LGBTQ Teens: Going Public in the private schools
Fitting in. It’s what most teenagers aspire to do. Sure, there are outliers who do things like dye their hair bright colors and pierce multiple body parts to draw attention to themselves. But very few teens want to be too different. And being on the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual,...
Role Reversal
If Nathan Sowers had raised his kids in the 1950s, he would have turned “Father Knows Best” on its head. Sowers, an Ellicott City resident and owner of River House Pizza Co., was a stay-at-home dad from the time his two now-preteen children were infants until they were old...
Year-round school would benefit kids, economy
The office of Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot recently released a report suggesting that Maryland students start school after Labor Day so that families can take one last summer-fling vacation, thereby giving the state a nearly $75 million economic boost. I haven't crunched any numbers on the topic but, as...
Let’s go O’s! [Commentary]
I'm so thrilled for the Orioles, for the city of Baltimore, and for my 12-year-old son, who's learned what it means to be a true fan supporting his hometown team....
Flowers From Uncle Sam
Originally published in Newsweek, September 26, 2008 Every time I step outside to water the flowers on my front porch, I am reminded of how my “stimulus” check from the federal government stimulated little more than false hope and pretense. My household has never been flush with cash, but this...
Into the arctic: park school program takes students on research adventure
Picture this: You’re crouched low in a tundra buggy, in the middle of Canada’s Wapusk National Park, an isolated area near the edge of the Arctic Circle where the ratio of polar bears to humans is about 19 to one—950 polar bears live in the area; only 50 or...
Doing laps with Michael Phelps
As a plodding lap swimmer at Meadowbrook, the Mt. Washington pool where Michael Phelp shas trained for almost two decades, I've been watching the phenom swimmer at close range since he was 14 or so. In that time, I've witnessed — along with scores of other equally mesmerized members...