T H E G AZ ET T E
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 d
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SCHOOL LIFE n Age: 41
Keith Adams
n Job title: Social studies resource teacher, John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring; founder CKA SAVE Project n Hometown: Hyattsville; now lives in Silver Spring n Education: Bachelor of science, history, Bowie State University; master’s in teaching, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix; Educational Leadership certification, Hood College; now working on Ph.D. in organizational leadership n Family: Divorced with one son, Keith Jr., 5 n Hobby: Fan of professional wrestling n Lesson to live by: “Discipline is simply doing what you are supposed to do, at the time you are supposed to do it, and in the best possible manner and that’s not such a bad thing,” — Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University basketball coach
Keith Adams is a social studies resource teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, and founder of CKA SAVE Project, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting student athletes lead successful academic and professional careers. He was interviewed Friday at Kennedy. You are a teacher at Kennedy and the founder of a nonprofit that benefits student athletes. Do you consider yourself a teacher first or a coach?
I’m always a teacher first. I’m a teacher coach: a teacher in the classroom and a teacher in the gym. You talk a lot about coaching while teaching. The worlds are intertwined. I’ve been teaching 19 years in Montgomery County; I was hired May 1995. I started as a social studies teacher at Benjamin Banneker Middle School [Silver Spring]. I got to teach at my old middle school, then I went to Paint Branch [High School] where I graduated from and played varsity basketball for four years. So for my first five years who better to teach me how to be a teacher than those who taught me? I was also assistant basketball coach at Paint Branch. Then I went to Wootton [High School] to be head basketball coach and social studies teacher. We did well at Wootton. I moved to Springbrook [High School] and left coaching to coach at Hood College and then I came to Kennedy. I stayed at Hood coaching for eight years.
VOICES IN EDUCATION So tell me about the CKA SAVE Project. What does that stand for?
Coach Keith Adams Student Athletes Valuing Education Project. When I was in high school all of us on the team were very close to Coach [Hank] Galotta. One day he went on a rant about coaches as role models. Coaches really are role models and that really stayed with me. I said, “Coach, one day when I get the means I’m going to get this group together and we’re going to make a difference.” When I was coaching at Hood [College] I saw kids just like me, kids who needed a direction, who needed attention. So I decided to start a nonprofit. I called on my former players. One was in business and he helped me set up a corporation, another who was a lawyer helped with the legal part. Several helped with seed money. Slowly it built up and in April 2009 we became a 501(c)(3). Our mission is simply to assist students; the primary focus is student athletes, and the people who work with them. This is the first year we are offering scholarships, one to a male and one to a female athlete. How do you assist students?
We teach them time-management skills,
organizational skills and the ability to selfadvocate. For teachers we teach them about the athletic mindset and how to use it to expect higher levels of communication, higher levels of collaboration and higher levels of accountability. When people are given a task and not given the means to do that task they won’t do it well, so we do a summer AP class to prepare students for AP classes. Their likelihood of success greatly increases — like basketball, you get better with practice. We also have a summer camp to prepare students for the responsibilities of high school. We also take them on college visits to get them in the mindset of going to college. Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
We are having an academic all-star basketball game here at Kennedy March 17. It is seniors playing and they have to have a 2.5 grade point average. The cost is $10 and all the money goes to academic programs here at Kennedy High School.
“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 County Scouts participate in annual Klondike Derby If there was ever a time to “Be Prepared,” it was the weekend of Jan. 17-19 when Boy Scouts from around the county held their annual Klondike Derby at Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg. More than 450 Scouts participated in the winter weekend camporee, all waking up Saturday morning to a dusting of snow that fell Friday night. Joe Goldsmith of Troop 445 in Damascus said he didn’t mind the cold and snow. “I love camping,” he said. “I came prepared, dressed in layers.” In addition to setting up their camp sites, cooking meals and staying warm, Scouts participated in 22 separate activities designed to test their camping skills. Jack Lundin of Troop 68 in Bethesda quizzed Scouts on common plants and animals. He awarded points to the Scout patrols for corra the highest score and the title of overall winner. “We’re trying to teach how to use what you can,” said adult leader Geoffrey Wolfe of Troop 1434 in Bethesda. “If you are in trouble, you can take action.” The Scouts’ skills points were added to scores earned by submitting a design for the 22015 Klondike Derby patch, building and bringing a sled to the weekend equipped with a winter survival kit or entering the Saturday night dessert competition, where patrols contributed their own sweet creations for judging. Top honors for most points earned this year went to the Mighty Penguins patrol of Troop 249 of Silver Spring. The weekend wrapped up Sunday morning with an actual Klondike Derby. Patrols
ists, accounting for 75 percent of Maryland’s 20 semifinalists. Montgomery has three of the state’s four finalists.
Rocky Hill students perform ‘Annie Jr.’
GEOFFREY WOLFE
Boy Scouts from Troop 1449 in Rockville participate in the sled race at the Boy Scouts Potomac District Klondike Derby on Jan. 19 at Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg. used their sleds, some specially decorated for the competition, in a race across the Little Bennett meadow. The Hun patrol from Troop 773 in Potomac came in first and the Spam patrol from Troop 1449 in Rockville took second. Don Kilgore, district director of the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council, said the Scouts loved the weekend. “They are well prepared and it’s a good experience,” he said.
Blair High has three finalists in science contest Three Montgomery County Public Schools students — all from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring — are finalists in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search, a nationwide high school science competition. Ishaun S. Datta, Neil S. Davey and Jessica Shi are
among 40 finalists nationwide who will gather March 6-12 in Washington, D.C., to compete for more than $600,000 in
awards, including a grand prize of $100,000. The students’ projects: • Datta: Saturated Nuclear Matter in the Large Nc and Heavy Quark Limits of Quantum Chromodynamics. • Davey: Early Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Through the Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells Using Drop-Based Microfluidics. • Shi: The Speeds of Families of Intersection Graphs. “This is a very proud day for Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery Blair High School,” Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said in a news release. “These students have combined deep academic knowledge with creativity and perseverance and it has led to tremendous success. Congratulations to our Intel finalists, their families, and the staff that have supported them throughout this process.” The contest is administered by the Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education. Fifteen county students were among the 300 semifinal-
The Rocky Hill Headliners from Rocky Hill Middle School in Clarksburg will present the musicial “Annie Jr.” this week. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with a 2:30 p.m. matinee Sunday. The school is at 22401 Brick Haven Way. Tickets, available at the door, cost $7, and $5 for students and senior citizens. For group ticket sales or more information, email Catherine_A_ Obendorfer@mcpsmd.org.
Audubon opens summer camp registration Registration for the Audubon Naturalist Society’s summer camp offerings begins at 9 a.m. Friday. Summer camps and programs for students in pre-kindergarten through 10th grade are offered at two locations in Montgomery County: Woodend Nature Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase; and the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center, 5110 Meadowside Lane, Rockville. “We are a throwback outdoor summer camp: we’re outdoors, playing games, walking in the woods,” camp director Karen Vernon said in a news release. “But the magic climbing over fallen logs or finding a salamander under the leaves unlocks for our campers is transformative, like only experiences in nature can be.” Weekly summer camp sessions run at Woodend June 16 through Aug. 15, with camps
for all ages. A Teen Naturalist Training Program is offered for students entering ninth and 10th grades. The teens are taught what it takes to be an Audubon naturalist while volunteering in the summer camp program and earning student service learning hours. “Last year was our first year offering the [training] program and it quickly sold out,” Vernon said. “Our camps are also very popular among elementary school-aged children, which is why we added the Rockville location.” For the past three years, the society has had a partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools to offer some of its signature nature camps at the Smith Center. First- through fourthgraders can attend the Smith Center for two weeks in August. More information and online registration are at anshome.org/camp.
Transfer applications get underway Monday Montgomery County parents and guardians seeking a change of school assignment for their children from their home school may begin the process starting Monday. All requests must be submitted by April 1. Except for students in the Northeast, Downcounty and Middle School Magnet consortiums, county students are assigned to a school based on their residence or their Individualized Education Program and are expected to attend that school. Assignment changes are permitted under the following circumstances: • An older sibling attends the requested school in the regular program, absent a boundary change. • A continuation in a feeder
pattern from middle to high school, except when affected by boundary change, application program acceptance or consortium choice guidelines. • A documented, unique hardship situation. • A student selected for an exempt program. At the home school or online, parents or guardians may obtain an information booklet that contains the request form, describes the process and provides other information. It is available in English and Spanish. Exempt programs that do not fall under the transfer guidelines are listed in the information booklet. There is a different process to access the elementary language immersion programs. Information and copies of the relevant forms are available at all elementary schools and online at montgomeryschoolsmd.org. Parents of fifth-graders enrolled in immersion programs should submit a change of school assignment if they want the students to continue in the immersion program in middle school. For information about assignments for students in the Northeast, Downcounty and Middle School Magnet consortiums, contact the Division of Consortia Choice and Application Program Services at 301592-2040 or visit the website. For more information about the transfer process, parents and guardians are encouraged to contact the principal at their home school. Non-English speakers who need help may call 301-309-6277, where operators who speak English and Spanish are available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Parents who speak languages other than English or Spanish who call and identify their language will have their questions answered through a telephone interpreter.