News

Dancers and Drumming of West Africa Visit Discovery
On February 10, Dishibem (which is pronounced “dee-shee-bem” and means “writing peace”), a West African dance and drumming troupe, performed for all students at two assemblies. The troupe consists of three members — Kwame Opare, Mahiri Keita and Amandou Kouyate — who come together to demonstrate the power of song, dance and drumming as a tool of communication and connection. For additional pictures click below.

The MSA Is Coming!
Mark your calendars: The Maryland School Assessment (MSA) will take place on March 13-14 for reading and March 20-21 for math. This assessment, a requirement for all Maryland public school students in Grades 3-8, provides a way for the state to measure the performance and progress of our students. Please talk with your child about the importance of the assessment and why they should take pride in how they perform, and assist them with any extra assignments that they may receive. Testing will begin promptly at 8:45 a.m. on each day, so please make sure your child arrives on time. And try not to schedule doctor’s appointments and vacations for your children during that period. If you have questions about how to help prepare your child for this assessment, please contact your child’s teacher.

Time to Restock?
It’s the half-way point in the year: Parents, do you know how many pencils your child has? February is a good time to replenish any school supplies that may have dwindled since August, such as crayons, composition books, paper, and dictionaries. To download a complete list of supplies your child needs, broken down by grade level, please click here.

Students Discover What ‘Diversity Means’
In December, Imagine Discovery’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) hosted its inaugural PTA Reflections contest. The National PTA Reflections Program, which has been in existence since 1969, encourages students across the nation to explore their artistic talents by creating works of art for fun and recognition. Each year a new theme is selected for the program, and the theme for the 2011-2012 program is “Diversity Means…” Fourteen Imagine Discovery students, from Kindergarten through Grade 7, participated in the contest, creating original works of art in six areas: dance choreography, film/videography, literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts.

A panel of “celebrity” judges who reviewed the submissions included Lil Black, a 92Q radio personality; Sadie Flick, a local jazz musician; Debbie Douglass, the Woodlawn Villager newspaper editor-in-chief; Anthony McFarlane, Pan in the Community/ St. Veronica’s Youth Steel Pan Orchestra President; and Tim Watts, a 95.9 radio personality.

While all of the scholars and their families who supported this inaugural program should be congratulated, the following students were selected by the judges to represent Imagine Discovery at the Baltimore County PTA Council level for county-wide judging: Goldie Watts (Middle), dance choreography; Stacy Uwansc (Middle), literature; Erin Lee (Intermediate), (Intermediate), and Adam Martin (Middle), visual arts.

The Reflections volunteer committee was chaired by Rachel J. Barrett-Dolcine and supported by parents Carlette Flowers (Imagine Discovery’s PTA President) and Charles Sydnor III, as well as Imagine Discovery’s teachers and staff members Brittaney Armstead, Jennifer Brumbalow, Virginia Ellis, and Twayna Sellers.

Muffins With Moms a Sweet Success
The annual “Muffins with Moms” event, held in November at Imagine Discovery, was a sweet success. Set up in the Imaginarium, the school’s multi-purpose room, the popular event featured plenty of the eponymous breakfast food, along with drinks, for all to enjoy. A slideshow presentation of the Imagine students with their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and special female figures in their lives, added a personal touch and highlighted the love of family. Carlette Flowers, Imagine’s PTA President, commented that the event was “well organized and well planned [and] went above and beyond.”

PTA Meetings
The next Parent Teacher Association meeting has been rescheduled and will now be March 6, 2012 at 6:30pm in the school’s Imaginarium. Sorry for any inconvenience the rescheduling causes.

PTA Membership Drive
The PTA is having a membership drive from now until March 30, 2012. The class with the most PTA members during this time period will receive an ice cream social to celebrate.