What an incredible journey it has been!  It has been a month since our last administrative update, but it feels like a day as time flies by and so many things go on.  As we look back on this year and look forward to the future, we are confident that we have built an outstanding foundation for greatness.  Marriotts Ridge’s students, staff members, and families should truly be proud of what has been accomplished in a short time.  Throughout the year, we have enjoyed sharing the achievements in our school community … please take a few minutes to read and enjoy.

 

Our Spring Sports teams did extremely well … our Boys Lacrosse and Baseball teams won Regional Championships!  The following students were chosen for All-County recognition in The Baltimore Sun:  Kyle Williams in Boys Lacrosse (2nd Team), Amanda Wedekind (1st Team) and Corey Johnson (2nd Team) in Girls Lacrosse, Steven Blucher (2nd Team) in Baseball, Kelsey Fuller (2nd Team) in Softball, and Jocelyn Henline (Pole Vault State Champion) and Annie Heismoth in Outdoor Track.  Haley Katsman received Washington Post All-Metro Honorable Mention in Tennis.  Congratulations to these student-athletes, their teammates, and our coaches on a great season!

 

Two of our distinguished art students, Chelsey Curtin and Katie Jurney, currently have artwork displayed at the Howard County Department of Education Gallery as part of the Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Enrichment Program.  Their work will be on display until August 9 …the gallery is open M-F 8:30 Am to 4:30 PM.  Congratulations to these students and their teacher, Mrs. Miers-Bond!

 

One of our freshmen, Jire Bademosi, made a presentation to all Howard County health educators at a recent professional development workshop.  Her topic...“Internet Safety”… is an important one.  Jire received great accolades for her research and presentation.  Keep up the good work!

 

The final edition of The Stallion for this year was issued last week … it is excellent!  Our newspaper students and their sponsor, Mr. Frank, have truly developed into a very productive team.  If you have not had a chance to check it out, take a few minutes to visit our school website …www.marriottsridge.net.  We commend Mr. Frank and his journalism students!

 

Our Computer Science Team traveled to Texas for the National Championships.  In the Intermediate division, our students placed 11th and our Senior Team came in 10th.  Brian Kim, Sarah Hess, Alison Romano, Laura Gilbert, Brendan Wray,  and Josh Tilles were individual high scorers.  We even took a middle school team from Mt. View along and they finished 11th in their division.  We applaud our students and their coaches, Mr. Hahne and Mrs. Cannella, on an outstanding performance!

 

We were remiss in thanking someone who played a big part in our PreProm preparedness.  Mr. Anthony Perillo from McAllister and Company/Erie Insurance in Waverly conducted an excellent program for our students regarding teen drinking and driving.  His message was excellent and very well received by our students.  We are working on a partnership with Mr. Perillo to organize on-going programs related to this very important topic.

 

In our last update, we mentioned that we were heading off to The Cappies, an awards program for regional drama programs.  Many of our students were nominated for awards … in competition with some outstanding programs, such as River Hill and Mt. Hebron, our Fame Band was awarded the Cappie for Best Play Orchestra.  Outstanding …kudos to Mr. Eberhardt and our students who did such a great job!

 

Three students …Sara Olson, Lowell Safran and Elizabeth Watson … have been selected as members of the 2007 Leadership U class.  Leadership U is a countywide youth leadership program that helps students entering their junior year in high school develop leadership skills by providing them with opportunities to learn through scenarios with teammates and mentoring relationships with community leaders.  What a great program!

 

A quick note about Attendance … with everyone working together, we were able to achieve the highest rating that the state department of education gives for attendance on the state report card.  Our daily attendance rate was over 96% for the second year in a row.  We appreciate everyone’s cooperation as school attendance is such an important factor in student success.

 

We conducted Student Government elections for our rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors (wow…doesn’t that have a nice ring?) recently.  We want to commend all students who chose to run and want to recognize those students who were chosen by their peers … they have already started working together … we are expecting great things next year!  Congratulations to the new officers listed below.  Thanks to our SGA Advisor, Mr. Dubbs, and our Class Sponsors, Mrs. Grey, Ms. Rizzo, Mr. Malt, Ms. Bejm, Ms. Allman, and Mr. Ventosa.

 

SGA Officers

 

Title

Name

President

Sarah Hamilton

Vice President

Ellen Woodcock

Treasurer

Haley Katsman

Recording Secretary

Melanie Holsten

Publicity Secretary

Tara McVey

Historian

Emilie Killian

Parliamentarian

Kyle Feldman

HCASC Member

Minh Pho

 

Class of 2008

 

Title

Name

President

Lydia Tucker

Vice President

Kristen Miller

Treasurer

Abbey Marvenko

Recording Secretary

Shana Rusonis

Publicity Secretary

Lindsay Cohen

Historian

Ela Locke

Parliamentarian

Michelle Lawrence

 

Class of 2009

 

Title

Name

President

Caitlin Eggleston

Vice President

Dan Schonfeld

Treasurer

Malena Silva

Recording Secretary

Haleigh Boswell

Publicity Secretary

Lowell Safren

Historian

Caroline Titan

 

Class of 2010

 

Title

Name

President

Courtney Miller

Vice President

Will Bowman

Treasurer

Erica Crouch

Recording Secretary

Yuti Shah

Publicity Secretary

Drew Belsinger

Historian

Allison Kahan

 

We have enjoyed many wonderful events over the past few weeks … the Spring Sports Awards Ceremony, Sophomore Class Ring Ceremony, End of the Year Dance, our Musical Theatre “Mustang Cabaret,” and our Evening of Excellence Academic Awards Ceremony.  In addition, we must thank our PTSA Staff Appreciation Committee for sponsoring a fantastic celebration luncheon for our staff today.

 

Many more “Famous Firsts” were achieved this year.  The year has flown by, but it has provided many memories for years to come.  We cannot wait to see what our third year brings … having four classes here next year will be amazing!  

 

We will be sending out final 06-07 report cards, 07-08 student schedules, and information regarding senior events and other important information throughout the upcoming weeks.  Have a great summer …be safe out there …we want to see you back here in the fall.

 

One last note … we must recognize one more time the contributions of Mrs. Lisa Veslany, Assistant Principal and Original Mustang, as she moves to a new assignment as Assistant Principal at Howard High.  Even though this move was a surprise to us, our Central Office knows that Mrs. Veslany can offer great skills and experience to the Howard staff.  We wish her the best and simply must say, “Thank you!” 

 

Remember that Fall Sports start on August 15 and Back to School Night will be held September 5.  Our tentative yearlong calendar for 2007-8 will be posted on our school website in the next couple of weeks.