Edgecombe County Public Schools honored a group of 41 educators, maintenance workers and cafeteria staff at the annual ECPS Retirement Banquet held Tuesday, June 5 in the W.A. Patillo School gymnasium. 

The evening began with a welcome by Dr. Del Burns, interim superintendent and an address from Edgecombe County Board of Education Chair Ann Kent who read a poem from Shell Silverstein entitled “Someone has to Dust the Stars”. 

Following a meal provided by Peggy Hinton of Top of the Pines in Pinetops, retirees were recognized by Communications and Community Relations Coordinator Lauren Edmondson who read funny memorable moments and what each retiree would miss most about working with ECPS, which were submitted by the retiring staff members. 

Each retiree was then presented with a gift by Kent and Vice Chair of the Board, Evelyn Wilson. Retirees with 25 years or more were given clocks engraved with their names and years of service, while those with less than 25 were given engraved picture frames. 

A crowd of over 175 retirees, guests, Board members and ECPS staff attended the banquet. 

The following staff members retired from ECPS:

Two SouthWest Edgecombe High School juniors, Korey Corbitt and JoAnn Martin have been selected as the very first apprentices to serve at Keihin Carolina System Technologies. 

After signing the last of their paperwork Wednesday, June 6, the students have officially entered into the program while will be K-CST’s first effort in launching apprenticeship opportunities to local students. 

The two eleventh graders will report to work June 18, 2012 and not only participate in on-site training and classroom lessons but also shadow current K-CST employees on the factory floor, assisting in the fabrication of Honda fuel and engine control parts. 

Both Corbitt and Martin will earn high school course credits for their apprenticeships.

“Through this program we hope to develop our local work force for what we need and what our local economy needs too,” said Keith Jordan, Senior Manager of Production and Plant Operations with 
K-CST.

Lula Powell, an apprenticeship consultant with the North Carolina Department of Labor was also on hand for the signing of the final paper Wednesday.

“Hopefully this program will be the beginning of a great career,” said Powell, “Both students will be treated like any other employee here at Keihin.”

Powell went on to say that through apprenticeship programs across the state, the NCDOL hopes to develop students early in specific trade areas and provide hands on learning with related technical instruction. 

Corbitt and Martin earned patches from the NCDOL which they can proudly sport on their white K-CST uniforms to show their accomplishments and the honor of being an apprentice. 

K-CST opened in Tarboro in 1997 as one of four locations in the United States, with 33 other locations throughout the world. Keihin employees over 17,000 associates worldwide and is a major manufacturer of fuel system controls, electrical controls, HVAC systems and power sports parts. 

Thanks to fundraising efforts made by student, staff and parents, Edgecombe County Public Schools was able to contribute $27,913 towards cancer research through the American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life campaign. 

Through fun donation opportunities like Denim Days where staff can contribute money to dress down on Fridays, Links for a Cure, where Carver Elementary School students paid to buy paper links on a chain in honor of a friend or family member and the G.W. Bulluck Elementary School Trike-A-Thon, students not only contributed towards a great cause but learned more about cancer and its effects on everyone’s lives. 

The campaign closed with the big Relay for Life event held May 4 at Tarboro High School. The ECPS campsite theme was “All I Want for Christmas is a Cure” so volunteers donned elf hats and reindeer antlers and C.B. Martin Middle School teacher Chad Horner even wore a Santa costume. ECPS also hosted the Kids Activities tent where children of all ages could colors Christmas-themed pictures, play games like Cornhole and Tailgate Golf or blow bubbles. 

Currently, ECPS is the leading team in fundraising efforts for Edgecombe County. In 2011, ECPS was named the top team for the South Atlantic Division at the state level.

The Relay for Life campaign at ECPS runs from Jan. to May following the United Way campaign which takes place Sept. through Dec.

Seventh grade students at South Edgecombe Middle School took their second annual field trip to Washington, DC Friday, June 1. 

Students were able to see the US Supreme Court Building, the Library of Congress, go on a tour of the US Capitol Building, eat lunch at Union Station, and visit the National Museum of Natural History. 

One of the highlights of their visit was getting to meet Congressman GK Butterfield on the steps of the US Capitol. The Congressman spoke to the students about the responsibilities of Congress and some of the issues they are discussing during this election year. Congressman Butterfield spoke to the SEMS group last year as well, taking time out of his busy schedule to show students that one of the most important parts of his job is representing and listening to the people who put him into office. 

Normally the students walk the National Mall, visiting the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial, but storms prevented the outside portion of the trip. 

“Just being able to see Washington DC left many of the students in awe. So many of these students have never been out of Edgecombe Country area, much less the state of North Carolina,” said seventh grade teacher Robin Griffin, “Seeing their excitement and interest in our Nation's Capitol is so rewarding for a teacher.”

South Edgecombe plans on continuing to take this trip every year. Through the Washington trip, students get an enrichment extension from the classroom as well as a peek into what they will be studying in eighth grade.

Fourteen Edgecombe County Public Schools teachers have been chosen as the Teacher of the Year for their schools, now they will compete against one another to be named Edgecombe County Teacher of the Year.

Teachers of the Year are chosen by a group of their peers and must hold a state license, and have held one for more than three years. Teacher must also teach at least three or more hours per day, five days a week in a classroom.

The nominees will complete a nomination packet detailing their educational history and professional development, professional biography and philosophy of teaching. The nominees must also describe how they believe they can improve and strengthen their teaching skills and how they would represent ECPS if chosen to advance to the state competition.

A committee made up of both educators and community members will review the applications and choose no more than five finalists to participate in interview with the committee.

The ECPS 2012-2013 Teacher of the Year will be announced at the annual ECPS Convocation in August 2012. 

Last year’s ECPS Teacher of the Year was Susie Davis at Stocks Elementary.

Edgecombe County Public Schools’ Beginning Teachers met Tuesday, June 12 at Stocks Elementary School for their end of year meeting with the theme “A Time of Reflection and Celebration.”

Charlene Pittman, Director of Personnel Support Services said that the main goal of the meeting was to “celebrate the accomplishments of the 2011-2012 school year and recognize the support from Edgecombe County Board of Education members and district and school-level administrators. 

Pittman opened the meeting highlighting areas of success from this school year and following a breakfast, Susie Davis, the 2011-2012 ECPS Teacher of the Year spoke about her philosophy on teaching and how she strives to make learning fun.

Angie Ruffin, an eighth grade teacher at West Edgecombe Middle School and the 2006-2007 ECPS Teacher of the Year, performed a skit for the crowd detailing how she has managed to “keep up with the times” through the changes in technology during all her years of teaching.

Beginning Teacher sessions are a part of the support program that Edgecombe County Public Schools provide to help its beginning teachers during their foundational years. Teachers in their first three years of teaching are included in the program. 

Representative Joe Pat Tolson paid a visit to SouthWest Edgecombe High School to speak to interested members of the History club on Friday, May 25.

Rep. Tolson discussed the current issues in the North Carolina General Assembly and how the state is currently attempting to encourage job growth and foster education reform. 

Following his lecture, students participated in a question and answer session. 

Rep. Tolson is a retired educator and has represented Edgecombe and Wilson Counties for 8 terms in the NC House. He is a Pinetops native and an Edgecombe County Public Schools alumnus. 

Dr. Katreena Rich was named the new principal of Edgecombe Early College High School at the DATE meeting of the Edgecombe County Board of Education.

Rich, who began her tenure with ECPS on June 4, assumed the role left vacant by previous principal Sherita Cobb who now serves as the Director of Secondary Education for ECPS.

Rich holds a doctoral degree from North Carolina State University along with a master’s degree from United Christian College in Theology with an undergraduate degree in education from Fayetteville State University.

She most recently served as principal at Howard Health and Life Sciences High School in Fayetteville, where she has been since 2005. Rich began her career in education as a teacher in 1993 serving at several schools in the Cumberland County School system.  She began her career in school administration in 2001 at Gray’s Creek Middle School in Hope Mills, North Carolina.

In order to meet the needs of the district, the Edgecombe County Board of Education approved changes in assistant principal locations at the Monday night Board meeting.

 

Douglas Edwards, who in the past served as assistant principal at both Coker-Wimberly Elementary and Princeville Elementary schools will now be solely based at Coker-Wimberly. Sandra Joyce who has been assistant principal at South Edgecombe Middle School will now assume the position at Princeville Elementary.

 

West Edgecombe Middle School assistant principal, Kristian Herring will be moving to serve at SouthWest Edgecombe High School while current assistant principal there, Jarron Parker will fill the assistant principal position at South Edgecombe.

 

The changes will be effective July 1, 2012 and each assistant principal will begin the school year at his or her new location. 

The Edgecombe County Board of Education approved adding C.B. Martin and West Edgecombe middle schools to the list of nine Title 1 eligible schools for the 2012-2013 school year at their meeting Monday night. This funding will provide needed resources to continue improvement for students at each of these schools.

 

Other changes have also occurred in the Title 1 program. The waiver submitted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides more flexibility and removes the District Improvement and individual School Improvement designations. These new designations label individual schools as Priority or Focus schools with a three-year cycle of improvement instead of one and Reward Schools, which are chosen every year.

 

Two ECPS schools have been classified as Focus schools, G.W. Bulluck Elementary and W.A. Pattillo School. Focus schools are determined by the contribution made to the state achievement gap by the school’s population.

 

Coker-Wimberly Elementary School, designated a Priority school, received a School Improvement Grant which will provides funding for innovative programs aimed at significant improvement.  Coker-Wimberly will receive these funds for three years.

 

District Title I funds will be used to support best practices, provide quality professional development and assist in the transition to the new Common Core and Essential Standards curricula. As part of the plan submitted to the DPI, ECPS has proposed  that district level Title I funds will be used to employ one common core lead teacher in K-5 English Language Arts and one common core lead teacher in K-5 Mathematics.

 

Another change in the Title I program is the elimination of school choice transportation and the offering of supplemental educational services. The kindergarten through second grade students that chose to go to Stocks Elementary School as their school of choice last year will maintain transportation funded by Edgecombe County Public Schools for the 2012-2013 year. After that year each student will be required to follow the ECPS transfer policy with the Board of Education providing approval.