More News

In a quick switch back from mission relief leader to pageant queen, 16-year-old Brittany Sullivan of Gaithersburg became America's Miss Teen 2009 early this month.

Sullivan, who also won the Fitness Wear and Red Carpet Presentation award competitions required for the national title and the Volunteer Service Award, was crowned July 4 at The Hilton Baltimore BWI Hotel in Linthicum. Four days prior, the teen queen, a rising senior at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, returned from a two-week mission to Honduras serving the poor with Damascus Roads Community Church.

"Everyone down there, the whole country, is just devastated," Sullivan said of her eye-opening trip.

Sullivan, her grandmother and two stepsisters joined a group of about 40 working one week in Copan, building mud huts, visiting orphanages and installing a water filtration system, then headed to Santa Barbara to help feed a devastatingly poor population. The group returned one day before the government takeover.

In Honduras, Sullivan witnessed poverty firsthand, she said, from large numbers of women raising families alone to seventh-graders who end their education unable to pay for private school when the Honduran public school system ends.

A visit to the Honduran-Guatemalan border brought 40 children living in lean-tos, under trees and along roadsides looking for food.

"We drove up and they just came out of nowhere," Sullivan said. "I mean, some of them did not even have bags to carry." She helped fill their hats and T-shirts with provisions such as carrots, rice and cucumbers.

In September, the Starlight Children's Foundation MidAtlantic office named Sullivan, who serves as Teen Ambassador, its Volunteer of the Month. In that role, Sullivan raised enough money to bring new $4,200 portable Wii "fun centers," or game carts with a flat screen television, DVD player and Wii system for children to Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville and Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Washington, D.C.

Sullivan is raising money to buy a third for an undecided location. Outreach to service organizations and "free dress day" fundraisers at Good Counsel helped to fill her coffers, she said.

Sullivan is a member of the National Honor Society at Good Counsel, where she has served as secretary of the Student Government Association and varsity cheerleading co-captain. She has spent part of her summer as a lifeguard for the Montgomery Village Foundation.

Kudos

Caroline Lucia Fox, who is a graduate of The Bullis School in Potomac and the daughter of John and Martyna Fox of Darnestown, made the spring dean's list at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., where she is a rising sophomore and archaeology major.

Chiquita N. Jewell of Gaithersburg made the spring dean's list at Potomac State College of West Virginia University.

Carissa Moore, daughter of Paul and Elizabeth Moore of Gaithersburg, and Rebecca Ricketts, daughter of Susan and Bart Ricketts of Gaithersburg made the spring's dean list at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pa.

‘Praying with the Mystics'

Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda is hosting Praying with the Mystics, a monthly series visiting churches throughout suburban Maryland and Washington, D.C. Each session includes an introduction to a mystic, silent prayer and small group sharing. Learn about Teresa of Ávila, a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, reformer of the Carmelite Order, and teacher of prayer at the next session, scheduled from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 11701 Clopper Road, Gaithersburg.

Helping the blind drive

It sounds like an oxymoron, but to one group of engineering students from Virginia Tech, a car that can be operated by the blind is not just the stuff of science fiction.

North Potomac resident Dan Ross served this past school year as a member of the Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge team developing a vehicle — still in its early testing stages — that would allow a blind driver to get behind the wheel. Ross graduated this spring from the school's College of Engineering with a degree in mechanical engineering.

The project was launched in 2004, when the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute challenged university research teams to develop a vehicle that would one day allow the blind to drive. Virginia Tech was the only school in the nation to respond to the challenge, according to the school. The team is run through Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory.

Using a $3,000 grant provided by the National Federation of the Blind, the Virginia Tech team was able to retrofit a four-wheel dirt buggy which uses laser range finders to act as the driver's "eyes," instant voice commands and other technologies to guide blind drivers through the process of accelerating, steering and braking.

Earlier this summer, some visually impaired people got the first chance to test-drive the vehicle on a closed course at Virginia Tech's campus.  The team also hopes to give blind youth attending the National Federation of the Blind's Youth Slam the chance to test-drive the vehicle. That event takes place University of Maryland College Park and wraps up Saturday.

Though the vehicle's potential to help the visually impaired become more independent is still being researched, the National Federation of the Blind is already hailing the project as a major breakthrough.

To learn more about the Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge, visit www.me.vt.edu/blinddriver.

Music scholarships available

The International School of Music in Bethesda is offering $6,000 in lesson scholarships for the 2009-2010 school year and a chance to become eligible for more awards from local businesses.

There are a total of 12 scholarships available for free private music lessons during the fall semester for residents of Montgomery County and Washington D.C.

Regardless of musical experience two scholarships will be awarded in each of the following age categories:  6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17 and adult. One scholarship will be awarded for children age 4-5.

To win scholarships, students must write an essay of 300-500 words stating why they love music and what makes them excited about studying music. Students age 4-5 may submit a picture or painting. The deadline for the scholarship application is Aug. 15 and the award ceremony will be held on Aug. 30.

Contest details are available at the International School of Music main office. The school is located at 5110 Ridgefield Road., suite 104, Bethesda. For more information, visit www.ismw.org.

Military scholarship winner

North Potomac resident Erin Collins was chosen to be among the 625 students awarded a scholarship through the Scholarships for Military Children program. Collins received $1,500 to go toward funding her education at Pennsylvania State University.

To learn more about the program, visit www.militaryscholar.org.

Send submissions to Patricia M. Murret via e-mail at pmurret@gazette.net, fax at 301-670-7183 or mail to The Gaithersburg-Montgomery Village Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.