Journalism students at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School will host a conference titled “Doomocracy” at the school from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Oct. 24 to discuss 10 perceived threats to democracy.
Scheduled for the day before early voting opens for the Nov. 6 general election, Doomocracy will feature politicians, authors, scholars and journalists who will discuss and debate concerns such as voter suppression.
The conference is not open to the public, but Montgomery County Public Schools students who RSVP will be admitted.
“Democracy may not be perfect; but we’ve grown rather fond of it,” journalism student Malaika Bhayana said in a press release. “We’d like to grow old knowing it didn’t meet its doom on our watch.”
Three MoCo Catholic schools awarded grant funding for special education services
Three Montgomery County schools recently received grant funding to promote special education.
The Academy of Holy Cross in Kensington, Holy Redeemer School in Kensington and St. Bartholomew School in Bethesda were three of seven recipients of the Catholic Coalition for Special Education’s 2018 Believe in Me! grants.
The grants can fund the hiring of special education staff or to purchase materials to provide “appropriate accommodations and modifications to the curriculum and for professional development,” according to a press release.
Academy of the Holy Cross’ grant will help fund the Moreau Options Program teacher salaries, while Holy Redeemer’s grant will be used to aid paraeducators to provide in-classroom support for students with Down Syndrome. St. Bartholomew intends to use its grant money to hire resource team members and schedule professional development to prepare for students with Down syndrome.
Two MoCo schools honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools
Bethesda’s Bannockburn Elementary School and Rockville’s Luxmanor Elementary School will receive recognition in November as two of the nation’s 349 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
An awards ceremony to recognize the schools will be held in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7 and 8.
Now in its 36th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has highlighted more than 8,800 educational institutions that have test scores in the top 15 percent in their states and no major achievement gaps among students from different demographics, according to the organization’s website.