THE GAZETTE
Page A-12
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 p
SCHOOL LIFE VOICES IN EDUCATION
Joanie Prather n Age: 62 n Job title: Paraeducator, Maryvale Elementary School, Rockville n Hometown: Germantown n Education: Graduated from Gaithersburg High School n Family: Daughter, Crystal n Hobby: Cooking, watching mysteries on TV n Favorite vacation spot: Would love to go to Hawaii n Lesson to live by: It will be better tomorrow.
Joanie Prather is a paraeducator at Maryvale Elementary School, Rockville. She was interviewed at the school Jan. 9. Your assistant principal, Greg Mullenholz, wrote about you and said you have been at Maryvale for 40 years. That is a long time. Why have you stayed so long?
I love this school. I will retire from Maryvale, the teachers are caring, they are great. The people and the children [keep me here]. The children are willing to try, they come here in good spirits. All the people are friendly and nice. How did you get started?
I started as a sub at the old Maryvale, then Mr. Risk, I don’t know his first name he was always Mr. Risk to me, asked me if I’d like to come back and I’ve been here ever since. Tell me about the changes at Maryvale in the last 40 years.
We used to be in another building, but they tore that down and moved us here. This used to be a middle school, that’s why you see the lockers in the halls. French Immersion came 18 or 19 years ago. They said it was a temporary thing but they’re still here. The front door was always unlocked and parents could just come in. Not now. And
we used to have a crank copier machine, a mimeograph that got blue ink all over your hands, and there were typewriters. Have you learned French?
Oui. I don’t go into those classes, only on Tuesdays when we have [Individual Educational Plan meetings] and I need to cover a class. Mostly I go to the English classes where I know what they are doing. They do everything in French except specials: art, [physical education] and music and when they come to lunch. What is your favorite thing about the job?
I like to go into the classrooms or if they need a sub in P.E. I like working with the younger ones, kindergarten, first and second grades. I like them all but I like the little ones. I’ve done everything here. One day they called for a sub in the cafeteria and no one came. My friend, another paraeducator, and I did lunch, luckily it was pizza day. We got it in the oven and we got through lunch and cleaned up the cafeteria. It was fun. That was the first time I ever did that and I didn’t do it again. It was a good experience — something different. Do you have a favorite memory?
One day we were reading a story about
pioneers and I said, “I like rabbit.” To eat. These were fourth-graders and since we had been a middle school, we were still set up with a kitchen for home [economics], so I bought a rabbit and brought it in a cooked it with the children. They liked it. Another time, with second-graders, we were reading a story about potatoes and I asked them if they liked mashed potatoes and baked potatoes and many had never had a baked potato. So we cooked them and they liked them, too. Mr. Mullenholz also said you are a “pillar in the community,” can you tell me about that?
I know a lot of the children’s parents, I had some of them here and now their children are here. People stay in the community and a lot of their grandparents raise them. I know who rides which bus, who walks and who carpools. I can say, “where’s your brother.” A lot of parents will tell their children, go ask Ms. Prather then tell me what she says. “Voices in Education” is a twice-monthly feature that highlights the men and women who are involved with the education of Montgomery County’s children. To suggest someone you would like to see featured, email Peggy McEwan at pmcewan@gazette.net.
EDUCATION NOTEBOOK Northwest High seniors share research projects Zoe Kaplan did not know there was a black market for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder stimulants until someone asked about buying some of hers at school one day. Since then she has researched the problem and said she is surprised at how much kids know about the use of the medications and how little parents and school administrators know about their misuse. Kaplan, who was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school, studied the underground distribution of ADHD stimulants for her senior research project as part of the Ulysses Signature Program at Northwest High School in Germantown. She, along with 28 other seniors in the program, presented her research to classmates, faculty, family and friends Jan. 7 at the school. The seniors in the Ulysses program are required to share their research twice: once as a lecture before a class and, the second time, as an exhibit to share in at the school’s Ulysses Fair offered in the winter and spring each year. Students entering the school must apply to be a part of the Ulysses program, said Suzanne Borenzweig, the program coordinator. About 125 students from each grade participate, she said. Kaplan’s exhibit including a video of the television show “CSI” that dealt with the problem of students purchasing and using the prescription drugs. ADHD causes concentration issues, she said, and people who don’t usually need the medication like it to help them focus for tests, especially SATs. Many of the students did their research on topics connected to their future occupa-
PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE
Robert Allsopp, a senior in the Ulysses Signature Program at Northwest High School in Germantown, discusses his senior research project with English teacher Dorothy Ellis on Jan. 7. Allsopp studied Alzheimer’s disease, examining its symptoms, causes and cures. tions — Kaplan would like to become a physician’s assistant — but others choose something they were just curious about. Sarah Lee, who often visits family in South Korea, wondered why cosmetic surgery was such big business there. “It’s so normal, so common in Korea,” she said. “It’s not seen as a negative. It’s like getting braces.” Through her research, “I came to the conclusion that the idea of beauty in the United States is that you are more than just your face, but in Korea it’s just about your face,” she said. Rachel Kim studied computer hacking for her exhibit, “Cybersecurity: The Real Deal.” Amdiel Clement took a cue from his own life to study “Academic Stress: Stressed to the Test” and Robert Allsopp created an exhibit on Alzheimer’s disease. He said the brain has always interested him. “In elementary school I did a research study on the lobes of the brain,” he said. Another group of Ulysses program studies will be pre-
sented at Northwest High on April 30 and May 1.
15 science students among nation’s tops Fifteen Montgomery County Public Schools students — out of 20 statewide — have been selected as semifinalists in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search, a nationwide high school science competition. The students and their high schools: • Montgomery Blair in Silver Spring: Alexander N. Bour-
zutschky, Ishaun S. Datta, Neil S. Davey, Daniela I. Ganelin, Yi-Zhi He, Aanchal Johri, Jessica Shi, Hueyjong Shih and Gabriella R. Studt. • Winston Churchill in Potomac: Daniel D. Liu and Jessica G. Yau. • Richard Montgomery in Rockville: Emily Z. Ma and Suzanne L. Xu. • Poolesville: Vinay K. Sriram. • Walt Whitman in Bethesda: Lisa Deng.
The competition is administered by the Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education. There were 300 semifinalists nationwide, who were chosen from a pool of nearly 1,800 entries. “I continue to be impressed by the high level of creativity, innovation, and commitment our students display in this rigorous competition,” county school Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said in a news release. The county students’ research projects covered a range of scientific topics, including cancer treatments, stem cell development and vaccinations. A list of all the semifinalists and their projects is at www.societyforscience.org. Each of the semifinalists will receive $1,000. Also, each school will receive $1,000 for each of its semifinalists, which is to be used to further excellence in science, math and engineering education. Forty finalists will be chosen Jan. 22 and will compete March 6-12 in Washington, D.C., for the top prize of $100,000.
Hispanic group honors Poolesville students Poolesville High School
seniors Andre Guzman of Gaithersburg and Carolina Zarate of Germantown were awarded scholarships for engineering and math talent at the Washington, D.C., regional Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards ceremony. As the gold medalist in the engineering and mathematics category, sponsored by ExxonMobil, Guzman won a $3,000 scholarship to help him pursue a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. Zarate, a silver award winner, received a $2,000 scholarship to pursue a degree in computer science.
The Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards program offers educational grants to Hispanic high school seniors chosen by regional selection committees based on their academic achievement, leadership, community service, category focus and an essay about the important role their heritage played in their success.
Open house at St. Patrick’s St. Patrick’s Catholic School
in Rockville will hold open houses for grades kindergarten through 8 on Jan. 23 and 28 and for its prekindergarten class Jan. 31. Both will be from 9 to 11 a.m. St. Patrick’s, at 4101 Norbeck Road, is an accredited Catholic school and is part of the Archdiocese of Washington. The school emphasizes excellence in academics, demonstrating faith through service and developing students skills to their fullest potential, according to a news release. For more information, call 301-929-9672, email office@ stpatrickadw.org, or visit www. stpatrickadw.org.
35 county teachers achieve certification Thirty-five Montgomery County Public Schools educators achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 2013. This brings the number of board-certified teachers in the school district to 672. The district surpasses all other districts in Maryland and ranks eighth among school districts nationwide in the number of new certified educators. The voluntary certification program involves a performance-based assessment that typically takes more
than a year to complete. It is designed to measure what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. The process requires teachers to demonstrate how their activities, both inside and outside the classroom, strengthen student performance and contribute to student achievement. Educators earn certification after completing a series of assessments that include teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes and analyses of their classroom teaching and student learning. Candidates also complete a series of written exercises that probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students. Certified full-time, non-administrative Montgomery educators receive a $2,000 annual bonus. The state also provides a stipend to certified teachers who meet certain qualifications, pending annual funding.
Gaithersburg High offers summer job fair Students at Gaithersburg High School who are thinking
ahead to summer can explore job opportunities at the Summer Job Fair at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the school cafeteria at 314 S. Frederick Ave. The fair is sponsored by the school and the Parent Teacher Student Association. Among the job providers who will be answering questions and taking applications at the fair will be Asbury Methodist Home in Gaithersburg; the Rockville Parks and Recreation Department; Gaithersburg’s aquatics, parks and recreation, miniature golf and water park facilities; and the Montgomery Village Foundation aquatics and parks and recreation departments. Information: carrieb@newsomseed.com.