January 2012
WINNERS OF 2012 MLK POSTER CONTEST ANNOUNCED
The winners of the Martin Luther King Jr. poster contest, sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Church, were announced last week.
First place winners were Coker-Wimberly Elementary School second grader Karen Sorcia and Carver Elementary School fifth grader Zarya Rackley. Karen and Zarya were awarded with $50 each and received a blue ribbon on their posters.
Carver fifth grader Destiny Epps and Coker-Wimberly second grader Alexander Ramirez were both awarded second place and received red ribbons and $25 a piece.
Katreal Artis, a fifth grader at Coker-Wimberly was named an honorable mention and given a silver ribbon.
Students in grades kindergarten through eighth competed in grade span-specific categories for the contest. Each child’s poster was to correspond to the theme “Inspire Change – Yes We Can”.
All winners and their parents were invited to the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Banquet held Saturday, Jan. 14 in Mobley Atrium at Edgecombe Community College where all the posters were on display.
ECPS WORKS TOWARDS PARTNERSHIP WITH VIDANT HEALTH
Edgecombe County Public Schools is working together with Vidant Edgecombe Hospital, previously known as University Health Systems – Heritage Hospital, to establish a partnership to foster growth in their employees, community and patrons.
Vidant Edgecombe Hospital hosted the ECPS District Leadership Team meeting Wednesday, Jan. 25, providing breakfast, lunch and a meeting place for the entire team. The DLT is made up of district principals, directors, assistant superintendents and the superintendent and meets once a month in different schools. This was the first meeting not held at the central office or one of the fifteen schools in the district.
Counselors from each school were also invited and attended a special session during the DLT meeting where hospital CEO, Wick Baker and Randy Collier, health careers consultant with Vidant Health, went over various educational opportunities available to students through the hospital and its programs. Vidant Edgecombe Hospital and ECPS chose to include counselors in the meeting so they could be provided with information about all the different kinds of careers in the medical field, not just the well-known occupations such as nurses, doctors and surgeons, so that students can set attainable career goals. Through this session, Collier also reviewed internships and other learning possibilities for ECPS students.
ECPS and Edgecombe Hospital will also be partnering for three different kinds of professional development. At the Jan. 9 Board of Education meeting, the Board approved a plan for both the hospital administrators and the Board members to participate in Facilitative Leadership, Crucial Conversations and Influencer training together.
LOCAL STUDENTS SELECTED FOR NC EASTERN ALL-DISTRICT BAND
Three Edgecombe County Public Schools have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Saturday, Feb. 3.
The students auditioned for the Eastern All-District Band Jan. 7, with around 600 other middle school students from the Eastern District. The students traveled to EB Aycock Middle School in Greenville where judges formed two honors bands with a full instrumentation and a level of musicianship that exceeds what individual schools can have on their own.
At the audition, students played memorized scales, a required solo a sight- read piece. The auditioning students were judged based on their knowledge of the scales, tone quality, tempo, articulation and rhythm pattern, as well as their dynamics.
Selected students will return to Greenville for a two-day clinic where they’ll rehearse for a day and a half with guest clinicians and then perform the concert.
The Eastern District includes counties from Elizabeth City all the way south to Wilmington and as far west as I-95.
W.A. PATTILLO AWARDED $5,000 FROM ARTS COUNCIL
W.A. Pattillo School in has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Mimi Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions. On Thursday, February 9 at 5:30, students, with the guidance of Mimi Herman, will host a Family Night to share an evening of poetry, recitation, and writing.
Herman is a writer, editor, teaching artist, and consultant. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree and holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College. Herman is the N.C. Poetry Out Loud coordinator and a Teaching Artist Journal associate editor. According to her website, she “does her own carpentry and plumbing and can milk a cow and a goat, though not at the same time”. She is one of the best creative writing teachers in the state and is an A+ Fellow with the North Carolina A+ Schools Program.
Ronda Sortino, principal of W. A. Pattillo School stated, “Students and staff at W.A. Pattillo School are excited about this unique opportunity to further explore the arts. It is an honor to have received the grant from the N. C. Arts Council and to be able to expose our students to the expertise of Mimi Herman.”
“The support of our grants program by the General Assembly during these economically challenging times demonstrates the role the arts play in our economy and our quality of life,” said Mary B. Regan, executive director of the N.C. Arts Council. “Nonprofit arts organizations employ workers, stimulate commerce, generate tax revenues and help communities retain their vibrancy.”
More than 8.7 million people participated in N.C. Arts Council-funded projects last year in schools, senior centers, museums, concert halls and community centers. Nearly 2.9 million of these were children and youth.
The N.C. Arts Council awards grant money each year to provide diverse arts experiences for citizens in all 100 counties of N.C. In fiscal year 2011-2012, the Arts Council is expected to distribute $64 million in state and federal grant funds to arts organizations, schools and other nonprofit organizations that sponsor arts programs.
W.A. Pattillo School currently serves approximately 590 students in fourth through 6th grade. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd flooded Pattillo’s campus. After nearly three years in three dozen trailers, students and staff inaugurated the current structure in the spring of 2002. W.A. Pattillo School was one of the original A+ Schools. One of Pattillo’s greatest accomplishments is the implementation of The Leader in Me, which integrates the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People throughout the school curriculum and culture.
PHILLIPS MIDDLE STUDENT AWARDED VICTOR SCHOLARSHIP
Phillips Middle School student, Trenise Moore was recently awarded 2011 Victor E. Bell Scholarship from the College Foundation of North Carolina.
Moore, is who is a seventh grader at Phillips, was presented the award Dec. 20 by Amy Denton, CFNC Regional Representative during a school-wide awards program .
“We are very fortunate at College Foundation, Inc. to offer this financial opportunity to help students realize their dreams of going to college”, stated Denton.
Moore competed against other seventh grade students across North Carolina for the $20,000 scholarship. If she maintains an A/B average throughout her high school career, Moore will receive the award dollars after graduation to fund her college tuition.
“Trenise was the first, but she will definitely not be the last student at Phillips Middle School to receive honors of this magnitude,” stated Principal Donnell Brown.
Middle school counselors and principals across the state nominate one student per school each year. CFNC then selects ten recipients each year by a random drawing.
The Bell Scholarship is named in honor of the visionary former chairman of the CFI Board of Trustees who served for thirty years and left a strong legacy of service to North Carolina. The Bell Scholarship will encourage high potential North Carolina seventh grade students to aspire to a college education
SOUTH EDGECOMBE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN CAREER FAIR
South Edgecombe Middle School students participated in a career fair held in the school auditorium Friday, Jan. 13.
Students were able to walk to individual booths showcasing local career and educational opportunities. Participating businesses and schools ranged from Edgecombe County Health Department to the University of Living Arts.
At the Edgecombe Community College Cosmetology Department table, students and staff alike enjoyed free hair and skin treatments while learning about the different fields involved in the cosmetology field. Students also learned about working for the Sherriff’s department while watching a demonstration by a County canine officer and about the local NC 4-H Cooperative Extension through North Carolina State University.
Other participants included Albermarle Animal Hospital, Nash Community College, NC Forest Service and Pinetops Medical Clinic, along with several others.
“A career fair is a great chance for kids to learn about unique career and education fields that they may not usually hear about,” said Principal Michael Turner, “I want to thank Ms. Pitts and everyone at South Edgecombe Middle that helped make this happen. Having local participants is great because students see that there are opportunities right here in Edgecombe and Nash counties.”
KEIHIN-CST FINE ART MINI GRANT RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED
Keihin CST, in collaboration with Edgecombe County Public Schools, will fund selected fine arts projects designed for students in kindergarten through grade 8 through their Fine Arts Mini Grants.
Through this program, Keihin supports the development of the fine arts program in the public schools through creative teaching and encourages elementary and middle school students to explore their creative talents.
Eight Fine Arts teachers from the district received grant funding including, Kimberly Hays at G.W. Bulluck Elementary, Becky Johnson at G.W. Carver Elementary, Stephen Pryor at Coker-Wimberly, James Childers at C.B. Martin Middle, Ashley Myers at W.A. Pattillo, Luke Hancock and Ashley Shiosaky at West & South Edgecombe Middle Schools and a group of choral music teachers throughout the district for Choral Fest. A total of $5,000 was rewarded to the district.
Bradley at G.W. Bulluck will use her funds to launch a special unit study on sculpture which will expose students to a variety of sculptural processes. It has been designed to introduce students to the art of several different cultures.
Johnson at Carver will fund her ongoing project entitled “Yes, Strings Are Attached” which she began using last year’s grant. Through this unit, students learn how to play guitar.
Stephen Pryor at Coker-Wimberly, like Johnson, will continue a project he started with last year’s grant funding entitled “Sensational Strolling Strings. He will purchase more violins to be shared by his students and continue his ongoing project.
Through his funds, Martin Middle choral teacher James Childers will build a larger choral music library. Going along with that idea, a group of choral music teachers in the district applied jointly for funds to use toward the sheet music for ChoralFest, a county-wide performance during Artsplosion each April.
Myers’ students at Pattillo will now have access to new materials and projects throughout the year, instead of just first semester thanks to the funding Pattillo received.
Choral teacher at South & West Edgecombe Middle Schools Luke Hancock will use his mini-grant dollars to help fund the annual combined-chorus trip to Kings Dominion to compete in a Choral Music Festival.
Art teacher, Ashley Shiosaky, also located at South & West Edgecombe Middle Schools, intends to purchase materials to create hanging mobiles with her minigrant, inspired by the artwork of Alexander Calder.
All certified full-time and permanently employed ECPS fine arts teachers assigned to kindergarten through eighth grade are eligible for Keihin FA Mini-grants. Teachers submitted grant proposals indicating the project description and rationale, statement of objectives linked to North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study, description of the activities and strategies, including a timeline; utilization of school and/or community resources and a method of project evaluation.
Proposals were evaluated and selected based on four areas: benefit to students; creativity of the project; cost effectiveness; and relationship to North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study.
NORTH EDGECOMBE STUDENTS LAUNCH ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
Students in
Brittany Fravel’s English class have started an online literary magazine
entitled “The Warrior Poet”. Through the website, submitted work from students
and staff is showcased.
Students and
staff can submit their pieces online to “express themselves through poetry,
stories, music art and video” according to the site.
The first
edition of the online magazine was published Dec. 2011 and featured a poem
entitled “The Warrior Poets” written by student Shamiequa Perry as its Poem of
the Month.
Any interested
parties can visit the site at www.thewarriorpoets.com.
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