TOP FIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Co-Curricular Project
The following message was sent out in the March 2013 monthly Principal's Message to all of the staff and students' families registered to receive school messages.
"Mrs. Brady’s 9th grade Earth Science classes created children's stories that are being shared with the Art 1 classes. In turn, the art students are creating Stop Motion Videos. Mrs. Miers-Bond’s andMs. Ayres’ are currently working with their art students to create the videos for the stories from the earth science kids. Additionally, the earth science students sent questions regarding climate change to 4 elementary school classes. Based on the responses to those questions, the earth science students created PowerPoint & Prezi presentations to accompany the questions. The elementary school teachers assisted the earth science classes by sending samples of their students’ answers so the high school students could verify misconceptions of young students before writing a final summary for the books. Once Ms. Miers-Bond’s and Mrs. Ayres’ students complete their portion of the project,Mrs. Livingston’s students will create voiceovers of the video, reading the book aloud. Additionally, Mrs. Burke's students are currently working on a STEM lesson plan that integrates the video/book story for an elementary classroom. At the culmination of this project, Mrs. Brady is planning to send the lessons to the elementary school teachers who participated in the question and answer session so they can utilize the video & lesson in their classroom to clear up some of the misconceptions. This is an exciting cross-curricular project in which the Family & Consumer Science, Science, Drama, and Art departments are coordinating efforts and cooperatively planning lessons/activities. Thanks to all the teachers and students involved." Dr. Kaufman (principal) Ecofest To expose our entire school community to ways to be green, Marriotts Ridge High School hosted the 2nd annual EcoFest on February 8th, 2013. The first annual EcoFest was held on February 12th, 2012. Families from 7 high, middle and elementary schools were invited to attend. Children played carnival games with environmental themes, and completed craft projects using recycled materials. Between the two years, more than twenty local organizations such as Howard County Conservancy, Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services and the Robinson Nature Center displayed boards, videos and examples of green practices educating people about the environment and how to get involved. Participants had the opportunity to join a CSA, buy natural products and to swap their books for new reading materials. The Fashion Club put on a show of original fashions created with 100% recycled materials.
About 200 people attended Ecofest both years |
Photos from March 2013
Photos from 1st Annual EcoFest
|
Photos from 2nd Annual EcoFest
Obtaining Bigger Recycling Capacity In 2008, Marriotts Ridge had great quantities of recyclable items, but did not have large enough dumpsters or rolling cans to store the recycling for pick up. The overflow recycling ended up in the trash, unnecessarily damaging the environment. The students and staff of Marriotts Ridge signed a petition requesting a second dumpster. Howard County brought a larger dumpster and larger rolling bins to the school in response to the petition. In addition to large bins in the cafeteria and all teacher planning areas, each classroom has a generous bin to maximize recycling.
In Fall of 2012, Alicia Moore helped with efficient placement of recycling bins throughout the school. Due to the large amount of bottles used on the athletic fields, recycling bins were also placed around the outside school grounds. Even with better placement of receptacles, the recyclers of the school (the Environmental Club and the custodians) commented on how bins were overflowing. In response, Howard County provided 8 more 20-gallon recycling rolling bins. |
Photos from Spring 2008 and Winter 2009
|
Habitat Restoration Building birdhouses was a two year long undertaking that was finished in the fall of 2011. Five bluebird houses were constructed out of wood, painted in light colors, and placed outside, where they hopefully have given birds a home and a safe place to raise baby birds. The birdhouses partially replace habitat lost to the birds when the school was constructed. Birds have been spotted making homes!
The Environmental Club is currently working with Danielle Fallon on a proposal for a butterfly/rain garden. Danielle is a senior at River Hill High School and she successfully worked with her school to build a rain garden. The Environmental Club is looking forward to successful completion of this project in the coming years. Technology Education classes created birdhouses that Art Club and National Honor Art Society painted. The birdhouses are being sold as a fundraiser for the butter/rain garden. By the end of March 2013, $260 has been raised. |
Photos from Fall & Spring 2010 and Fall 2011
|
Increased Energy Awareness For School Community The Marriotts Ridge High School community has been made more aware of the energy that they consume on a daily basis. The FIRST Robotics team and the Environmental Club raise funds by selling LED bulbs. Signs that tell people to turn off the lights when they leave the room have been posted around the school. Students have examined energy habits of the staff, 54% of which signed a pledge in the Fall of 2012 to reduce energy use.
Teachers who are caught green handed are recognized and rewarded at staff meetings, encouraging the staff to go green. EcoFest extended the message to the community, particularly the elementary schoolers who will hopefully make energy conscious decisions later in life because of their exposure at a young age.
|
Photos from Winter and Spring 2012
|