Silver Chips Online

Blair hosted a group of 94 students visiting Washington, D.C. from Kaichi High School in Tokyo, Japan on Friday. Blazers enrolled in Japanese class escorted the students throughout the day, giving them an opportunity to tour Blair, eat a school lunch, observe a class and participate in games and performances.

A Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)-commissioned contractor completed the addition of two sets of stairways along the hills behind Blair and a handicap ramp adjacent to the baseball field this week to enhance campus safety conditions and improve access to the baseball field.

An MCPS work group will submit a formal report to the Board of Education (BOE) within the next couple of months recommending a repeal of the Loss of Credit (LC) policy for the 2010 - 2011 school year.

Principal Darryl Williams, Senior Class Faculty Liaison Danyel Hartfield, Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) President Peter Lafen and two senior class officers toured the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. last Monday to explore the possibility of using it as a venue for graduation.

Clinics throughout Montgomery County are beginning to offer individual vaccinations for the H1N1 flu, which has claimed 10 lives in Maryland, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Human Services.

From Oct. 16 - Oct. 17, the Blair Alumni Association, founded by alumnus Mark Levin of the class of 1966, will hold events in honor of 75 years of Blair education and spirit. Events planned include golf and tennis tournaments on Friday, a gala celebration at Strathmore Music Hall in Bethesda and a homecoming parade, pep rally, open house, football game against former rival Bethesda-Chevy Chase (B-CC) and block party in downtown Silver Spring on Saturday.

Mixed Unity, a youth-led coalition in Montgomery County, held its first annual Peace Summit at Montgomery College's Takoma Park Campus on Saturday. Roughly 100 high school students and community members attended the event.

Hector Mauricio Hernandez, 21, was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison for his role in a shooting that killed Blair freshman Tai Lam and injured two others. The Nov. 1 incident occurred on a Ride On bus following a verbal exchange between Lam and Hernandez, a documented member of violent street gang MS-13.

Freshmen Irene Ravitz and Jason Ma were voted president and vice president respectively for the class of 2013 following elections held last week during U.S. History classes. Election coordinators tallied the results, announced Friday, using a computer-based voting system in the auditorium.

Blair's cross country team has designated Wheaton Regional Park as their new home course for the 2009 fall season. Cross country coaches James Demma and Eric Prange chose the location after having their request for a new course approved by Sean Pelkey, the Quince Orchard cross country coach in charge of the county's high school cross country program.