Projects Approved for Gunpowder ES & Perry Hall HS


Baltimore County Board of Education Vice Chair and 5th District member Julie Henn announced that two schools will be receiving capital projects on their sites.

“[Tuesday] night, the Board approved privately funded capital projects for Gunpowder Elementary and Perry Hall High,” Henn said.

Gunpowder Elementary Outdoor Stage
The Gunpowder Elementary PTA is donating the cost of installation, materials, labor, fees, and the overhead associated with building the stage area of the newly revitalized playground at Gunpowder Elementary.

The new stage area will be dedicated as part of the Officer Caprio Playground project. Parents of the PTA at Gunpowder Elementary School began The Officer Caprio Playground Project in November 2019.

Perry Hall High Field Netting
The Perry Hall H.S. Athletic Boosters is donating the cost to cover the installation of ball-stop netting on the stadium field. Perry Hall High School Official opened in 1967. The sport stadium is located directly behind the school. The ball-stop netting will allow several teams to practice in the stadium facility at the same time. In addition, this safety netting will also protect against potential injuries.

“Thank you very much to the Gunpowder Elementary PTA and the Perry Hall High Athletic Boosters for their extremely generous support of these projects,” Henn said.

Groundbreaking Held for New Rossville School

Gum Spring Road Elementary School to Open in 2022-23


Baltimore County officials had a groundbreaking for the new northeast elementary school located at 7649 Gum Spring Road in Rossville on Wednesday morning.

Kevin Jennings is the first principal at the new school after arriving from Joppaview Elementary School. He was joined at the ceremony along with BCPS Superintendent Darryl L. Williams; County Executive John Olszewski, Jr.; Councilmembers Cathy Bevins and David Marks; BCPS Board of Education Vice Chair Julie Henn and Eight District state delegates Harry Bhandari, Joe Boteler and Carl Jackson.

Olszewski said important it is to provide students and educators with safe and supportive learning environments.

“It was a pleasure to join today’s groundbreaking for the new Northeast Area Elementary School. Truly, the construction of this school has been a long time coming, and I am so proud to see construction begin,” said the County Executive.

This new $53.1 million school will have a planned capacity of 735 seats over more than 108,000 square feet in order to address the educational needs of one of Baltimore County’s fastest growing communities. The schools design is similar to Honeygo Elementary School, which was built in 2018. The new school is designed to meet LEED silver standards. The Gum Spring Road school is scheduled to open for the 2022-2023 school year.

Bhandari posted that he is happy that the new school will help with overcrowding in the region.

My huge thanks to Dr. Williams and his team at BCPS for bringing this together, and of course, spotlight on Mr. Kevin Jennings, who served as a wonderful principal at Joppa View Elementary School and will help build our newest school community from the ground up,” Bhandari wrote. “To Councilwoman Cathy Bevins and Councilman David Marks, we are lucky to have you here as strong advocates for our kids and communities!”

Marks agreed with Bhandari that the new school will help free up some seats at other schools.
“It will alleviate overcrowding in southern Perry Hall, White Marsh, Fullerton and other neighborhoods,” Marks said about the new school.

Delegates Harry Bhandari, Carl Jackson and Joe Boteler took part in the shovel ceremony.
-photo courtesy of Delegate Harry Bhandari-

Boteler added that this was a team effort to get the school built.

“This is a good example of how partnership between State and County government can work to help alleviate some of the overcrowding in our schools,” Boteler said.

Bevins agreed that it takes strong partnership on all levels from the county, state and school system to build a new school.

“It was such a pleasure to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Northeast Area Elementary School on Gum Spring Road earlier today. I look forward to seeing this project progress, and I know that when it opens for the 2022-23 school year it will be in very good hands with Principal Kevin Jennings at the helm,” Bevins added.

“I’d like to thank County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Councilman David Marks, Superintendent Darryl Williams, the Board of Education, and our colleagues at the state level for their hard work on this desperately needed school.

Parkville Teacher Named Best History Teacher


Adam Laye, social studies department chair at Parkville High School, has been named the 2021 Maryland History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.

In 2021, parents, students, teachers, and administrators nationwide nominated a record 8,510 teachers for the History Teacher of the Year Award. Amidst a very competitive field, Laye’s name rose to the top in Maryland. In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, Laye’s school, Parkville High, will receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials, and Laye will be recognized at a ceremony in Maryland.

Laye has been teaching American history and American government for the past 15 years. He taught at Randallstown High before Parkville High. It was in college, at Frostburg State College, that Laye decided to apply his interest in social sciences to a career in education. Laye, who holds both a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and a master’s degree in teaching from Frostburg, is recognized for his inquiry-based approach to teaching history.

“We have been using inquiry as the center point of our instruction,” Laye said, “exploring multiple viewpoints, teaching kids to think historically. With our approach, instead of history being taught as a set of answers, we give kids questions to probe. That makes the learning of history rich and full of life. A lot of historical issues are deeply unsettled. Looking at them through a diversity of viewpoints helps our student see the world more clearly and even helps them be better consumers of modern-day news.”

Laye particularly enjoyed teaching about Reconstruction: “It feels like all roads go back to Reconstruction. Unresolved issues from that period weave through the decades. We continue to have so many of the same debates.”

“I enjoy the challenge of making history relevant to my students’ lives,” Laye said, “by giving them the tools to derive meaning from it.”

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and U.S. Territories. In fall 2021, the National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from the pool of state winners.

The 10 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year Award will be announced on Thursday, Sept. 9, with the national winner announced later that month. An in-person ceremony for the winner will be held in late fall 2021, health and safety protocols permitting. Support for the National History Teacher of the Year Award ceremony is provided by HISTORY®

Nominations for the 2022 History Teacher of the Year awards are now open. Students, parents, colleagues, and supervisors may nominate K-12 teachers for the award. The deadline for 2022 nominations is March 31, 2022.

About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of American history education. The Institute is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education while also serving the public. Its mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources.

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. Drawing on the 70,000 documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection and an extensive network of eminent historians, the Institute provides teachers, students, and the public with direct access to unique primary source materials.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Organization of American Historians, and the Council of Independent Colleges.

BCPS Starts Mandated Mask Requirement Today


All students, staff, and visitors will be required to wear masks in all Baltimore County Public Schools’ offices, schools, and buildings, effective today, Tuesday, August 10, 2021.

“As we prepare to welcome students and staff back to school for in-person learning, universal masking is an important step to help maintain our community’s health and safety,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “All of us are reminded that although the use of masks is just one layer of protection, it is a crucial one.”

According to BCPS leaders, the universal mask requirement is aligned with guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advice from medical experts at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, and scientific learning about the Delta variant.

If a classmate develops COVID in school, students who are wearing masks and maintaining at least three feet of physical distancing will not be required to quarantine. Adults are encouraged to continue to maintain six-foot physical distancing whenever possible. Unvaccinated adults will be required to quarantine if they come within six feet of an infected person for 15 or more minutes.

During the past three weeks, the cumulative COVID-19 case rate in Baltimore County has risen from 17.04 cases per 100,000 residents to 61.04 cases per 100,000 residents. Baltimore County is now within the CDC’s substantial transmission zone (50-99 cases per 100,000 residents).

“While universal masking supports our overarching goal of keeping students and staff safe, vaccination is still the most effective action we can take to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Supt. Williams. “We continue to urge everyone eligible to get vaccinated.”

The online Baltimore County Vaccine Hub offers information about vaccine clinics and testing sites throughout the county. Vaccines are offered free-of-charge for those as young as 12 years old at locations including area community centers, high schools, and malls.

Some Students Still Need to Register for BCPS


The first day of school is less than a month away, and as part of their Back2BCPS: Are You Ready? Campaign, Baltimore County Public Schools leaders are urging parents/caregivers to register their children now.

“We want to see every BCPS student in class and ready to learn on Monday, Aug. 30,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “Parents and caregivers of children who will be new to our schools – including parents of Preschool, PreKindergarten, and Kindergarten students – are encouraged to register their children now. Registering before the school year starts ensures that schools can be better prepared to welcome and educate all students.”

To register, parents/caregivers can submit an online application through the Focus Parent Portal. Parents/caregivers can learn more about using the Focus Parent Portal by viewing an informational video. The password for the video is “Baltimore.”

After entering information online, parents/caregivers will be contacted by their child’s school to finalize enrollment. Additional assistance is available by emailing RegistrationHelp@bcps.org or contacting a school.

To enroll in Kindergarten, children must be 5 years old by September 1.

To be considered for PreKindergarten, students must be 4 years old on or before September 1. Unlike enrollment for K-12, seats are limited in the PreKindergarten program. The Maryland State Department of Education requires that the PreKindergarten program be made available to students who meet automatic eligibility criteria based on educational or financial need. If space is available once the automatically eligible students have registered, other students may be placed from the applicant pool on a priority basis.

For Preschool, students must be 3 years old on or before September 1 to be considered for enrollment. As with PreKindergarten, Preschool seats are limited. Students are registered on a priority basis, with priority registration given to those students who demonstrate educational and/or financial need.

Essex Man Sets Fire and Commits Suicide


Baltimore County officials confirmed that there was a suicide at the site of Sunday night’s fire in Essex.

A 74-year-old man who set fire last night to his Essex apartment before committing suicide has been identified by Baltimore County Police investigators.

He is David Boyd Thompson of the 1000 block of Franklin Ave., 21221.

Police and fire crews were dispatched just after 11 p.m. to the Essex Co-Op Apartment Complex in the 1000 block of Franklin Ave. Firefighters found a small fire with heavy smoke in an eighth-floor unit; the sprinkler system had activated and was extinguishing the fire.

At 11:27 p.m., while fire crews were working on the ground floor to attach hoses to a standpipe, Thompson jumped from the 12th floor, the topmost floor. He landed about two feet from a BCoFD captain. EMS personnel provided emergency medical care, but the injuries were fatal.

Investigators determined that Thompson, who was scheduled to be evicted after being told he could not smoke in the building, set the fire in his eighth-floor apartment before committing suicide. They found several points of origin in the unit, as well as empty bottles of charcoal fluid and a lighter.

The one-alarm fire was contained to the suspect’s apartment, and no residents were displaced.

Marks to Hold Meeting for Citizens on Patrol Set Up


Baltimore County Councilman David Marks and Eastern Perry Hall Citizens on Patrol will hold an online meeting to discuss how neighborhoods can implement effective Citizens on Patrol programs. The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m.

This meeting is a follow-up to the initial meeting in December 2019 in which neighborhoods in eastern Perry Hall discussed the need for more Citizens on Patrol programs.

“I will be hosting an informational meeting tonight for residents who want to create their own Citizens on Patrol programs. While the primary focus is eastern Perry Hall, anyone may join who is interested in starting one of these units, Mark said about the meeting. For more information, go to the event’s Facebook page.

To attend the meeting go to the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8352699248

Meeting ID: 835 2699 2481
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,83526992481# US (Washington DC)

Rosedale Shell Sells Winning Cash4Life Ticket


One lucky Maryland Lottery player in the area landed a big win this past weekend, courtesy of the multi state Cash4Life game.

Rosedale Shell in Baltimore sold a second-tier winning Cash4Life ticket worth $1,000 a week for life on Sunday, Aug. 8.

The player holding the lucky Cash4Life ticket is the second person to win a second-tier $1,000-a-week-for-life Cash4Life prize in Maryland in 2021.

It is also the fifth second-tier winner since the game became available in the state in 2016.

Rosedale Shell located at 7514 Pulaski Highway in Baltimore will receive a $2,500 bonus from the Lottery for selling the second-tier winning Cash4Life ticket.

The winner can choose between a $1,000-a-week-for-life annuity paid in annual installments of $52,000 a year, or a one-time payment of $1 million (both amounts are before taxes).

Check your ticket for the winning numbers of 6, 23, 31, 44 and 48 the Cash Ball was 2. Our lucky $1,000-a-week-for-life winner matched the first five numbers, but narrowly missed out on winning the top prize of $1,000 a day for life because the ticket did not match the Cash Ball number.

Winners have 182 days from the date of the drawing to claim their prizes. Lottery officials strongly encourage all winners to sign the backs of their tickets immediately and keep them in a safe location.

Person Dies Trying to Escape Essex Fire


Updated: This death was been ruled a suicide.

The Baltimore County Volunteer Firefighters Association reported one person is dead at a fire scene in Essex.

Fire crews were working to extinguish a fire in 8th floor apartment on Sunday when it was reported a one person died at the scene as they attempted to jump to escape from the fire.

The apartment is located in the 1000 block of Franklin Avenue and the fire was reported around 11:30 p.m.

Fire has been extinguished and is under investigation.