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.
October 9, 2006
BOARD OF EDUCATION RECOGNIZES MILLBROOK TEACHER
At its September 19 meeting, the Board of Education recognized Millbrook
High teacher Lindy Poling as North Carolina History Teacher of the Year
for 2006. Poling 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.
 Millbrook teacher Lindy Poling presented NC History Teacher of the Year award at board meeting. |
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.
The award was presented by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which promotes the study of American history. Inaugurated in 2004 by Preserve America, the History Teacher of the Year Award is designed to promote and honor the teaching of U.S. history in America's classrooms. The Gilder Lehrman Institute was selected by Preserve America and the White House to coordinate and present this annual award, which honors one outstanding K-12 teacher of American history from each state and U.S. territory.
BOARD OF EDUCATION RECOGNIZES ZEBULON STUDENT
At its September19 meeting, the Board of Education recognized Zebulon Middle
School student Caroline Richards for receiving the Scholastic Art &
Writing Award in New York City this summer. Her award-winning artwork was
chosen for the cover of the May 8, 2006 Junior Scholastic Magazine. The
board thanked Richards' art teacher, Lisa Pesko and her principal Dalphine
Perry who joined her at the board meeting.
 Superintendent Burns speaks at Schools to Career Celebration. |
WCPSS SCHOOL-TO-CAREER CELEBRATES 12 SUCCESSFUL YEARS
More than 200 business leaders, elected officials and school personnel met
on Sept. 26 to celebrate 12 successful years of Wake County's unique business
and education collaborative partnership known as the School-to-Career Initiative.
Without the dedicated volunteerism of area businesses, this Initiative would
not exist.
Attendees represented the three components of School-to-Career:
· Business Alliances
· Career Pathway Employer Teams
· Career Academies
Annually, the school system invites the School-to-Career business leaders to a breakfast to recognize their invaluable gift of time and to celebrate the many successes from the previous year. Sights are then set towards goals for the new school year.
Examples of career-oriented events for 2005-06 include:
· 450 Students at Xtreme Beginnings
· 649 Classroom speakers reached 10,315 students
· 762 Student internships
· 1,377 Job shadow opportunities
· 2,200 Students attended the Triangle Town Center Career Fair with
200 Business volunteers
· 24 ,119 Students attended school career fairs with 1,443 Business
volunteers
This year, seven business leaders were recognized for their outstanding
contributions to the School-to-Career Initiative:
· Mike Davis, Theo Davis Sons
· Wanda Denning, Grocery Boy Jr.
· Teresa Doring, NBC-17
· Joy Frankoff, Piedmont Air Conditioning
· Will Heard, Closure Medical Corporation
· Alisa Nagler, Wake Technical Community College
· Rick Peele, LS3P/Boney
The awards were presented by: Superintendent Del Burns; Bill Seyler of Bovis Lend Lease who is Chair of the School-to-Career Council; Jerry O'Connor of American Airlines who is Chair of the Business Alliance Leadership Team; Bill Sigmon of Kennedy Office Supply who is Chair of the Career Academy Advisory Board Leadership Team; and Brent Henry of the NC Cooperative Extension who is Chair of the Career Pathway Employer Teams
The event's PowerPoint presentation can be found at: http://www.wcpss.net/school_to_career/resources/presentations/index.html
 Brooks students appear on CBS Morning News. |
BROOKS STUDENTS APPEAR ON CBS MORNING NEWS
Students from Brooks Elementary School were on the front row of the crowd
that gathered at the State Farmers' Market September 29 to greet Dave Price
of the CBS Morning News. Principal Felecia Locklear said about 50 students
represented the school on the nationally televised program. The students
held the school's banner and many wore their Brooks Museum Magnet t-shirts.
Locklear said the students were amazed by all the work that went into the
network television remote broadcast. WRAL's Elizabeth Gardner talked with
the students when she wasn't on the air for the network or WRAL. Gardner
appeared on the CBS Morning News, filling in for Price whose flight to Raleigh
was cancelled because of stormy weather.
COMBS PRINCIPAL PICTURED IN READER'S DIGEST...
In the October 2006 edition of Readers Digest is a photograph of Muriel
Summers, principal of Combs Elementary School. Just look at page 91. The
one-page article entitled "Power of Small Acts" mentions Summers'
efforts to establish the Leadership Magnet program in Wake County. According
to Reader's Digest, Summers "sold parents and teachers on the concept
of character education, stressing that academic achievement can't be separated
from principles of responsibility and purpose." The article notes that
94 percent of Combs students are performing at grade level now, compared
with 67 percent eight years ago. Combs began the Leadership theme in 2000-01.
In the photograph with Summers are two students, Kanani Sipriene and Liz
Jones.
The article highlights a new book from Stephen Covey. Combs students learn Covey's 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' as part of their leadership instruction.
WCPSS EARNS FACILITY MASTERS AWARD
The Wake County Public School System has earned the Association of School
Business Officials International's Facilities Masters Award for excellence
in facilities operations planning. The award, the highest recognition for
school district facility operations offered by ASBO, is only conferred to
school systems that have met or exceeded the standards of the program.
ASBO School Facilities Committee Chairman Roger Young said the awards program was created to recognize school districts for achievements in high standards of school facility best practices.
"The attainment of this award brings the confidence and credibility to the community that the school district has implemented the best practices in school facility maintenance," said Young. "Effective school maintenance protects capital investment, ensures the health and safety of children and supports educational performance."
By preparing and presenting a facilities operation plan, WCPSS validated the credibility of the school system's facility operations, measured the integrity and technical competence of the business staff, and provided professional recognition.
MOODY NAMED NC SCHOOL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
WCPSS Child Nutrition Services Senior Director Marilyn Moody is president
of the state's School Nutrition Association. This is Moody's second year
as WCPSS CNS Senior Director. Prior to that she served as WCPSS CNS Assistant
Director and was a high school and community college teacher. Moody says
the association's next year will be focused on students. The theme for 2006-07
is Child Nutrition - Education's Cornerstone: Building Student Achievement
Through Good Nutrition.
 Lufkin Road Middle School teacher Fernando Ortega named state PE Teacher of the Year. |
LUFKIN TEACHER NAMED STATE PE TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Lufkin Road Middle School teacher Fernando Ortega has been named the North
Carolina Middle School Physical Education Association Teacher of the Year
for 2006. "Physical Education is the most important subject to me in
school," Ortega says, "because you can do it the rest of your
life. It doesn't matter which profession you choose, you can apply your
knowledge for the rest of your life."
SANDERSON WINS NATIONAL GOT MILK? ® HEALTHIEST STUDENT BODIES CONTEST
Beating out more than 1,500 others, Sanderson High School earned its spot
on the elite roster of 50 when local student Nathan Bimrose nominated the
school for their dedication to bettering the health of its students by building
"one of the best weight rooms in the state" and having the most
"cutting edge cardio center," according the Nathan's winning essay.
To reward Nathan Bimrose and the entire student body, the got milk? campaign
held a celebratory assembly Sept. 14, where the school was awarded with
a $1,000 grant to implement new nutrition and physical activity programs
that further aid in its students' health and wellness. Bimrose earned a
prize package of gear from adidas and Baby Phat/Phat Farm, as well as a
chance to appear in a special one-time-only milk mustache photo, taken at
the school. The Healthiest Student Bodies contest ran from February - June
and asked students to submit an essay explaining either how their school
helps its students stay fit and healthy or how they would enhance nutrition
and physical activity at their school. For more information on the got milk?
Healthiest Student Bodies contest, visit www.bodybymilk.com.
BRIARCLIFF WORKS TO ENCOURAGE HEALTHY HABITS
An army of volunteers consisting of Briarcliff parents and community participants
are working with 35 students in grades 3-5 in the Fit 4 Life Club. The volunteers
are promoting fun in fitness by using state of the art exercise equipment
donated by Time Warner Cable and Fox Sports South and incorporating outdoor
gym games, music, art and writing. Club participants will also educate their
classmates about healthy lifestyle choices by developing displays for the
bulletin boards in the school's main hallways.
Parents will play a critical role in the Fit 4 Life Club, as they will receive educational material that will help them encourage a healthy life style in their children. While the Fit 4 Life Club is open to a limited number of students, its participants hope to reach every parent and student at Briarcliff and beyond by posting Fit 4 Life information to the school Web site at http://briarcliffes.wcpss.net/PTA/Clubs/Clubs.htm . Families will be able to easily access this information to learn about topics such as healthy family food choices and increasing daily physical activity.
The Briarcliff PTA and Briarcliff Elementary are working with Kidsville News on an Art Contest in an effort to curb childhood obesity while promoting the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
The Fit 4 Life Club has begun the first of seven afterschool meetings at 3 p.m. on Wednesdays. You are welcome to stop by and learn how Briarcliff Elementary is encouraging everyone to live a healthier lifestyle through proper diet and regular exercise. For more information please contact Nancy Bromley at: Nbromley@bellsouth.net or 319-6099.
SALEM TEACHER WORKS ON INNOVATIVE PROGRAM
Salem Middle School teacher Bill Ferriter is one of 18 teachers from across
the nation who has been working on North Carolina TeacherSolutions(SM),
a new program designed to amplify the voices of expert teachers in national
education policy debates.
Ferriter teaches 6th grade Language Arts and Social Studies. He has taught for 13 years and earned his National Board Certification in 1997. He was Wake County and North Central NC Teacher of the Year for 2005-06. He is a Senior Fellow of the Teacher Leaders Network and was summer Teacher in Residence at the Center for Teaching Quality in 2003.
The TeacherSolutions model brings together a diverse cross-section of accomplished American teachers who work in teams to carefully examine critical issues facing public education and offer solutions based on their deep understanding of teaching and learning and how schools really work. The Center for Teaching Quality, Inc., located in Chapel Hill, is developing the program in partnership with the Teacher Leaders Network. It will focus its inaugural work on professional compensation and the teacher "pay for performance" proposals now being heavily debated in states and school districts across the United States.
 Brentwood teacher Tom LaCivita and principal Pamela Johnson with their Watershed Stewardship School Awards. |
BRENTWOOD NAMED FIRST WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP SCHOOL
Brentwood Elementary School was presented Wake County's first "Watershed
Stewardship School Award" during its Clean Water Celebration Oct. 6.
Wake Soil and Water Conservation District and the City of Raleigh Stormwater
Management Division selected Brentwood for the steps the school has taken
in learning about nearby Marsh Creek and leading community partners in projects
to protect it.
Tom LaCivita, the fifth-grade teacher heading up Brentwood's environmental efforts, was named the county's first Watershed Stewardship Teacher of the Year. Donnie Woodlief and Sheila Jones with the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District presented Brentwood Elementary Principal Pamela Perry Johnson and LaCivita with plaques.
Brentwood Elementary, which lies in the Falls Lake Watershed, has been active in managing the stormwater coming off the school, filtering it before the water reaches nearby Marsh Creek. Marsh Creek flows to Crabtree Creek and then into the Neuse River.
To become the first watershed stewardship school, Brentwood completed a comprehensive certification process. Brentwood students and staff not only learned about water through workshops, they took action and brought in community partners, such as the Brentwood Exchange Club and the Brentwood Neighborhood Association.
ARMY OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS HEADED TO FT. BRAGG
The Environmental Educators of North Carolina's 16th annual conference will
be held November 2-5 at Ft. Bragg.
The 2006 conference theme, Renewing a Sense of Wonder, celebrates the centennial
of Rachel Carson (born May 27, 1907), long regarded as "the patron
saint of the environmental movement." EENC is drawing on Carson's optimism
that, "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder...he
needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering
with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
Certainly, as classroom teachers, museum and park educators and others whose
life work involves engaging children with nature, EENC members look to this
conference as an opportunity to bring new enthusiasm back to the children
we mentor.
This is EENC's first visit to Ft. Bragg, according to conference chair Lois
Nixon. "The public doesn't usually imagine environmentalists and the
U.S. military as being on the same side of the fence," noted Nixon.
"However, when we went looking for a conference location in the central
part of North Carolina, we were favorably impressed by the conservation
efforts being undertaken by the U.S. Army in cooperation with universities,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and non-profits, such as The Nature
Conservancy."
"As we spoke with the biologist at Ft. Bragg," Nixon continued, "we realized that this location would give us a behind-the-scenes view, not available to the general public, of the unique Longleaf Pine Forest ecosystem, including plant communities of Carolina Bays and Sandhills Seeps, plus the habitat of five endangered species and 30 species-of-concern, which are managed and protected at Fort Bragg."
WCPSS SCHOOLS EARN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD FROM NCHSAA
Seven WCPSS high schools received NC High School Athletic Association Sportsmanship
Awards Certificate of Recognition for having an ejection free year in the
2005-06. The schools are Athens Drive, East Wake, Enloe, Garner, Middle
Creek, Millbrook, Wakefield. East Wake and Millbrook high schools earned
the awards for the third year in a row. It was the second recognition for
Garner High. These high schools were recognized at the NCHSAA Region 3 meeting
on September 27th.
WCPSS SCHOOLS TAKE PART IN CONSTITUTION DAY
WCPSS schools took part in a study of the Constitution last month during
a week of activities planned around Constitution Day, established by the
US Congress in 2004 to promote civic education. Melinda Stephani, the WCPSS
Senior Administrator for Social Studies, prepared lessons including a video
and announcements schools could use during the week.
At Moore Square Middle students produced and performed video announcements, as well as showing the Constitution Day Video. Teacher Tim Stewart says there was a school wide Paideia discussions on the Bill of Rights.
At Dillard Drive Middle, each grade level did something different. Teacher
Michelle Smith says sixth-graders used the News and Observer mini pages
to help students understand what the Constitution is. Then the students
worked in groups to explain the Bill of Rights in their own words. Seventh-graders
watched a video on the Constitution and discussed its importance as well
as the effects it has on today's society.
Eighth-graders had writing assignments and conducted Paideia discussions
on topics such as "What does 'We the People' mean?"
WCPSS SCHOOLS JOIN IN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
The International Baccalaureate Schools of WCPSS held a candlelight ceremony
Sept. 21 on the front lawn of Broughton High for the International Day of
Peace. The students joined the worldwide movement to create a global ceasefire
and day of peace and nonviolence. Students discussed the Day of Peace and
talked about its importance to IB students. The ceremony featured students
from Garner High displaying flags of various nations and drummers from East
Millbrook Middle. After the ringing of a bell, students paused for a moment
of silence, lit their candles and responded "May we all live in peace"
in response to a listing of conflicts and suffering around the world.
EAST MILLBROOK STUDENTS CREATE "FREEDOM FLYERS"
East Millbrook Middle School students are making connections to other parts
of the world in a unique way. They are making and sending "Freedom
Flyers" - Frisbees designed with images of freedom - to children in
Iraq whose lives have been torn apart by war. The visual arts students of
Andrea Croom have joined with other arts students around the US to decorate
Frisbees with messages of peace and compassion. The project originated with
Kate Roos, an art teacher in Kerrville, Texas as a response to President
Franklin Roosevelt's The Four Freedoms.
The students' freedom flyers demonstrate a poignant and often, profound, understanding of universal values. One student chose to represent 'freedom from want' on his flyer, while others have looked at more traditional views of freedom. As part of the East Millbrook International Baccalaureate program, the school community always investigates one schoolwide Essential Question. This year the school is exploring, "To what extent is an ocean a wall or a highway?" and students are drawing connections across the oceans to students in Iraq. In one student's words, " I think freedom can fly to another country by means of kindness. If we all work together we can help others achieve these four freedoms. Sometimes all people need is a helping hand."
International Baccalaureate schools adhere to the North Carolina standard course of study while also viewing learning through the lenses of Approaches to Learning, Community, Health & Social Education, Environment, and Homo Faber, or man the creator. This combination provides IB students with a rich, international education that prepares them to think critically and see connections between curriculum and the world around them.
WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP HOLDS ANNUAL MEETING OCT. 12
The Wake Education Partnership will hold its annual meeting Oct. 12 from
7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the McKimmon Center. Engaged parents, teachers and
representatives of business, government and universities will come together
to renew a shared commitment to public education in Wake County, celebrating
the 30th anniversary of the merger of the Raleigh City and Wake County school
systems into the Wake County Public School System.
The partnership's Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity to:
· Celebrate 30 years of courageous decisions and progress by Wake
County schools in meeting higher standards;
· Pay tribute to special guests who were instrumental in the historic
merger;
· Recognize community leadership in public education;
· Unveil Wake Education Partnership's 2007 Program of Work; and
· Challenge participants to take an active role in future courageous
decisions that impact school improvement efforts.
WAKE SCHOOLS WIN CHALLENGE GRANTS
15 WCPSS schools earned challenge grants from Wake Education Partnership
through their participation in the 2006 Annual Fund for Education campaign.
"The School Challenge Campaign provides an important link to the Annual Fund for Education," said Del Burns, superintendent for the Wake County Public School System and a member of the Wake Education Partnership Board of Directors. "Every year, employees in the Wake County Public School System show their dedication to education through both their commitment to their students and their investment in the work of Wake Education Partnership."
The school challenge is an awards process in which schools compete within categories based on the number of employees at each school. The awards allow the Partnership to recognize outstanding schools based on a variety of achievements they have made throughout their individual campaigns. Awards of unrestricted grant money ranging from $125 to $1,500 are given to the schools that represent the highest standards of merit in dedication to their campaign.
Category I (1-65 employees)
1st Place: Kingswood Elementary
2nd Place: Project Enlightenment
3rd Place: Vance Elementary
Category II (66-75 employees)
1st Place: Baileywick Elementary
2nd Place: Bugg Elementary
3rd Place: Lead Mine Elementary
Category III (76-86 employees)
1st Place: Adams Elementary
2nd Place: Reedy Creek Middle
3rd Place: Zebulon Elementary
Category IV (97-99 employees)
1st Place: Baucom Elementary
2nd Place: North Garner Middle
3rd Place: Wildwood Forest Elementary
Category V (100+ employees)
1st Place: Middle Creek High
2nd Place: Creech Road Elementary
3rd Place: Southeast Raleigh High
For more information, please visit www.WakeEdPartnership.org .
-wcpss-
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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