THE GAZETTE
Page A-4
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 d
AROUND THE COUNTY ‘It’s a ... ’: Ultrasound company delivers the news n
Baby Joy 3D/4D brings special moment into the home BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
Baby Joy 3-D/4-D Mobile Ultrasound promises expecting mothers and fathers a personal and intimate experience — finding out their in utero baby’s sex — away from a doctor’s office. Baby Joy 3D/4D Ultrasound, a Silver Spring business, was an idea that grew from a mother of two who believes seeing a baby in the womb is a special bonding moment. “I see pregnant women every day. ... Some of them want to show the pictures to their husbands that couldn’t make it to the doctor’s office ... or they want to show the pictures to the grandparents who were watching the kids at home,” Betelhem Seleshi said. And that’s when Seleshi thought: Why not bring the experience to people’s homes? On Sunday, Seleshi went to a baby shower party in Silver Spring at which the baby’s sex would be revealed. The expecting mother, Deisy Izquierdo, did not know Seleshi was coming. When Seleshi walked in the house, Izquierdo was so surprised, she couldn’t hold back her excitement, cheering when Seleshi entered the living room. Izquierdo has two daughters — Lucia, 6, and Hannah, 4 — with her husband, Josue Izquierdo. The Izquierdo family now was hoping for a baby boy. The ultrasound machine is hooked up to a television. The mother then lies on a couch, while Seleshi puts ultrasound gel on the mother’s pregnant belly. More than 30 people witnessed Seleshi’s ultrasound. Some exclaimed, “How beautiful” and “Look at the hands” and “The baby is waving.” Seleshi finally typed in the ultrasound machine: It’s a boy! The whole experience can take 15 to 30 minutes. “This is incredible. ... We have been hoping for a
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Deisy Izquierdo, 21 weeks pregnant, has an ultrasound at her baby shower Sunday in Silver Spring. Izquierdo, holding her husband’s hand, reacts to the images.
boy,” Deizy Izquierdo said. The tears flowed in a room filled with grandparents, uncles, cousins and close friends. “This is better than watching the Super Bowl,” Josue Izquierdo said. When families react, Seleshi is moved, too. “For me, I get so satisfied [and] I get emotional,” she said. On a busy weekend, Seleshi visits up to four clients at their homes. Seleshi said she thinks her company is the only one of its kind in the Washington area.
It performs ultrasounds at the client’s convenience. It might be a baby shower, a sex-revealing party, or just an intimate moment between the parents and close family members. Seleshi has portable equipment — approximately the size of a laptop — that can be connected to a bigscreen TV. She also carries a projector. The mobile ultrasound packages vary from $150 to $250. That gives clients 10 to 30 minutes of 2-D, 3-D or 4-D session, color printed pictures, and a DVD with the entire session. According to the Baby Joy 3D/4D website, ultrasound in an elective, noninvasive procedure offers a “peek” inside the womb. Conventional 2-D ultrasound returns a black-and-white image of the fetus. The 3-D ultrasound uses advanced technology to capture a detailed image. A 4-D ultrasound includes a video image of the fetus. Seleshi said gender verification can be done in any package, but only if the parents want to know. She can do the ultrasound and not say what the gender is. Seleshi, a Silver Spring resident, is certified through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography and specialized in obstetrics/prenatal ultrasound. She holds a bachelor’s in sonography from Georgetown University. For nine years, she has performed thousands of ultrasound services in women with high-risk pregnancies, she said. Seleshi said a mom-to-be does not need to get a doctor’s permission for the ultrasound, but she requires that a client be under doctor’s care. Seleshi said she needed about $36,000 to start her business. It took about 10 months to get the venture fully running. Her first client was seen Nov. 23. Since then, she has been booked every weekend, she said. She still works Monday through Friday at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. “I have a good amount of clients every weekend. ... People that I scan say to me, ‘I wish I had known about this business before,’” Seleshi said. abarros@gazette.net
Branson named newest County Council member Hill staffer will finish Ervin’s term in District 5 n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Silver Spring resident Cherri Branson will serve out the remainder of former Councilwoman Valerie Ervin’s term on the Montgomery County Council after being unanimously chosen by the other councilmembers Tuesday. The position opened up when Ervin resigned Jan. 3 to take a job as the chief executive of the Working Families Coalition, a New York-based nonprofit advocacy organization. Branson currently serves as chief oversight counsel for the Committee on Homeland Security working for the committee’s ranking member, Rept. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss).
In a statement Tuesday, she said she was honored to be nominated, and pledged to work hard to represent the voters of District 5, which includes Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Burtonsville. Branson said she was familiar with many of the issues facing the district, but would work to quickly get up to speed on other issues. Branson will retain members of Ervin’s staff, who Branson can help in her transition. In an interview earlier this month, she said she thinks her experience as a congressional aide will help her get started quickly on the council. It has also taught her the impor-
tance of compromise in getting things accomplished, she said. Branson had previously served on the county’s Charter Review Commission and the Commission on Redistricting. Branson was nominated by Councilwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring, who said she thinks Branson would make an excellent addition to the council. Council Vice President George Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park moved that the nomination by acclimation, a suggestion the other council members supported. Branson was one of 18 candidates who applied for the open seat, 14 of whom were interviewed by the council. Councilman Hans Riemer (D-At large) of Takoma Park complemented the people who applied. “It was really a testament to a great tradition of citizen engagement here in
Montgomery County,” Riemer said. Branson will serve out the remainder of Ervin’s term, which ends Dec. 1. Candidates for the appointment were asked to agree not to run for reelection in November. The race for the new term has drawn plenty of speculation among Montgomery political observers. Silver Spring Democrat Jeffrey Thames was the only candidate to file as of Tuesday, according to the state Board of Elections. Evan Glass, chairman of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board has expressed his intention to run, while Del. Tom Hucker (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring and Board of Education member Christopher S. Barclay are among those who have said they’re considering running for the seat. rmarshall@gazette.net
Montgomery school board digs into operating budget proposal Raises questions on counselors, ESOL staff
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BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
With hefty operating budget books before them, Montgomery County school board members raised questions Thursday night about proposed money for elementary school counselors, ESOL staff and other needs. The work session included presentations from school system officials, followed by board member questions. It was the first of two sessions the board will use to parse through Montgomery County Public Schools’ proposed fiscal 2015 operating budget. In December, Superintendent Joshua P. Starr recommended a $2.28 billion operating budget — about $56.4 million more than this fiscal year’s budget. The proposed budget total is about $17 million more than what the county is required to provide under state law. The board plans to make its final decision on the budget Feb. 11. The
next fiscal year will start on July 1. School board member Michael Durso raised the topic of elementary school counselors on Thursday. He asked whether the school system is creating a staffing formula to determine how many counselors would be at a school based on enrollment numbers. Durso said one counselor told him that counselors are dealing with student issues, such as suicide, that they haven’t dealt with in the past. A counselor from Little Bennett Elementary School in Clarksburg said at the board’s Jan. 9 operating budget hearing that she and other counselors are overwhelmed by the large number of students they work with. Starr’s proposed budget includes 5.5 new elementary school counselor positions. Larry Bowers, chief operating officer for the school system, said Thursday that a proposal recently submitted to the board — separate from the budget — called for more counselors in the system’s larger elementary schools and those with higher free and reduced-price meal rates, an indication of poverty. Starr’s operating budget reflects the
changes in the proposal, Bowers said. School board President Phil Kauffman asked district officials to justify adding elementary school team leaders and why they thought it more necessary than adding counselors. The team leaders are teachers who oversee other teachers in specific grades and subjects. Starr said strong leadership teams and distribution of leadership are important factors for meeting the Common Core State Standards and a new state assessment set to be fully implemented next school year. Board member Shirley Brandman requested an explanation of the allocation of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) staff and the “very different ratios” found in elementary, middle and high schools. Erick Lang, associate superintendent for curriculum and instructional programs, said the school system directs more ESOL staff to high schools because some older students, including recent immigrants, face “significant challenges.” For elementary students, Lang said, much of their English-language learn-
ing is imbedded in regular classroom instruction. Brandman said lowering the student-to-teacher ratios as part of the school system’s investment in ESOL services would help students. Bowers said a work group has studied ESOL staff ratios for the past year and the school system plans to roll out a new allocation model soon. Younger students “pick up English a lot faster” than older students, he said. While most ESOL students are at the elementary level, Bowers said, “the challenges are great” at the high school level. In his proposed budget, Starr included eight new positions working with ESOL students. Brandman asked Chrisandra Richardson — associate superintendent for special education and student services — why more psychologists and pupil personnel workers weren’t included in the budget. “It’s not an easy decision, ever,” Richardson said, but the office recognized the school system has limited resources and must fund other needs. lpowers@gazette.net
InBrief
New exhibit highlights agriculture clubs The Damascus Heritage Society will highlight two major clubs in the community with its upcoming exhibit, “FFA and 4H: Not Just Cows and Plows,” open Feb. 5 to May 31. The society’s 16th exhibit focuses on the Future Farmers of America and several local 4-H Club organizations, which have been a large part of the community for decades. Damascus High School’s FFA club will participate along with the Damascus Community 4-H Club, the Damascus Poultry 4-H Club and the Laytonsville 4-H Club, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The museum is at 9701 Main St. Call 301-253-2014 for more information.
County seeks election judges for primary The Montgomery County Board of Elections seeks registered voters to work as election judges at polling places for the June 24 primary election. The county typically employes about 3,500 judges for each election. The judges must be registered voters in Maryland; be able to speak, read and write the English language; and, while acting as a judge, not hold, or be a candidate for, public or party office. Also, election judges may not be a campaign manager for a candidate or treasurer for any campaign financial entity. Also, bilingual election judges, especially those fluent in Spanish, and election judge alternates are needed around the county. The application process requires both an online quiz and hands-on training. The application deadline is 21 business days before the election. The judges will be paid at rates that vary by position, as listed at 777vote.org. For example, roamers — “tech savvy” individuals who are assigned to a route of six to 10 nearby polling precincts and who deal with equipment and other issues, according to the website — are paid the most, $300, including training. But that job entails working up to 20 hours on the election day, starting at 5 a.m. Greeters, on the other hand, are paid $60 per seven-hour shift.
POLICE BLOTTER
Complete report at www.gazette.net The following is a summary of incidents in the Damascus area to which Montgomery County police responded recently. The words “arrested” and “charged” do not imply guilt. This information was provided by the county.
Aggravated Assault • On Jan. 10 at 3:45 p.m. in the 19700 block of Germantown Road, Germantown. The subject is known to the victim. Residential Burglary • 18900 block of Port Haven Place, Germantown, between 11 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. Jan. 10. Forced entry, took property. • 19100 block of Warrior Brook Drive, Germantown, between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Jan. 10. Forced entry, took property. • 13300 block of Country Ridge Drive, Germantown, at 11 a.m. Jan. 13. Attempted forced entry, took nothing. • 18200 block of Smoke House Court, Germantown, between 6:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Jan. 14. No forced entry, took property. Vehicle Larceny • Two incidents near Brundidge Terrace and Drumcastle Court, Germantown, on Jan. 13 or 14. Unlocked vehicles; took a laptop, an iPod, a backpack, DVDs and clothing. • Three incidents in the parking lot of Golds Gym, 19719 Frederick Road, Germantown. Forced entry, took purses and a cellphone.