Mentoring with a Message

The Montgomery County Council on April 29 honored students from Springbrook High School in Silver Spring who have volunteered to be mentors and also honored students from nearby Broad Acres Elementary School, who are benefiting from the partnership. The mentoring program, called ‘Rising Stars,’ provides the Broad Acres students with important tools and teachings to help them reach their goals of academic success. Presenting the proclamation on behalf of the Council, from left, were Council members Valerie Ervin and Phil Andrews. Also at the ceremonies were John Smith (third from left), a strong advocate of mentoring programs, James Allrich (2nd row left) an administrator at Springbrook High School and Luis San Sebastian (far right), the vice principal of Broad Acres who helped establish the Rising Stars program.

Our Media Specialist Helps Students Vote for Black Eyed Susan Book Nominees

Mrs. Simon, one of Springbrook's media specialists, works with several classes everyday. During this session, she is working with a group on a special project. They are voting for their favorite books, in hopes that they will be selected as a Black Eyed Susan Award Winner. The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award honors outstanding books chosen annually by Maryland students. Each year since 1992, the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award has been given to one book in each of several grade-level categories. After reading at least 3 of the nominated books, a student is eligible to cast one vote for the book he or she considers to be the most outstanding. Votes from across the state are sent to the Black-Eyed Susan committee and tallied to determine the winner in each grade-level category. The winning authors and/or illustrators receive a pewter plate engraved with the year and the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award logo. Authors, illustrators and publishers recognize the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award as an honor bestowed by Maryland students.

Potato Launch Adds Fun to Learning!

Students from Dr. Rock's chemistry class explore Boyle’s law while launching potatoes on the green. The students enjoyed this "hands on" activity. It is an example of making science real and relevant.

SCB Track Meet

Springbrook's coaching staff invited the Special Ed. Classes (School Community Based) to run a race during a recent track meet on campus.

The students really loved the experience of performing on a high school athletic team.

The officials, the coaches, the timers and the teams united in making this a really special event for the students. Many thanks to everyone involved.

Most of the SCB students seemed to understand the context of the event much more so than in years past. They had a ball!

Way to Go, Forensics Team!

The Springbrook High School Forensics Team made an impressive showing at the Finals tournament in March. Three students qualified at earlier tournaments in Extemporaneous Speaking (Zayan Mahmooth), Poetry (Juliana Atabong), and Persuasive Speaking (Michelle Okwali). Although Zayan and Michelle were new to the team this year, they have been a wonderful asset.

Michelle placed first overall in the Persuasive Speaking category in the county finals tournament.

This is a remarkable year for the Springbrook Forensics Team. Sharon Cohen and Alan Leddy, the sponsors of the group, have dedicated themselves to make the students successful.

FBLA State Leadership Conference

The 2008 Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference was a rewarding experience for Springbrook's students. They had an opportunity to meet and compete with students throughout the State of Maryland and enjoy the hotel accommodations that were provided. Asmeret Tekelehaimanot placed 4th in the Help Desk event. Recognition is also given to Gabriel Yu, CJ Wimberly, Jr. and Michelle Phipps for their participation in the other events such as Business Calculations, Impromptu Speaking and Public Speaking.

The FBLA club at Springbrook is growing. We hope to have more members join, compete and advance to all levels in the competition.

Joe Spence--Scuba Diver

On April 11th, Mr. Joe Spence of the Special Education Department at Springbrook High School, gave a "show & tell" presentation to students in the Learning for Life (LFI) classes. Mr. Cygnarowicz and Mrs. Stevens' pupils had a wonderful opportunity to see, touch, and ask questions about his experiences under water.

Mr. Spence is an avid diver and travels the globe deep sea fishing.

Coaches Change for Springbrook's Lacrosse Team

Boys lacrosse became a varsity sport in Montgomery County in 1997. Since then, Mark Pim, a member of the social studies department, has been the coach.

Darren Murray, a 1999 graduate of Springbrook, was inspired to play lacrosse under Coach Pim while he was a student.

Now, the tide has turned. Darren Murray is the new coach of the Springbrook Lacrosse Blue Devils.

Although Mark Pim still teaches history at Springbrook, he has joined the coaching team at The Heights School in Potomac, where his son will attend in the fall.

Mark, we will miss you on the sidelines. Darren, glad you have come back home.

Photo: Mark Pim from The Gazette

The Springbrook Culinary Team Competes in State Event

Congratulations to the Springbrook Culinary Team; Khadija Campbell, Kadijatu Kargbo, Luis Portillo, Apoline Ngati, and Halimah Saalakhan for placing 5th in the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational Culinary Competition. This was Springbrook’s first time entering this statewide competition. To compete in this culinary event, students must be currently enrolled in Springbrook's ProStart course, International Cultures and Cuisine and Culnary Essentials. This year students competed for $750,000 in scholarship funds to be split between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Each team had 60 minutes to prepare an appetizer, entree and dessert and plate two servings to be given to judges. Teams were only allowed to use 2 butane burners, no electric or battery operated equipment, and had to have their own means of refrigeration (ice/coolers). Teams also had to bring all of their own cooking equipment and food. Only dry goods could be brought to the site premeasured (flour, salt, pepper, etc.) All produce and herbs had to be whole and un cut. Their teacher, Ms. Denise Smith, prepared them well.

Kera Johnson Becomes an Einstein Fellow!

Kera Johnson was selected for, and has accepted, the 2008-2009 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship appointment with the National Science Foundation Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings. She will be working at the NSF offices in Arlington, Virginia from September 2008 to July 2009.

Mrs. Johnson was impressive; she was in the top 40 of 400 other applicants. These teachers from across the United States will be working with top government officials for 11 months.

The application process was arduous, but Ms. Johnson believes that “Persistence pays off!”


The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act was signed into law in November 1994. The law gives the Department of Energy responsibility for administering the program of distinguished educator fellowships for elementary and secondary school mathematics and science teachers. Selected teachers spend up to one year in a Congressional Office or a federal agency. Agencies that have participated include: the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Education (ED), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Fellows provide their educational expertise, years of experience and personal insights to these offices.


Some of the outstanding contributions of Einstein Fellows have included:
**Drafting legislation and influencing policy that seek to improve K-16 education in the United States
**Initiating collaborations and establishing partnerships among federal agencies
**Designing and implementing national science, math, and technology education programs
**Creating Web-based science education programs
**Establishing and evaluating national and regional programs centered on school reform and teacher preparation in science, mathematics and technology


Mrs. Johnson would like to thank MR. ALLRICH, MS. KIM AND MRS. BROWN FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND KIND WORDS OF RECOMMENDATION, AND MR. DURSO FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT.

Although we will miss Mrs. Johnson here at Springbrook, she will be making an impact on our Nation. We are very proud of her!

Famous Artist Charlie Rosario Visits Classes at Springbrook

Mr. Rosario is best known as a designer of album covers for Latino artists including Rey Barreto, Mongo Santamaria, and many others. Before he came into prominence on his own he was the assistant of Izzy Sanabria--another great designer known for his salsa album covers.

Art students from Mr. Foster's classes and foreign language students in Mr. Bain's classes really enjoyed the presentation from Mr. Rosario.

We would like to thank Mr. Wacke for arranging this visit!

The Music Department Wins Big in Chicago!

The Jazz Band, Symphonic Band and String Orchestra won 2nd place awards in the Festival of Music Competition in Chicago on April 4, 2008. They also won Most Outstanding Saxophone section. In addition, Braxton Cook won Most Outstanding Soloist for a Jazz Band. The entire Springbrook group won the Esprit de Corps Award. This award is given to the group that displays outstanding behavior and conduct on and off the stage throughout the festival performance. The director, Mr. Wyman Jones was inducted into the Festival of Music Director's Hall of Fame for participating in the past five Festivals of Music Competitions.

Springbrook's Art Show 2008

Students from Springbrook's art classes, showcased their talent at the Annual Art Show in the atrium of the building. Blue Devils, along with teachers and parents viewed the masterpieces in wonder and amazement. We would like to thank their instructors for teaching techniques and giving inspiration--Jennifer Earle, Charles Foster, LaRosa Jones-Arroyo, Jonathan Mann, and AnnMarie Lyddane.

Kamikaze Pilots and Japanese American Veterans Meet at Springbrook

Springbrook High School recently hosted a most interesting reunion, between two Japanese WWII Kamikaze pilots and three Japanese-American WWII veterans.

The Kamikaze pilots are featured in a compelling new DVD on the Japanese Naval Kamikaze. Several classes of our social studies students were invited for a question and answer session. The veterans were accompanied by the Producer of the DVD, who interpreted their remarks.

NPR and Cox news covered the story.

We would like to thank members of the Social Studies department for arranging this memorable event.

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