Sherwood High School senior wins French award

Recipients of the award must have completed at least three years of French study at the time of graduation and be non-native speakers of French.

Iocozzia has participated in study abroad, is an officer of the French Club, has participated in National French week activities and is a member of the National French Honor Society. He has studied French for five years and is the student of Sherwood French teacher John Falls.

Green Acres studentspublish family tales

Stories by three students at Green Acres School in North Bethesda have been accepted for publication in ‘‘Grannie Annie, Vol. 3,” which is slated for release next month.

An anthology of family stories written by children, ‘‘Grannie Annie, Vol. 3” is the third annual publication of The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration. Participating students interview an older relative and write a story about an event from their family’s history.

The published authors from Green Acres School are Lindsay Braviak for ‘‘Spitting Shades of Red and Orange,” Astrid K. M. Lundberg for ‘‘The Family Piano” and Hannah Shlaferman for ‘‘Sailing Through Smallpox.”

Stella Bernstein received an honorable mention for ‘‘Frank, the Crazy Rooster.”

The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration is sponsored by two publishers of children’s books, Connie McIntyre of Thumbprint Press and Fran Hamilton of Portico Books.

RM studentswin academic awards

Twenty-three students at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville have been named 2008 Governor’s Merit Scholastic Award winners.

Each year, the top 5 percent of students graduating from Maryland high schools receive the award granted by the governor.

The following students are in the top 5 percent of the senior class in Maryland: Leslie Adkins, Jakub Bies, Sarah Britton, Gabrielle Cantor, Julie Chang, Emily Dillon, Jonathan Gordon, Rosa Greenberg, Ian Hall, Xiaoting Hu, Lauren Hurwitz, Daniil Kitchaev, Edward Lee, Yijun Liu, Kelly McPherson, Melanie Moore, Laura Olson, Esmaeel Paryavi, Ian Richter, Arjun Srinivas, Victor Villagomez, Crystal Wang and Mona Zhang.

Students donate computers for a good cause

The Montgomery County Students Information Technology Foundation held their first computer lab gifting ceremony at Rockville High School April 2, donated six computer systems and two printers to GapBuster Learning Center, a Silver Spring nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting higher levels of achievement and closing the performance gap of students by enriching and supplementing their education.

GapBuster students will use the computer lab to promote technical learning, academic enhancement and career exploration, giving hundreds of youth the extra support they need to succeed in school.

Network Operations students prepared the Dell Pentium IV systems.

The purpose of the project was to provide an opportunity for the foundation students to practice their information technology skills by refurbishing the computers, earn student service learning hours, develop a deeper appreciation for the concepts of charity and community involvement and meet an identified community need.

Junior foundation students Hussein Tofangchi and Michael Wenzlaff Jr. represented their fellow students at the April 2 event and spoke of the significance of the donation.

The Information Technology Foundation is a nonprofit organization established by the Montgomery County business and professional community and Montgomery County Public Schools to provide a method of offering students on-the-job training, which is designed to prepare them for higher educational opportunities or direct entry into the information technology industry.

Programs are located at Clarksburg, Rockville and Thomas Edison high schools.

In addition to donating computer labs, the students host three used computer sales per year. The final computer sale will be held May 10 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Thomas Edison High School of Technology, located at 12501 Dalewood Drive in Silver Spring.

All monetary proceeds are returned directly to the foundation’s programs.

Blake students to perform in Folger Birthday Celebration

The James Hubert Blake High School Shakespeare Stage Company has been selected to present a 25-minute performance at this year’s Folger Shakespeare Library Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration on April 27.

From among 50 student stage companies that presented performances at this year’s Secondary Theatre Festival in March, only two were selected to perform at the celebration along with professional ensembles from Washington, D.C., theaters.

The Shakespeare Birthday Celebration, which is free and open to the public, will be held noon to 4 p.m. The Blake Company will perform between 1 and 2 p.m.

The Blake Shakespeare Stage Company members are Julia Pfanstiehl, Sean Patrick Forsythe, Johnny Weissgerber, Emily Sussman, Isabel Smith-Bernstein, Domenico Lane, Danielle Barlow, Jessica Michek, Robert Fearson and Erin Washburn.

The group won three major awards at the Secondary Theatre Festival. Washburn was recognized for her ability to present Shakespearean sonnets with excellence, Sussman and Weissgerber received Outstanding Acting prizes for their performances as Katherine and Petrucchio in ‘‘The Taming of the Shrew,” and Lane received one of the Best Character Awards for his portrayal of Posthumus Leonatus in ‘‘Cymbeline.”

The Folger Shakespeare Library, located at 201 East Capitol St. in Southeast Washington, D.C., contains the largest collection of Shakespeare materials and also serves as a research center.

Thornton Friends to host concert for the environment

Thornton Friends School in Silver Spring will hold a concert 6-11 p.m. Friday to benefit two local environmental organizations, The Monarch Effect and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

The concert has been envisioned, planned and implemented by Thornton students and will be held at the site of Thornton’s Middle School, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring at 10309 New Hampshire Ave.

The event will feature vegan food and music by Kamikaze Stunt Devils, Mad Brenda, and Thornton teachers Libby Edwards and Layne Garrett.

The event, which is open to the public, will be chaperoned by school faculty and parents. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door.

Sherwood Poms tryout information meeting

A Sherwood High School poms tryout parent informational meeting will be held April 22 at 3:30 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria.

The purpose of the meeting is to inform candidates and parents of the procedures for pom tryouts, to receive packets of information with necessary forms, to meet with coaches and captains, and preview some skills that will be assessed at tryouts.

Tryouts will be held May 19-23 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the main gym.

Sherwood High School is located at 300 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Sandy Spring.

‘Kiss Me, Kate’ at Magruder

The Magruder High School Drama Club will present ‘‘Kiss Me, Kate,” a Tony Award-winning musical comedy inspired by William Shakespeare’s ‘‘The Taming of the Shrew,” for two weekends.

The production will be presented at 7:30 p.m. April 25 and 26 and again May 1, 2 and 3 in the school’s auditorium, 5939 Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and can be reserved in advance at www.magruderdrama.org or purchased in the theater lobby before any performance.

‘Annie, Jr.’ coming toFarquhar

Farquhar Middle School will present ‘‘Annie, Jr.,” a musical about a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents, for one weekend this month.

The production will be presented at the school, located at 16915 Batchellors Forest Road in Olney, at 7:30 p.m. April 25 and 26 and 2 p.m. April 27.

Adult tickets are $8 and student and child tickets are $6. Tickets will be on sale during lunch April 23-25 and at the door before each performance.

WCA steps into ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’

The Washington Christian Academy Kings Players will present ‘‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” based on the classic C.S. Lewis tale which follows four adventurers as they step through a wardrobe door and into the enchanting land of Narnia, for one weekend this month.

The production will be presented at 8 p.m. April 25 and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 27 on the Olney Theatre Center Historic Stage, located at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Olney.

Tickets are on sale now at the Washington Christian Academy’s front office at 13421 Georgia Ave. in Aspen Hill. They are $10 for general admission, $15 for reserved tickets (general seating in the front seven rows) and will be on sale at the school through April 25 at 12:30 p.m.

The remaining tickets will be sold before each performance at the Olney Theatre Center. For more ticket information, call 301-460-4448.

‘The Music Man, Jr.’marching into Loiederman

A. Mario Loiederman Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Wheaton will present ‘‘The Music Man, Jr.,” a musical comedy following fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill and his visit to River City, Iowa, for one weekend in May.

The production will be presented at the school, located at 12701 Goodhill Road in Wheaton, at 7 p.m. May 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 17 and 2 p.m. May 18.

Tickets are $4 for students and seniors and $6 for adults, and can be purchased at the door.

Sherwood Chamber Singers to hold spring concert

The Sherwood Chamber Singers will host its annual Spring Concert April 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church in Olney.

Tickets are $5 in advance and can be purchased from any member of the Chamber Singers.

Music featured will include Mozart’s ‘‘Missa Brevis In B,” performed with a string ensemble of Sherwood students, and works by various multicultural composers including songs in Yiddish, Korean and Spanish. Also featured will be a premiere of ‘‘La Rosa Blanca” by David Arbury with lyrics by Jose Marti, commissioned by the Sherwood Chamber Singers.

Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church is located at 3425 Emory Church Road. For more information, visit the church’s Web site at info@oeumc.org.

Items appropriate for this column may be sent to Melissa J. Brachfeld, The Olney Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; faxed to 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to mbrachfeld@gazette.net. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday. All items are subject to space availability and editing.

Meetings set for Northeast and Downcounty consortia

Families of seventh-grade students who live in or attend middle school in the Northeast Consortium or the Downcounty Consortium are invited to attend information meetings this month and in May to learn more about high school consortium options, application programs and the choice process, which takes place in the fall of a student’s eighth-grade year.

The meeting to learn more about high school options in the Northeast Consortium will be held 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 24 at Benjamin Banneker Middle School, located at 14800 Perrywood Drive in Burtonsville.

Two meetings are scheduled in May to learn more about high school options in the Downcounty Consortium. One is May 1 at Newport Mill Middle School, located at 11311 Newport Mill Road in Kensington, and the other will be May 15 at Parkland Middle School, located at 4610 West Frankfort Drive in Aspen Hill.

Both will be held 7 to 8:30 p.m., and the same information will be presented at both meetings.

Information will be presented in both English and Spanish at all meetings. For more information, call the Division of Consortia Choice and Application Program Services at 301-592-2040.

More information is available on the Special Programs Web site at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.orgŽcurriculumŽspecialprograms.

Kindergarten orientation at Greenwood

Greenwood Elementary School will hold its kindergarten orientation Thursday and Friday for the 2008-2009 school year.

For more information, call 301-924-3145.

Greenwood Elementary is located at 3336 Gold Mine Road in Brookeville.

Kindergarten orientation at Sherwood Elementary

Sherwood Elementary School will hold its kindergarten orientation on May 1.

Parents who have a child that will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 should call the school’s office at 301-924-3195 to sign up for the orientation and receive more information.

At the orientation, parents and students will meet the school principal, kindergarten teachers and other school staff. The event will feature activities for children and an opportunity for parents to ask questions about the school’s procedures and programs.

Sherwood Elementary School is located at 1401 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Sandy Spring.

Kindergarten orientation at Olney Elementary

Olney Elementary School will hold its kindergarten orientation on May 8 and May 9.

Parents who have a child that will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 should call the school’s office at 301-924-3126 to receive a registration packet and information.

Olney Elementary School is located at 3401 Queen Mary Drive.