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James Hubert Blake High School's student newspaper, The Blake Beat, was named the best high school newspaper in the country in a contest run by Weekly Reader and the Association of Educational Publishers.

The award was based on the judges' evaluation of the December 2008 edition.

This year's Blake Beat staff has been led by editors-in-chief Tiko Mason and Kelly Shih; associate editors Ryan Arrendell, Alex Blocker, Talia Chicherio, Christina deGraft-Johnson, Nick Foley, Melissa Goldberg, Amelia Holgash, Ian Nyanin, Andrew Padgett, Molly Wallace and Erin Washburn; director of computer operations Justin Pereira; and directors of photography Steven Sites and Sacha Vega.

The Association of Educational Publishers also recognized The Blake Beat as the nation's top high school newspaper in 2006.

Journalism teacher Kevin Keegan serves as adviser of The Blake Beat.

County has eight

Gates scholars

Eight county residents have been named to the 10th annual class of Gates Millennium Scholars, a competitive scholarship for minority students around the country.

Sponsored by a $1 billion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the program awards good-through-graduation scholarships to 1,000 students around the country, focusing on students interested in science, mathematics and education.

Twenty-three students won the scholarships in Maryland this year.

Montgomery County's recipients are Yenia Cardozo Gomez of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Ana Coello of Albert Einstein High School, Nosheen Hayat of John F. Kennedy High School, Nyamagaga Gondwe of Rockville High School, Macarena Torres and Kashira Turner of Watkins Mill High School and Oscar Portillo of Wheaton High School.

Rockville resident Angelica Acosta of the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., also won the award.

Blake instructor earns award for teaching excellence

Fred Katz, a business education teacher at James Hubert Blake High School in Cloverly, has been chosen to receive the Excellence in Teaching Award for the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University.

The award, which was established in 1992, recognizes the importance of teaching at Johns Hopkins University.

Katz has been on the faculty of Carey Business School for seven years teaching graduate business courses in its Masters of Science in Marketing and Masters in Business Administration programs

He is scheduled to be honored Thursday at the school's Downtown Center in Baltimore.

Student-built house

for sale this week

The Montgomery County Students Construction Trades Foundation will host its annual Cornerstone Ceremony 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the completion of a house designed, built, landscaped and decorated by students.

The event will be held at 3714 Munsey St. in Aspen Hill.

The ceremony will include laying the cornerstone of the house, honoring the students and scholarship winners from construction-related programs at Thomas Edison High School of Technology in Wheaton and Damascus High School, a tour of the house and the opportunity to submit a contract. The house is offered at $589,000 plus $10,000 toward closing costs, which will be provided by the seller.

For more information about the foundation and specifics on this year's house, visit www.ctfcareers.org, e-mail Michael Fekete at Michael_Fekete

@mcpsmd.org or call 301-929-2184.

Blake ‘It's Academic' team advances to finals

James Hubert Blake High School's "It's Academic" team members Alex Gran, Hameed Khan and captain Isaac Hirsch defeated Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Rockville high schools in a semifinal game on April 25 and have advanced to the final round.

The quiz show semifinal competition was taped and will be shown on WRC-TV Channel 4 at 10 a.m. May 30.

Blake won the competition with a final score of 525 points. Bethesda-Chevy Chase scored 380 points and Rockville had 370 points.

Blake will compete in the all-Montgomery County finals against Holton-Arms School in Bethesda and Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring before a live audience at 10 a.m. Saturday in the WRC-TV studio, located at 4001 Nebraska Ave. in Northwest Washington, D.C. Admission is free.

Blake's "It's Academic" team is coached by teachers Kevin Keegan, Joe Caulfield and Kara Mohler.

‘Fiddler' comes to Loiederman

A. Mario Loiederman School for the Creative and Performing Arts will present "Fiddler on the Roof Jr." at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

The musical is about a poor Jewish peasant living in pre-revolutionary Russia who must contend with marrying off his three daughters while anti-Semitism threatens his home.

Tickets are $5 for students and seniors and $7 for adults and can be ordered in advance or purchased at the door. 

For more information, call the school at 301-929-2282. Loiederman is located at 12701 Goodhill Road in Wheaton.

Education Notebook is compiled by Staff Writer Melissa J. Brachfeld. Items appropriate for this column should be sent to mbrachfeld@

gazette.net, by fax to 301-670-7183, or by mail to Education Notebook, The Olney Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday for consideration for the following week's paper. Items are used on a space-available basis.