Odenton / Gambrills: Local teens' Kenyan project up and running [Capital (Annapolis, MD)]

(Capital (Annapolis, MD) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A year and a half since it began, Kenya Venture, a nonprofit project founded and directed by two Arundel High School students, is finally seeing its original goals materialize.

Seniors Aashi Parikh and Jordan Luber have worked since September 2011 to open an educational resource center, which houses computer workstations and hosts an International Book Club in Kenya. In December, the community resource center of Wamunyu, Kenya, was opened. Community members are instructed at the center in the use of computers, which are made available for their use. Students of Arundel High School have begun contacting and interacting with students of Nyaani Secondary School in Kenya in a pen pal program.

Even with the center up and functioning, the work is not done. The original goal set in September 2011 was to raise $11,000. Parikh and Luber have raised $6,000 and are confident they will be able to reach the remaining $5,000 before June 2013, their self-imposed deadline.

To get to that goal, the nonprofit will combine their love of books with fundraising fun by hosting a Quidditch tournament on March 15. Quidditch is a sport created by author J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series. In the fictional world of Harry Potter, Quidditch is a semi-contact sport played between two teams of seven players riding broom sticks.

The tournament will take place at Arundel High, 1001 Annapolis Road, during the school day. Tickets are only available to students and staff of the high school.

"With Quidditch and donations, we hope to reach the remainder of this phase one fundraising," Parikh said.

Phase two of the fundraising is mainly for small operational and upkeep costs. "Our goal is looking very attainable," she said.

To donate or for more information, contact kenyaventure@gmail.com.

Young authors The Anne Arundel County Reading Council announced this year's winners of its annual Young Authors Contest. More than 1,000 entries were received in the short story, essay and poem categories.

Local winners include third-grader Erin McCulloch and Camden Buckley of Four Seasons Elementary School, who respectively placed second in the third-grade short story category and in the fourth- grade poetry category, and Catherine Supko of Arundel Middle School, who placed third in the eighth-grade short story category.

The three will be honored with a ceremony in April.

History open house The Odenton Heritage Society Museum is open the first Sunday of every month from 1 to 4 p.m. The March 3 open house will feature history of four local general stores. History about Pumphrey's, Taylor's, Whittle's and Reive's store are available. All four stores are still standing, but only one is still in business. Admission is free.

The museum is inside the OHS Historical Center, 1367 Odenton Road, one block west of the intersection of Odenton Road and Piney Orchard Parkway.

For more information, visit www.odentonheritage.org.

Girl Scouts fun run Piney Orchard Run Club and Girl Scout Troop 1116 of Odenton will present a fun run event "Cinco De Miler!" on May 5. Adults, children and Girl Scouts of all ages and runners of all levels are invited.

This is a family event with fun activities planned at the end of the race, such as a tie dyeing station to color your shirt with "Cinco De Miler" colors.

The run begins at the Odenton Shopping Center, 1177 Annapolis Road, and the 5-mile course will be on the scenic Washington Baltimore and Annapolis Trail.

The cost for the run is $25 for the 5-mile run, $15 for the 5K run and $10 for the mile run. Five-mile runners will receive a T- shirt, and all participants will receive water and a finish line snack.

Register online at www.active.com/running/odenton-md/cinco-de- miler-2013. The deadline to register is May 3.

Send your news to westcountynews@gmail.com.

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