Good News
|
November 6, 2006
|
WCPSS SCHOOLS NAMED SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE
Ten WCPSS schools were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence. The ten
schools included Baucom, Brassfield, Cedar Fork, Davis Drive, Green Hope,
Highcroft and Oak Grove elementary schools; Davis Drive and Salem middle
schools; and Green Hope High School.
In order to achieve Honor School of Excellence standards, the ten schools had ABCs performance composite scores above 90 percent; made Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and met their state-specified expected growth standards.
Morrisville Elementary was recognized as a School of Excellence. In order to achieve School of Excellence standards, Morrisville had ABCs performance composite scores above 90 percent and met their state-specified expected growth standards.
WCPSS had 11 of the 69 schools in the state recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence or Schools of Excellence.
BROUGHTON BAND SELECTED FOR 2008 ROSE PARADE
The Broughton High School Band directed by Band Teacher Jeff Richardson
has been selected as 1 of 15 bands worldwide to participate in the 2008
Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Selection to participate
in the parade is a tremendous honor. Approximately 40 million Americans
watch the Rose Parade on TV, as well as millions of international viewers
in 150 territories around the world. The Pasadena Police Department annually
estimates that approximately one million people attend the Rose Parade each
year. The 2007 Rose Parade will take place 8 a.m. (PST), Monday, Jan. 1.
The parade will feature marching bands from throughout the nation, majestic
floral floats, and high-stepping equestrian units.
 Eric Sparks, WCPSS Director of Counseling Services, has been named President of American School Counselors Association. |
SPARKS NAMED PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Eric Sparks, WCPSS Director of Counseling Services, has been named president
of the American School Counselors Association. The association supports
school counselors' efforts to help students focus on academic, personal/social
and career development so they achieve success in school and are prepared
to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. ASCA provides
professional development, publications and other resources, research and
advocacy to more than 19,000 professional school counselors around the globe.
LAMBRIGHT NAMED PRESIDENT OF STATE ASSOCIATION
Portia Lambright, a WCPSS Counseling Services administrator, has been
named president of the North Carolina School Counselors Association. The
state association seeks to address the needs of school counselors in North
Carolina and is a state branch of the American School Counselors Association.
SIX WCPSS SCHOOLS EARN COUNSELING AWARDS
Six WCPSS Schools have been recognized by the American School Counselors'
Association as 2005-06 Recognized ASCA Model Program Recipients (RAMP).
The schools recognized include Holly Ridge Elementary, Olive Chapel Elementary,
Green Hope High, Middle Creek High and Southeast Raleigh High. Mt. Vernon
Middle School was recognized as the only middle school to earn RAMP in North
Carolina. This award recognizes schools that have implemented a results-based,
comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program that shows measurable
results in improving student achievement, attendance, and behavior.
 Students congratulate Dee Bostwick as she returns to school after being named NC Elementary School Counselor of the Year. |
BAILEYWICK COUNSELOR NAMED BEST IN THE STATE
Baileywick Elementary School Counselor Dee Bostick has been chosen as
the North Carolina Elementary School Guidance Counselor of the Year. Bostick
earned the award at NC School Counselors Association in Greensboro this
month. Bostick has been the counselor at Baileywick Elementary since 1997.
She was named Wake County Elementary School Guidance Counselor of the Year
for 2006.
POE EARNS FOSTER GRANDPARENTS AWARD
Poe Montessori Elementary School has received the 2006 FGP Station of
the Year Award. The station awards are given to one Foster Grandparent site
each year. The Foster Grandparents Program is part of Senior Corps, a network
of national service programs that provide older Americans the opportunity
to put their life experiences to work for local communities. Foster Grandparents
serve as mentors, tutors, and caregivers for at-risk children and youth
with special needs through a variety of community organizations, including
schools, hospitals, drug treatment facilities, correctional institutions,
and Head Start and day-care centers. Poe was judged to receive the Station
of the year Award on a formula that uses the acronym, FGP:
F stands for feedback we have received from the volunteers
G stands for the generous spirit toward the volunteers
P stands for paperwork that is completed in a timely and accurate manner
The Senior Corps staff unanimously agreed on Poe Montessori Elementary School
as the 2006 FGP Station of the Year Award.
 NC Bar names Melinda Stephani Hero to Law-related Education |
STEPHANI HONORED BY NC BAR
Melinda Stephani, WCPSS Senior Administrator for Social Studies, is
the first North Carolina educator to be honored by the NC Bar Association
with its Hero to Law-Related Education Award for supporting the Lawyers
in Schools program.
Susan Giamportone of the Lawyers in Schools project presented the award to Stephani. "Heroes clear a path for us through obstacles to opportunities," said Giamportone "Melinda Stephani is a strong woman. She is a strong voice for the importance of law-related education. A strong link between the legal and education communities. And a strong advocate for every teacher, every parent and every student in Wake County."
Through its Lawyers in the Schools program, the NC Bar Association provides "People, Programs and Publications for Law-Related Education" to North Carolina's K-12 teachers and their students.
SOUTHEAST RALEIGH RECOGNIZED FOR ENGINEERING CLASS
Project Lead the Way has recognized southeast Raleigh High and teacher
John Geraghty for their part in field testing of the newly revised Introduction
to Engineering Design (IED) course. Because Geraghty is an IED Master Teacher,
he and Southeast Raleigh High were selected to be part of the 25-school
field test group. The teachers will instruct the new course, provide reviews
on the lessons and provide suggestions for improvement of the course. Upon
publication of the course in 2007, Geraghty and Southeast Raleigh High will
be recognized in the acknowledgement section of the course and Geraghty
will continue as a Project Lead the Way master Teacher.
 Athens Drive teacher Sheldon Cohen was named Triangle CTE Teacher of the Year. |
ATHENS DRIVE CTE TEACHER HONORED
Athens Drive Career and Technical Education teacher Sheldon Cohen was
named the CTE Educator of the Year last month by the Triangle Chapter of
the Professional Construction Estimates Association of America. The group
held its 21st annual meeting where Steve Carrow of the Chapter's Education
Committee recognized Cohen who teaches furniture and cabinet making. This
was the first time in the last three years at WCPSS teacher had earned the
Triangle CTE Educator of the Year Award.
TEACHERS TAKE PART IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Teachers from six WCPSS schools took part in a two-day international
symposium for nearly 500 teachers and administrators at the Friday Center
for Continuing Education at UNC-Chapel Hill. Teacher teams from East Garner
MS, East Millbrook MS, Enloe HS, Garner HS, Southeast Raleigh HS and Wildwood
Forest ES attended the conference and worked as teams to develop action
plans for their respective schools to increase the awareness of the international
community in the classroom. Celia Rowland, Enloe HS math teacher, presented
a lesson plan during the concurrent sessions on the 25th, which incorporated
teaching about the European Union in a statistics lesson that met goals
at the 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th grade levels from the NC Standard Course
of Study. The focus of the symposium was Best Practices in Education from
Around the World. The symposium was presented October 24-25 by World View,
an international program for educators, the Center for International Understanding
and the Public School Forum of North Carolina.
EAST MILLBROOK STUDENT WINS ART CONTEST
East Millbrook 8th grader Stephanie Johnson was awarded 1st Prize in
a national contest where students from around the country painted frisbees
that described four universal freedoms. Stephanie's and her East Millbrook
classmate's Freedom Flyers will be sent to Iraq through the War Kids Relief
Program.
 3,000 students from 20 schools visit Triangle Town Center career fair. |
150 BUSINESSES DISCUSS CAREERS WITH 3,000 STUDENTS
More than 3,000 WCPSS students from 20 schools visited the Triangle
Town Center Oct. 26 to take part in a career fair, a premier example of
the WCPSS School-to-Career initiative. Students from grades 8 through 12
had face-to-face career discussions with area business leaders representing
all 11 career pathways in the state Career-Technical Education curriculum.
Students interviewed business leaders on topics including educational requirements
for a specific career, how the company is dependent on the global economy,
and the hiring process within the company or industry.
ENLOE PLANS CHARITY BALL
Enloe HS has planned a charity ball to benefit Haven House that will
be held 8-11 p.m., Friday, November 17 at Exploris Museum in downtown Raleigh.
The Casablanca Jazz Orchestra will be performing, there will a silent auction
and hors d'oeuvres. All proceeds go to Haven House, a non-profit organization
in Raleigh that deals with the needs of young people in difficult situations
- from homelessness to running away to family, school or life problems.
Tickets will not be sold at the door and must either be bought at Enloe
High School or through email. If you chose the latter method, please email
2006charityball@gmail.com with your name, phone number and number of tickets
that will be paid for and picked up at the door. You will receive a call
confirming your order. Tickets are $20. For more information contact principal
Beth Cochran or teacher Shanora Kingsberry at 856-7918.
RED RIBBON WEEK
WCPSS schools and service organizations took part in the National Red
Ribbon Week to recognize the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Students received
red wrist and had the opportunity to pledge to say No to the dangers of
drug and alcohol use. The National Red Ribbon Campaign began 20 years ago
in memory of Erique Camerena, a drug enforcement officer who lost his life
while working to stop illegal drug trafficking. Red badges were worn by
his family and friends to honor his belief that one person can make a difference.
BROUGHTON RENOVATION WINS AWARD
The Raleigh City Council awarded Broughton High School's addition and
renovation project a Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Community Appearance.The
award recognizes an institutional project that exhibits a new standard for
excellence and an example of the future, an awareness of the importance
of good community appearance and stewardship of the land, and improvements
upon an existing site or structure and preservation of important historic
and cultural features.
Broughton underwent a complete renovation of all the older parts of the campus - more than 150,000 square feet total. Renovation of the original 1929 building required special care to repair the exterior walls without sacrificing the historic features of the building. The job proceeded in several phases, with students being moved into temporary classrooms on the site. The project team included: WCPSS Facility Planner Larry Sherrill, WCPSS Construction Supervisor William Hartley, Principal Roy Teel, architect Cherry Huffman, and general contractor J.M. Thompson.
William Henley Dietrick, a well-known N.C. architect from the 1920s to the 1960s, designed the original building. He won the right to design the school in a design competition.
HOLLY SPRINGS DESIGN WINS AWARD
The new Holly Springs High School was awarded the EDGE award for Best
Project in Suburban/Rural Environment by the Triangle Business Journal.
DeVere Construction Company won the honor in the general contracting category.
The Triangle Business Journal developed the EDGE Awards program in 2004 to recognize excellence in engineering, architectural design, general contracting and landscape contracting industries. Nominations were required to detail how projects enhanced its surroundings, minimized potential negative effects on the environment, used innovative project management tools and generated positive return on investment for owner.
The new three-story high school was built for 1,663 students and is a partnership between the school system, the Town of Holly Springs and Wake County. Holly Springs High is built from a re-used (prototype) design, also seen at Green Hope, Wakefield and Middle Creek high schools.
The project team included: WCPSS Project Manager Norm Kligerman, WCPSS Facility Planner Harold Hinson, Principal Luther Johnson, Jr., architect Cherry Huffman, general contractor DeVere Construction.
 Ligon Middle School staged a production of Get Smart where Agent 99 reached Agent 86 on his shoe phone. |
LIGON STUDENTS REVIVE GET SMART
The Encore drama class of Ligon Middle School revived the old television
show, Get Smart, complete with the shoe phone Don Adams used as Agent 86.
The cast of 26 students were led by eighth grader Kevin Atkinson as Maxwell
Smart and Amanda MacCormac as his partner, Agent 99. The two-act comedy
was directed by Ligon drama teacher Deborah Yalacki and eighth-grader Alex
Tobey, the assistant director. The production involved a number of students
in the show and behind the scenes, as well as a number of parent volunteers.
It ran Oct. 26-28.
PIONEERING PILOT TALKS ABOUT CAREERS AT MARTIN
Students at Martin Middle School had the chance to talk with Jamail Larkins,
America's youngest African American air show pilot, about career opportunities
available in the aerospace industry. Larkins started flying at the age of
12 and became one of the youngest certified pilots in the country when he
soloed a powered aircraft in Canada at 14-years-old. At age 15, he established
Larkins Enterprises, Inc., where he is President and Chief Operating Officer.
Since he began his career in aviation, Larkins has piloted 36 different
types of aircrafts. He currently flies a high-performance Christen Eagle
II aerobatic aircraft on the air show circuit. The Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) recently joined forces with Larkins, employing him as the first official
Ambassador for Aviation and Aerospace Education.
|
|
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
Tell a friend about the WCPSS Good News and encourage them to sign up for WCPSS electronic newsletters at http://www.wcpss.net/online_newsletters/the_school_connection