News Release, Charles County Public Schools
Kendall Cross, a fourth grader at Dr. James Craik Elementary School, loves to read and learn about math. Earlier this week, Cross was named Top Tiger at Craik, a recognition that honors students for demonstrating personal responsibility and respect. “Top Tiger is an awesome award. Your teacher nominates you for being respectful, responsible and ready to learn,” Cross said.
Not only is Cross a role model for her peers at Craik, she is a role model for the community. She recently entered a contest called “Why is Charles County a great place to live?” offered to all Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) fourth graders. Cross’ submission was chosen as the overall contest winner and she will serve as Charles County’s representative for the Historic St. Mary’s City Maryland Day celebration.
As part of the celebration, student representatives from each Maryland County, as well as Baltimore City, will participate in the March 23 flag ceremony. Cross will carry a flag to represent Charles County. She said she was excited to learn she was selected as the contest winner.
“I was pretty excited because I worked so hard on it. I looked up facts and my mom helped me do research. I also had to make sure the video was the right length,” Cross said. In her video, Cross detailed her love for Charles County and all of the places she thinks are interesting to visit.
“There are lots of things to do here in Charles County. And lots of places to go, including parks and lakes. My family has a boat and we like to go boating on the Potomac River. We love it,” Cross said.
CCPS offers the program annually for fourth-grade students. In prior years, participants were tasked with writing essays. This year’s contest required a video submission through social media. Students could submit entries to the CCPS social studies department Twitter page, @ccps_ss, with the assistance of a parent or teacher.
According to Geoff Howard, CCPS resource teacher for social studies, this year’s contest featured the most student entries and Cross’ stood out among them. “Kendall’s entry was selected because she clearly communicated the reasons Charles County is a great community to live in and why she is proud to call it home,” Howard said.
Cross said she looks forward to representing Charles County at the celebration. “I am excited to walk across the stage and carry our county flag,” she said.
The ceremony will highlight Maryland’s 385th anniversary and begins at 10 a.m. this Saturday at the Historic St. Mary’s City Visitor Center.