Happy 1st Birthday Regional Library Mayor's BBQ Hot Success

Who
Am I?
by Deb Spalding
Your clues from the August issue
were; “Completed entire teaching
career at CHS; usually walking or
scooting; met President Reagan;
loves to send cards, water sports
and the beach; was an aerobic dance
instructor for 10 years; has been
published nationally.”
Those who guessed correctly were
Sylvia Weant, Joan Snyder, Bonnie
Reid, Joan Eyler, Jody Hahn, Beverly
Eckenrode, Susie Free, Virginia
Gelwicks, Joellen Miller, Darlene
Carter, Deb Bisenieks, Kristen
Long, Victoria Mathias, Kathy
Jenkins, Ryan Miller, Tara Woelfel,
Sue Keilholtz, Mary Michael, Kim
Gerrie, Tootie Lenhart, Noelle
Hallman, Anita Drye, Donald
Wastler, Nancy Rice, Loretta Hahn,
Nancy Wiles, Tracey Snurr, Donna
Sweeney, Dustin Eiker, Barb Smith,
Stacey Davis, Wanda Riffle, Roy
Stambaugh, Deb Fornwald, Joan
Staub, Allyson Rohrbaugh. Missed
listing Fred and Patty Goff last
month.
Second Hand Store
WELCOME
TO THURMONTS
#1 GAMING STORE
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Hours:
Monday - By Appt.
Tuesday - Friday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturdays
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Stop in and See Us!
6 North Street
Thurmont, MD 21788
“I am Jan Owens.”
As a high school student,
you may have had Jan
Owens as your Biology
teacher at Catoctin High
School. Today, she is
frequently seen walking
or riding a scooter around
Thurmont completing her
daily chores. She taught at
CHS for 25 years, starting
in 1971 soon after the
school was built. She taught
in the same classroom for
each of those 25 years
and while her classroom
remained consistent,
her teaching approach
was ever-changing. Jan
Owens believes that, “to
be curious is to be alive.”
This motto was reflected
in her pragmatic teaching
labs like her Mystery Lab,
karotyping lab, forensics lab
and Mad Scientist Lab.
Jan hated that teachers always
started off the academic year with
rules and regulations. So, on the first
day of school each year, her students
would enter her classroom and have
immediate hands-on experience with
mysterious items such as a pig with
eight legs, skulls, various human
bones, gallstones, ostrich eggs, pine
cones, and other biological items in
her award-winning Mystery Lab.
She said, “I wanted to turn them
on to science within the first week
of school.” She never taught from
the standard text book and tests
since she felt it limited her students’
interest. She feels that students who
become inquisitive in a hands-on
manner show results in science.
Jan shared many of her labs with
other science teachers at workshops
and conferences. Her Mystery Lab
was published nationally. Once
published, she heard from teachers
all over the globe and received gifts
of mysterious objects to add to her
lab collection. In 1987, Jan received
the ultimate award for a Biology
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$20
Come in for your Summer Pedicure
I have moved to
13 Water ����������������������������
Street in Thurmont
Photo by Deb Spalding
teacher, the Presidential Award for
Excellence in Science. Each year,
every state designates a winner. It is
the highest award a teacher can get.
Part of the award was an all-expensepaid
trip to Washington, D.C. where
she met President Ronald Regan. She
said, “The awards are great, but it
means more to me to have former
students come up to me and say how
much they learned from me.”
Some of her former students
describe her class as, “awesome”
adding that “we never knew what
she’d come up with next.” It was not
uncommon to see Jan’s alter-ego, Dr.
I. Luv Biology, enter the classroom.
That was her costume for her Mad
Scientist Lab. Increasingly popular
with teachers as well as her student’s,
her goal of holding each student’s
interest by giving them real life
interactions was a hit.
The bay and ocean appeal to Jan
since she grew up in Anne Arundel
County along the Chesapeake Bay.
Boating, water skiing, sailing, and
September 2009 . the catoctin banner . 13
Who Am I? Next Issue
Your clues are: “Involved in
a preschool; vacations in North
Carolina; likes jewelry; loves to
shop and read; has a cat named
Emily; has one child and two
grandchildren; just attended a
50th reunion; born and raised in
Thurmont.”
You can submit your answer
in either of two ways: call 301-
271-4226 and leave a message
or send an email to who@
thecatoctinbanner.com. Correct
answers will be entered into a
contest for prizes at the end of
the year. Each month’s winners
will be revealed in the following
month’s issue. Each month a new
“Who Am I?” will be featured
plus we will reveal the answer to
the previous month’s local mystery
figure.
doing water sports was a daily
occurrence for her as a younster. She
said, “Growing up we had boats,
not cars.” That’s how she got
around. Her shift from the water to
the mountains occurred soon after
graduating from Frostburg State
College when she took the job at
CHS. She said, “I love Thurmont. I
have lived here longer than any other
place. I still love the beach and the
water, but this is home.”
In addition to teaching, Jan
was an aerobic dance instructor
10 years in Thurmont, Gettysburg
and Fairfield. Having retired from
teaching in 1996, Jan now stays
busy teaching Bible studies. She also
organizes a big snail-mail greeting
card ministry. She says that these
days her real passion is serving senior
citizens. Jan always attributes her
successes to God and her mother,
Mildred, who was her best friend.
She passed when Jan was 25 years
old. Jan will treasure memories of
her for a lifetime.