Connerton has worked for Anne Arundel County Public Schools for 15 years and now is the school system’s wellness coordinator.

Connerton, who went to the White House after being named teacher of the year, is one of 48 recipients nationwide. Given by the National Education Association Foundation, the award recognizes exceptional K-12 public school educators for excellence in the classroom, dedication to family and community engagement, a commitment to equity and diversity and advocacy for the teaching profession.

“I am honored and humbled to be one of the 48 educators in the nation to receive the 2025 Travelers Award for Teaching Excellence through the NEA Foundation,” Connerton said in a news release Monday. “I am in awe that this work that I hold so dear to my heart is getting such notice because what drives me every day is simply doing everything I can to create a better world for our youth.”

Previously, Connerton was the wellness coordinator at Annapolis High School, where she created and led the school’s Trauma-Informed Leadership Team. She led monthly counseling groups, such as yoga sessions for specific student needs, and put together professional development for teachers with a focus on the health and wellness of students.

“It makes you nervous with all these little ones holding on to the wagon, especially with all the cars going by,” Patrick said. “We take a couple steps, then we have to pull over into somebody’s yard or driveway to get out of the way.”

Patrick didn’t anticipate this trek becoming part of her daily routine, having watched the school bus drop kids off within eyesight of her house for years. She started a day care business in her house on Norwich Road four years ago, thinking it would be a good way to stay home with her son while still making an income.

Her son started kindergarten this year at Pasadena Elementary School, and to her surprise, the bus stop near her house wasn’t on the bus schedule for this academic year. She’s not comfortable letting her son walk alone, especially since there’s no sidewalk, and since she runs her business by herself, she can’t leave the day care kids to go pick him up.

The Transportation Division follows National Highway Transportation Administration (NHTSA) guidelines when establishing bus stops, according to Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesperson Bob Mosier. Stops along a route are consolidated to help bus drivers reach school on time. Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, buses in this cluster routinely arrived late, causing students to miss instruction, Mosier said.

“The Transportation Division continually reviews and evaluates bus stops throughout the county in order to maximize the efficiency of the overall system,” said Mosier. “In this case, students who live in the transportation area are provided with bus stops that are accessible, safe, and will get them to school on time.”

Bringing all seven kids to the bus stop isn’t a sustainable solution, and Patrick worries about the weather, especially when winter brings darker mornings. She anticipates having to turn away clients with infants.

“I don’t even want to think about pushing the wagon through the snow,” Patrick said. “Who’s gonna want their infant to go out in that kind of weather twice a day?”

Pamela Blades, who lives behind Patrick on Inverness Road, started her own at-home day care, Miss Pam’s Child Care, 25 years ago. The same bus stop Patrick planned to use was once directly in front of her home and would drop her clients at her front stoop. This year, the nearest bus stop is a quarter-mile walk from her home, along a road with no sidewalk.

Blades isn’t willing to haul her entire day care operation to the bus stop. So far, two families have removed their children because they’re uncomfortable with the walk, costing her hundreds of dollars every week. She’s struggling to cope with the financial loss and is sad to lose kids she’s cared for since they were infants.

“My clients refuse to put me in a position where I have to get other children up from nap time and drag them around the block to the corner, so they found other accommodations,” Blades said. “I was crying yesterday because I miss the kids.”

One of those kids is Alyssa Sizemore’s five-year-old daughter. Sizemore preferred Blades’ day care because of the intimate and loving environment she observed there, but she pulled her daughter out because she felt the walk was too dangerous.

“Somebody could observe my daughter walking that path over time and recognize she’s alone. As a mother, you don’t even want to think about what those risks could be,” Sizemore said.

Sizemore and her husband asked for accommodations at work so they could pick their daughter up from the bus stop, but that arrangement is temporary until they can find alternative childcare.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools won’t determine the new bus routes for the next academic year until next summer, leaving Blades and Patrick unsure if their businesses will return to normal.

The request is roughly $32 million less than this year’s budget.

Nearly 60% of the recommendation is for constructing three new schools: the Center of Applied Technology in Severn and Old Mill High School and Old Mill Middle School North, both in Millersville.

The recommendation also includes $9.2 million for a new school bus facility; $8 million to address a maintenance backlog; $6 million for roof replacement projects; $5 million for kindergarten and prekindergarten additions; $4 million for athletic stadium improvements; and $4 million for other classroom additions.

Bedell gave the board his six-year capital improvement plan, which allocates funds through 2031. The board will hold a public meeting on the capital budget Sept. 16 and vote on it at the next school board meeting Sept. 18.

Once approved by the board, the plan will be sent to the state’s Interagency Commission on School Construction and included as part of the school system’s overall fiscal year 2026 request to County Executive Steuart Pittman in February. The County Council will review that plan and adopt a final capital budget for the school system by June.

Located on the U.S. Naval Academy Dairy Farm, the Maryland Corn Maze’s farmers reshape the 8-acre cornfield with a different theme each year. The corn is planted in June, and once the plants reach roughly 2 feet in height, the maze design is cut into the field, a practice started in 2006.

This year’s design features various symbols from Swift’s career, including a guitar, the friendship bracelets her fans famously trade at shows, her lucky number 13, and the heart hands that have been her signature since her debut in 2006.

There are games scattered throughout the maze and this year, if visitors get lost, they can use their phone’s GPS to help navigate. In addition to the maze, there is a hayride, petting farm, paintball course, pumpkin patch, zipline course, tire mountain, pony rides, and other attractions.

Kanin Wren’s Taylor Swift Experience, a cover band, will perform Oct. 2 from 5-7 p.m.

Tickets start at $17.95 with discounts for first responders and members of the military. Parking is $5 or free if there are more than three people in the car. Pets are not allowed, except for Bring Your Dog Weekend, which is the first weekend in November and the last weekend before the maze closes for the season.

“I learned a lot and hope to use what I learned in the future,” Zacharia said in an Aug. 28 news release.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools offers The Stock Market Game in partnership with the Maryland Council on Economic Education, a Towson University-based nonprofit focused on teaching personal finance and economics. The game is an online simulation of the global capital markets designed for students from kindergarten to high school.

“Teaching students about financial literacy and encouraging them to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios helps prepare students to make informed decisions and build a foundation for future success,” said Shauna Kauffman, principal of Arnold Elementary School, in the release.

Zacharia beat 959 other elementary school students from across the county.

“It’s exciting to have someone so young win an award for such a complicated subject,” said Kauffman. “I feel that his essay really highlights the value of empowering our students with learning opportunities in all areas.”

For winning the competition, Zacharia will receive a new laptop, a camera and a $50 cash prize. Amy Phillips, who brought the Stock Market Game club to Arnold Elementary School, received a $750 award. The school gets a trophy to display and funds for a student celebration during the school year.

“[Phillips] is the one who really recognized the importance of teaching students financial literacy, so she helped guide them in their financial decisions during the club, and she provided them with a structured yet risk-free environment to put their learning into action,” said Kauffman.

In his essay, Zacharia described which investments performed the best, and provided recommendations for hypothetical future investments. Zacharia said he only invested in companies that don’t use fossil fuels because, as part of the game, he and his classmates identified a goal of preventing pollution.

“I enjoyed learning about the economy and seeing how I can make money and help the environment too,” Zacharia wrote in his essay. “I am one step closer to lessening climate change by investing in the environment.”

Now a senior, Hamdaoui is the student representative on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education for the 2024-2025 academic year.

“It’s enjoyable because I’m so aware of the fact that where I am now and what I’m doing is such a privilege,” said Hamdaoui. “Sometimes other things can feel like a bit of a hassle, and it’s a bit of a drag to get up and go do them. But I never, ever feel that way with my student member of the board duties.”

The 51st student member of the board, Hamdaoui was elected in May to represent the interests of Anne Arundel’s more than 83,000 public school students. She began her duties July 1.

“We have always been blessed with great student members of the BOE. Their wisdom and insight have been extremely valuable over the years,” said Robert Silkworth, president of the board.

The first student member was elected in 1974 although they were not given voting rights until 1975, making Anne Arundel County Public Schools the only school district in Maryland to have a student member with full voting rights.

“In a very brief period of time, I have learned that Hafsa is as dedicated and qualified to represent AACPS’s students as any of the previous student members,” said Silkworth. “She is a great listener. She knows her role. She asks great questions and she cares about her fellow students.”

Hamdaoui spent the summer visiting Morocco, interning at a nonprofit called Walk the Walk, and starting college applications. When she graduates from Crofton, she plans to attend a four-year college and is considering pursuing a law degree.

Both her parents immigrated from Morocco to Oklahoma, where she was born. She went to kindergarten at Nantucket Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, but her family wanted to experience living in different countries.

“My dad likes to joke, ‘We go wherever the wind takes us,’” said Hamdaoui.

Hamdaoui, her parents and her two younger sisters moved back to Maryland in 2020 and she was part of the first freshman class at Crofton High School

“There was this palpable enthusiasm with the students and teachers,” said Hamdaoui. “You get to create traditions, to set a foundation for a school that’s going to be around for a while.”

When nominations opened last February, Hamdaoui’s friends encouraged her to run.

“I’ve had such diverse learning experiences that I think I see things through slightly different lenses,” said Hamdaoui. “There were little things that added up that I noticed around me that I didn’t necessarily feel were being addressed.”

Hamdaoui saw a lack of equity when comparing her school to other high schools in the county that were overcrowded or in need of renovation, she said.

“Every student deserves an incredible education, regardless of their zip code,” said Hamdaoui.

Hamdaoui was also motivated to run by seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her classmates’ mental health. Crofton High School’s first academic year was entirely online.

“Everywhere around me I saw students struggling,” said Hamdaoui. “I felt like there was more to be done for those students.”

Through participating in DemocraShe, a nonprofit that provides teen girls with training in resiliency skills and leadership, Hamdaoui met her mentor, Marie-Alise Recasner-de Marco. Marco is a former soap opera actress who grew up and still lives in Los Angeles, California. Marco says her experience growing up and in the entertainment industry made her passionate about supporting young women pursuing careers in male-dominated fields.

“She will say something if she feels that it needs to be said, and I’m really proud of her for that,” said Marco. “I’ve learned as much from her, if not more, than she’s gotten from me.”

Though the school year just started, Hamdaoui says she’s already busy with her duties and is looking forward to the next board meeting on Wednesday.

“There’s always more to learn,” said Hamdaoui. “I’m a very curious person, and so it’s completely different and completely new to anything I’ve ever done before. It’s like trial by fire.”

Officers took 48-year-old Gwendolyn Persina into custody and brought her to Queen Anne’s County Detention Center Wednesday evening, where she is being held without bail. Her charges include driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license, and causing life-threatening injuries by driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

On January 27 at 7:46 a.m., 23 vehicles were involved in a pile-up on the westbound side of the bridge and 20 cars were involved in secondary accidents. Twelve people were transported to the hospital, one with life-threatening injuries.

Responding officers located a blue 2018 Honda Civic that had been involved in the crash and identified Persina as the driver. MDTA Police said Persina was speeding when she struck another vehicle, causing the chain-reaction crash.

Persina had previously pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by alcohol in October 2022.

“I believe that she is a threat to public safety with her driving history,” Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Lance Richardson said in a statement.

Persina’s trial date is set for February 5, 2025. No attorney is listed for Persina in Maryland Case Search.

Nicola “Dr. Nikki” Smith-Kea will use a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to start the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Nikki on board to help us move this work to the next level,” said County Executive Pittman in the announcement.

Smith-Kea will manage initiatives involving law enforcement, policymakers, research institutes, national organizations and advocates. The program includes leadership-level training on hate crime investigation strategies, enhancing police department staffing for community outreach and purchasing surveillance equipment to capture incidents occurring at night.

Anne Arundel County applied for the grant in 2023 following Pittman’s 2020 Hate Bias Forum, according to a spokesperson. The forum was created after the 2018 State of Maryland Hate Bias Report revealed Anne Arundel County led the state in reported hate-bias incidents.

The number of hate bias incidents in Anne Arundel County has declined 42% from 2019 to 2023, according to the Anne Arundel County Hate Bias Incident Dashboard, which uses data from the Anne Arundel County Police Department.

Two acts of vandalism that took place earlier this year at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Glen Burnie were both investigated by Anne Arundel Police as hate crimes.

Push’N Pedals Cycling Club rode through downtown Annapolis on Friday night to promote inclusion and kindness following what members described as a racist attack during a bike ride through the city earlier this summer. The group was riding through Annapolis on June 28 when pedestrians began to hurl racial slurs, and a car full of people attacked them with bear mace and a rock, club president Josh Jenkins said.

Anne Arundel County received three times the original grant request and is the only county entity in Maryland to be awarded the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program Grant in this application cycle.

Previously, Smith-Kea worked as a senior policy analyst and technical assistance manager for the New York-based Council of State Governments Justice Center, a nonprofit research association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, a master’s in sociology from the University of the West Indies, a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in leadership and change from Antioch University in Ohio.

Smith-Kea will manage the county’s Hate Crime Prevention Program under the direction of the Office of Equity and Human Rights.

English scores increased by 2% and math was up 1.8% in Anne Arundel County on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program standardized test. This represented the Baltimore area’s biggest improvements.

Specifically, the county reported increases in 13 of 14 tested areas with third-grade English being the only category to drop.

The statewide percentage of test takers scoring proficient each rose by less than a percentage point. Across Maryland, about 48.4% of students scored proficient in English language arts, and 24.1% scored proficient in math.

In Anne Arundel County, 53.9% of students scored proficient in English, and 27.6% scored proficient in math.

“I want to be very clear that we have a lot of work to do to improve these scores,” said Mark Bedell, Superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

Last year, the county system implemented a new math curriculum, Reveal, at the elementary level to provide students with a stronger mathematical foundation. This school year, AACPS is introducing the Core Knowledge Language Arts literacy curriculum, which focuses on the Science of Reading, at the elementary level.

“I believe Reveal has had – and will continue to have – a positive impact for our students in math and I expect CKLA will have a similar impact in English Language Arts,” Bedell said. “Our teachers and instructional teams are relentless in their pursuit to help every student we serve achieve and to simultaneously close gaps. We will continue to help them deliver instruction that produces the results we all want.”

This installment marked the third time the full MCAP was administered in Maryland. Test scores from the 2022-23 school year reflected improvement in both English and math by over two percentage points.

Given annually to third through eighth graders as well as to high schoolers, who take Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry and 10th grade English assessments, the MCAP math and English language arts tests provide a statewide snapshot of the academic progress of Maryland public school students. Science exams are administered at only two grade levels. While the state did not release detailed data for science, officials reported a 10 percentage point decline among fifth graders, with 23.9% proficient, and a 1.5 percentage decline among eighth graders, with 24.9% proficient.

Statewide, proficiency rates rose the most for Algebra I and II, growing by 2.8 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively. English proficiency among fifth graders had the third-highest growth, at 2.4 percentage points. The biggest declines were seen in third-grade English and in geometry, where proficiency rates each fell by more than a percentage point.

The new results come as several state initiatives roll out to improve performance, including a new approach to teaching reading. A $6.8 million grant will be used to teach educators the research-backed “science of reading” method, which focuses on phonics, understanding syllables and comprehending words’ meanings.

Reading and accountability have been early focuses of state Superintendent Carey Wright, who was appointed to the position in April after holding the role on an interim basis since October. Wright is widely credited for dramatically improving math and literacy test scores when she led Mississippi’s education department.

One of Wright’s first actions as Maryland superintendent was to create a task force to evaluate the state’s Maryland Report Card, which rates every school on a five-star scale. Wright expressed skepticism of a system that gives more than three-quarters of schools three or more stars when less than a quarter of students score proficient in math and less than half in English. The report card takes into account MCAP scores in addition to other metrics including graduation rates, attendance and surveys.

ELA proficiency generally held steady among student subgroups, according to an education department news release, while no groups saw declines in math proficiency. Achievement gaps persisted in both subjects for multilingual and economically disadvantaged students as well as students with disabilities.

The MCAP scores were presented to the board ahead of updates and public comment on a literacy policy proposed by Wright in July that would hold back third graders who can’t read on grade level. Board members greeted the proposal with skepticism and the possibility of letting parents waive a decision to retain a student was to be a topic of Tuesday’s hearing.

The MCAP took the place of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which was last taken in the 2018-19 academic year. Despite the flat numbers released Tuesday, state school board members approved goals that seek 5 percentage point annual improvements each of the next two years for third-grade English, fifth-grade math and for the combined scores for grades 3-8 in each subject.

Baltimore area results

All six jurisdictions in the Baltimore area saw little improvement in proficiency — between 0.2 and 2 percentage points — across all grade levels in English and math from the year before. Baltimore County officials also pointed to new English language arts and math curricula as well as a new curriculum for multilingual learners.

Officials with Baltimore City and Harford and Howard counties did not immediately respond with comments about their districts’ data.

Harford County schools saw the smallest change from the year prior for math, increasing 0.2 percentage points, and Carroll County for English, increasing 0.3 points.

While Baltimore City continued to have the lowest proficiency ratings in both subjects among area jurisdictions, the city now has more than 10% of students scoring proficient in math — an improvement that cedes the state’s lowest ranking in the subject to Somerset County. For English, the city also improved slightly, to 27.7%.

Looking individually at the six grade-level math tests, the two algebra tests and one geometry test, math performance in the Baltimore region mostly held steady or improved. Carroll County saw the most notable increase — a 9.6 percentage point increase for Algebra I test takers.

Baltimore City’s proficiency rates for eighth-grade math and Algebra II remained below 5%, but Algebra I rose 2.4 percentage points to 8.8%.

English scores followed a similar trend with most Baltimore-area districts improving on most tests. The biggest jump was fifth-grade English in Harford County, where the proficiency rate rose 8.2 percentage points. Harford also had the biggest decline in English language arts, with the 10th-grade proficiency rate falling 5.4 percentage points.

Staff reporters Thomas Goodwin Smith and Matt Hubbard contributed to this article.

“We’ve got a lot of energy right now in Anne Arundel County,” said Bedell. “I’ve opened up school as a superintendent for nine years, and I’ve never seen this kind of energy from a staff about the start of the school year.”

Bedell was joined by State Superintendent Carey Wright, President of the State Board of Education Joshua Michael, and Board of Education District 6 representative Joanna Bache Tobin as Principal Julia Walsh gave a look inside two second-grade classrooms. Bedell said they chose to visit Tyler Heights because it is a dual language as well as a community school.

Tyler Heights is the only dual language school in the district, meaning they educate in both English and Spanish. 93% of students come from Spanish-speaking families.

“There’s nothing more exciting than the first day of school, so my heart is absolutely full today,” said Wright. “Having a dual language program like this speaks volumes because it’s changing the world we live in.”

“It’s also a school that is doing wonderful things for our kids, socially, emotionally and academically,” said Bedell.

Tyler Heights is also one of 38 community schools in Anne Arundel County funded through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislation designed to improve education for those who have been historically underserved.

There are only two bus routes because nearly all Tyler Heights students live within walking distance. 96% of students are on the school system’s free and reduced lunch program, and Tyler Heights offers parenting classes, food, clothing, and other supplies at the “Tyler Heights Community Market.”

“Anytime parents come to an event here, they’re able to leave with fresh fruits and vegetables, along with diapers,” said Walsh.

When the first bus arrived at Tyler Heights Monday, it dropped the students off, and the driver turned around to run her route again, looking for students who may have missed the bus because it was the first day.

“She did it without being asked to do so,” said Bedell after talking to the bus driver. “They are the first and last line of defense. How bus drivers and aides greet students sets the tone before they even get here.”

Elementary school students as well as sixth and ninth grade students had their first day on Monday, while the remaining grades start on Tuesday.

Two new schools are opening in the county this year. Severn Run High School held a ribbon-cutting on Saturday while Two Rivers Elementary had its ribbon-cutting celebration on Monday, with students starting Tuesday.