Good News

Goal 2008: WCPSS is committed to academic excellence. By 2008, 95 percent of students in grades 3 through 12 will be at or above grade level as measured by the State of North Carolina End-of-Grade or Course tests, and all student groups will demonstrate high growth.

Sept. 8, 2006


PRINCIPAL AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR FINALISTS NAMED
The finalists have been named for the Wake County Principal of the Year and the Wake County Assistant Principal of the Year. The finalists are nominated by a vote of their peers.

Nominated for Principal of the Year are Freda Cole of Forest Pines Elementary, Jan Hargrove of Turner Creek Elementary, Jamee Lynch of Hodge Road Elementary, David Ansbacher of East Millbrook Middle and Cathy Moore of Sanderson High.

Nominated for Assistant Principal of the Year are H. Trent Evans of Reedy Creek Elementary, Camille Miller of Willow Springs Elementary, Gail Zadell of Holly Springs Elementary, Gloria Jones of Centennial Middle and Elizabeth Battle of Sanderson High.

The Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the Year will be named at 6 p.m., Thursday, October 26 at Exploris Museum in Raleigh.

MILLBROOK TEACHER NAMED NC HISTORY TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Millbrook High Social Studies teacher Lindy Poling has been named North Carolina History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America.

Poling, a Raleigh resident, will receive a $1,000 honorarium and will be in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award to be selected this fall. Millbrook High School's library will receive a core archive of history books and materials from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Poling has been teaching for 30 years and has been at Millbrook High School for 22 years. She was honored as Wake County Teacher of the Year in 1997, NCCSS Secondary Teacher of the Year in 1999, and VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year in 2002. In 2004, she was one of 20 teachers nationwide chosen for the USA Today All-USA Teacher First Team . Ms. Poling is a member of the Millbrook High Service Club and is the advisor for the Bridges Newsletter / National History Club.

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award is designed to promote and celebrate the teaching of American history in classrooms across the United States It honors one exceptional K-12 teacher of American history from each state and U.S. territory. Poling was selected because of her experience in teaching American history for at least three years; a deep career commitment to teaching American history; evidence of creativity and imagination in the classroom; and close attention to documents, artifacts, historic sites, and the other primary materials of history.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. For more information, visit www.gilderlehrman.org


Gabby Mayo celebrates win at World Track Championships.

Enloe team wins 6th place in 2006 Canon Envirothon.

SOUTHEAST RALEIGH STAR WINS AT WORLD TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Southeast Raleigh High track star Gabby Mayo anchored the four-woman U.S. team that won first place in the Women's 100 meters relay at the World Junior Championships in Beijing, China last month. Mayo and the three other US women completed the relay in 43.49 seconds. Mayo finished second in the Women's 100 meters with a time of 11.42 seconds. She was fifth in the Women's 200 meters with a time of 23.84 seconds.

Mayo qualified for the US track team at the World Junior Championships at the US Junior National Championships held in Indianapolis in June. At this competition, Mayo set her personal best times with an 11.16 seconds finish in the Women's 100 meters and 22.8 seconds finish in the Women's 200 meters. Her performance at Indianapolis qualified her for the US team and the trip to China, which is considered a great preview of young Olympic hopefuls.

BROUGHTON CHEERLEADING COACH HONORED
Broughton Varsity Cheerleading Coach Marge Elvers was honored by the North Carolina Cheerleading Coaches Association as being the NCCCA Cheerleading Coach of the Year for 2005-2006. She received this award in July from the NCCCA. Broughton HS won the Champion Cup National Cheerleading Competition in Virginia Beach during the winter of 2006. Elvers is a language arts teacher at Daniels Middle School.

ENLOE STUDENTS EARN HONORS AT 2006 ENVIROTHON
The Enloe High School Sub-Chronic Exposure team captured sixth place at the 2006 Canon Envirothon at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada in July. The Enloe team was one of 52 in the competition including 44 from the US and eight from Canada.

The team included Stephanie Miller (captain), Shin-Ping Lao, Sam Powers, Miles Huang, and Matthew Price. Miller and Lao have moved on to college. Their coach was Enloe teacher Chad Ogren.

The Canon Envirothon is the culmination of a series of competitions that began during the past school year and involved more than 500,000 teenagers throughout North America. In written tests and oral presentations, five-member teams from schools and organizations compete for the distinction of representing their state or province at the Canon Envirothon.

Each team's knowledge is tested under the supervision of foresters, soil scientists, wildlife specialists and other natural resource professionals. Teamwork, problem solving and presentation skills are evaluated as each team offers a panel of judges an oral presentation containing recommendations for solving the specific challenge that is presented during the competition.

WAKE STUDENTS STAR IN AIDA
Students who just returned to school for the start of the 2006-07 school year received rave reviews for their performance in the Broadway Series South production of the musical Aida. The August 2006 production included 38 student actors and 18 student musicians. Eric Sciotto, who was in the original Broadway Cast of AIDA where he understudied and performed the role of Radames, directed the students in the Broadway Series South production. You can find the list of students who took part in the production and some wonderful photographs from the show at http://www.wcpss.net/school_to_career/aida/index.html

CHARACTER EDUCATION - CHARACTER COUNTS
Liz McKee is the Joyner Elementary School PTA Character Education contact for this school year. McKee says Joyner is currently working on a Character Tree that will be displayed in the school's lobby. Each child will have the opportunity to earn a Character Education Book Buck with which they can purchase books at school. In the past these were earned by students for good behavior, but will this year students will be recognized by linking directly to the school's eight character traits. After the "bucks" are used to purchase books, they will be attached to the Character Tree with the student's name, grade, teacher and the trait for which it was earned.

SCHOOL DESIGNS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The architectural design for North Garner Middle School has been selected as an outstanding middle school and will appear in the 2006 edition of American School & University Architectural Portfolio. The architectural firm of Skinner Lamm & Highsmith received an award for their design for the school.

Douglas Elementary earned the 2006 Southeast Regional Design Award for Best Design School Renovation or Addition from the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.

AREA SUPERVISORS BECOME SCHOOL FOOD AND NUTRITION SPECIALISTS
In June, Cathie Masters and Meg Strong, Area Supervisors for WCPSS Child Nutrition Services, sat for the national credentialing exam of the School Nutrition Association. Both successfully passed the exam and have received the distinction of School Food and Nutrition Specialists.

The Credentialing Program of the School Nutrition Association was created to enhance the professional image of school foodservice and nutrition professionals. A key purpose of the Association is to develop and encourage the highest standards and provide education programs for professional development of school food and nutrition personnel. The Credentialing Program includes standards for academic and specialized training, knowledge and skills.

The credential classification is valid for a 3-year period, renewable with continuing education credits.

WCPSS EDUCATOR SPEAKS ON OPEN NET
Maria Rosa Rangel, WCPSS senior administrator, Hispanic/Latino Outreach & Prevention Services, served on a panel that discussed in Spanish and answered Spanish-speaking callers questions on the new school year. Rangel and the panel took calls for an hour on August 29 on the state's Public Telecommunications cable television show OPENnet. The program is producing an hour-long call in show in Spanish four time a year.

FIRST-YEAR TEACHER AWARD NAMED AFTER COLLEAGUE
In honor and recognition of Diane Kent-Parker, former senior director for recruitment and retention, the First-Year Teacher Award has been renamed in her honor. The award is given to a first-year teacher who has accomplished significant professional success, and is supported by donations. (Such charitable donations are kept in accounts separate from the regular operating budget.)

If you would like to make a contribution toward the award, please make your check payable to the Diane Kent-Parker First-Year Teacher Award, in care of Maurice Boswell, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, WCPSS, 110 Corning Rd., Cary, NC 27511.

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WCPSS Good News is published electronically every other week for everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.

Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611

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