On the first day of school Wednesday for St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS), school staff and board members and county elected officials fanned out to visit all 27 of them. School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, accompanied by School Board President Dr. Sal Raspa, NAS commander Capt. Ben Shevchuk, Sen. Roy Dyson and County Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell visited Spring Ridge M.S., Great Mills H.S. and Lexington Park E.S.
At Spring Ridge, Principal Angela Fulp led the visitors on a tour of the fire damaged classrooms that have been brought back to life with a summer restoration effort. They also took a look at the new gym floor that was laid down over the summer and they posed on center court for pictures.
The entourage visited Stephanie Houseman’s math class which was ground zero of the fire which started in a heater in the room. It has been transformed into a bright classroom space once again. At Houseman’s class and several others, Sen. Dyson told the students about the scholarship program administered by his office and Capt. Shevchuk told the students to prepare themselves for the many jobs available on base.
At Great Mills High School, Principal Jake Heibel said a class of more than 1,600 settled in quickly. He said the 200-person staff includes 125 teachers, with only one opening for a math teacher. “We are in a real good position,” he said.
The visit to Great Mills was like old home week for some of the visitors. Sen. Dyson is an alumnus and he also visited with his niece, who is a teacher. Capt. Shevchuk ran into his son in a Spanish class taught by Eva Donahue. And Dr. Raspa, a former teacher and principal at the school, saw some of his former colleagues.
At one point Sen. Dyson told some stories about attending great Mills, to which Heibel quipped, “We’ve changed a little since you were here. We’ve had to tighten ship.” Indeed the spotless school appeared to be ship shape for the school start.
At Lexington Park Elementary School, the visitors were introduced to new Principal Dr. Curtis Alston and new Assistant Principal Erin Johnson. Dr. Alston proudly boasted about the school’s new motto: “Bring it on; Bring it strong; Bring your A game.”
Dr. Alston said the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office’s new Lexington Park Community Policing unit helped with traffic control at school’s’ open.
Dr. Martirano said the school system hoped to expand summer programs at schools such as Lexington park E.S. Alston said teachers volunteered this past summer to take reading programs into the community. And he said the Lunc
