Summer Activities Registration is Open
St. Mary's County Public Schools announced that the registration period for the 2014 Summer Activities is now open. Registration for the summer programs will be open between April 1, 2014 and May 30, 2014.
The summer Fine Arts Camps are for students completing grades 3 - 8. The goal of this program is to provide opportunities for students to participate in enrichment activities in one of the following course areas: band, chorus, orchestra, theatre, and visual arts. Fine Arts Camps will be held at Leonardtown Middle School. Elementary Fine Arts Camp will be June 23 - 27, 2014 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 is a holiday - Primary Election Day, All Schools and Offices will be closed) and the Middle/High School Fine Arts Camp will be July 7 - 10, 2014.
St. Mary's County Public Schools is pleased to announce the first annual Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) Camp for students in grades 2 - 5. The goal of this program is to provide elementary students the opportunity to experience learning a foreign language through an immersion environment using fun activities such as songs, role playing, and interactive games. The FLES Camp will offer French and Spanish sessions June 30, 2014 - July 3, 2014 and July 7 - 10, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. at Evergreen Elementary School. Spaces are limited and wait lists will be formed after sessions are filled.
The eighth annual Space Camp Program provides STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes in a fun learning environment. The elementary program is available for students entering grades 2 - 6 and the secondary program is for students entering grades 9 - 11. Space Camp will be held at Great Mills High School over four days, Monday through Thursday. There will be three sessions: Secondary Week 1 will be July 14 - 17, 2014; Elementary Week 1 and Secondary Week 2 will be July 21 - 24, 2014; and Elementary Week 2 will be July 28 - 31, 2014. Registration for the 2014 Space Camp programs will continue until all spaces are filled. Wait lists will be formed after sessions are filled.
The third annual Tech Kids Summer Youth Enrichment Program for students ages 8 - 13 will be held at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center. This program provides fun, enriching, hands on opportunities for students. The following programs will be offered the week of July 7 - 10, 2014 and July 14 - 17, 2014: CSI St. Mary's; Future Firefighters; Lights, Camera, Action; KidVenture; Tech Kids Café; Techies Unite! Expanding Applications; and Techies Unite! Building a PC. Spaces are limited and wait lists will be formed after sessions are filled.
For more information regarding these programs and/or to register for an event, please visit the St. Mary's County Public Schools' Summer Activities page at www.smcps.org/summeractivites.
Board Of Education to Meet on Wednesday, April 23
The Board of Education of St. Mary's County will meet for a special meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, in the Board of Education Meeting Room, 23160 Moakley Street, in Leonardtown. The Board will be meeting in open session to discuss the FY 2014 and FY 2015 Budgets. For more details, call (301) 475-5511, ext. 32178.
Destination Imagination Teams Advance To Global Finals
On April 5, 2014 teams from seven schools in St. Mary's County Public Schools (SMCPS) participated in the state tournament for Destination Imagination (DI). This was the sixth year the school system had broad representation at the tournament.
Over eighty students, representing Leonardtown Elementary, Town Creek Elementary, Chesapeake Public Charter School, Park Hall Elementary, Leonardtown Middle, Spring Ridge Middle, and Great Mills High, competed in the State Tournament at the University of Maryland (Baltimore County). Sixty-six teams from the region competed for the opportunity to advance to the Global Finals in May.
SMCPS is pleased to announce that two teams from the Chesapeake Public Charter School advanced to the Global finals. The Chesapeake Power of 5 and the Chesapeake Super Star Angels teams will compete at the Global Finals competition, which will take place May 21-24, 2014 at the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, TN.
Power of 5
Morgan Huntt
Jolie Ganzell
Alani Pranzo
Courtney Rosenstadt
Katelyn Kovach
Managers - Lynn Huntt, MaryBeth Ganzell
Super Star Angels
Abbi Vanecko
Anneliese Hess
Jasmine Cooper
Katie McHugh
Emily Nelson
Sarah Angay
Reagan Angle
Managers - Leslie Hess, Rebecca Vanecko
SMCPS is very proud of all of its teams. The competitions represent the culmination of the work our students have done since September in preparing for their challenge and exercising their creative problem solving and teamwork skills.
DI is an international creative problem solving program in which students work together as part of a team of five, six, or seven to develop a solution to one of six different challenges, which they perform in front of appraisers at tournaments. DI is being implemented as part of a system-wide STEM for All effort to expand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills for students in all schools. DI participants develop life skills while solving challenges through their unique hands-on experiences in the sciences, technology, mechanics, engineering, theater, improvisation, goal setting, time and budget management, team building, and leadership.
For more information regarding Destination Imagination, please visit the St. Mary's County Public Schools' Department of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development at
www.smcps.org/tlpd.