People frequently ask if I work during the summer, and I have to smile. Students and teachers head off to summer vacation, but the 12-month employees in our school system are entering some of the busiest months of the year!

Hear what BOE President Brad Young, Vice President Joy Schaefer, and member Jay Mason share about their experiences at high school graduations this year.

Today’s vlog continues the “behind the scenes” at graduation series. See how American Sign Language interpreter Bobbie McLaughlin prepares to translate the ceremony.

In this week’s vlog, journey behind the scenes at a graduation ceremony! See preparations from 3 hours to 5 minutes before graduation. Take a peek 3 hours before, as equipment is prepared for a student with special needs, ticket takers report for duty, and security professionals are on the job. As the countdown nears 2 hours, the high school’s graduation coordinator directs student and staff volunteers. Some arrange areas for specially accessible seating, one ensures the school’s banner is properly placed, and another makes practice runs with a robot that will lead graduates! Chorus students warm up their voices. Administrators begin to greet graduates as they arrive and sign in. With about an hour and 45 minutes until the 7 PM graduation, Board of Education, other elected officials, and staff arrive in the VIP room, where Glory Days Grill offers them dinner. With 45 minutes to go, student musicians in the band entertain the class of 2019’s arriving families and friends. Soon-to-be grads in the Field House get ready to line up for entry into the arena. Mount St. Mary’s University campus security and Sheriff’s deputies continue directing traffic and parking. Still-arriving family and friends hurry to present their tickets for entry. Five minutes to graduation, everyone is lined up and ready to go!

Please enjoy this video blog, or vlog, of the Class of 2019 SUCCESS Program graduation ceremony, which took place May 21 at the Mount St. Mary’s University Marion Burk Knott Auditorium. In the SUCCESS Program’s largest class ever, 23 students received their Maryland High School Certificates! Each also received a United States Senate Citation with appreciation for their determination to face challenges with courage and commitment. What a proud accomplishment for these dedicated students!

As I listened to the “inspirational speaker” for the Rock Creek School graduation ceremony, one of her statements resonated with me and made me reflect. Anita Kent, a retired instructional assistant, told the graduates, “You inspire all of us to be better people.”

Dr. Alban's first ever video blog, or vlog, explores the duties of the Teacher Specialists at ESSL

FCPS recently held a special “Signing Day” to celebrate students who have already been offered a job by a local employer after graduation.

I recently shared a series of blogs on some of the ways that teachers find their path to the profession and how we grow as teachers in the course of our careers. I’ve gotten so much amazing feedback from that series that I’ve decided to add to it with another perspective, this one focused on one of the outstanding and innovative programs at FCPS’s Career and Technology Center (CTC). When I talked with CTC Principal Michael Concepcion about a blog centered on the CTC’s Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM), he responded, “What a joy to observe our Teacher Academy students in action during their field internship. It’s amazing to see high school students teaching. They are well prepared, engaging, and dedicated to supporting the students they teach and the mentor teachers who supervise them. My hope is that upon completion of their post-secondary teacher program, our TAM students will come back to teach in Frederick County Public Schools.” Please enjoy this guest blog by the FCPS CTC’s Teacher Academy of Maryland instructor and on-site coordinator Sally Huguley:

The expression “out of the mouths of babes” was quite fitting as a group of 5th grade students at Myersville ES asked FCPS to help solve a serious problem.