Six county high schools among the nation’s best

Board looking for student to fill at-large committee seat

*Richard Montgomery and Thomas S. Wootton, both in Rockville, ranked 32nd and 59th, respectively.

*Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman, Walter Johnson, all in Bethesda, ranked 63rd, 68th, and 75th, respectively.

*Winston Churchill in Potomac, ranked 96th.

‘‘It is an extraordinary accomplishment for our schools to consistently achieve such high rankings on the Newsweek list year in and year out,” Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said in a statement. ‘‘It speaks to the exceptional performance of our students, who have taken up the challenge of these high level courses, and of MCPS staff members, who have encouraged, supported, and helped our students thrive.”

Health committee

If high school students want a say on what they study in health class, now’s the time to weigh in.

The school board is looking for teens to serve on its Family Life and Human Development Advisory Committee, which helped overhaul the county’s hotly-contested sex education curriculum.

Students serve for one year — July through June — as an at-large member. They work without pay and serve no more than two consecutive terms, unless allowed by the school board.

All applicants must live in the county and be in high school. The at-large member will be named during the June 23 school board meeting.

Call Becky Gibson at 301-279-3301 or e-mail Becky_Gibson@mcpsmd.org. Completed applications should be mailed to Roland Ikheloa, chief of staff, Montgomery County Board of Education, 850 Hungerford Drive, Room 123, Rockville MD 20850.

Deadline is June 6.

Public education awards

The school board is seeking nominations for its 12th annual awards for Distinguished Service to Public Education.

The awards are sponsored by the board and acknowledge individuals, businesses and groups that have contributed to the school system over the past three years.

Nominations are being accepted for:

*Community individual

*Community group

*Business

*Public school staff

*School service volunteer

*Individual pioneer

Up to three awards will be given in each category.

Go to www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org⁄boe to download a nomination form. Call 301-279-3301 to receive a form by mail. Send completed forms to: Montgomery County Board of Education, Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive, Room 123, Rockville MD 20850.

Deadline is July 11.

Workforce shortage grants

The state’s Higher Education Commission is accepting applications for its Workforce Shortage Student Assistance Grant, which allows students to pursue degrees in nursing and teaching, among other things.

‘‘Workforce shortage is a critical need in Maryland,” MHEC secretary James E. Lyons Sr. said in a statement. ‘‘... MHEC is working hard to encourage people to fill these extremely vital positions.”

To qualify for the scholarship, students must major in a program identified as needing workers. For example, students applying for a four-year scholarship to be a teacher or nurse may be eligible to receive the scholarship for all four years of college, but then must work four years in the field for which they received the scholarship.

Applicants must live in the state and be enrolled as a full- or part-time degree seeking undergraduate or graduate student. Go to www.MDgo4it.org for more information. Award amounts range from $1,000 to $4,000 a year based on the type of school and enrollment status. Send all information to the commission’s Office of Student Financial Assistance by June 1. Awards will be given in September.

Coming up

*The school board, along with Superintendent Jerry D. Weast, will talk 6 p.m. Tuesday about the system’s middle school reform. The meeting will be held in the board room at the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville.

The meeting will be shown on channel 34 and rebroadcast at 1 p.m. the Saturday and Sunday following the meeting. Call 301-279-3617. Go to www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org⁄boe, click on ‘‘Calendar, Agenda” and scroll to the May 27 agenda to read more.

*The state school board will meet 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday to talk about the fine arts voluntary state curriculum and the Maryland Association of Student Councils, among other things.

The meetings will be held in the seventh floor board room at the Nancy S. Grasmick State Education Building, 200 West Baltimore Street in Baltimore. Go to www.marylandpublicschools.org or call 410-767-0467 for more information.