District Six Council Member Medlock Sworn Into Office
Council Appointee Johnathan Medlock Seated for First Council Session

By ANGELA J. ROUSON
Prince George’s County Council Media

Prince George’s County Council Member Johnathan M. Medlock (D-District 6) was sworn into office today, Monday, May 9, 2022, to fill the District 6 Council seat vacated by the incumbent on April 15, 2022.  The Council, sitting as the District Council, convened following the swearing-in ceremony, with Council Member Medlock participating in his first Council session.

Pursuant to the County Charter and County Code sections addressing Council vacancies, the Council unanimously voted on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to appoint Council Member Medlock to serve the remaining seven (7) months of a Council term set to expire December 5, 2022, following the resignation of the incumbent on April 15, 2022.

In remarks to a contingency of supporters, Council Member Medlock reaffirmed his strong commitment to supporting District 6 residents and Prince George’s County.

“One of the things I want the District 6 community to know and understand, is that you have a representative for your district—and democracy only works if someone is working on democracy.  Being in this position I have an opportunity now to serve not only the city of District Heights but all the surrounding areas with integrity, leadership, foresight, and commitment.  I vow to work with the Council Members to make sure our County continues to move forward.”

Council Chair Calvin S. Hawkins, II, commending his colleagues on the execution of the Council’s appointment process, looks forward to serving with Council Member Medlock.

“Council Member Medlock has established a record of service to the people of Prince George’s County.  As mayor, was a fierce advocate for District Heights and its residents, and I am assured that his commitment to serve will only intensify as the Council Member representing District 6.  We look forward to his continued contributions in the months ahead as we move Prince George’s County forward.”

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, present for the swearing-in, addressed Council Member Medlock directly in her welcoming remarks, “It is so clear that your heart and energy are in public service and your experience has prepared you adequately to fill in this County Council seat for the remainder of this term.  I congratulate you on your appointment and thank you for stepping up once again when Prince Georgians have needed you most.”

Council Member Medlock most recently served the City of District Heights as its Mayor, prior to his appointment to the Council’s District 6 seat.  He also counts among previous elected and appointed positions serving as Board Member, Prince George’s County Revenue Authority; Vice-Chair, Prince George’s County Human Relations Commission; Prince George’s County Behavioral Health Ambassador; President, Maryland Black Mayors Association president.; and Board Member, National League of Cities - the only representative from Maryland serving on the Finance, Administration, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Council Member Medlock is the proud father of two sons and lives in the City of District Heights.

District 6 constituent areas include the communities of District Heights, Forestville, Kettering, Largo, Mitchellville, and the unincorporated areas of Bowie, Capitol Heights, and Upper Marlboro.

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Laurel High School Students Win Local 2022 Envirothon Competition

By PRESS OFFICER
Prince George’s Soil Conservation District

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (May 6, 2022)—The Prince George’s Soil Conservation District (PGSCD) is pleased to announce that Laurel High School won first-place honors in the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon Competition. Potomac High School came in second place. The Prince George’s Soil Conservation District and the William S. Schmidt Outdoor Education Center hosted the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon virtually from April 20th to April 27th. This year, twenty-five Prince George’s County high school students were tested in five categories: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and this year’s fifth issue, “Waste to Resources.” Participating high schools in this year’s competition included Fairmont Heights High School, Laurel High School, Oxon Hill High School, and Potomac High School.

“We are extremely proud of our students who competed in the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon competition. We want to give a special congratulations to the winning team from Laurel High School and the runners-up from Potomac High School,” said Steven E. Darcey, PGSCD’s District Manager. “This program wouldn’t have been a success without the hard work and dedication of the local Envirothon coordinators, teachers, and sponsors. We give many thanks to everyone involved. Next, let’s win the Maryland State Envirothon!”

With the help of sponsors, PGSCD donated Envirothon Training Kits to six high schools in the county to help their coaches and teams prepare for the competition. These kits contained numerous materials, including field guides, fish models, male turkey legs, clinometers, tree and log scale sticks, pH soil kits, and soil tools, to name a few.

“We are proud that our Envirothon students are learning content and gaining skills that are essential for addressing local and global environmental issues,” said Donald Belle, Environmental Outreach Educator with the Department of Environmental Education at the William S. Schmidt Center. “We want to build on their enthusiasm by providing methods by which they can address waste and create awareness at their schools.”

PGSCD and the Schmidt Center collaborated with partners from the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission’s Parks and Recreation division and Maryland’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS-MD) to provide training opportunities and resources to teams and coaches. Each month, Parks & Recreation’s Resource Specialists and NRCS-MD met to develop the interactive and virtual training, competition, review, and awards ceremony to prepare students for the State competition.

Due to field trip restrictions, the Envirothon competition continued to challenge and prepare the winning team for the Maryland Envirothon in a virtual setting. The State competition will take place in person on June 22nd at the University of Maryland Extension Research and Education Center’s Clarksville Facility. Then, the Maryland State Envirothon champions will advance to the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon competition held from July 24th to July 30th at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

With more counties and states participating each year, the Envirothon competition continues to expand its reach. PGSCD remains committed to its goal to educate as many students and teachers as possible on the importance of conserving our natural resources to preserve and protect the environment. As always, we are #PrinceGeorgesProud!

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Free Groceries at County Libraries Part of New “Community Health Worker in the Library” Program

By SILVANA QUIROZ
PGCMLS 

Largo, Md.  – Advancing health and food equity in Prince George’s County is an important focus for the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS), which launche[d] a new program called “Community Health Worker in the Library” on May 10, 2022*. This joint effort with the Prince George’s County Health Department provides residents in communities throughout the county with an opportunity to take a preventative health assessment and receive free groceries. Public health workers will be available during distribution events to answer questions about community health resources and services and provide free KN95 masks and COVID-19 rapid test kits while supplies last; on-site clinical services will not be available.

Grocery distributions will take place indoors, 1–2 days per week, at select PGCMLS branch libraries in May and June. Up to 100 grocery bags will be available each week at each location. They will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Face masks are required for all visitors in PGCMLS buildings (ages 2 and up).

“Health equity is one of the most important priorities in public health today and is a top priority for the Health Department,” said Dr. Ernest Carter, Prince George’s County Health Officer.  “This great partnership with our County library system is just another way that we are shifting the narrative, focusing on systems and social structures, and amplifying the significance of community health workers in improving health outcomes for Prince Georgians.” 

“The Library has a long history of mobilizing to support health and food security initiatives, including COVID-19 vaccine clinics and test kit distribution, summer meals for K-12 students, promoting health care enrollment, and hosting essential resource distributions,” said PGCMLS CEO Roberta Phillips. “Our team is grateful for the opportunity to continue this work with the Prince George’s County Health Department, in keeping with the Library’s ‘healthy living’ strategic focus area.”

According to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, Prince George’s County residents face “a long history of disparities in chronic diseases, HIV, infant mortality, and unequal access to healthcare.” The County Health Department tracks key indicators of these systemic health challenges at PGC Health Zone and the Library provides a range of educational resources and programs for healthy living at pgcmls.info/healthy-living-suite

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