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The Gazette POTOMAC | NORTH POTOMAC
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
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Churchill High partners with Chinese school Plans in the works for student, teacher exchange programs
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BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Shirley Mallory particpates in a yoga class Monday at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg. Mallory, 68, is part of the county’s seniors boom.
Communities prepare for
booming seniors Older population to double by 2030
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BY
SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER
Shirley Mallory takes yoga classes every Monday and Wednesday, sings in a choir, walks to her local gym and recently learned to ballroom dance. She volunteers at Church of the Redeemer and the Wilson Health Care Center and still finds time for high-intensity interval training classes and family get-togethers. Shirley Mallory is 68 years old. She lives at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, one of the county’s largest communities for seniors. Mallory said
her neighbors, who tend to be older than her, are also active. A few friends of hers who are more than 90 years old attend her weekly yoga class. One paints watercolors and another plays piano. “I tell them, ‘I want to be like you when I grow up!’” she said. Mallory and her neighbors are part of a growing group of Montgomery County residents age 60 and up. According to county data, the senior population will double by 2030. As of 2010 census numbers, there were about 173,000 seniors in the county’s 970,000 residents (the county hit one million residents in 2012). The county predicts over 215,000 residents will live here by 2030. LeisureWorld, a senior community in
Silver Spring for residents age 55 and up, houses about 8,000 people. LeisureWorld General Manager Kevin B. Flannery said he expects the community’s population to stay relatively constant in the next few years, though LeisureWorld’s rental properties may be in higher demand. The growing community has necessitated additions to LeisureWorld facilities. Flannery said he has seen more participation in the community’s self-governed fitness programs. “We’re contemplating putting an addition on the building to accommodate that growth,” he said. They are also considering adding space to their food-service operations, with a facility enhancement plan on
See SENIORS, Page A-12
Middle schoolers to be measured by MAP System using test until academic targets developed n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Middle school students’ performance will be tracked by the Measures of Academic Progress test as the county’s schools await data from new state assessments. Kimberly Statham — deputy superintendent of teaching, learning and programs for the school system — said in a presentation to the school board Monday
that the school system eventually will develop academic targets based on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers. PARCC will be fully implemented in the school system next school year. “In the meantime, however, we need a high-quality instrument to assess the health of the school system,” she said. “We believe that that instrument is MAP.” The computer-based progress test that assesses math and reading performance already is in use in the school system. This year, however, will mark the first time the test is used to assess student progress sys-
SPORTS
TALENT RUNS IN THE FAMILY Good Counsel lineman earns invite to national bowl; appears destined for the NFL.
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temwide, Statham said. Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said these measures are not the same as the “milestone” targets described in the strategic planning framework he announced in June. Starr said that Monday evening’s conversation marked the first of four the school board will have regarding the school system’s milestones. According to the strategic plan, students will be tracked through five milestones at grades three, five, eight and nine
See MAP, Page A-13
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RECYCLE
Students at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac soon might be setting off for the other side of the world. Principal Joan Benz was part of a September trip to China along with Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, Superintendent Joshua P. Starr and others. Benz returned with an agreement between her school and Xi’an No. 1 Middle School in China that includes plans for regular visits between the two schools. Benz said the hope is that the Chinese students — who are learning at the U.S. high-school level — could visit for about a week in the fall each year, possibly starting as soon as next fall.
“We want to show them what American football is really like, and homecoming and dances,” she said. Churchill students then could visit in the spring of each year, possibly during their spring vacation, she said. The partnership will let Churchill “heighten the awareness of how important Chinese is as a language” in its students, Benz said. The first Churchill students going abroad likely would take those Chinese courses. The agreement also calls for the schools to work toward a teacher-exchange program, which could start with teachers visiting for part of the summer or during their vacation time, Benz said. The schools also will look into a shared study subject related to scientific research, according to the agreement. Benz said the schools currently are
See CHURCHILL, Page A-10
PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE
Volunteers from the Foundation School work Monday to clean up outside the offices of On Our Own in Gaithersburg as part of Montgomery County’s Community Service Week.
Service week helps people lend a hand 2,000 residents volunteered in 2012 n
BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County residents are invited to flex their do-good muscles this week by volunteering to make their community a better place. Oct. 20 through 27 is the county’s Community Service Week, a time for nonprofits, business, religious, service and social groups to host volunteer service projects. Many have registered online with the
Montgomery County Volunteer Center www.montgomeryserve. org, a website to connect individuals and groups with service opportunities. “We do these days of service to celebrate service and get people engaged,” said Katie Sayago, Days of Service coordinator for the volunteer center. “We hope people really connect with an organization and have the feeling of working together.” Sayago said there are more than 50 projects listed on the volunteer website and many of them require a number of people.
See SERVICE, Page A-10
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GAZETTE SENIORS
Sixteen questions you need to ask your aging parents; exploring the wonders of wine; what happens to your digital accounts when you die; reaping the benefits of tai chi.
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