Hilary Cassel, MBA, BSN, RN, CCRN has been named director of the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health Heart and Vascular Center.

The Maryland State Department of Education opened a pathway for school systems to repurpose certain days as virtual instruction days in the 2022-2023 school year. Kent County Public Schools will have the opportunity to use a total of eight virtual days. No more than three days may be used as asynchronous. Kent County Public Schools administrators, in collaboration with teachers and staff, have developed a plan to ensure meaningful and equitable virtual instruction.

The Historical Society of Kent County is looking for a new Executive Director. Applicants must have experience working with volunteer committees to produce exhibits, publications, and programs highlighting Kent County’s rich and diverse history, and with fundraising, grant writing, social media, and community outreach to support Society operations.

The Kent County Chamber of Commerce welcomed Clayton Contracting, Inc. to the Kent County business community with a Ribbon Cutting held in front of their newly purchased equipment, on July 12th. Clayton Contracting hosted a Business After Hours Mixer directly following at Molly’s Restaurant. Both events were well attended by Kent County Chamber of Commerce Board Members, local community business leaders, as well as friends and family.

Every summer, news articles show up around the country about toxic blue-green algal blooms. When people and pets get sick or die from exposure to toxic blooms, it makes headlines. The Eastern Shore is no exception: in the summer of 2020, the Sassafras River experienced its largest, most toxic, and longest-lasting algal bloom on record, rendering much of the river un-swimmable for 12 weeks during the height of water recreation season. The toxin concentrations during this bloom were 300-500 times higher than the State’s threshold of risk and were responsible for the death of at least one dog and several cases of people getting sick.

The Kent County Health Department is hosting free clinics for back-to-school vaccinations. The clinics are being held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10 and Tuesday, Sept. 13 at the Kent County Health Department, 125 South Lynchburg St., Chestertown. These clinics are free for any student requiring a vaccine for school.

For All Seasons' Center for Learning presented a free community talk, "You Have What It Takes: Surviving and Thriving as a Parent Today", presented by local author and expert trainer Lynn Sanchez, M.Ed. Targeting parents and caregivers with a message of empowerment, this presentation took place at The Avalon Theatre in Easton and streamed virtually on Facebook Live. The talk was part of For All Seasons Speakers Series designed to share messages that are reaching people in different ways on a variety of topics. Lynn, the author of the new book, Behind the Brussels Sprouts, used her own, often comical, parenting stories, and her decades of experience to share with parents how to relax, build their self-awareness and confidence, and most importantly, enjoy the amazing parenting journey.

University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown has been awarded designation as a Level 2 Age-Friendly Health System (AFHS) by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

Kent County Middle School's seventh-graders took their science projects out of the classroom and into the real world to help to clean local waterways this year. With the guidance of science teachers Karen Carty and Katherine Hughes, the middle schoolers participated in the Watershed Watch program.

Meghan Ferster will be joining the Kent School employee group as a full time teacher in Lower School. Meghan will be teaching Science as well as Spanish in Kindergarten through Grade Four. Meghan comes to Kent School uniquely qualified for both roles through her previous experiences as a student in Nicaragua and Ecuador where she fell in love with the language after years of studying Spanish in her educational career. Coupled with her love of and expertise in Spanish, Meghan is passionate about environmental science and has extensive experience teaching environmental science at Echo Hill School.