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Baltimore Students Receive Recognition

As summer vacation comes to a close, thousands of students prepare to head back to city schools. While many students will have fond memories of hitting the arcades or amusement parks, Kayanna Johnson and Taylor Yarbrough committed their summer to serving their community.

City Schools Kick off New School Year

BALTIMORE—Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Andrés A. Alonso, along with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake, Maryland State Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick, Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners Chair Neil Duke, union leaders, elected officials, community leaders and invited guests welcomed more than 83,000 city students back to school on Monday, August 30, 2010. Dr. Alonso’s first stop is at 7:50 a.m. at Mt. Washington Elementary School where he greeted students and parents and toured classrooms.

Sailing Through the End of Summer

Jamal Jenkins, from the community of Harbor House and Miguel Powell from the community of Bloomsbury were invited to participate in the National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) Wednesday night “Free Sail” program during the boat races in Annapolis.

Center renamed to honor Zastrow Simms

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Annapolis, Md.—The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis (HACA) in partnership with Pennrose Properties, LLC (Pennrose) and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Annapolis renamed the community center at Obery Court, the “Joseph ‘Zastrow’ Simms Community Center” in honor of his legacy of youth advocacy

—most memorable was his work in the aftermath of the 1968 riots. Obery Court is the first phase of the revitalization of Obery Court and College Creek public housing properties through a joint public and private partnership between HACA and Pennrose.

Special arrangements were made to release Simms from prison to assist then Mayor Roger “Pip” Moyer—Simm’s lifelong friend—law enforcement and public officials to prevent violence and rioting in Annapolis during the aftermath of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While other cities in the region raged with riots and looting, Simms used his influence in the community to help maintain order in the Annaplois area. His leadership earned him a full pardon by Governor Blair Lee in 1971.

Simms engaged youth of this community through bus trips to professional basketball, football and baseball games, trips to the theatre and introducing the youth to celebrities like Sugar “Ray” Leonard, Don King, Phil Chenier, Wes Unseld and Mike Riordan.

A dedication ceremony and unveiling of a biographical plaque of Simms was held on July 27, 2010 at the community center in Obery Court at Clay Street and Bertina Nick Way formerly Obery Street.

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