Around Maryland

Morgan Young sees first hand how students who have common cultural bonds with their teachers connect better with education and flourish in the classroom. “It is really difficult to find texts that have positive Black male archetypes, but even if you don’t have the text, if you have the teachers that are positive Black male role models, that is helpful,” said Young, a Hilltop Elementary School.  teacher. Young says increasing the diversity of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools workforce allows students to see themselves in the professionals with whom they are working and learning every day.

Baltimore City schools leaders have updated the district's indoor mask policy. According to the school system's website, masks will be optional starting March 14, "based on the latest guidance from the federal health officials." a“Our school system and community have stepped forward in a huge way to reduce the spread of the pandemic," Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises said. "The data and guidance from the CDC are clear and unmistakable evidence.

This summer’s LGBTQ+ pride celebrations in Baltimore will include a parade, block party and other in-person events not held since 2019 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced Wednesday. Fittingly, this year’s theme will be “Together Again,” said Merrick Moses, board chairperson for the Pride Center of Maryland.

The Allegany County Public Schools Board of Education voted 3-2 for masks to be optional effective immediately. The school board on Tuesday held a special meeting to discuss an update to the ACPS COVID-19 protocol. ACPS Superintendent Jeff Blank recommended that masks be optional in the school system's buildings and on school buses.

Severe mental illness used to dominate Eric Smith’s life. He had a history of refusing treatment for his bipolar and schizoaffective disorders, and he repeatedly ended up hospitalized or in jail. But then, roughly a decade ago, Smith was court ordered into assisted outpatient treatment in Texas, where he regularly met with a judge who monitored the progress of his treatment. “I would very, very easily be dead or still caught in the criminal justice system,” he said. “Definitely not where I’m at now.”

The Harford County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to make masks optional for students and staff, effective Tuesday. “It has been a long two years. We are all tired, but it is time. We need to move on,” said Dr. Roy Philips, a member of the school board. HCPS also updated its operational status, removing restrictions on before- and after-school activities and making its COVID testing program voluntary for all activities.

Since May 2021, over 200 COVID-19 vaccinations have been provided to homebound or infirmed Harford community members by Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association members, according to a news release from the HCVFA. Homebound people can contact the Harford County Health Department to receive a vaccine in their home. But once the word got out, the number of calls increased and the partnership between the county health department and HCVFA began, according to a spokesperson for the county health department.

Smartly dressed in a business suit, Audrey Hasson, 17, appeared cool and confident as she addressed a Howard County Circuit Court regarding the death of an urban adventurer at the cabin featured in “The Blair Witch Project” movie. Though it was only a mock trial competition and not a real court case, the Centennial High School senior readily admitted her nerves almost got the best of her. “It’s like competing in sports,” Hasson said. “I sweat so much.”

The Enoch Pratt Free Library has launched a pilot project at its Pennsylvania Avenue branch that aims to help people struggling with drug addictions and trauma find the resources they need to get on the road to recovery. The library partnered with the Maryland Peer Advisory Council and Healing City Baltimore to stand up the program, which places “peer navigators” with experience recovering from addictions, trauma, or life’s other difficulties to help direct people toward services that assist with substance use recovery, trauma, mental, and behavioral health, according to library staff.