History Teacher

pepperb@herald-mail.com Hedgesville, W.Va. - After all the prom dresses are altered, the tuxedos rented and the dinner plans set, teacher Eric Brown reserves one more seat for his students - one he hopes they'll never have the horror of sitting in. For the Hedgesville High School students in Brown's U.S. History classes, the day before prom means closing their minds to partying and dressing up and opening their eyes to drunk driving, death...

Donald McCammon wants to continue helping children, which is why the retired Washington County teacher and school administrator said he decided to file for county Orphans Court judge. McCammon, 63, of 12930 The Terrace, is a Republican Over the years, McCammon said he's always listened to his students, "even when they don't think I'm listening. I've really tried to help students, and this is another way to help. " After 36 years as a history teacher and administrator, McCammon retired from Washington County Public Schools in 2001.

HAGERSTOWN - Donald McCammon wants to continue helping children, which is why the retired Washington County teacher and school administrator said he decided to file for county Orphans Court judge. McCammon, 63, of 12930 The Terrace, filed July 3 to run for Orphans Court judge on the Republican ticket. He is one of seven candidates vying for three open seats, which carry four-year terms. The primary election is Sept. 12. The general election is Nov. 7. Orphans Court judges meet two days a week at the Washington County Courthouse to probate wills, set attorneys' fees, settle disputes over estates, and appoint administrators and guardians.

Heather Noelle Wiles and Charles Christian South II were married July 26, 2008, at Old South Mountain Inn, Boonsboro. The bride is the daughter of Jay and Sue Wiles of Hagerstown. The groom is the son of C. Christian and Rebecca South of Williamsport. The bride is a 1994 graduate of Boonsboro High School, a 2000 graduate of Shepherd University and is pursuing a master's degree at Frostburg State University. She is employed as an art teacher at Williamsport Elementary School.

CLEAR SPRING andrews@herald-mail.com As Clear Spring High School's graduating class filed out of the school auditorium Thursday, Gloria Cunningham clutched a camera in her right hand and watched for her daughter. In her left hand, she held two homemade leis that were noticeable for their greenery: cash was folded in. "It's a tradition in Hawaii," where she's from, she said. She said it took her six hours to make the leis, which contained about $200. Finally, Leilani Cunningham emerged from the crowd.

The junior high school in which I began my teaching career had classes grouped by ability. My last period math class was the cream of the cream. Brighter than any group had the right to be. One spring day they came into my classroom visibly upset. Try as I might, I simply could not get their attention. Finally, I stopped my efforts to teach. I looked at Theodisia and said, "Teddy, what's wrong with you folk today?" She asked, "Do you know Mr. Patrone down the hall?" Certainly I knew Mr. Patrone.

Two named Teacher of the Year through Wal-Mart, Sam's Club Two Washington County Public Schools teachers were recently honored. Mary Ward, a teacher at Clear Spring Middle School, was selected as the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. Tammy Marriner, a teacher at Hickory Elementary School, was selected as the Sam's Club Teacher of the Year. Students nominated the teachers for the honor through programs sponsored by the local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. About 200 pieces of art to be part of HCC student art show Hagerstown Community College will host the 18th semi-annual student art show beginning today through Friday in Kepler Theater.

WASHINGTON COUNTY A documentary that began as a group history project for five Washington County Technical High School students received an award at a statewide history competition last weekend. The team walked away with the "We The People" American History and Cultural Award at the Maryland History Day competition for a documentary on John Brown, the abolitionist who raided a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., in 1859. The group received a plaque and $100 but will not advance to nationals.

South Hagerstown High School history teacher John Priest traveled this summer to the University of Virginia to attend a one-week competitive application seminar titled "The American Civil War: Origins and Consequences, Battlefields and Homefront. " The seminar was led by Gary Gallagher, John L. Nau III professor of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. The seminar, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, was attended by 30 teachers, and examined the scope and consequences of the Civil War. The Gilder Lehrman Institute's summer seminars are designed to strengthen educators' commitment to high-quality history teaching.

Student had found calling By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI / Staff Writer HALFWAY - A Washington County man who died in a traffic accident Saturday morning was remembered by his family as a strong-willed, caring person with a gift for art. Daryl Paul Earnest, 22, of Halfway, died in Arlington, Va., when his car struck another vehicle, sending it crashing into a nearby Econo Lodge at 2:15 a.m., Arlington County Police said. He was the son of Larry P. and Kathleen Kircher Earnest of Halfway.

If it wasn't for Donald Whitenight, a middle school teacher in Benton, Pa., Derek Hughes might never have become eligible for a $24,000 fellowship named for America's fourth president. Hughes, 28, who teaches history at Washington High School in Jefferson County, W.Va., was one of 58 history, civics and social studies secondary school teachers across the country to receive this year's James Madison Memorial Fellowship to continue their educations. He will use the money to get his master's degree.

Heather Noelle Wiles and Charles Christian South II were married July 26, 2008, at Old South Mountain Inn, Boonsboro. The bride is the daughter of Jay and Sue Wiles of Hagerstown. The groom is the son of C. Christian and Rebecca South of Williamsport. The bride is a 1994 graduate of Boonsboro High School, a 2000 graduate of Shepherd University and is pursuing a master's degree at Frostburg State University. She is employed as an art teacher at Williamsport Elementary School.

"Incompetent fool. " "Mediocre. " "Classically feckless lame duck. " All these descriptions - certainly not words of praise - have been used by historians to describe James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States who was born and raised in Franklin County, Pa. In fact, in C-SPAN's 2009 Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership, Buchanan was ranked last overall among 42 presidents. So much for local-boy-became-president as a source of pride. Except that becoming president of the United States is an accomplishment unto itself, said local historians and history teachers at James Buchanan high and middle schools in Mercersburg, Pa. Buchanan, born in Cove Gap, Pa., grew up in the Mercersburg area.

The junior high school in which I began my teaching career had classes grouped by ability. My last period math class was the cream of the cream. Brighter than any group had the right to be. One spring day they came into my classroom visibly upset. Try as I might, I simply could not get their attention. Finally, I stopped my efforts to teach. I looked at Theodisia and said, "Teddy, what's wrong with you folk today?" She asked, "Do you know Mr. Patrone down the hall?" Certainly I knew Mr. Patrone.

South Hagerstown High School history teacher John Priest traveled this summer to the University of Virginia to attend a one-week competitive application seminar titled "The American Civil War: Origins and Consequences, Battlefields and Homefront. " The seminar was led by Gary Gallagher, John L. Nau III professor of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. The seminar, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, was attended by 30 teachers, and examined the scope and consequences of the Civil War. The Gilder Lehrman Institute's summer seminars are designed to strengthen educators' commitment to high-quality history teaching.

Katie Deuell Katie Deuell, 24, of Martinsburg, W.Va., is a recent graduate of Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va. She majored in elementary education, and will teach first grade at Williamsport Elementary School. This will be Deuell's first year teaching, and she said she has been busy setting up her classroom and getting ready for her students. She will have 20, she said. "I love kids, and the feeling you be a bigger part of their whole picture," Deuell said.

Donald McCammon wants to continue helping children, which is why the retired Washington County teacher and school administrator said he decided to file for county Orphans Court judge. McCammon, 63, of 12930 The Terrace, is a Republican Over the years, McCammon said he's always listened to his students, "even when they don't think I'm listening. I've really tried to help students, and this is another way to help. " After 36 years as a history teacher and administrator, McCammon retired from Washington County Public Schools in 2001.

HAGERSTOWN - Donald McCammon wants to continue helping children, which is why the retired Washington County teacher and school administrator said he decided to file for county Orphans Court judge. McCammon, 63, of 12930 The Terrace, filed July 3 to run for Orphans Court judge on the Republican ticket. He is one of seven candidates vying for three open seats, which carry four-year terms. The primary election is Sept. 12. The general election is Nov. 7. Orphans Court judges meet two days a week at the Washington County Courthouse to probate wills, set attorneys' fees, settle disputes over estates, and appoint administrators and guardians.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Franklin County, Pa., schools have been awarded nearly $1 million in federal grants to provide professional development opportunities for more than 100 history teachers, eight of whom are looking at the possibility of studying at universities including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge. The schools received a comparable amount of funding three years ago to allow educators to further their knowledge about the 18th and 19th centuries. The participants, averaging 150 a year, also studied the 20th century up to the Civil Rights Movement, program coordinator Mike Meier said.

FALLING WATERS W.Va. - The Battle of Falling Waters will be fought anew and on practically the same ground it was fought on nearly 145 years ago when students at Spring Mills Middle School compete next week in a round of historical miniature games of the not-so-famous Civil War battle. Part of an interdisciplinary project developed by history teacher Larry Caskey and art teacher Kim Herman, the school's eighth-graders have been busy preparing to re-enact the 1861 battle that was fought between Union and Confederate soldiers early on the morning of July 2 on a 15-foot game board diorama carefully arrayed with 2-inch miniature toy soldiers, buildings, fields and other details.