The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

At last week’s PTA meeting, K.W. Barrett Elementary School Principal Terry Bratt said she is requesting two trailers for the fifth grade. If the request goes through, they will be placed in the school’s backyard near the playground used by the youngest children, close to the back of the school.

I don’t know who brought up the topic at the PTA meeting, but it was one that had me wondering: why didn’t Barrett nominate a teacher of the year? Kenmore Middle School teacher Elizabeth H. Castillo won the honor this year, and with the announcement came a list of nominated teachers. None from Barrett made the list. Why not? wondered parents in attendance.

Turns out Barrett staffers don’t want it. They don’t like the idea of singling out one teacher over another.

“We operate as a team,” said Rosa Briceno, the family involvement coordinator who was at the PTA meeting as a translator.

“People turn you down” when you go to nominate them, Mrs. Bratt said.

Even nominating Laurie Sullivan who won teacher of the year a few years back was difficult staff in attendance said.

“People turn you down,” Mrs. Bratt said.

But parent Sylvia Ortli said, “I’ll tell you what I see…Barrett doesn’t care.” It was an idea echoed by the parents in the room, with another person wondering if the school system could include a list of schools that did not compete, for clarity.

“Believe me, we have philosophical talks about it,” Mrs. Bratt said.

Taylor Elementary School fifth grader Ben Gessel placed second at the Virginia state level competition of the 2009 National Geographic Bee, reports Arlington Public Schools.

His mother, Marcy, a friend and long-time HeraldTrib reader wrote:

“You betcha it's our Ben! We are extremely proud. This was Ben's first trip to the state bee--and Taylor's first time participating. The boy who won against Ben, a 7th-grader from Herndon, had been to the state finals last year. Another boy came over to us after the competition. He had been one of the top 10 finalists, but went out relatively early. Turns out he was last year's state champion. We're excited that Ben will have 3 more chances to compete because you can keep trying through 8th grade.”

She also wrote that Ben just reads a lot of maps for fun. Good job, Ben!

I went to an association meeting at the Hyde Park condominium, the 12-storey high-rise mixed-use building built in the 1970s at the northwest corner of N. Glebe at N. Henderson roads. This is the second event regarding the proposed development that I have covered.

Personally, I find this stuff fascinating. The zoning, planning, the just-under-boil emotions. All a lot of fun. The problem, of course, is that many of you probably don't feel the same, don't want all the nitty-gritty zoning stuff. So, I cut that from the story, and in the summarization, pray that I don't get anything wrong. Let me know if I have. Find the link to the story below.

As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).

Today's Headlines:

Hyde Park Chilly but Cordial to ASC Redevelopment

Announcements:

Bethel Church to Host B'ham Discussion

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Green Party Fields Candidate in 47th District

W-L Principal Tops in County

Police Notes March 27 - April 3

Letters and Comments:

Clean-up and Slow Down

"Grave of Ei Intoku"

From a couple weeks ago, the HeraldTrib Today column garnered a few interesting comments about political yard signs you might like (click the link and scroll down).

Announcements:

B'ham Youth Brigade Fundraiser Tonight (It was on Tuesday; sorry if you missed it. I posted the notice once I saw it, but it had come to me rather late.)

Labels: american service center, aps, Barrett, bee, hyde park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 3:32 PM