Latest news with #WalkersvilleHighSchool
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Frederick County Retired School Personnel awards grant to Walkersville High School teacher for student project
Recently the Frederick County Retired School Personnel (FCRSPA) awarded Walkersville High School teacher Ryan Kint a $500 grant to help fund his enhancing engineering and wood design with laser engraving and cutting student project. Kint will use the funds toward the purchase of a laser engraving/cutting tool for use by his Project Lead The Way (PTLW) classes. PLTW is a STEM initiative class offered at most high schools. This project will serve approximately 150-200 students annually, supporting their design and engineering projects. Many of these students would not have access to such technology outside of the school environment, making this an essential component of their educational experience. Unified MRSPA and FCRSPA membership is open to those who have retired from FCPS. For membership information, email myfcrspa@ or call and leave a message for the FCRSPA member chairperson at 301-788-1117.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Student panel discusses equity, respect in FCPS
High school students in Frederick County Public Schools on Tuesday shared their experiences of diversity and inclusion in the school district, and said more outreach for students would continue to increase equity. The student panel and several elected officials spoke at the FCPS Racial Equity Committee event 'A Community in Action' on Tuesday at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School. Community advocacy groups such as Centro Hispano de Frederick, the Frederick NAACP Chapter and the Asian American Center of Frederick tabled before the event began, providing pamphlets about the organizations. The Walkersville High School step-dance team performed at the end of the student panel. On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled 'Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,' which asserted that acknowledging 'unconscious bias' promotes discrimination. The order denounces what it calls 'discriminatory equity ideology,' defined as an ideology that treats people as members of preferred or unpreferred groups. A letter from the U.S. Department of Education dated April 3 was sent to state and local education agencies and threatened revoking federal funds for using Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs 'to advantage one's race over another.' Several Frederick County Board of Education members and the local teachers union have said the order will most likely be caught up in court, and the school district has worked hard to provide welcoming schools for all students. Despite the warnings from the Trump administration, the Racial Equity Committee celebrated the school district's diversity with around 50 visitors in the high school's atrium. Six high school students spoke on the panel at the event. Carrie Artis, the director of equity in FCPS, and Meredith Nickles, an English teacher at Tuscarora High School, asked students questions about equity, respect and diversity in their schools. Aleena Wright, a senior at Catoctin High School, said it took her a while to find a sense of belonging in school, 'especially when not a lot of people in my school look like me. You have to kind of get past that.' She said it was important to connect with others and get past each other's differences. Jasiri Belote, a junior at Tuscarora High School, said his school has numerous opportunities for students to get involved and be included in extracurricular activities. He said the school's No Place For Hate program, a branch of the Anti-Defamation League's national initiative, welcomed students to sign a pledge promising to treat other students fairly and to speak out against bullying, prejudice and discrimination. Alanah Fore, a junior at Walkersville High School and a member of the step team, said the local advocacy organizations tabling the event should come to schools to talk to students directly. Elijah Steele, a senior at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School and the current student member of the school board, added that, regarding issues students might have, 'there's a difference between hearing someone and actually listening.' 'I feel like a lot of our students try to express themselves in certain ways, but it's heard and not listened to,' he said. Steele asked that school district administrators, staff members and community members listen to what students need and support them. Other speakers at the panel were Ava Gordon, a junior at Middletown High School, and Ava Nelson, a senior at Oakdale High School. Camille Bell, the co-chair of the Racial Equity Committee, said the school district has changed a lot over the past seven years and 'worked really, really hard' to make sure all students feel accepted in schools. Bell also leads the Walkersville High School step team, which performed and received a standing ovation. Cita King, a retiree of FCPS on the Racial Equity Committee, said the committee has been planning the event since September 2024. She said 'with everything that's going on right now,' it was important 'just to get people out here and look at the diversity in our school system, and be proud of our diversity.' Katie Parker, a parent of multiple FCPS students, said she came to the event because 'this is an issue that I care about.' 'It's reassuring that the issues that we care about are being discussed,' she said. 'They're really relevant to what's going on in the world right now.' School board President Rae Gallagher, a liaison to the committee, said she wanted to highlight the importance of the word equity. She said the word 'is being villainized and weaponized a lot in our society,' and terms like equity and diversity 'are supposed to be disavowed from our education system right now.' 'Quite frankly, I can't understand where this is coming from, or why,' Gallagher said.
