COLLEGE BOUND: Three
WAKE UP OC: Resort residents,
Worcester Prep lacrosse players officially announce their commitment to play for Division I schools PAGE 37A
visitors and listeners worldwide can start their mornings with the sounds of ‘Bulldog’ and the Ocean 98.1 crew PAGE 1B
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Ocean City Today BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . 20A CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . 22B ENTERTAINMENT . . . . . . 5B LEGALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 26A
LIFESTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . 1B OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . 44A OUT&ABOUT . . . . . . . . 19B SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 37A
AREA CHURCHES HOST FREE THANKSGIVING DINNERS…PAGE 1B
WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
NOVEMBER 22, 2013
FREE
Board of Ed talks Common Core in county classrooms Emphasis on nonfiction, using texts to back points in English Language Arts CLARA VAUGHN Staff Writer
WINTERFEST
OCEAN CITY TODAY/CLARA VAUGHN
Workers give the Winterfest of Lights displays at Northside Park a first test Tuesday evening. The 58-acre winter wonderland opened for the holiday season with a ceremony on Thursday.
(Nov. 22, 2013) Despite controversy surrounding Maryland’s full-fledged adoption of the Common Core State Standards this year, many still don’t know how the set of federal benchmarks translates into practice. Snow Hill High School Principal Tom Davis and English teacher Jack Cleveland gave an overview of the changes they’re seeing based on the new English/Language Arts and Literacy (ELA) standards at Tuesday’s meeting of the Worcester County Board of Education. “We’re talking about a change in practice,” Davis said, but “it’s not a complete
change.” Under Common Core, Worcester schools are shifting their focus from traditional, fictional texts to more “contentrich nonfiction,” with a goal of moving high school students’ curricula to about 70 percent nonfiction reading, Cleveland said. That stretches beyond English classes to history, social studies, science and technical studies. Some traditional works could be bumped off the curriculum by the updates, but Cleveland said others like “Macbeth” would remain on the syllabus, ultimately at teachers’ discretion. Students are also being challenged to use texts, rather than their own experiences and ideas, to back claims. This “argument rather than… persuasion” style of communication helps them learn to deconstruct texts, compare and contrast views and use those views to reach conclusions based on logic, Davis said. See NEW on Page 3A
Boards go up, but ‘marginally housed’ remain in resort area Without winter wages, homelessness spikes in OC during off-season ZACK HOOPES Staff Writer
Residential & Commercial 24/7 Emergency Service
STARTING AT
(Nov. 22, 2013) Anyone looking for an impromptu camping trip in downtown Ocean City may just be out of luck, as the town has boarded up the
spaces beneath the park’s piers in response to a growing concentration of homeless residents in the area. Due to apparent complaints about the condition of Sunset Park, the Ocean City Police Department, with the assistance of city public works crews, installed barriers beneath the venue’s stage and observation deck to prevent vagrants from taking refuge there. “It’s just not safe, considering that the tide could come right in there,” said OCPD spokesperson Lindsay O’Neal.
$
“They could be sleeping and end up trapped under the pier.” Sunset Park, located next to the Coast Guard station on the bayside of the city’s South Division Street right-ofway, has served as an impromptu gathering place for many of the area’s so-called “marginally housed” residents, i.e., those who might have a place to live for periods of time, but default to sleeping in the open when other options are unavailable or out of reach. Although the space beneath the bay-
2999
side decks is quite low, beer cans and other refuse can still be seen behind the boards and plastic lattice that were used to close the space up last week. O’Neal said the city also did a considerable amount of cleaning. One man in the park last week, who gave his name as Derek, said he had slept there at times when he was unable to stay the night with a friend. “Nobody bothers you if you pick up after yourself, but people have been See SHELTER on Page 3A
COMPLETE HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!
410A 13-15 SEER PACKAGE: • Air Handler or Furnace, Coil & Condenser or Heat Pump • Programmable Thermostat • 2 Year Labor & 10 Years Parts Warranty • 1 Year Elite Maintenance Plan
Financing Available • All Major • Credit Cards Accepted
We Service All HVAC Brands
443-783-1591 855-484-8221 www.GVHVAC.com
MD HVAC #4450 – MD MHIC #130427 – DE HVAC/R # HM0000865 – LICENSED & INSURED