Mutual uses Christmas spirit to fight cancer

Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo The Mutual Elementary Mighty Mustangs held their own festival of trees to raise money for Relay for Life. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Next year's Relay for Life may be a couple seasons away, but it's never too early to begin raising funds, as was evidenced by the Mutual Elementary Mighty Mustang team last Friday.

The team held its own Mini-Festival of Trees, complete with a silent auction, beginning Dec. 2, when 27 artificial trees were first put on display in the school's foyer and office. Last Friday, the highest bidders claimed their trees.

When all the trees had been auctioned off, the team had raised $1,630 for the American Cancer Society, team Captain Diana Roof said, adding that Mutual Elementary has been Calvert's top fundraising school for the past three years. Last year the team, which has roughly 25 members, including parents, students and teachers, raised more than $10,000, Roof said. A cancer survivor and instructional assistant at Mutual, Roof captains the team along with Jill Cedar, a first-grade teacher at Mutual.

Opening bids averaged $20 to $50 for each of the 3- to 4.5-foot trees, but Roof said eight or nine of the more popular specimens ended up selling for $75 to $100.

"We had one with, we called it the jeweled birds, it had fancy glass bird ornaments," she said. "We had a [Pittsburgh] Steelers tree, and there were a few nautical trees that were real popular."

Roof, whose melanoma went into remission in 2003, said the team first got the idea from Mutual Elementary Principal Lisa Wisniewski, who participated in a similar program when she worked for Charles County Public Schools. Team members donated the trees, which were assigned to each of the school's classrooms. Each classroom decided how to decorate its tree, and students, teachers and room parents brought in or donated money to buy the necessary decorations. The school's office staff and resource teachers also had trees along with the relay team, Roof said.

In addition to the festival, the team also holds monthly staff luncheons or breakfasts and after-school activities to solicit donations. The same day as the auction, kids stayed after school to make holiday cookies and crafts and watch a movie.

"It was really good and a lot of fun too. We've had pizza sales in the past that have risen close to that amount, but this was a lot more meaningful to the kids and the families," Roof said. "The kids were so excited to see their class tree, the whole atmosphere was just so festive, and it was for a good cause. They knew what it was for."

BOE meetings rescheduled

The Calvert County Board of Education has changed its meeting schedule for January and February. The new schedule is:

On Jan. 7, a closed session at 9 a.m. and work session at 10 a.m.;

On Jan. 28, a closed session at 9 a.m., work session at noon and business meeting at 2 p.m.;

On Feb. 11, a closed session at 9 a.m., work session at noon and business meeting at 2 p.m., and;

On Feb. 25, a closed session at 9 a.m., work session at 10 a.m. and public hearing at 7 p.m. A location for the public hearing has not been decided.

All meetings will be held at the Brooks Administrative and Instructional Center on Dares Beach Road in Prince Frederick.

JPPM docent training

The College of Southern Maryland, in partnership with Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in St. Leonard, will be offering a class aimed at training those wishing to become JPPM docents.

The class, taught by professional archaeologists, historians and park staff, will focus on Southern Maryland's archaeology, history and culture, specifically that of the park and its land. The 10-week course will be given on Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 27, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at JPPM. Students will also learn how to engage and educate museum visitors and, upon completion, qualify to lead school groups and the general public on tours and assist in educational programs as park docents, according to a press release.

Class size is limited. Tuition costs $10 and the class materials fee is $45, but the latter will be refunded to those who opt to become docents. Register at www.csmd.edu/training/register/#register or call 301-934-2251 for a registration form. The course identification number is "PEP 7680."

For more information, contact Jean Campbell at 410-586-8536 or jcampbell@mdp.state.md.us.

Dobard appearance rescheduled for Dec. 17

Many in Calvert County and beyond were disappointed when Professor Raymond Dobard, art history professor at Howard University and well-known quilter was unable to make his planned presentation at the Calvert Library Prince Frederick.

Good news: His appearance has now been rescheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m.

Dobard believes that quilts were used as a tool for communication on the Underground Railroad. Co-author Jacqueline Tobin met Ozella McDaniel Williams in Charleston who told Tobin her family's story about how quilts were used. Dobard and Tobin built their book "Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad" around her story and their research. Dobard will talk about their story and answer questions. He has new material to share since his book was published in 1999 and will offer clarifications to questions about the accuracy of the book that have arisen since publication.

In "Hidden in Plain View," the authors offer information about certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code that seem to have been used as essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. In 1994, historian Jacqueline Tobin met African-American quilter Ozella Williams amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of Charleston, S.C. With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready." During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold — and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew — Tobin enlisted Dobard, an art history professor and well-known African-American quilter, to help unravel the mystery.

Part adventure and part history, "Hidden in Plain View" traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.

The book is available through online booksellers to purchase and to bring for Dobard's autograph.

jnewman@somdnews.com