Leonard Slatkin, the director of the National Symphony Orchestra, worked with Landon School music students on Tuesday, Jan. 29. He rehearsed the school's Junior Bearitones and Little Singers, which are preparing for the Children's Choir Festival, scheduled to take place at Carnegie Hall, on Sunday, March 17 at 8 p.m.
<mh>Junior Nobel Prize
<bt>Four Potomac students, five North Potomac students, and three Bethesda students are semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, a pre-college science competition that is often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize."
Semifinalists were judged by scientists on research ability, scientific originality and creative thinking.
Semifinalists were selected from 1,562 applicants, representing 31 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam. Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring had the most semifinalists, 10 from Potomac, Bethesda, or North Potomac. Each of the 300 semifinalists will receive $1,000 in recognition of their scientific achievements and their schools will receive $1,000 per semifinalist in support of science and math programs.
On January 30, 40 finalists will be named. They will compete for college scholarships totaling $530,000. After a rigorous interview process, winners will be announced on March 11. All finalists will receive a Intel lap-top computer.
Visit www.sciserv.org
The following students were honored as semifinalists.
Walt Whitman High School's Santhi Janakiram Gollapalli, 17, and Ophelia Shalini Venturelli, both of Bethesda.
Montgomery Blair High School's Jennifer Christy Alyono, 17, Byron Corey Drumheller, 17, Jean Li, 17, and Rahul Satija, 16; North Potomac's Enoch Sung Hay Chu, 17, Fun-Chen Jesse Jou, 17, Nancy H. Ku, 17, John Yuanson Li, 17, Edward Felix Lin, 17; and Bethesda's Robert Kang Xing Jin, 17.
<mh>Hoover's Science Symposium
<bt>Hoover Middle School, 8810 Postoak Road, is sponsoring the school's Third Annual Science Symposium on Feb. 6, starting at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.
Seventh and eighth-grade students, who have conducted science research and experimentation on a variety of experiments — such as the effects of weather on the school cafeteria noise level and the effects of olfactory stimulants on work performance — will share their work in the Hoover cafeteria on Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. for display board viewing. Oral presentations given by students will be given 6:30-9 p.m.
<mh>Parenting Class
<bt>"Parenting Teens," a guide to meeting the challenges of raising teenagers, will be held at the Ayrlawn YMCA Program Center on Thursdays, from Jan. 17-Feb. 21, from 7-8:30 p.m. The six-week program, sponsored by YMCA Bethesda Youth Services, costs $15 and includes materials. Call to register at 301-229-1347.
<mh>Scholarships Available
<bt> The Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA) is offering $45,000 in college scholarships and loans for the 2002-2003 academic year. Only one application is necessary to be considered for grants that include graduate and undergraduate programs and Jewish communal service, either in the states or abroad.
Call Bobbie Raftery at JSSA at 301-816-2604 or visit www.jssa.org. The application deadline is March 1.
<mh>Special Needs Library
<bt>The main phone number at the county's Special Needs Library at Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Blvd., has been changed to 240-777-0960. The TTY number, 301-897-2217, for people with hearing impairments has not changed. The special needs library is open Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
<mh>Camps and Playgrounds
<bt>Information on the 2002 schedule for camps and playgrounds in Montgomery County will be included in the spring issue of the "Guide to Recreation and Leisure," which will be available in mid-February. The guide will be available at all Montgomery County community centers, swim centers, senior centers, regional service centers and public libraries. Call 240-777-6930.
<mh>College Notes
<bt>Potomac's Dara Lee Neuman, daughter of Penny and Neal Neuman, has accepted membership into the Golden Key International Honour Society and is the 2000-2001 recipient of Cornell University's annual Ford Motor Company/Golden Key International Honour Society Undergraduate Scholarship.
Neuman, who has a 4.1 grade point average, is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and Behavior. She tutors biology, volunteers at the campus health center, and is a member of the Chai Notes, Cornell's only Jewish a capella group, and the Alpha Phi sorority.
The Golden Key society awards two scholarships annually to each of its 300 college and university chapters. The scholarship is awarded based on overall scholastic performance, honors and awards received, leadership, campus and community activity and work commitments.
Membership into the Golden Key society is by invitation only to the top 15 percent of juniors and seniors in all fields of study.
* Courtney Wasp, of Potomac, was inducted in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and was honored during a ceremony at the University of Colorado at Boulder. President of the Sophomore Honor Society, Wasp is continuing her second year of studies.
* Bucknell University students Jonathan L. Hanowell, of Potomac; Benjamin E. Fisher, of Rockville; Kristen L. Pomponio, of Bethesda; and Erin L. Rosenthal, of Bethesda, all earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher to make the dean's list for outstanding academic achievement during the fall semester.
* Potomac's Andrew Shin, a sophomore majoring in political science and sociology, and Jaquelyn Jouvenal, a sophomore majoring in illustration, were both inducted into the Syracuse University chapter of the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society recognizing academic excellence among first-year college students. Both students achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
Potomac's Aaron Brodsky, a senior in Syracuse University's school of management, was inducted into the university's chapter of the Golden Key National Honor Society, recognizing students who have a grade point average of 3.3 or higher and are in the top 15 percent of the junior or senior class.
Marcella Jones, majoring in psychology, was named to the 2001-2002 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and College.
* Potomac's Adam Cohen, Patrick Keeley, Tyler Lavin and Michael Reineck all are members of the class of 2005 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Lavin and Reineck both played football this past semester. Dartmouth, the ninth-oldest college in the U.S., was founded in 1769.
* The following students were named to the fall 2001 University of Delaware Dean's list for receiving a grade point average of 3.33 or above. From Potomac were Kimberly Brown, a sophomore psychology major; Adam Cohen, sophomore, leadership and consumer economics; Elana Graber, freshman, psychology; Elena Groves, junior, biological sciences; Brian Salcetti, junior, finance. From North Potomac: Susan Rupp, sophomore, nursing; Ellen Teng, freshman, hotel, restaurant and institutions; Andrew Urgenson, junior, political science; and Lauren Moskowitz, sophomore, early childhood development.
* Darren Higgins, son of Dr. and Mrs. John Higgins or Esworthy Place in North Potomac, made the dean's list at Hamilton College in the fall 2001 semester. Higgins is a senior majoring in art.
* Lorraine Carol Bonde Diering of Potomac earned her Post Master's Certificate in Nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Scottsbluff, Neb. Commencement for students in the College of Nursing West Nebraska was held Dec. 22.
<mh>Season for Transferring Schools
<bt>Montgomery County parents who wish to transfer their children from their regularly-assigned school may begin the process from Feb. 1 through April 1.
Students in Montgomery County Public Schools can apply for a transfer if there is a documented hardship situation; an older sibling in the requested school; or in cases involving continuation of a feeder pattern from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school, except when affected by boundary changes.
The transfer process begins in the home school, where parents may request an assignment change form and an information booklet that describes the process. The booklet will be available beginning the first week of February.
For more information parents should contact the principal of their home school. Non-English speaking parents may receive more information by calling the Spanish Hotline at 301-230-3073, the Asian Hotline at 301-230-5436 and the ESOL Parent Center at 301-230-0674.
<mh>Kids Club
<bt>Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church offers Kid's Club for children in the third through seventh grades. Arts and crafts classes will take place from February 7 - February 28. The cost is $30 to cover snacks and supplies. A cooking and baking class will take place from March 7 - March 28. All classes take place on Thursdays, from 4-6 p.m. Call 301-365-2850.