of an audience.” Whiddon said neither he nor the cast had seen the show on Broadway, so everyone is bringing fresh eyes and new concepts to the mix.

“It’s brand new to us,” Whiddon said. “We’re going by the script. The dialogue is terrific. It’s just terrific. The trick is find that solid grounding you need to have [so the] comedy and the pathos work. It offers some challenges that way and I think we’re meeting them head-on.” For Lodge and Whiddon, one thing should be very clear to the audience after watching the play. “It’s not so easy being a writer,” Lodge said. “Everybody thinks they can write, but it’s really a lot harder than that.” “Writing is what these people are about,” Whiddon added. “I think it’s not so easy to be anything. ... In whatever we choose to do — if we are lucky enough to be able to choose to do something — even that does not guarantee that somebody is going to come along and affirm

MUSIC

Continued from Page B-5

ELLI SWINK

Mismatched couples are the norm in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” presented by the Damascus Theatre Company from Feb. 7-23 at the Arts Barn Theatre in Gaithersburg. (From left, front) Rich Shegogue as Count Malcolm and Jenni McGinnis as Countess Malcolm; David Fialkoff as Fredrik and Alexa Soriano as his wife Anne; Rob Milanic as Fredrik’s son Henrik and Kristina Friedgen as maid Petra.

GOSPEL

Continued from Page B-5 singing, with other songs accompanied by piano, organ, horn, drums and guitar, she said. The night before, Strathmore is also hosting a ticketed community sing for the public. Members of the Tribe of Judah choir will talk about the history of gospel music and invite the audience to join them in singing some songs. No experience is needed, she said. “We’ll be singing some traditional gospel songs, some hymns and one or two African songs,” said Mobolaji Ogunsuyi, choir representative for Tribe of Judah. Leaders of both church choirs said their members enjoy singing on stage and also see their performances as part of the churches’ missions to spread the good news. “We’re very much about the ministry, we’re very cognizant that we want to [spread] the word of God through song,” said Courtney King, director of the Jordan choir. “We want people to know that no matter what your situation, there is hope.” Javor said she ﬁrst heard the two Prince George’s County church choirs at the How Sweet the Sound regional competition at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C,, in September 2011. The Tribe of Judah choir, which incorporates music from Africa and is directed by Pastor Bayo Babajide, won Best Small Choir at the event. The Jordan choir won the People’s Choice Award, the Best Large Choir Award and the East Coast Regional Choir Award at the event, in part because of its choreographed moves. “They really dominated, they blew everyone away,” Javor said. “It was completely infectious and jaw-dropping.” “The pure joy with which they sung – it moved you in different ways, even if

you’re not religious,” she said. “It travels with you and touches you.” The chance encounter definitely stuck with Javor, who began contacting the choirs a year later about performing at Strathmore. Strathmore had previously presented nationally known gospel performers such as Yolanda Adams but had never hosted a gospel concert featuring local singers. “It’s the ﬁrst time we’ve worked with gospel choirs from the community,” Javor said. “We wanted to do a production that’s home built, not prepackaged.” Javor also wanted to include young people from the Oxon Hill choir, directed over the past 17 years by Emory Andrews. “We also wanted to include future generations of gospel,” Javor said.

Oxon Hill High School “Make a Joyful Noise” will open with 45 students from the Oxon Hill choir, which has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the White House and venues overseas. In 2010 the students won the Stellar Gospel Music Award for Best Children’s Performance, and in 2012, it released a CD called “The Storm is Passing Over.” “The kids are excited,” said Andrews, director of choir and choral studies at the high school. “It’ll be our ﬁrst time at Strathmore. We feel it’s like the Kennedy Center.” Andrews said the choir typically begins a performance with an a cappella spiritual, “so they know we can sing,” he said laughing. A teacher for 37 years, Andrews said he doesn’t require his students to audition. “I feel I am the scientist of the voice, and if they desire to sing, I have the desire to teach them,” said Andrews, who teaches everything from Vivaldi choral pieces to American musicals to the national anthems for Japan and South

show retains all of the familiar music and lyrics, including the memorable show tunes “A Little Night Music” and “Miller’s Son.” “It’s always been one of most favorite shows,” Richard said. “It has a beautiful score.” It also has the same characters as the original, including a quintet that functions like a Greek chorus. “They start the show – they make all the action happen,” said Richards about the ensemble’s role in seeing that a collection of mismatched couples end up with the right mates. Inspired by the 1955 comedy, “Smiles of a Summer Night,” directed by Ingmar Bergman, “A Little Night Music,” is a story about several couples who are with someone but love someone else. “The people are all in love triangles,” said Richard.

PHOTOS FROM DANISHA CROSBY

Actors Marty Lodge and Laura C. Harris rehearse a scene for the upcoming production of “Seminar” at Round House Theatre. what you’re doing, saying ‘I understand you are this, an artist, a writer …’ It doesn’t matter. That’s what we all look for. We

“There’s a recurring theme of three.” One of the main characters is middle-aged Fredrik Egerman, a successful lawyer who is married to Anne, 18, a woman half his age. Another is Desiree Armfeldt, a glamorous actress who visits the town where Fredrik lives who is having an affair with a married military commander named Count Malcolm. “[Fredrik and Desiree] had a relationship in their 20s and 30s, and they meet again much later in life,” Richards said. “They get a second chance to see if they can make it work.” Count Malcolm is married to Charlotte, who provides much of the humor in the show. Charlotte has “a great biting sarcasm,” Richards said. Fredrik also has a son, a seminary student named Henkrik, 19, who has eyes for his stepmother Anne. The maidservant Petra, meanwhile, has eyes for Fredrik, and Fredrik’s manservant has eyes for her.

look for validation in what we do.” wfranklin@gazette.net

“Everyone is interconnected,” Richards said. The three pattern is also part of the music, which Sondheim composed in waltz time. “It’s complex. … There’s a lot of counterpoint and unusual harmonies,” he said. As many as ﬁve characters can also be singing on stage at once on stage. “It’s not easy for any singer to sing while four other people are singing around you,” he said. “The lyrics are smart, funny and they go by fast; you have to pay attention and listen to it.” And with a little nudging from the chorus, the people in the musical ﬁnd their true course. “You laugh with those characters, you root for those characters,” Richards said. “There are no big, showy numbers,” he said. “Everything depends on you caring about these people.” vterhune@gazette.net

GOSPEL COMMUNITY SING n When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7 n Where: CityDance Studio, Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda n Tickets: $8

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE:

BEST OF MARYLAND GOSPEL

n When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 n Where: Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda n Tickets: $21-$26 n For information: 301-581-5100, strathmore.org

Africa. Andrews said he also asks students to write a paper about whatever music they are learning. “It’s part of interpreting the music and knowing about what they’re singing,” he said. “What was the writer’s culture, and why did they write this way?” “When you see how the writer felt, you can better interpret the phrasing and why they put [an emphasis] in a certain place,” he said.

Tribe of Judah The Tribe of Judah choir has been in existence since the founding of the Victory Temple church in 1997. Babajide, who is also a singer and pianist, earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka before emigrating to the United States in 1999. “We’re honored and humbled to be a part of this,” he said. “We hope to come together with other communities and other choirs.” The Tribe of Judah choir typically

TRIBE OF JUDAH

The Tribe of Judah church choir from Bowie will perform with two other choirs from Prince George’s County on Saturday at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. numbers 25 to 35 members of the church, depending on whether musicians and students are performing, he said. In December 2011 the choir was invited to sing at the annual Christmas tree lighting at the White House. At Strathmore, the choir plans to sing a mix of contemporary and African songs, as well as original church songs. The songs will be in English, but there may also be some phrases in Yoruba, the language of Nigeria. In 2010, Tribe of Judah released an EP called “Exalt,” said choir deputy and choir member Ariike Okanlawon. “We’re doing more work on the project,” she said.

James E. Jordan, Jr. Adult Choir King said she’s been a member of the Refreshing Spring church in Riverdale since she was 9 years old. She grew up singing in the choir, took on directing duties for the young adult choir and ﬁve years ago became director of the adult choir, which is named after the pastor, James E. Jordan, Jr. The choir has performed at the Kennedy Center and last year sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the 50th anniversary of the March on

Washington, For the Strathmore concert, the 65-member group plans to sing some spirituals along with traditional and contemporary gospel songs. Principal of the James Madison Middle School in Upper Marlboro, King said appreciation of gospel music is alive and well among the younger generation. “There are contemporary artists who appeal to youth,” she said, mentioning names such as Tye Tribbett, Jonathan Nelson, Anthony Brown and Kierra Sheard. “There are different genres of gospel music, and they’re really growing — there’s even gospel rap and gospel go-go,” she said. Many appreciate gospel music as a form of entertainment, but it also continues to serve a religious purpose at churches, where music is very much a part of the mission. “Whatever comes, whatever the obstacles are in 2014, God is there, and you can have hope and faith in him,” King said. “We want to uplift the audience and show there is hope and faith in God.” vterhune@gazette.net

Page B-10

T H E G AZ ET T E

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Classifieds

Page B-11

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Page B-12

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

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GAITHERSBURG

GP2381

FUNDRAISER: The Capitol Steps @ Montgomery Blair High School !! Support Blair After Prom Party via this fun community event! DATE: Sun, F e b r u a r y . 2 3 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Tickets: only $30 (less than same show downtown and Free Parking!); See Ms. Fus/Blair at Main Office or on-line @ brownpapertickets.co m

Bethesda Village Daycare Children’s Center of Damascus Damascus Licensed Family Daycare Elena’s Family Daycare Debbie’s Daycare Kids Garden Day Care Reflections Daycare My Little Place Home Daycare Susanna’s Day Care Kids Love Jewelry

Lic#: 160373 Lic#: 31453 Lic#: 139094 Lic#: 15-133761 Lic#: 15-127060 Lic#: 139378 Lic#: 160613 Lic#: 131042 Lic#: 105189 Lic#: 161641

301-564-1966 301-253-6864 301-253-4753 301-972-1955 301-540-6818 240-601-9134 240-506-5343 301-947-8477 301-933-7342 301-625-1762

DEADLINE: MARCH 3rd, 2014

20817 20872 20872 20876 20876 20886 20886 20886 20902 20904

Buy It, Sell It, Find It

GazetteBuyandSell.com

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net

Dispatcher Large Gaithersburg HVAC Service Co. is looking for a fulltime dispatcher. Dispatch experience, great customer service along w/great phone skills. Hourly wage with great benefits. Email resume to dispatcher.jobs@aol.com.

HEALTHCARE

Foster Parents

Treatment Foster Parents Needed Work from home!

û Free training begins soon û Generous monthly tax-free stipend û 24/7 support

Call 301-355-7205

WE’RE HIRING WEEKEND CNAS, GNAS, AND HHAS!

Provide non-medical care and companionship for seniors in their homes. Personal care, light housework, transportation, meal preparation. Must be 21+. Must have car and one year professional, volunteer, or personal experience www.homeinsteads.com/197 Home Instead Senior Care To us it’s personal 301/588-9023 Call between 10am-4pm Mon-Fri

MAINTENANCE TECH Aspen Hill

Building repairs, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. 2 yrs exp. for non-profit retirement community. Send resume w/salary req. to 301-598-6485 office@homecresthouse.org

Medical Assistant

GC3193

Construction

Detail oriented, bilingual medical assistant wanted for full or part-time position in Rockville office. Please fax resume to 301-770-7272.

Recruiting is now Simple!

DOMINO’S PIZZA

Education

Get Connected!

ALL POSITIONS

CMMS Germantown location is looking for qualified:

SPRAY TECH

Commercial Contractor is looking for an exper. polyurethane foam insulator or previous spray exper. & willing to learn new trade. Must have trans. E-verify, EOE, Drug-Free workplace. Please call Marcela for info (301) 662-7584.

DELIVERY DRIVER

Suburban Propane, a nationwide provider of propane & related services has the following opening in the Rockville, MD area: Delivery Driver. Qual incl a HS Diploma or equiv. Class B CDL w/Hazmat and tanker endorsements, clean driving record. Strong team player w/excellent cust service skills, propane gas delivery experience preferred, flexible schedule w/after hours call-outs, heavy lifting required. Suburban offers a competitive salary w/incentive potential and comprehensive benefits including 401K and tuition reimbursement. For add’l info or to apply, please visit our website at: www.suburbanpropane.jobs. Click Career Opportunities and search for job opening ID 7421. As part of our hiring process, DOT physicals, background checks and preemployment drug tests are performed. EOE, M/F/D/V

IS NOW HIRING

DRIVERS ASST MANAGERS SHIFT RUNNER Competitive compensation & cash paid daily for drivers. Hours Flexible. LOCATIONS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY JERRY QUINTANILLA 240-752-4523 EOE

Needed FT/PT for our endodontic office. We are seeking an experienced, energetic person that will compliment our team approach to quality centered care. Xray License required Rockville locations. Email: phelps@endogroup.com

* Directors * Teachers * Assistant Teachers 90 hour certification and Bachelors Degree preferred. Please forward resumes to admissions@cmmschool.com

GC3045

Seminar Family Services Inc.’s Watch Me Grow Child Development Center is dedicating to providing the most high quality form of child care for children aging from 6 weeks through age 5. Our mission is to enrich the lives of children by creating a warm and nurturing environment that encourages children to grow and experience appropriate developmental practices, personal interests, cultural diversity, and a lifelong love of learning. Our Watch Me Grow Child Development Center currently has the following positions open: two full time vacancies for Senior Staff Teachers for 2 year olds, one full-time position for a Before and After Care Coordinator, one full-time Senior Staff Teacher for the infant and toddler age groups, and two part-time Assistant Teachers. Please refer to our website http://www.familyservicesagency.org about the specific qualifications that are applicable to each of the positions. To apply to any of the positions listed above, please email resume and cover letter to careers@fs-inc.org or fax to 240-631-9356. GC3196

Interested in a career in decorating? Career opportunity seminar Thursday Feb. 20th @ 6:30pm - 8pm 10426 fawcett St, Kensington, MD RSVP to

jimkirlin@decoratingden.com

Family Services, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer [EOE] SKILLED TRADE

VETERANS NEEDED

DENTAL ASSISTANT

Local Companies Local Candidates

Use your GI Benefits NOW for training in Healthcare. JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE Offered.

Call Now 1-888-3958261

Dental/ Medical Assistant Trainees Needed Now Dental/Medical Offices now hiring. No experience? Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-234-7706 CTO SCHEV

Pharmacy/ Phlebotomy Tech Trainees Needed Now Pharmacies/ hospitals now hiring. No experience? Job Training & Placement Assistance Available 1-877-240-4524 CTO SCHEV

WAREHOUSE HELP Seeking highly motivated and hardworking team player for lumber yard. Mon-Sat, 40 hr wk, will train. Apply in person at Fisher Lumber, 525 E Gude Dr, Rockville, MD.

HVAC SERVICE TECH

IMMEDIATE Position Avialable for NATE and/or Journeyman HVAC service technicians. MUST have 2 yrs exp. Great hourly pay, commission, weekly bonus & insurance. Drug free, customer oriented, and motivated. Only qualified applicants apply. 301-670-1944 - Gaithersburg

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Page B-13

Careers 301-670-2500

class@gazette.net

HILTON, GAITHERSBURG, MD

Thursday, April 3, 2014, 9:00-2:00pm

Career Expo 2014 will provide employers with an opportunity to take a first look at local qualified applicants. Our mini seminars will command an audience of highly skilled professionals. Reserve your space today, log on to www.gazettecareerexpo.com or call 301-670-7100. PREMIUM PACKAGE $495 EARLY BIRD PRICING*

• Booth at Event • 30 Day Banner on Gazette. net/Careers & DCMilitary.com/Career • Featured Advertiser, Hiring and Company profile • 2-Job postings (one print, one online)

EARLY BIRD

Registration Deadline January 31, 2014

*$695 after January 31, 2014

GC3194

TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE CALL 301-670-7100 Maintenance Mechanic Senior

The MD Dept of General Services is seeking a Maintenance Mechanic Senior in Silver Spring MD. Candidates must have completed 8th grade and 4 yrs exp in building maintenance trades including 3 yrs in electricity, plumbing, steam fitting, refrigeration or air conditioning. For complete details or to apply online, go to www.dgs.maryland.gov and click on DGS Job Openings or call 410-767-4986. Applications must be received by 02/14/14. EOE Real Estate

Get Connected

Gazette.Net

SKILLED TRADE

PLUMBER IMMEDIATE Position Avialable for Plumber. MUST have 2 yrs exp. Great hourly pay, commission, weekly bonus & insurance. Drug free, customer oriented, and motivated. Only qualified applicants apply. 301-670-1944 - Gaithersburg

Silver Spring

Work with the BEST!

Be trained individually by one of the area’s top offices & one of the area’s best salesman with over 34 years. New & experienced salespeople welcomed.

Must R.S.V.P.

Call Bill Hennessy

GC3191

Local companies, Local candidates

3 301-388-2626 01-388-2626

bill.hennessy@longfoster.com • Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. EOE

Newspaper & Web Ad Sales Comprint Military Publications publishes 8 newspapers, 2 websites and 14 special sections and is looking for an energetic, organized sales representative to sell advertising into our media. Must be able to work well under weekly deadlines and pressures of meeting sales goals. Prefer someone with print and/or web advertising sales experience. Position is in Gaithersburg office and hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. M-F. Territory is Northern VA. We offer a competitive compensation & comprehensive benefits package including pension, 401(k) & tuition reimbursement.

Travel Coordinator

Award winning transportation company in R’ville is seeking an enegergetic individual to fullfill a F/T position in our Reservations Department. If you enjoy multitasking in a fast pace environment and have a passion for providing excellent customer service then please join us at our open house on Tuesday February 11th anytime between 11-3pm at 11565 Old Georgetown Rd. North Bethesda, MD 20852.

Recruiting is now Simple! Get Connected

If interested, please send resume and cover letter with salary requirements to: John Rives at jrives@dcmilitary.com. EOE

Looking for a change? Ready to invest in your future? Find valuable career training here and online.

Part-Time

Work From Home

National Children’s Center Making calls. For more info please call Weekdays between 9a-4p No selling! Sal + bonus + benes. Call 301-333-1900

Search Jobs

Find Career Resources

Page B-14

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Automotive Call 301-670-7100 or email class@gazette.net

CA H

Deals and Wheels

ANY CAR ANY CONDITION

to advertise call

FOR CAR ! WE PAY TOP DOLLAR-FAST FREE PICKUP! SELL YOUR CAR TODAY! CALL NOW FOR AN

W INTER CLEARANCE CLEARANCE SALE SALE WINTER

301.670.7100

INSTANT CASH OFFER

04 Toyota Highlander LTD #462007B, $ 4 Speed Auto, Vontage $

or email class@gazette.net

(301) 288-6009

Blue, Sport Utility

9,800

11 Toyota Camry LE #472182A, $$ 6 Speed Auto,

12,800

4 Door

09 Mini Cooper Clubman S #377689B, Automatic, Coupe

13,500

G558500

YOU ALWAYS GET YOUR WAY AT OURISMAN EVERYDAY

$5,000 OFF

2013 Beetles & Beet Convertibles le 13 Availabl Stock Units eOnIn ly

OURISMAN VW

12 Toyota Corolla LE $$

#N0289, 1-Owner, 4 Speed Auto, Low Miles

2013 MODELS SALE

2014 JETTA S

#7380482, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

#3096366, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Heated Seats, Bluetooth, Cruise Control

14,999

2014 PASSAT S

BUY FOR

16,999

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

2013 BEETLE

13 Scion TC $$

#351071A, 11.7k miles, 1-Owner, Manual

2014 PASSAT S 2.5L

MSRP $22,765 BUY FOR

16,800

12 Toyota Tacoma #R1717A, $ 4 Speed Autol, $

#9009449, Automatic, Power Windows/Power Locks, Keyless Entry, Cruise Control

MSRP $20,860

MSRP $17,810 BUY FOR

2013 GOLF 2 DOOR

13,800

38k Miles, Reg Cab

18,999

18,700

12 Nissan Altima S #470192A, CVT $ $ Trans, 2.5. Low Miles

13,800

13 Toyota Corolla S $$

17,700

#364525A, 4 Speed Auto, 22k miles, 1-Owner

08 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 3.0L #457003B, 7 Speed Auto, Mars Red

2008 Mercury Grand Marquis LS .. $8,500 $8,500 #472145A, 4 SpeedAuto, Silver Birch Metallic

2013 JETTA TDI

19,700

$12,800 2010 Scion XD.................. $12,800 #P8873, 4 SpeedAuto, 24K miles, 1-Owner, Super White

$13,500 2012 Nissan Sentra 2.......... $13,500 #472173A, CVT Transmission, 1-Owner, 11.6k miles, Brilliant Silver

#9009449, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

MSRP $22,765 BUY FOR

18,999

OR 0.9% for 60 MONTHS

2013 GTI 4 DOOR

2013 Toyota Corolla LE......... $15,500 $15,500 #472176A, 1-Owner, 4 SpeedAuto, Magnetic Gray #1679497, Power Windows/Locks, Sunroof, Auto, Loaded

MSRP $24,490 - $5,000 OFF BUY FOR

19,490

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

2014 PASSAT TDI SE

2011 Honda CR-V SE........... $16,800 $16,800

#7415025, Automatic Power Windows, Power Locks, Bluetooth

#364555A, 21k Miles, 1-Owner, 5 SpeedAuto, Polished Metal Metallic

2014 Toyota Corolla LE......... $16,800 $16,800 #472197A, 1-Owner, low Miles, CVT Transmission, Slate Metallic

MSRP 25,510 - $5,000 OFF $

20,155 2014 TIGUAN S 4WD BUY FOR

MSRP 26,960

22,955

OR 0% for 60 MONTHS

BUY FOR

23,399

OR 0.9% for 60 MONTHS

#13543457, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry

G558495

MSRP 27,385 $

BUY FOR

#9060756, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, Sunroof

MSRP $28,936

BUY FOR

15,500

11ToyotaRAV4 $$

#364568A, 4 Speed Auto, 1-Owner, 18K miles

18,700

14 Toyota Camry LE #378075A, $ 1-Owner, 307 miles, $ 6 Speed Auto

20,800

2010 Toyota Prius II............ $16,800 $16,800 #P8874, CVT Trans, 1 Owner, 25k Miles, Barcelona Red

$18,500 2009 Nissan Murano SL....... $18,500 #P8851A, CVT Trans, 4WD, Sport Utility 2012 Toyota Sienna Minivan. . $18,700 $18,700 #460044A, 6 SpeedAuto, 25k Miles, Silver Metallic

2011 Toyota Avalon............ $18,800 $18,800 #478001A, 6 SpeedAuto, 1 Owner, 4 Door 2011 Toyota RAV4............... $19,700 $19,700 #N0301, 1-Owner, 36k miles, 4 SpeedAuto, Black 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander..... $22,700 $22,700 #363225A, 6 SpeedAuto, 1-Owner, 5k miles, Rally Red Metallic

PRE-OWNED 3355 5 5 TTOYOTA OYOTA P R E - OW N E D DARCARS

#4116048, Automatic, Power Windows/ Power Locks, Keyless Entry

11 Toyota Camry LE $$

#P8895, 1-Owner, 6 Speed Auto, 25k Miles

24,999

See what it’s like to love car buying

1-888-831-9671 1-888-831-9671 15625 Frederick Rd (Rte 355) • Rockville, MD | OPEN SUNDAY

V VISIT ISIT U US S O ON N T THE HE W WEB EB A AT T w www.355.com ww.355.com

OURISMAN VW WORLD AUTO CERTIFIED PRE OWNED 22 Available...Rates Starting at 2.64% up to 72 months

2011 Jetta Sedan......#V0019A, Gold, 47,603 miles................$12,491 2009 GTI..................#V551811A, White, 99,448 miles.............$12,991 2006 Dodge Charger. .#V007711A, Yellow, 65,873 miles........$14,491 2011 Toyota Corolla #VP0020, Black, 30,992 miles................$14,991 2012 Mazda 6..........#VPR0023, Black, 44,340 miles...............$15,491 2012 Nissan Altima.#VPR0024, Gray, 42,366 miles...............$15,991 2013 Passat S….....#VPR0031, Silver, 34,132 miles...............$15,999 2012 Jetta SE...........#VPR6113, Silver, 34,537 miles...............$16,495 2013 Jetta SE............#V693295A, Red, 3,179 miles................$18,492 2011 CC.....................#VP0032, White, 36,116 miles................$18,991 2011 Honda CRV.....#V003776A, Gray, 37,086 miles..............$18,992

2011 Tiguan S..........#VPR0017, White, 32,529 miles..............$18,995 2011 CC.....................#VP0022, Black, 30,272 miles................$19,991 2013 Jetta SE...........#VPR0027, White, 6,101 miles...............$19,995 2013 Jetta SE............#VPR0030, Silver, 4,340 miles................$19,995 2011 Chrysler 200..#V006539A, Silver, 21,797 miles..............$20,995 2013 Passat S...........#VPR0026, Black, 6,891 miles................$20,995 2013 Beetle Conv...#V827637A, Black, 20,496 miles..............$21,991 2011 Ford Ranger...#V373771A, Black, 17,869 miles..............$21,995 2013 Passat SE........#VPR0029, White, 5,964 miles...............$23,999 2013 Passat SE........#VPR0028, White, 5,010 miles...............$23,999 2012 Routan SE......#VP0033, Maroon, 12,853 miles..............$24,991

All prices exclude tax, tags, title, freight and $200 processing fee. Cannot be combined with any previous advertised or internet special. Pictures are for illustrative purposes only. See dealer for details. 0% APR Up To 60 Months on all models. See dealer for details. Ourisman VW World Auto Certified Pre Owned financing for 60 months based on credit approval thru VW. Excludes Title, Tax, Options & Dealer Fees. Special APR financing cannot be combined with sale prices. Ends 02/28/14.

Ourisman VW of Laurel

Looking for a new convertible?

1.855.881.9197 • www.ourismanvw.com Online Chat Available...24 Hour Website • Hours Mon-Fri 9 am-9 pm • Sat 9 am-8 pm

G558496

3371 Fort Meade Road, Laurel

Search Gazette.Net/Autos

Check out the Gazette’s auto site at Gazette.Net/Autos With 2 great ways to shop for your next car, you won’t believe how easy it is to buy a car locally through The Gazette. Check the weekly newspaper for unique specials from various dealers and then visit our new auto website 24/7 at Gazette.Net/Autos to search entire inventories of trusted local dealers updated daily. Dealers, for more information call 301-670-7100 or email - class@gazette.net

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Page B-15

2014 NEW COROLLA LE ECO

WINTER

MO For 4 DR., 24 MOs** 4 CYL., AUTO NEW 2014 VENZA 4X2

79/

CLEARANCE SALE!

2 AVAILABLE: #474500, 474510

24,690

AFTER $1,000 REBATE

99/

15,890

4 DR., AUTO, 4 CYL., INCL.

NEW 2014 SCION XD 2 AVAILABLE: #453014, 453017

4 CYL., AUTO

169/mo.**

4 CYL., 4 DR., AUTO

NEW 2014 RAV4 4X2 BASE 2 AVAILABLE: #464049, 464050

NEW 2014 CAMRY LE

36 Month Lease

2 AVAILABLE: #472091, 472121

MO For 4 DR., 24 MOs**4 CYL., AUTO

NEW 2014 CAMRY SE

2 AVAILABLE: #477414, 477421

21,690

AFTER $750 REBATE

2 AVAILABLE: #472008, 472036

0% FOR

HATCHBACK 4 DR., AUTO, 4 CYL.,

4 CYL., AUTOMATIC

AFTER $500 REBATE

NEW 2014 PRIUS II

21,590

DARCARS

MONTHS+

On 10 Toyota Models

See what it’s like to love car buying

17,990

DEMO AUTO, 4 CYL., 4 DR

AFTER TOYOTA $1,750 REBATE

1-888-831-9671

15625 Frederick Rd (Rte 355) • Rockville, MD ■ OPEN SUNDAY ■ VISIT US ON THE WEB AT www.355Toyota.com

G558494

36 $

NEW2 2014 COROLLA LE AVAILABLE: #470335, 470392

2 AVAILABLE: #470041, 470040

PRICES AND PAYMENTS INCLUDE ANY APPLICABLE MANUFACTURE’S REBATES AND EXCLUDE MILITARY ($500) AND COLLEGE GRAD ($500) REBATES, TAX, TAGS, DEALER PROCESSING CHARGE ($200) AND FREIGHT: CARS $795 OR $810, TRUCKS, SPORT UTILITY AND SIENNAS $810, $845 AND $995. *0.9% APR & 0% APR FINANCING UP TO 60 MONTHS TO QUALIFIED BUYERS THRU TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. TOTAL FINANCED CANNOT EXCEED MSRP PLUS OPTIONS, TAX, AND LICENSE FEES. 0% APR 60 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $16.67 FOR EACH $1000 BORROWED. 0.9% APR 60 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $17.05 FOR EACH $1000 BORROWED. APR OFFERS ARE NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER CASH BACK OR LEASE OFFER. NOT ALL BUYERS WILL QUALIFY.**LEASE PAYMENTS BASED ON 36 MONTHS, 12,000 MILES PER YEAR WITH $995 DOWN PLUS $650 ACQUISITION FEE, NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. SEE DEALER FOR COMPLETE DETAILS. 2014 COROLLA LE ECO & CAMRY LE LEASES ARE FOR 24 MONTHS. EXPIRES 02/28/2014.

Page B-16

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 p

Advertorial

G558492