School's out for the summer

June 06, 2002

dank@herald-mail.com

Four Emma K. Doub fourth-graders headed into summer vacation in style Wednesday.

Kara Burgan, Heather Frost, Kaitlyn Bosco and Stephanie Schubel were driven away from the last day of school in a white limousine.

The 9- and 10-year-old girls paid for the limo with more than $63,000 in fake money called scholar dollars, which they were awarded for doing well on tests and homework, good behavior and anything else teachers wanted to reward them for, Doub kindergarten teacher Robin Spickler said.

The limousine ride was donated by Northstar Limousine.

Around the time the four girls were hitting the street in their luxury ride, school bells were ringing across Washington County, releasing about 19,000 students for summer vacation.

"Now I can sleep. I don't have to get up at 6:30 in the morning," said Cameron Humphrey on his last day as an eighth-grader at E. Russell Hicks Middle School.

"I'm excited to get out, I need a vacation. But I'm going to miss my friends. Hopefully, I'll see them over the summer," said Channing Johnson, who was finishing her freshman year at South Hagerstown High School.

"It's an exciting day because we made it through another year. But it's sad because some of the kids are moving on (to high school)," Hicks Principal Deidre Shumaker said.

"It's an emotional time," said Spickler, whose kindergartners' last school day was Tuesday.

Blake Steel, who was finishing the 10th grade at South High, said he was looking forward to swimming and playing basketball. But his summer won't be too carefree - Steel plans to pick up more hours at his job at the McDonald's on Sharpsburg Pike south of Hagerstown.

The girls in the limousine said they were looking forward to some swimming this summer, in addition to no homework or early mornings - at least until the next school year begins Aug. 26.

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