Village Green/Town²

I’ve tried everything to get people excited about voting in Board of Education races. But I still have one trick up my sleeve: a celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsements are all the rage in big political races. Whether or not they sway your vote they certainly catch your eye. And with so much information competing for your attention every day, catching your eye is what it’s all about.  Saturday night I saw an informational social media post exhorting Howard County residents to vote in the Board of Ed primary. It was clear, well laid out, and thorough. Take a look. It doesn’t tell you who to vote for, it simply gives you the basics of who is running in each district. It’s colorful, eye catching. Then - - wait a minute - - what was I seeing? Something about the map. Yes. Yes! That’s it! Marge Simpson, image property of Matt Groening It’s Marge Simpson. There she is and she’s encouraging you to learn more about the board of education candidates and to vote tomorrow, Here’s what I...

  On Friday, at the end of a long week for Howard County teachers, my husband came in the door with the usual collection of gear: computer, empty lunch box and travel mug, guitar, etc. It usually takes several minutes for him to unload all of the things he is carrying. This week he surprised me with a gift. It’s a wedge of wood, probably about as big as an old-school alarm clock. It’s been smoothed and painted and a message has been adhered to the front: This Woman is the Best Mom Ever “Our ALS students make things,” said my husband. “They sell them on Fridays.” I turned it over to see the label on the bottom. Handmade by ***** RHHS AL Stars ALS stands for Academic Life Skills. Here’s what I could find online about the ALS programs at HCPSS: Based on student needs outlined in the Individual Education Program (IEP), students receive their instruction in self-contained and/or general education classes with access to general education curriculum and extracurricular school activities a...

  If anyone ever complains that there’s nothing to do here, they can’t have ever tried to find something to do  during the month of May, particularly weekends.  Here are a few possibilities in the area of plants: Plantapalooza - - Freetown Farm, 9 am - 1 pm Plant Sale - - Little Portion Farm, 9 am - 2 pm Plant/Gardening Tool Swap - - First Presbyteryian Church, 9am - 11 a  How about some festivals? AAPI Festival - - Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods 12 - 5 pm  Books in Bloom - - Merriweather District 11:30 am - 5 pm As these two events are overlapping in time and close in location, I highly recommend checking the event pages for information pertaining to parking. Looking for a market? Farmers Market, Clarksville Commons - - 10 am - 2 pm Craft Fair/Maker’s Marke t Manor Hill Farm - - 12 - 4 pm In the mood for some music? Folksinger Tony McGuffin, Clark’s Elioak Farm - - 12 pm Columbia Concert Band Spring Concer t - - River Hill High School - - 3 pm Ima...

In the current ecosystem of 24/7 media outlets and social media communication, each topic has its own allotted time. It builds, peaks, and dissipates. Sometimes the build is impressive or the speed of the approach is breathtaking. Other times we are dazzled by the height or intensity of the peak.  But then it dies out and goes away and one day we realize we’re not talking about it anymore. We have become used to this. We steel ourselves to the waves and crashes. We can tolerate it if we tell ourselves it will soon be going away. Awful news may rain down upon us and break our hearts but then the pain will stop and life will be normal again. And, to be honest, I think humans have a limited capacity to the amount of trauma they can process over time. We don’t know how to keep carrying everything. 24/7 news cycles make that worse. There’s too much to process and so we have come to rely on that artificial ebb and flow which will certainly wash away those things that are troubling us bef...

School days. School daze. I’m in a haze this morning but you don’t have to be. So, here goes.  Even if you don’t have kids in school here are three things worthy of your attention: 1. The school board race. If you live in one of the councilmanic districts where you have the opportunity to vote for school board in the primary, don’t skip over it. Remember, even if you are an Independent and can’t vote in Maryland primaries, you can vote for the board of education. I once had a conversation with a community member who taught in a nearby independent school.  “Oh, I don’t know anything about the public schools here so I just don’t vote for school board.” It’s easy to feel that way, I know. I’m asking you to step out of your comfort zone here.  I’ve gone back and forth about whether Village Green/Town² should publish endorsements in local elections. To do so as a matter of course seems like I am giving myself a kind of importance that teeters on the edge of hubris. But last w...

  Warning. I’m veering off course today for a bit of a rant. If yesterday’s post leaned cheery and aspirational, today’s will be…shall we say…edgier? Howard County, Maryland beat out all other contenders in the inaugural Well-Wishers Won’t! campaign. The award was created to honor communities where people are: highly motivated to disbelieve positive news reports, zealously criticize the bearers of good news, and gleefully denigrate and mock fellow community members. Based on a nationwide survey, the Well-Wishers Won’t! award is an initiative of the You Can’t Make Me foundation, founded in 1954 to seek out and destroy rose-colored glasses everywhere. The foundation’s work has largely flown under the radar until recent years when social media has provided opportunities for enormous growth. How’d we win? I know you’re curious. Howard County received high marks in the following areas when responding to positive news in the community: Posting patently racist dog whistles  Disparagi...

Drumroll, please! Tonight’s the night for the 2024 Changemaker Challenge! The idea behind the Changemaker Challenge is simple. The United Way teams up with local philanthropic institutions in different regions to hold competitions to highlight and award social innovation ideas. In our case it’s the United Way of Central Maryland and the local partners are The Horizon Foundation, Women’s Giving Circle, and Community Foundation of Howard County. What are social innovation ideas? I like this simple definition from the University of San Diego’s Kroc School: The essence of social innovation is to create social change through new processes, products, services, or programs. - - What is Social Innovation? Who are changemakers? They’re the folks who are coming up with new ways to solve existing problems with ideas that help people.  I feel like this combination of changemakers and social innovation has a lot of overlap with ideas in a recent post I wrote about current trends in philan...