Educators

In one sense, the event had the feel of a traditional college fair with college representatives there to help high school students plan for a career. But this was a much broader view of higher education with sessions geared at ways to even get elementary school students on the right track for college. The Future Starts Now: College and Career Planning for K-12 Families also helped parents with tips on how to pay for college education, such as applying for financial help through university trusts, offered high school students advice on what kind of preparation they need to start taking now for various fields and featured various panel discussions.

Requiring visitors to public schools to present identification and having students carry ID cards were two ideas raised by Washington County Board of Education members during a recent policy committee meeting. The committee, which consists of three board members, reviewed three school security policies during its Feb. 28 meeting at the school system's central office. Board President Justin Hartings said it was worth reviewing the school security policies and seeing how they “might come into the 21st century.” If people want to visit a school, they should provide identification, Hartings said.

It's difficult to make concussion statistics scarier than they are. But here are a few eye-openers:  Each year, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.7 million people in the United States suffer a traumatic brain injury. About 475,000 of those cases are children.  High school football players alone sustain 100,000 diagnosed concussions during a season, while the average college lineman sustains between 950 and 1,100 subconsussive blows — hits that are enough to cause cumulative damage to young brain tissue but not enough to cause immediate symptoms.

Most Washington County residents have not obtained four-year college degrees, an educational gap that could hamper redevelopment efforts, according to an economic development strategic plan. “Washington County is at the lower end of the educational attainment spectrum in terms of percentages of its residents 25 years of age and older having four-year college degrees and graduate and professional degrees,” says the report, compiled by Urbanomics Inc. on behalf of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission and the county Industrial Foundation, or CHIEF.

The Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to enter into a purchase agreement to explore buying the former Allegheny Energy headquarters off Downsville Pike for its administrative offices. The agreement, however, does not commit the school system to buying the property, school system officials said. The agreement, which includes a $5.5 million purchase price, gives the school system a 45- to 78-day window, starting Wednesday, to check out the property and the building's systems, Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said.

There were thoroughbreds and foals, muscular lines and wavy manes, but all without horse trailers and with a much easier cleanup Sunday. Saddles-n-Spurs, the 4-H horse club, held its fourth annual model horse show Sunday at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center. Instead of riders lining up at the gate to a show ring, young girls carried their entries of model horses to the center tables and dusted them off before the judges gave the models a scrutinizing eye. Like their real-life counterparts, the model horses were judged on the body and build of their breed, said Rebecca Lawson, a judge from Boonsboro.

A free fibromyalgia education seminar is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Parkway Professional Conference Facility, lower level, 13 Western Maryland Parkway, Hagerstown. Dr. Daniel Sullivan and Dr. Michael Demarco of Parkway Neuroscience and Spine Institute will  give an educational and informative seminar about fibromyalgia. Admission is free. For more information, contact the marketing department at 301-797-4232 or marketing@pnsi.org.

Relocating the Washington County Board of Education central offices to downtown Hagerstown is “both physically and economically feasible,” according to a study released Tuesday by a Greater Hagerstown Committee task force. The study examined 12 potential sites before selecting its four preferred locations and presenting them to Mayor David S. Gysberts and the Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday at City Hall. The four highest-scoring sites, considered to have the best potential for both redeveloping the downtown as well as accommodating the BOE's needs, were three locations along West and East Washington streets (Sites titled F/G, A and J)

Caitlyn Kinzer, who graduated from Williamsport High School in January and already is taking classes at Hagerstown Community College, showed up with her mother Saturday afternoon at Valley Mall for assistance on filling out her Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). “We're looking for grants and anything that could help us,” said Kinzer, 17, who is going into nursing at HCC. “This helped us figure when and where we can get grants.” The Greater Hagerstown Community Education Forum provided assistance for filling out FAFSA forms and financial aid workshops Saturday for students and parents and will have it again Sunday in the former Kay Jewelers store at Valley Mall near J.C. Penney.

In oil, acrylic, watercolor, photography and other media in a variety of genres, Washington County art teachers showcased their work Friday night in the Washington County Arts Council's new space. Nearly 30 teachers submitted more than 40 pieces for “The Arts Educators of Washington County,” which runs through Feb. 27, at the council's gallery at 34-36 S. Potomac St. “We get to teach our students every day, but we also get to live the lifestyle of an artist,” said Kristen Ryan, a teacher at Boonsboro High School.