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Church donates $7,000 to foundation's work
Congregation says it aims to lessen tension in schools after presidential election
Kittamaqundi Community Church in Columbia will donate $7,000 to the not-for-profit educational Bright Minds Foundation for cultural proficiency and awareness programs for Howard County public schools.
The school system trains staff and teachers through its cultural proficiency program to support equity and inclusion among its students. Bright Minds Foundation provides outside funding for the program to help meet gaps in the school budget.
The Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff of Kittamaqundi Community Church said her church will fund the program in hopes of tackling racial and ethnic harassment issues.
The congregation began talking with Bright Minds in January, said Kirk-Davidoff, after an incident in which an online video showed a white Mount Hebron High School senior disparaging African-Americans.
In the wake of rising tensions across the country following the election of Donald Trump on Nov. 8, Kirk-Davidoff said it was time for the community to take action.
“How can we respond? There’s always the ‘I’ll talk to my child’ kind of route,” Kirk-Davidoff said. “I’m all for that, but I don’t think that’s all we can do. I think we can have a community response.
“[After talking with] people in Howard County, there’s just this real sense of anxiety and frustration about the stuff that’s happening in the community and especially the schools,” she said.
Additional funding will allow the cultural proficiency program to train more staff, she said, and incorporate students into conversations and activities about working in a multicultural environment.
Bright Minds Foundation executive director Patricia Sasse said the funds will also expand training to students in the school system. Sasse said she was thankful for the community’s support for these much-needed programs.
“It has been important to the community for a while to make sure that students do understand whole issues around diversity,” Sasse said.
“I think it’s very important that the community decides what they want to focus on around education. This is a very relevant topic at this point in time and I think that it’s a great use of private funds.”
For more information, go to brightmindsfoundation.org.
Contest to name U.S. 29 rapid bus service
Local and state leaders have launched a contest to name the long-anticipated bus rapid transit system that aims to reduce traffic along the heavily congested U.S. 29 corridor in Howard and Montgomery counties.
Names up for vote by the public include the words “flash,” “rapid” and “swift” — perhaps also reflecting the pace that state and local officials are hoping to move to secure funding for the $67 million system, which has been contemplated for years.
The first route includes a 14-mile system in Montgomery County along part of U.S. 29 that borders Prince George’s and Howard counties.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman is in discussions with Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett to make the route a two-county service.
More than 13,000 residents commute between Howard and Montgomery counties daily, according to county data.
Leggett plans to start the service by 2020. The project is partially funded by a $10 million federal grant from the Department of Transportation that was announced in late July and with $2 million from the Maryland Department of Transportation. Leggett has also committed nearly $6.5 million in Montgomery County funds for planning, design and outreach.
Kittleman hailed the grant funding as a positive step.
He said many area commuters have to bear the burden of a “congestion tax” by spending time in traffic that could be spent with family and at work.
U.S. 29 is the busiest corridor in Maryland.
On average, buses take 20 percent longer to make trips along the corridor than other automobiles, according to state data.
The new buses will run on regular lanes but, similar to a rail system, would have limited stops, priority at traffic signals and include real-time arrival information.
Leadership U supports Special Olympics Howard
Local students involved in Leadership U, a program that encourages young people to become active in their communities, set up a GoFundMe page with the Special Olympics Howard County soccer program to raise funds to help the program purchase new equipment.
Members of the Leadership U team include Kiarra Burton of Howard High, Julia Cargiulo of Mount Herbron High, Rachel McClanahan and Evan Nugent of Hammond High, Katie Zgorski of Notre Dame Preparatory School, Sean Jordan of Long Reach High, Anand Shroff of Atholton High and Alex Na of Centennial High.
The students worked with the program to determine how to obtain and distribute funds, and what specific items the program required.
The page raised more than the initial goal of $500 with enough funds to purchase soccer balls, socks and shin guards as well as equipment for other programs of Special Olympics Howard County.
HCC raises $100,000
for scholarship fund
Howard Community College’s third annual 5K challenge race raised more than $100,000 in funding for student scholarships. More than 450 students, college employees, alumni and sponsors split into teams to compete in the Oct. 30 race and a variety of challenges.
Winners included Andrew Parlette of the HCC alumni and faculty for being the fastest male and Lauren Leatherman of sponsor Harkins Builders for being the fastest female. Harkins Builders was also declared the winner of the Corporate Challenge and Waldon Studio Architects for the Aim to be Active 10-week online challenge.
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