HCPSS Students and Staff Recognized in May 2018 By Interim Superintendent

May 30th, 2018

Superintendent Michael J. Martirano recently recognized the following students and staff achievements.

Students:

In March, a team of six Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) cadets and two army instructors from Atholton High School participated in the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Air Force Base in New Mexico. The 26.2-mile march commemorates the service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II.

Several River Hill High School students excelled in two international DECA competitions. Team Rubber Restrictor was selected as the high school global winning team in the 2017 DECA Idea Challenge, where they were challenged to generate a new use for rubber bands within a week. They created an impressive mesh filter to catch plastic pollution from getting into sewers, ultimately to save the Chesapeake Bay. And Grant Owens was a semifinalist in the Apparel & Accessories Marketing categories in the International Career Development Conference and Competition.

Two HCPSS high school robotics teams went to the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in Detroit in late April. Space RAIDers from Atholton High School and Robotiators from Glenelg High School joined more than 15,000 students from around the world, putting their innovation skills to the test with team-built robots.

Mt. Hebron High School Economics Challenge student teams finished second and third at the National Economics Challenge, the nation’s only high school competition in academic economics. The challenge recognizes exceptional high school students for their knowledge of economic principles and their ability to apply problem solving and critical thinking to real-world events.

Staff:

This year, 43 teachers achieved National Board Certification—32 first-time achievers and 11 who renewed their certification. National Board Certification is the highest-level credential in the educational profession.

Seventh Grade Science Teacher Patricia Watt from Folly Quarter Middle School has organized several fundraisers to send more than 70 students in Haiti to school. As a result of her efforts, she was recently recognized with a 2018 Leadership Award from the Build Haiti Foundation.

With the leadership of HCPSS Food and Nutrition Services, the school system recently attained the highest score–A+–in Maryland on the 2017 School Food Environment Grade Report for the second year in a row. This score was provided by Healthy School Food Maryland, which grades all public school districts in Maryland for school meals, the wellness environment, and on areas of concern to parents and public health advocates.