LIMELIGHTS
Names Making News:
Schools, faculty and students worthy of the limelight
Bolivia Elementary School Bus
Safety Awareness Week
Bolivia Elementary School students had a very special visitor during Bus Safety Awareness Week in October when “Buster the Bus” visited with pre-K, kindergarten, and first-grade students. Buster, both entertaining and informative, shared with students about how to safely enter and exit a bus at their appointed stop, and advised safe bus behaviors when riding to and from school. Buster the Bus is an interactive, remote-controlled vehicle sponsored by Brunswick County School’s Transportation Department.
Grandparents Day
In honor of National Grandparents Day, Bolivia Elementary School students invited grandparents to attend their music enhancement class. Music teacher Mrs. Long welcomed the grandparents into her classroom, and everyone participated in song and dance. Bolivia Elementary School maintains that grandparents are just as vested in the academic success of their students as the parents are. “Grandparents are a valuable and precious resource,” Kelly Tippett, parent/volunteer programs facilitator, said. “Their help and support are always appreciated.”
Fire Safety Week
Bolivia and Southport fire departments teamed up during Fire Safety Week for a visit to Bolivia Elementary School. The fire-safety clowns, Blaze and Flame, made their grand entrance to the song “Ghostbusters,” and the elementary-student audience remained captivated by the accompanying puppet show, which demonstrated ways to remain safe when come to fires.
National 4-H Week
4-H member and Roger Bacon Academy student Amber Yurgel visited Bolivia Elementary School during National 4-H Week. With a bag of books in tow, Amber read to Ms. Stammer’s, Ms. Brown’s and Ms. Lewis’ classes.
The mission of 4-H members is to make a difference in their communities, in hopes to help youth and adults learn, grow and work together as a catalyst for positive change. Amber shared some of her favorite books with Bolivia students and told about her experiences with 4-H since age 5, all as part of her community-based project. Her most current 4-H experience is raising turkeys to compete in this year’s county fair. Overall, the 4-H experience instills a since of responsibility, accomplishment and pride. Amber was accompanied by 4-H agent Blair Wooten-Green with the Cooperative Extension Service.
Election Awareness
Mrs. Grice’s second-grade class welcomed guest speaker Scott Phillips to share his knowledge of local government and the election process with them, preceding the 2008 elections. His visit coincided with the current unit of study for Bolivia Elementary School second-graders: government. Mr. Phillips is also a Bolivia parent.
Learners for Life
Bolivia Elementary School third-graders were recently gifted with their very own first dictionaries. Brenda Bowling, president of the South Brunswick Islands Rotary Club, distributed over 125 dictionaries as part of an ongoing community-service project that has provided dictionaries to third-graders in Brunswick County for over eight years, in hopes that their use will carry the students through high school and beyond.
Terrific Kids
The Southport-Oak Island Kiwanis October Terrific Kids at Bolivia were as follows: Pre-K: Jordan Todd; kindergarten: Jeffries McGeoy, Charlie Madden, Serena Priestley and Connor LeBlanc; first grade: Demetrius Weller-Michael, Antonio Rossi, Jack Phieffer, Alyssia Crisco, Sylah Osborne and Bryan Maggard; second grade: Trisha Porter, Austin Aman, Laura Wahoff, Brady Udlinek and Danielle Bowen; third grade: Ivelyn Rios, Jasmine Reynolds, Deja Davis, Jelonnie Smith and Hannah Bowling; fourth grade: Jonathan Castellanos, Daleishka Ortiz, McKenzie Blake, Jeremiah Baldwin and Andrew Phillips; fifth grade: Katelyn Barberia, Samantha Smallwood, Jeffery Register, Kaleigh Maggard, Tyler Kopp and Jonathan Fancher.
Alderman Elementary School
USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program
This summer Alderman Elementary was one of 25 schools statewide to receive a grant to promote fresh fruit and vegetable consumption.The grant, totaling over $1 million, was awarded by the US Department of Agriculture, with the funds being divided between the selected schools based on enrollment. Alderman Elementary received about $26,000 from the grant.
Selected schools were those that have at least 50 percent of their students eligible for free or reduced meal plans; an innovative implementation plan; at least one partnership with an entity that provides non-federal resources for purchasing, handling, promoting or distributing fresh fruits and vegetables; and a team of committed school personnel, including parents, teachers, principals and child-nutrition specialists.
In its fifth year among North Carolina public schools, the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program promotes increasing the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in schools by providing funds to purchase and serve a wide variety of free fresh fruits and vegetables.
Carolina Department of Instruction Director Lynn Hoggard asserts that the program has improved the students’ performance and behavior in classrooms. “Students in these schools have more energy and are less likely to fall asleep in class,” she states. “These schools also have reported a decrease in student absenteeism.”
“Teaching our students the importance of healthy eating is just as important as teaching them how to read, write and compute,” State Superintendent June Atkinson adds. “This program will help ensure that our earliest learners master an essential skill that will benefit them for a lifetime.”
Family Fun with Reading Night
Alderman Elementary School hosted a “Family Fun with Reading Night” on October 14th, including a pizza dinner kicking off the evening in the cafeteria for parents and children. After dinner parents were invited to attend two 25-minute sessions on reading, with parent-topic choices as follows: Accelerated Reader, S.T.A.R. testing and Zone of Proximally Developments; Beginning Reading Strategies; D.I.E.B.L.S. and how they are used; Beginning Reading Strategies; and 90-minute Language Arts Block.
Positive Behavior Awards
Wrightsboro Elementary School and Pine Valley Elementary School have both been selected to receive Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Exemplar Awards from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s PBS Initiative. The Exemplar Award is the highest honor schools can achieve under the PBS Program.
Positive Behavioral Support Programs are implemented to impact the learning environments in schools in hopes to increase student performance and reduce behavioral problems. The North Carolina PBS sites are working to integrate their Safe Schools plans, Character Education efforts and strategies, and discipline efforts in order to make schools caring and safe communities for learning.
As award winners, both Wrightsboro and Pine Valley will receive a plaque recognizing their accomplishments, and the schools’ names will be listed on the NC Positive Behavior Support Web site, www.ncpublicschools.org/positivebehavior.Both schools will also be recognized at the “Coming Together Conference” for schools implementing Positive Behavior Support as well as Responsiveness to Instruction, held November 19th at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
Rachel Freeman School of Engineering Family Math Night
Rachel Freeman School of Engineering hosted a Family Math Night after a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting on Tuesday, October 14th. There were activities in every grade-level classroom, the multipurpose room, computer lab, media center and cafeteria. Many of the activities were open to parent participation.
The program is a part of the engineering and math curriculum; its purpose is to allow families to see what their students are learning in school and the type of activities in which their students participate.
Grant
Rachel Freeman has received a $500 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program, funded by ExxonMobil Corporation, to support the school’s engineering program.
The Exxon Mobil Educational Alliance Program is a national program designed to meet schools’ educational needs. ExxonMobil believes that, as members of the community, local retailers are best qualified to work with local educators to help identify schools and programs most in need of support. The Worsley Companies, Inc. manager, Mr. Charme McGinn, who supervises the Scotchman on Market Street in Wilmington, worked with school officials to secure the grant. The grant is one of only 4,000 available to schools across the country served by Exxon or Mobil stations.
“Rachel Freeman School of Engineering works hard to make learning interesting and fun, and as a Worsley Company retailer, I am proud to help young people in Wilmington,” McGinn states.
WIRE!
Communities In Schools of Cape Fear’s youth center, WIRE!, Wilmington’s youth center for Inspiration, Recreation and Education, opened its doors for after-school programming on Monday, October 6th. More than a dozen at-risk middle school students arrived by bus and entered a world of support designed just for them. WIRE! is the result of the collaboration of more than a dozen city, county, state and community partners. It is located at 20 North Front Street, the site of the former county jail. The after-school program is expected to help hundreds of children each year access the resources they need to stay in school and be successful, all in one place.
At the youth center, students have access to a computer lab, tutors, e-mentoring and research materials. They can also recover credits by taking courses on NC Virtual High School. Other services include counseling, family support and graduation project mentors. Wilmington Health Access for Teens (WHAT) staffs a medical clinic on site; Coastal Horizons provides substance abuse and self-esteem building programs; and the Gang Task Force of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is providing support and referrals for CISCF’s Gang Outreach Coordinator.
Nationally renowned child advocate and Communities In Schools founder Bill Milliken visited WIRE on October 28th. A group of advocates and supporters were in attendance.
“Bill Milliken is one of our country’s most respected youth advocates,” Louise Hicks, executive director of Communities In Schools of Cape Fear, said. “As a high-school dropout himself, Bill discovered the importance of a one-on-one relationship as the result of benefitting from a mentor who helped him finish high school and go on to college. Bill then dedicated his life to creating Communities In Schools, an organization with the mission of helping youth be successful in school.”
For further information on WIRE!, its programs or volunteer opportunities, contact Louise Hicks at 910-343-1901 or Louise@CISCapeFear.org. WIRE! is located in the Harrellson Building at 20 North Fourth Street.
New Hanover County Schools NC Honors Chorus
At Meredith College in Raleigh, the North Carolina Honors Chorus auditions were recently held, and seven New Hanover County high-school students were selected: Hoggard High School, Anthony Hinrichs and Maggie Medlin; Laney High School, Kelly Diggins, Julia Thompson and Cortlyn Young; New Hanover High School, Taylor McDonald and Eric Metts.
The students will travel to Winston-Salem on November 8th to work with Dr. Jerry Blackston, conductor and music director at the University of Michigan. On Sunday, November 9th, at the Roger L. Stevens Center for the Performing Arts, the students will present a concert at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference.
All-County Orchestra Concert
The New Hanover County Schools’ eighth-grade and high-school All-County Orchestra Concert was presented on Saturday, October 25th at the Minnie Evans Arts Center, located at 605 Halyburton Memorial Parkway in Wilmington. Outstanding students from New Hanover County’s middle and high schools performed.
New Hanover County Schools welcomed Matthew Troy, Education and Community Engagement Director for the Winston-Salem Symphony and Winston-Salem Youth Orchestra, as the guest conductor for the high-school students. Jorge Richter, conductor of the East Carolina University Symphony Orchestra, served as the eighth-grade guest conductor for the orchestra concert.
Murrayville Elementary School
Murrayville Elementary School is set to receive a Landfall Foundation Grant for their project, “Info-Literacy Making an Impact in the Media Center.” This project will prepare students to have information skills to be productive citizens in the 21st century. The grant funds, $5,400 in total, will be used to purchase computers and software for the school’s media center.
Marijean Young, media specialist, and Deborah Caulder, technology assistant, were instrumental in acquiring this grant. “Marijean has needed extra computers in the library for some time, [and] she went the extra mile to make it happen. We will all benefit from the grant,” Principal Dr. Julie Duclos states.
Ms. Young will be honored by the Landfall Foundation board of directors at a grants presentation ceremony on Thursday, November 13th, at the Country Club at Landfall Clubhouse, 1924 Pembroke Jones Drive in Wilmington.
Mosley Performance Learning Center
On Wednesday, October 29th, The Mary S. Mosley Performance Learning Center (PLC) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony” in honor of the school’s newly-revised learning curriculum and environment. The ceremony featured several speakers including Mr. Jerry Oates, principal of Mosley PLC; Mr. Donald Hayes, chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Education; Mrs. Mary S. Mosley, founder of the Family and Neighborhoods Institute of N.C. Inc.; and Mr. Bill Milliken, founder of Communities in Schools.
Mary S. Mosley Performance Learning Center, partnered with Communities in Schools of Cape Fear, is a unique educational opportunity, offering a small learning environment that focuses on performance-based learning, business mentorships and service learning. Mosley Principal Jerry Oates says he is “truly passionate about each and every student, and is very excited to embark on this educational journey.”
Mosley Performance Learning Center is named after Mary S. Mosley, a native of Wilmington who has helped countless young men and women reach their goals. While teaching in this area, she felt a desire to rebuild and revitalize the neighborhood from which she came. She is truly an inspiration to her volunteers and her students. Mrs. Mosley’s extensive work in education and undying dedication to her community called for the former Lakeside School to be renamed the Mary S. Mosley Performance Learning Center.
Laney High School
Laney High School’s SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) members participated in the National SAVE Rock-a-Thon on Ocotber 24th to raise awareness about the issues of school violence. They also raised funds for their local SAVE chapter and the National Association of SAVE. Research confirms that school-violence prevention is a top issue for youth and communities. Parents, students and the Cape Fear community were encouraged to come out and join SAVE members as they helped educate, empower, encourage, and engage others in preventing violence within Laney High School and the community.
Wrightsville Beach Elementary
A kick-off campaign to attempt to save the diamond-backed terrapin got underway on Tuesday, October 28th, among Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) fourth- and fifth-graders at Wrightsville Beach Elementary School. A partnership with Pam Barker, AIG teacher at Wrightsville Beach Elementary School; Diane Flagler, coordinator of Gifted Services for NHCS; the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher; and David S. Lee, nationally renowned terrapin expert, the campaign resulted from a problem-based ecology unit at Wrightsville in an attempt to save the terrapin.
AIG students in Grades 4 and 5 will participate in this unit to investigate reasons why the turtle is endangered, create campaigns to alert the public on how it can be saved, as well as begin a letter-writing movement to address our legislators about creating a bill to protect the diamond-backed terrapin.
Sunset Elementary School
La Chawn Smith, the current principal of Murray Middle School, has accepted the position of principal of Sunset Elementary School. Mrs. Smith began her duties at Sunset on November 1st. A 10-year employee of New Hanover County Schools, Mrs. Smith was recently honored as Principal of the Year for the 2008-2009 academic year. She has served as principal of Murray since 2000.
“It has been my joy and honor to be principal of Murray Middle School for the last eight years,” Smith said. “I was entrusted with opening a new school and building a community of learners. I am very proud of what we have accomplished, and I have learned much. I will miss my Murray family a great deal and look forward to reading about the continued achievements of the students and staff at Murray. I am excited about the new opportunity that has been given to me by the district and look forward to assuming the principalship of Sunset and look forward to working with the students, staff, parents and community.”
Patrick McCarty, an assistant principal, will serve as Murray’s interim principal until a new principal is hired.
New Hanover County Public Library
Tammy Baggett joined New Hanover County Public Library as assistant library director on October 21st. She follows Harry Tuchmayer, who was promoted to library director in September following the retirement of David Paynter in July.
A Clinton, NC, native, Ms. Baggett started her library career by working at UNCW’s Randall Library and New Hanover County Public Library while in college. After graduating from UNCW with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications, she began working for the Durham County Library, and then earned her master of library science degree from North Carolina Central University in Durham. She was a librarian at Forsyth County Public Library in Winston-Salem, NC, and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, before taking the position of Senior Library Manager for the South Region at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in 2005.
Ms. Baggett has experience in circulation, adult services, youth services, library promotions and outreach. She is dedicated to service excellence, staff development, and making a difference in the community. “I look forward to having Tammy join our team as we move forward with the continued growth and development of our public library system,” Harry Tuchmayer, library director, comments.