Experience world-famous architecture and design firsthand by visiting Paris and the French towns of Chartres and Blois through a unique travel-study program offered this summer by Anne Arundel Community College.

The trip is scheduled July 11-21, 2013. The private group will be led by AACC Professor Michael D. Ryan, chair of the architecture and interior design department, and Assistant Professor Robert R. Lowe III, who teaches architecture and design, both of whom have more than 13 years of combined experience leading student groups. The tour includes six days in Paris, visiting such sites as Montmartre, the Louvre, Versailles, Notre Dame Cathedral and Sacre Coeur Church before traveling to the towns of Chartres and Blois to see the contrast of medieval streetscapes with ornate chateaux and cathedrals. An open day for individual exploration is included.

The $3,895 per-person cost assumes double occupancy in the hotels and includes non-stop, roundtrip airfare, hotel with breakfast, ground transportation, all scheduled tour admissions, unlimited-use Paris Metro passes and a Paris Museum Pass with unlimited access to more than 60 museums and monuments. Those interested in the trip should sign up for the noncredit “Paris and the French Countryside” (TRS-311). To earn three transferable college credits, participants may sign up for the optional credit course, “Paris by Design: Classic to Contemporary” (ACH 261). The credit course tuition and fees are an additional cost.  Professionals in the architecture/design field can receive 20 Sustainable Design Learning Units for the noncredit course and an additional 55 general learning units for the credit course, both approved by the American Institute of Architects/CES.

Payment may be made in full online or in partial payments in person at the AACC cashier’s office, with the final payment due no later than March 29. No refunds can be made after that date. Participants also must have a valid passport at least 60 days prior to departure.

For information, contact Ryan at 410-777-2437 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Lowe at 410-777-7241 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit the website, www.aacc.edu/architecture/travelstudy.cfm.

Building on its growing reputation for affordable STEM-training and transfer education, and its emergence as a launch pad for careers in robotics and biotechnology, Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) held its spring 2013 induction ceremony for 37 new STEM scholars on Friday, February 1, 2013.

Last fall, the National Science Foundation awarded BCCC a five-year, $599,995 S-STEM (Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) grant to fund scholarships which pay up to $4,150 per academic year to students studying any of these growth-oriented fields. The scholarships were established to increase the success rates of underrepresented minorities in STEM.

According to BCCC math professor Marianna Gleger, the college is looking for hard-working, dedicated students planning to enroll full time in an engineering transfer, computer assisted design and drafting (CADD), computer information systems, robotics technology or related technology program (health and clinical excluded) at BCCC for the full year. Applications will be accepted from high school and first- and second-year college undergraduate/post-secondary students, including those already enrolled in a developmental math course at BCCC.

The next scholarship application deadline, for the group beginning next fall, is April 15, 2013.

The induction was the perfect kick off to BCCC’s new effort to graduate students in science and math and thereby help prepare them for opportunity-filled careers in STEM. Former BCCC STEM student Brittany Young, who as a NASA intern discovered the “Mickey Mouse” surface feature on Mercury profiled last summer on CNN, spoke first. Next up were students from the BCCC Engineering and CADD clubs.

Dr. Charles T. Johnson-Bey of Lockheed Martin Corp., which has agreed to partner with BCCC under the grant to spur real-life STEM training and career development opportunities, implored students to build relationships in their field of interest. Other corporate partners include: BG&E, Amtek, Career Communications Group, Pearson Education, National Society of Black Engineers and Juxtopia LLC.  

Morgan State University will support summer internships sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and create a block transfer program between the BCCC Robotics Technology program and the Morgan State School of Engineering.

“This is a hard-hitting program and an excellent opportunity for students,” said Professor Gleger. “We’re offering peer tutoring in math where half the students will function as tutors and half as ‘tutees.’ Beyond this, our students will be shadowing STEM professionals in partner organizations.” BCCC also has a job developer on the premises to help students secure internships and early placement in such prestigious settings as the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For more information about the STEM scholarship program at BCCC, contact professor Marianna Gleger at 410-462-7790.

Local musician and philanthropist Daniel Trahey addressed how music can promote social change at this year’s TEDxBaltimore event at Morgan State University on January 25, 2013. 

Trahey, artistic director and co-founder of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra OrchKids program, described how the organization’s innovative approach to social change has had a positive impact on both its young participants and their neighborhoods in Baltimore City.

“I think that OrchKids is a beautiful partnership between the Baltimore Symphony and the city of Baltimore because it is helping out the symphony as much as it’s actually helping out the community in West Baltimore,” Trahey said during his speech.

Utilizing this relationship to help underserved neighborhoods grow and prosper through music, Trahey says his mission goes beyond bringing symphonic music to the confines of West Baltimore.

“My mission is to create a democratic access to music,” said Trahey. “That’s not just music education, that’s music performance. Giving people the opportunity to be exposed to music through instruction, through actually participating in creating music and also by listening to it. Giving people the opportunity in all walks of life to hear music. It’s not just symphonic music. Wherever a style of music is not being played, we need to help get it there.”

Trahey’s speech was immediately followed by a performance by the OrchKids Orchestra. A year-round after-school program created by the Baltimore Symphony

Orchestra, OrchKids provides Baltimore’s underprivileged youth with free music education, instruments, mentorship and m meals.

With assistance from other local organizations, OrchKids encourages social change and fosters promising futures for Baltimore City youth by using music to instill vital life skills such as creativity, self-expression, discipline and cooperative learning.

“On a small, very humble scale, it’s already happening,” said Trahey. “What mother wouldn’t rather have a clarinet in a child’s hand than a gun? We created accessibility for the parents to come back in the schools where they feel comfortable being in the schools because we’re not stressing the academic failures or behavior problems, we’re there to actually celebrate the work that their child is doing.”

According to Trahey, this change in perspective can have a significant change on whole neighborhoods.

A professor of music and community engagement at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, Trahey has also presented lectures on music education at institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University and the League of American Orchestras.

In addition to OrchKids, Trahey has been vital in the development in El Sistema, a program that uses music to encourage social change among Venezuela’s most at-risk youth. Trahey has not only helped establish El Sistema programs in several states, Canada and Austria, he also created “Tuned In,” a sub-program that offers promising public school music students a full scholarship to the Peabody Preparatory.

Trahey also co-founded the Archipelago Project, a non-profit music education ensemble in which he plays tuba.

“I grew up in a financially troubled family in Northern Michigan. My tuba was given to me and I was very lucky to practice that tuba and get into Peabody,” said Trahey. “When I got to Peabody I realized that there were not a lot of kids like me there and that I didn’t really associate a lot with what was going on there except for the high level of music instruction, so I really started to think about how that could happen. Peabody has really amazing programs that get us into the inner city to help, so I started to network and I just felt like I was around people that were more like me.”

A leading force in the creation of OrchKids, Trahey was recently awarded the title of Most Valuable Player in the Arts by Baltimore Magazine.

Trahey said that he was honored to be recognized considering the large number of accomplished artists in Baltimore. The award is special to him because, “It’s not just about how well you play the piano, but that it was given to someone who’s standing up and saying ‘we need to make a change, we need to create more accessibility.’ It’s pretty profound because of that.”

A non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging “ideas worth spreading,” TED originated 26 years ago as a four-day conference in California in which the world’s foremost problem solvers present their ideas for a better tomorrow.

Today, the TED tradition is being kept alive through a number of initiatives, including two annual TED conferences in California and one in Scotland.

Speeches from these conferences, which have previously included such people as Bill Gates, Jane Goodall and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are available for free at Ted.com.

TED also provides guidance to smaller TEDx conferences across the country. These TEDx events are local, self-organized conferences aimed at fostering discussion to improve local communities.

Children today spend hours every day in virtual worlds, with digital media, videos, music and games.

A study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2010 revealed that children eight to 18 years old used cell phones, TV, computers, iPods and other electronic devices to spend an average of more than 7.5 hours consuming entertainment media every day!

Our children have grown up with these technologies. They regard the use of digital media as the norm, something as familiar as pencil and paper.

This presents parents with an extraordinary opportunity and some challenges. Digital media are tools that can support a rich, interactive learning experience that motivate children to learn outside the classroom— at their own pace, anywhere, anytime.

Forward-looking educators already have begun to take advantage of this sea change in educational technology to create innovative approaches to education that support the way children learn today.

Sylvan Learning, for example, this year launched a new supplemental learning system, SylvanSync,™ which takes full advantage of the technologies today’s “digital native” children are most comfortable with.

Harnessing many of the digital features that children use with entertainment media, the company designed and implemented a system that instead encourages learning. SylvanSync uses digital technology— and an iPad®— to create an interactive learning environment that connects students, teachers and parents.

Parents can use many of the guidelines that Sylvan followed in designing the SylvanSync system to help address the challenges presented by these technologies and to make better choices in selecting the learning technologies they make available to their own children.

Here are some things for parents to keep in mind when selecting the right digital learning tool for their children:

•Select educational products that engage children and encourage interactive learning. This will help them learn to take an active, enjoyable role in their own education.

•Choose digital learning products that will help children acquire skills they can use, such as eye-hand coordination, memorization, dexterity, critical thinking and creativity.

•Make sure that a product provides ways to reinforce the skills they teach, and includes means for students to practice and review what they have learned, and to receive skill-strengthening feedback on performance.

•Seek out digital learning solutions that incorporate best practices. Look for endorsements and positive reviews from educational organizations.

•Remember that different children learn in different ways and at different speeds. When selecting a learning product, it is important to consider not only a child’s age and skill level, but also a child’s own individual interests and learning style.

Parents should keep in mind that one of the key benefits of digital technology in education is flexibility. It allows children to increase their knowledge and skills outside the classroom any time, any place, and at a pace that suits their needs and abilities.

Every parent needs to take an active role in managing how their children engage the digital world. By making the right choices, parents can ensure that their child gains the most benefit from today’s powerful digital learning tools.

If you’re looking at trying out SylvanSync first hand, use the ‘Center Finder’ feature on www.sylvanlearning.com

Dr. Lynn Fontana is the chief academic officer for Sylvan Learning based in Baltimore, Maryland. She has been involved in educational research and development for over 25 years.