Skip to main content

Up Next: The First of October



Today is October 1st. I’d like to say that it’s going to bring “October’s bright blue weather” complete with  seasonally colorful trees and a hint of Fall coolness in the air. But, no. It’s rain all day with temperatures in the sixties. 

Friends, we will need to make our own fun. 

If you want to stay in and avoid the wet, check out the debut of DoodleHATCH show on YouTube. 



Starting today, episodes of the show, aimed at kids in grade 1 - 5, will be available here. They’re describing it as “edutainment” which is a fancy word for saying it is both educational and fun. If you’ve even been to DoodleHATCH in the Long Reach Village Center you will have an idea of the imagination and creative force of founder Lee Andersen and her team. It will be interesting to see how that translates into the world of children’s television.

The shows are based on the Maryland State Education curriculum and have been funded by a number of grants as well as individual contributions.

Edutainment for Grades 1-5. The DoodleHATCH Show is 130 funny, educational 30-minute episodes. It is available free each week on YouTube. Humans and puppets teach the Maryland Educational Curriculum of Math, Reading, Science, Phonics, Spelling. We have added Emotional Health, Physical Health, Music, Dance, Craft, Art, and a live Animal every week.

Marty Bass of WJZ television paid DoodleHATCH a visit recently and you can check out his experiences here

If you’re looking to get out of the house, Howard County SECAC and the Autism Society of Maryland are hosting a Board of Education Candidate Forum this evening at 6:45 at the East Columbia Branch Library.



Howard County SECAC and the Autism Society of Maryland will facilitate a Howard County Board of Education Candidate Forum. Come out to listen to the individuals that can make a huge impact on your student's experience in Howard County Public Schools!

This event is open to the public but will clearly have a special education focus. It will be interesting to see how many of the candidates are in attendance as some seem to have ducked out on some rather public forums recently. I do know that parents of children with special needs are, by necessity, some of the most well-informed parents in Howard County and I doubt they’ll think much of those kind of political shenanigans.

If you’re going to put your name on the ballot you need to show up and let people know who you are and what you stand for.

Ahem.

Also this evening is the County Executive’s State of the County address, beginning at six o’clock at Howard Community College.




Throughout the year, we have made impactful investments for innovative community progress. During my annual State of the County Address, I will provide a comprehensive update on our efforts to make Howard County the best place to live, work, play, grow, and thrive for all. - - County Executive Calvin Ball

There may be a few tickets left if you are interested in attending. They are free but you must reserve them in advance.

I personally feel that this event should be required for all the annoying trolls who spend their days and nights accusing the County Executive of doing nothing but attending “photo ops.” Oh, and they should have to pass a test on the content afterwards. 

If, by some chance, you have a date later today for something outside the county, I hope that the weather clears up, the pitching is strong and the bats are hot. 


Image from Baltimore Orioles social media 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...