Village Green/Town²

I noticed this hashtag making the rounds on Twitter last night: #confessyourunpopularopinion I decided that I am ready to confess mine. Remember this ? I wrote over a year ago about a place near my house, a little no-man's land at the stub end of Timesweep Lane where Blandair Park begins. Well, it's time to talk about it again. Community Meeting To Discuss Timesweep Lane and Blandair Park Phase III Upcoming Meeting: Tuesday, December 17, 7:00 p.m. Talbott Springs Elementary School Councilman Calvin Ball in collaboration with Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks will be hosting a Community Meeting to discuss Timesweep Lane and Blandair Park Phase III. As many may recall, the phasing plan for Blandair Park states that HC Dept. of Rec. and Parks shall reach a resolution on public vehicular access via Timesweep Lane as part of Phase III. Specifically, it requires the residents of Cinnamon Tree and Emerson Hill communities to be engaged and consulted in ...

Last night the pre-submission meeting for the Inner Arbor Trust's plan for Symphony Woods was held at Howard Community College. Yet again I am grateful for their light-up signs that direct visitors after dark. I got lost going to a party in my own neighborhood the other evening, and those light-up signs would've really helped! Looking at all those in attendance, I pondered just what was assembled in that room: how many years of education, of professional experience, of political experience, and of life experience in Columbia. In the face of all that, I brought something that no one else had. A thirteen year-old. Yes, Margo, my newly-minted teenager whose GT research project last year was the study of the plan for Symphony Woods. She was the only person in the room under the age of 21. This park is her future, and her children's future. To be a success, it must appeal not just to us, but to her. ( I am hoping that she will consent to be interviewed on this topic for a...

We are Advent people at our house. That means that we believe the season leading up to Christmas is for preparation. Advent is for watchful waiting. This means we don't decorate right at Thanksgiving. Every year we make our own Advent calendar, and it contains, not candy, but fun family activities to do, and a verse to contemplate or discuss. We light the candles of the Advent wreath. Year after year we have gone upstream against the flow of popular culture. Margo hates being the last person she knows to get a Christmas tree. We try to fill our watchful waiting with special activities: we get out the box of Christmas books, make cookies to give, go see Symphony of Lights. But as the years have passed, one seemingly insurmountable obstacle remains. Advent preparation is supposed to lead to a joyous celebration of Christmas--all twelve days of Christmas. You know, all the holiday parties you have been attending since Thanksgiving? Technically that is when they should be. The...

The term "third place" came up recently, at the Inner Arbor presentation at HCC. If you are not familiar with it, a bare-bones explanation: a place, after work and home, where people gravitate and spend time together. An inviting community space. Columbia doesn't really have a lot of those. Bill Santos has a great thing going at the Columbia Mall Starbucks, to be sure, but I am looking forward to the opportunities that the Inner Arbor holds out to us, as well. Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, I enjoyed photos of cooking and celebrations, descriptions of menus, declarations of thanks, and memories of Thanksgivings past. There were some great discussions about varying holiday traditions and terminology: is it dressing, stuffing, or filling? People were popping in and out as their schedules allowed: a s the day unfolded, it occurred to me how much Facebook has become a virtual third space to us. I first noticed this when we were all house-bound during Snowmaegeddon 2010 (or...

  To shop, or not to shop? I decided to enter the discussion after reading this post on Miss Zoot. After posting the link on Facebook, the following conversation* ensued: See... there are a lot of stories here, but it's just as dangerous to assume that these workers WANT to work on Thanksgiving as it is that they WANT to have the day off. For every story of someone wanting to work on that day, there is someone that does not, but if they don't take the hours, they could lose their job or lose more hours (getting knocked down in ranking).   AND... people also assume, "well, they are getting paid double or time and a half." Well, not necessarily. Extra pay for holidays is not mandated by law - it's decided on business by business. many of these people are working the middle of the night at the same wage as always. It's only if they go over the 40 hours a week (if hourly) that they can get overtime pay, even if they work a 12 hour day.   But what I d...

Parents who are also teachers can be the worst sort of parents when it comes to teacher conferences. We set high expectations, and we know a lot about know the system works. On the other hand, we also know what it is like to be a teacher in a parent-teacher conference. So it balances itself out. Today I will have three conferences at my daughter's school. My husband is coming to two out of three, but then he has to get back to his school to do conferences. You only get to pick three in middle school, even though your child has substantially more than three classes. You must pick wisely. What do you hope to achieve through parent teacher conferences? Do you find them to be generally helpful? What are the top issues for you this year? In the past, I have found myself at odds with high stakes standardized testing, too much passive learning, skill and drill programs, lack of recess. But this is Middle School. Even though kids still need active learning and more than a few minute...

Last Wednesday I visited Oakland Mills Middle School as a part of American Education Week. I got the chance to observe a GT Social Studies class and a Band rehearsal. I learned quite a bit from each class. Today I want to share something about what I experienced in Mrs. Reichl's Band class. Symphonic Band is for more experienced players. The room was packed. This is a class that students choose, and must audition for a place, and every bit of the room was filled. In fact, for the beginning of the rehearsal visiting parents had to stand because there was not one extra inch of space for chairs. Once the opening activities were taken care of, the percussion players went to their posts in the back of the room, and the parents were invited to take those seats. As a choral singer for most of of my life, I had never been to a school band rehearsal. Let me tell you, if you want to have the full experience, you should definitely sit behind the tubas and in front of the percussion! Hav...