Laurel resident set to grapple with WWE's best

Laurel residents awarded college scholarships

Laurel resident Denise Y. Williams is among the 2008-09 Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund Scholarship recipients. The scholarship, which is for one-time amounts of $2,500 per person, is annually granted to incoming college or university students of Asian or Pacific Islander extraction with a grade point average of at least 2.7 on a scale of 4.0. Williams, who will attend Towson University in Towson in the fall, plans to take courses in both social work and art therapy and enroll in the Air Force ROTC.

A Laurel resident is among the 175 engineering students in the United States and Canada to be awarded an academic scholarship from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation. Julia N. O'Neil, who attends the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, has received a portion of what is collectively more than $450,000 in scholarship money. She and the other recipients are planning careers in manufacturing. They were chosen from a pool of more than 340 students. The scholarship is generally given to students with career objectives in the field who have demonstrated aptitude in the field in the form of internships and/or academic courses.

Million dollar

Laurel winner

Laurel resident Clarence Martin Jr. won $1,034,190.88 this month at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Dover, Del., while playing a video lottery game. Martin won the jackpot during a one-cent game July 25.

Laurel resident

wins design contest

Laurel resident Chad Gilmore and Takoma Park resident Keegan Vernon-Clay are the winners of the third-annual Takoma Park Folk Festival T-shirt Design Contest. Their two designs were chosen from a pool of 35 entries, both of which will be available for sale at the Sept. 14 festival at Takoma Park Middle School in Takoma Park.

"The design was basically all the elements of a folk festival that they're having: basically people having fun, a guitar, food, as well as crafts," said Gilmore, who is a designer by trade. This was Gilmore's first year entering the design contest. He and Vernon-Clay received a cash prize as part of their win.

Anne Arundel graduates set scholarship record

Anne Arundel County public school seniors received more scholarship money than any previous graduating class. Senior class members this year were awarded more than $47 million in scholarships, almost $12 million more than scholarship monies given to the county's class of 2007.

This year's seniors showed a 10 percent jump in the number of students who said they intended to enroll in a four-year college or university. Thirty-three percent of the students surveyed said they planned to attend a two-year college. Nearly 93 percent of Anne Arundel County Public School seniors completed the survey.

Hair salon donates cuts

Every time a haircut is purchased for a child 18 or younger at the Hair Cuttery, the company will give a free haircut to an underprivileged child as part of its Share a Haircut program through Aug. 15. Hair Cuttery, which has donated more than 380,000 such haircuts as part of the program since the inception, has locations at Laurel Lakes Centre on Baltimore Avenue and at Maryland City Plaza on Fort Meade Road.

HCPSS seeks bus drivers

The Howard County Public School system is seeking qualified bus drivers for its 2008-09 academic year. There is currently a shortage of certified drivers. Those wishing to drive a bus must possess a commercial driver's license with "P" and "S" endorsements. The HCPSS provides the classroom and driving experience necessary for obtaining the license and the endorsements. A potential driver must also pass a physical examination and a drug screening test, provide a driving record from the Motor Vehicle Administration that has two or fewer current points, complete a nine-hour, paid training program with the HCPSS and submit to a criminal background check. The check must disclose no disqualifying convictions or charges. Interested parties should contact the HCPSS Office of Student Transportation at 410-313-6733.

Forest Ridge PTA

seeks committee chairs

The Forest Ridge PTA is looking for chairpersons to fill openings on several committees. Vacancies include cultural arts committee chair, staff appreciation committee chair and a PTA newsletter committee chair. Those interested in the volunteer positions may contact PTA President Sheila Penders at spenders96@hotmail.com.

NASA welcomes the public to view its facilities

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will open its doors to the general public will allow the public to see what NASA Goddard does, meet the people, see the spacecrafts, take tours, partake in lots of interactive activities for adults and children, meet scientists and engineers, enjoy food from vendors, music, and more.

LaunchFest is coming to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 13. There will be free admittance to explore NASA science and technology with tours and hands-on activities. Call 301-286-NEWS or visit www.nasa.gov/centers/

goddard/events/launchfest

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