Village Green/Town²

  Maybe you have religion. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you celebrate certain religious holidays. Maybe you don’t.  Your celebration of those holidays could be deeply rooted in faith. On the other hand, they might be more of an affirmation of family connection. Or perhaps you observe them in a secular way, as seasonal cultural festivals.  You may have a spiritual practice that I know nothing about which may or may not have recurring holy days. You may be completely areligious.  First things first: whoever you are, you’re welcome here.  I’m writing this not because I want to pry into the religious lives of my readers but rather to address the brouhaha surrounding the proposed HCPSS 2027-2028 calendar.  Howard County Board of Education approves 27-28 school calendar with shortened spring break , Kiersten Hacker, Baltimore Sun There has been some vocal criticism to the new calendar because of the reduction of spring break. And some folks have drawn a straight line f...

  Children learn what they live. Howard County Nature Preschool Sing-Along Circle This short video was shared on YouTube by the North American Association for Environmental Education.  Although it’s labeled as a Sing-Along Circle, I’d say only about the last five seconds or so show the sing-along. What you have here is a one minute and forty-nine second introduction to world of the Nature Center Preschool.  There’s no explanatory narration. It isn’t necessary. The pictures tell the story. We see children exploring the natural environment at the school’s home at Historic Belmont Park, and engaging in hands-on activities in their indoor classroom. The Howard County Nature Preschool is an initiative of the Howard County Conservancy It has been a hard week for many of us who have been contemplating and mourning how childhood can somehow transform into violence and degradation. I invite you to immerse yourself in a different world for a moment. Take a few deep breaths. Imagin...

  The day is going to start out damp but it doesn’t look like a total loss.  That’s not  a scientific analysis but rather a hopeful prediction. The Farmers Markets in Clarksville and Old Ellicott City are happening as usual. The Oakland Mills Fall Festival kicks off at 11 am with a performance by the Oakland Mills High School Band. (I’ll be the one giving people the death stare if they chat during the performance.) I’m must say I’m disappointed that Old Ellicott City hasn’t moved on from its Hogwarts-centric autumn event.  From the following comment on Facebook it looks like I’m not the only one: Isn't it time to move this event past Harry Potter? There's so much more out there in the magical books oeuvre. Make it so, folks.  Word of warning: There’s an enormous event at the center of town this weekend which just might impact traffic? Just a thought to consider as you plan your day. Looking towards tomorrow, here’s another good reason to head to Clarksville Comm...

  Some things you learn in school. Some things you learn on the job, or from books.  Some things you learn from your kids. I refer to the expression, “commitment to the bit.” As in, “You have to admire their commitment to the bit.” My kid, in turn, very likely learned that term because of the amassed body of work known as the Vlogbrothers . John and Hank Green - - brothers in real life - - began a video blog in 2007 with the intent to pass communications back and forth on a regular basis.  They’re still doing it. Along the way they’ve done silly things, addressed serious issues, built community, and transformed a desire for change by turning it into a zany approach both to learning initiatives and to philanthropic ventures.  I missed all of this but my kid did not. They were watching YouTube at the height of vlogbrothers phenomenon. It’s only in the last year or so that I discovered them and realized the connection to a world that my youngest and their friends had be...

  Did you ever really want to be one of the Cool Kids? I did, once upon a time. Let’s think about that today. What are the qualities that make you “in” with the In Crowd? What would you do to gain that status? What would you do to hold on to it? What makes a group of people feel emboldened to do horrible, demeaning things to a helpless individual? Why are they almost always men? The persistent reporting by student journalists at Cornell has brought those questions to a wider audience over the last week.  As we’ve been trying to process those horrors another story has hit local news which feels eerily similar to me. Howard High School JV football players charged after locker room bullying,   Blair Sabol, WMAR 2 News This quote from the mother of the victim is shattering. “He's been beaten, battered, kidnapped, assaulted, sexually assaulted, false imprisonment, robbed," Bridges said. "I would like charges pressed to the full extent of what occurred to my child." Both ...

  I can’t remember the exact date that it first struck. It was definitely during the summer, though. Or maybe when a friend shared a post from the library system. I started out thinking it might make a good blog post but the amount of information coming my way got overwhelming pretty quickly. I feared that I didn’t know enough to do it justice. Apparently I don’t get a choice in the matter because it just. Won’t. Give. Up.  You can run but you can’t hide.  No matter how hard I have tried to get away from this topic it was determined to pursue me. Did you know there’s a class offered through HCC? And then the topic popped up on the CNN podcast Engagement Party (Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro) . Take a look at the last line of the synopsis for the August 21st episode: RushTok is Southern Soft Power This week, the internet turned its eyes to an annual 2020s tradition: watching freshman girls rush sororities at big Southern state schools via an endless stream of social videos. Wh...