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Before the fireworks in Kensington, there are a few morning activities this weekend to celebrate America's 233rd birthday. Saturday, children and the young at heart are invited to decorate their bike, scooter, wagon or stroller and line up at St. Paul Park at 9:45 a.m. to follow the KVFD fire truck and pedal through the streets of town and then back to the park, located at 10721 Saint Paul St. After, there will be prizes, ice cream and soda for all. To volunteer, or for more information, please contact the town at 301-949-2424 or e-mail Shirley.Watson@tok.md.gov.

The Kensington Historical Society's Summer Concert Series will also continue Saturday, but will start late, at 10:30 a.m., to accommodate the children's parade. The concerts are held across from the farmer's market in Howard Avenue Park. Members of the family band Silver Creek have traveled from Hawaii to join their Maryland and Virginia kin in a guitar, ukulele and fiddle performance of country, folk and ragtime.

High school juniors

get social studies award

The Marian Greenblatt Education Fund recently announced its 2009 winners of the High School Junior Social Studies Award. Awards are given to a junior at each public high school in the county to recognize significant achievement in social studies. The awards are given in recognition of the importance for young people to learn the lessons of the past, in order to build a better society in the future. The award salutes students beginning to travel down that path.

The winners from Bethesda and Kensington area high schools are:

Kelsey Kiser of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Benjamin Rivers of Albert Einstein, Caroline Kahlenberg of Walt Whitman and Nicolas Carter of Walter Johnson.

The Marian Greenblatt Education Fund Awards are named in honor of Marian Greenblatt, a member of the county Board of Education 1976-84 and its president 1978-79. A history major in college, she received her Ph. D. from the University of Maryland for her study of how to teach history to students with below-average reading ability. She focused as a board member on raising academic standards and providing more resources to the students (books) and smaller class sizes.

Gain a foreign family member

ASSE International Student Exchange Program is seeking local families to take in an exchange student for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year. The teens are from all over the world, between 15 and 18 years old. They are screened for good English and academic performance, and come to Maryland as a way to learn about the United States. All students have their own spending money, are fully insured and expect to be a normal part of the household, doing chores, taking trips and participating in family life.

Families may select a student they think would fit in well. To participate or learn more about the program, contact Melanie Donelson at 716-731-1442 or email melanieasseeast@roadrunner.com.

Two county students

chosen as ‘Rickoids'

Two county students were invited to attend the Center for Excellence in Education's highly selective annual Research Science Institute. This year marks the 26th institute, a six-week, free, intensive program from June 21 to Aug. 1 sponsored by CEE and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on its campus.

Bethesda resident Anirudah Balasubramani, a student at St. Alban's School in Washington, D.C., and Rockville resident Jacob Hurwitz, a student at Montgomery Blair High School, were chosen as some of the top-achieving scholars in the United States.

The high school scholars will participate in college-level classes under the mentorship of leading scientists and researchers. The students will conduct original, cutting edge research in state-of-the-art university laboratories, hospitals, and corporate research facilities.  Students make oral and written presentations based on their research in the last week of the program.

The students, dubbed "Rickoids" after the late Admiral H.G. Rickover, father of the nuclear Navy and co-founder of the Center with Joann DiGennaro, the Center's President, are competitively selected to attend and are chosen solely on the basis of academic merit. Selection is based on standardized test scores, high school grades, essay submissions, teacher recommendations, and demonstrated potential to become future U.S. leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.   

On Campus

Congratulations to Amanda Fulton of Kensington, a senior at American University who was awarded the Kinsman-Hurst Award at the university's May 9 School of Public Affairs commencement ceremony. The award is presented to a senior who has made significant contributions to the university in a four-year period while maintaining a high scholastic record and serving in student government or the judicial system.

Amanda served as a leader within the Student Government for all four years at American University. Beginning her freshman year, she worked with the Kennedy Political Union, AU's student-run speakers bureau, first as a volunteer, then as publicity director, and finally as director, bringing high-profile speakers to AU, handling logistics, and coordinating staff and volunteers within a $150,000 budget. During her senior year, Fulton worked as the Student Government Chief of Staff.

Amanda was also an active member of the Honors community, working with the Honors 101 freshman orientation program and the Student Honors Board.

She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Communication, Law, Economics, and Government and Public Communication.

Congratulations

David I. Schifrin, of Bethesda, won three awards at Pomfret School's 115th Commencement Exercises held on May 30 in Pomfret, Conn.

Schifrin received the History Department's Advanced Placement Economics Award and the Math Department's Advanced Placement Statistics Award, and at graduation, he was named the Second Form Scholar.  At Pomfret, he was a prefect and graduated as a member of the Cum Laude Society, an honor reserved for those in the top 20 percent of the class.      

This column is for you. Share your good news! Feel free to send press releases and news tips. For Bethesda and Chevy Chase items, contact Stephanie Siegel via e-mail at ssiegel@gazette.net or phone at 301-280-3006. For Kensington and Garrett Park items, contact Jen Beasley via e-mail at jbeasley@gazette.net or phone at 301-280-3005. You can also send information by fax at 301-670-7183, or snail mail at 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.

-Federal, state and county offices are closed Friday, July 3, for Independence Day.

-Banks, libraries and courts are closed July 3 and July 4.

-MCPS administrative offices are closed.

-Recycling and trash pickup - regular collection. County's waste transfer station open July 3, closed July 4.

-Ride On and Metrobus will operate on Saturday schedule.

-Metrorail will operate on Saturday schedule July 3, supplemental service July 4.

-MARC trains will not run.

-County liquor stores are open July 3. July 4, all stores open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

-Parking is free at county lots, meters and garages.