Shout Out from Graham Middle Joy Rust, Choral Director · construction of a scale model parabolic-shaped suspension bridge and a full size, parabolic solar cooker. The project also

Around Our Schools Shout Outs January 2015, Volume 1 Alamance-Burlington Schools Public Information Office

Shout Out from Graham Middle Joy Rust, Choral Director

Holiday performance hosted by the singing Falcons: Ten Graham Middle School chorus students provided 30 minutes of singing for shoppers at the Alamance Crossing Mall on Saturday, December 13! (Sort of like a Falcon Flash Mob!)

Thank you to Amanda Burgess, Assistant General Manager of the mall, for organizing "Sounds of the Season" which provided this performance opportunity.

Making the holiday shopping frenzy more enjoyable!

Shout Out from Andrews Elementary Rod Livingston, Fifth Grade Teacher

On Friday, December 19, the fifth grade students at Andrews Elementary participated in a market day. The students were responsible for developing and establishing their own businesses. They learned how to cooperate as co-owners, market their products, set prices and negotiate. There were about 20 different businesses that the students setup! The businesses ranged from taking holiday photos, beating the master at chess or checkers, and bowling to a wide host of holiday items and origami for sale.



Shout Out from Graham Middle Rebekah Davis

Congratulations to two of our students from Graham Middle! Ryan Cox earned first place and Ezechiel Yao earned second place in the Veterans of Foreign Wars essay contest from this fall! Both students are in Rachel Clark's Seventh Grade ELA class! Both students and families were invited to attend an awards ceremony on Thursday, January 8th at the American Legion Hut in Mebane

and read their essays to the audience.

The theme of the Patriot’s Pen competition this year was “Why I Appreciate America’s Veterans”.

Pictured at left: Ryan Cox, first place essay winner

Pictured at right: Ezechiel Yao, second place essay winner

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Read Ryan’s first place essay below:

All veterans young and old deserve to be honored by the people they served. These men and women leave their homes and their families

knowing they may not return. It takes a different kind of courage to leave the ones you love and serve your country and, protect your country.

These people have this courage that is why we honor them today.

This group of men and women volunteer to join our military and leave their families to go overseas to fight against our nation’s enemies.

From the Nazis at Normandy, to the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of Iraq these brave soldiers were there. This is why we remember them.

Their greatest sacrifice is more than anyone could ask of them.

For over 200 years these troops have defended this country which has stood united for just as long. They are the reason that the United

States still exists. Without them every enemy of this great nation would want to take over. We send our soldiers into harm’s way knowing that

these sons, daughters, mothers and fathers may never return. It all began fighting the British on our own soil and now we face a new threat from

terrorists under the name ISIS.


For the veterans who return from the battle field we are grateful but for those who never returned, even more so. They are the real

heroes though they may not have won any medals or got promoted but they still paid the ultimate price so we could live free. We owe everything

to these brave heroes which is why we have Veteran’s Day to honor them for their service, their protection, and for some, their sacrifice. Without

these men and women we would have nothing, we would not have our freedom. Thank you to all of our veterans.

Read Ezechiel’s second place essay below:

I really appreciate America’s veterans for all of the things they have done and continue to do for us. Starting from the American

Revolution to the Civil War, to the World Wars, they were the ones that defended us and fought for our sovereignty.

I appreciate America’s veterans because they fought to protect our country and other countries. They fought in wars against invading

countries to prevent them from conquering us. They fought in the Vietnam War to stop communism. Many of the veterans sacrificed their lives

so that we could live in peace. Those who did not die still struggle with those memories of war and death. They may show but we can show them

that we honor their bravery and courage.

Imagine a soldier who left his family and loved ones to go fight for your freedom and liberty; they are the veterans who put others over

themselves. They went to fight abroad in countries for the well-being of others. Without veterans the world would still be controlled by

monarchs, and we, the peasants, would still be living in indigence and famine. They leave their families and loved ones just go fight for their

country and us.

What would the world be like if there was no peace? If it was not for those veterans who unfurl peace throughout the world, nothing

would have been the same. They fought in the Vietnam War because they thought that it was not equitable that they had a communist

government. Many of them sacrificed their lives so that we could live better and in tranquility.

There are uncountable rationales to appreciate veterans. I hope that you comprehend what veterans did and continue to do for us and

that without their audacity and bravery we would not be who we are.


Shout Out from Graham High David Price, Math II Honors Teacher

As part of their study of quadratic equations, students in Mr. Price’s Math II Honors class at Graham High School recently completed two real-world projects on parabolas. The projects involved the design and construction of a scale model parabolic-shaped suspension bridge and a full size, parabolic solar cooker. The project also involved the creation of a design poster with all supporting calculations and a final report. Each of the 3 student groups also presented

their projects to all of the class members.

Parabolic Solar Cooker (shown below)


Shout Out to Western Middle Barb Carlton I wanted to send a shout out to the Western Middle School GROWS groups. (GROWS=Girls Reaching Optimal Worth and Success) Throughout November and December, these 7th and 8th grade girls held a Hygiene drive for the group SAYSO (a regional group that cares for children who are in foster care or kinship care). The GROWS group and many others at Western Middle collected nearly 400 shampoo/conditioner bottles, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, toothpaste, dental floss and various other products. Pictured are members of the GROWS groups and the Director of SAYSO (Strong Able Youth Speaking Out), Lauren Zingraff.


Shout Out from Williams High Kim Black

Will Ingle, senior Bulldog, was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas! He spent a week under head coach Hal Capps. Will visited the Shriners Hospital spending time with the patients and learned what the Shrine Bowl’s mission was all about, “strong legs run so that weak legs may walk”. He had practices all week, participated in numerous activities, and played in the historical game on Saturday, December 21st, 2015. He was #85, tight end for the North Carolina Team. Will said “It was such an honor to be selected to represent my school, my community, and my State in such a prestigious game. It felt great knowing what we were doing on that field would go toward helping so many children.” Will Ingle is a senior at Williams High School and has a full ride football scholarship to the University of Richmond! *Will’s older brother Jacob (c/o 2012 and Elon Football player) was selected for the 2011 Shrine Bowl. *Will's head coach, David Green, served as an assistant coach for The Shrine Bowl coaching the running backs.


Shout Out to Hillcrest Elementary Lisa Thompson The Hillcrest Vertical Team, along with Principal, Julie Bethea, and Academic Coach, Kim Barger, planned for an engaging K-5 Opinion Writing activity right before the holiday break. It began Thursday, Dec.18 with students participating in some "snowball" games using marshmallows and questionable rules depending on grade levels. The students then reflected on the games and whether or not they were fair. The following day, students were divided and rotated among the teachers to participate in the writing process in which they planned, drafted, edited and published their opinion pieces. The day ended in the cafeteria with refreshments and one student from each class sharing his or her well-written piece and celebrating the accomplishments of all students and teachers for their writing! Go Hornets!


Shout Out to Pleasant Grove Elementary Grace Cole, Technology Teacher In December, Pleasant Grove Elementary decided to go Around the World. Students from Kindergarten to 5th grade got a passport and traveled to far off countries, such as Mexico, Italy, and Japan. Students learned about holidays that are celebrated in that country. They made a craft, such as lanterns. They even got to taste a food native to that country. Looks like we have some world travelers in Alamance County!






Shout Out from Turrentine Middle Kim Black, TMS Head Dance Team Coach The Turrentine Middle Dance Team wanted to do a community outreach project this holiday season. The team started in November collecting money and purchasing items for a Christmas Cheer family. So many items were collected that they were able to take care of all the needs of their Christmas Cheer family and donate a van full of items to R. Homer Andrews Elementary for their families in need! Toys, clothing, shoes, coats, books, and more were all collected and given. I am so very proud of my team and their dedication to serve their community as well as their school, Turrentine Middle!


Shout Out from Williams High Susan Turner, Career Development Coordinator Students from Heath Wrenn’s Williams HIgh Parenting classes recently made site visits to Hawfields Daycare in Mebane. Hawfields Daycare has been located in the current facility since 1993, but has been in business for 50 years serving the needs of the Mebane community. The facility offers daycare and after school care for local families. According to Mr. Wrenn, the purpose of the visit was to expose students to the operations of the facility. Prior to the visit students learned appropriate operational standards as necessary by the state of North Carolina. Bonita Brown, Lead Early Childhood Specialist for Alamance Partnership for Children and pictured below, was a guest speaker the day prior to the site visit. There are 3 components assessed at the childcare facility; Education;

Program and Bonus Points. Brown also reviewed examples age appropriate snacks, cognitive development and examples of programs that are offered at childcare facilities across the county. Students spent 1 hour in each 1 – 3 year old classroom during the site visit. “The interaction with younger children is a great experience for the students. This makes more concrete the developmental stages that we cover in parenting.” stated Wrenn. As the CDC for WWHS, I felt this was an important field trip to set up. Students also learned about the many career opportunities in the childcare industry”. Students can earn college credit in Elementary Education or Early Childhood Development through Alamance Community College. The Career and College Promise Program offers high school Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to earn college credit tuition free but sometimes these opportunities go untapped by students due to lack of knowledge. Hopefully, the site visit has sparked interest in the childcare industry. With the amount of working parents in Alamance County, jobs in the childcare field are plentiful.


Shout Out from Pleasant Grove Elementary Grace Cole, Technology Teacher and Media Specialist In December, we celebrated Computer Science week! Every student in Pleasant Grove Elementary school spent one hour coding on a computer or iPad. Students in the upper-grades noticed that they were using Math skills in order to code. Students in K-2 had to use map and direction skills. The students in Kindergarten were extremely excited to move an Angry Bird to a Pig. Students in 4th and 5th grades had Elsa from the movie Frozen creating patterns in the ice to make a snowflake. Fifth-graders volunteered their time to go help students in Kindergarten and First Grade.

All of the students wanted to keep coding after the hour was up! And Pleasant Grove will be using the lessons from Code.org to teach vocabulary and further computer programming skills. Nice work students!




Shout Out from Turrentine Middle Katie Zimmerman, STEM Instructor On December 17th, the Morehead Planetarium's DREAMS Bus visited the 7th grade STEM class at Turrentine Middle! Our students worked very hard to prepare for the visit by studying how mucus protects the respiratory system from infection and designing treatments for when problems do happen.


Ms. Oakes led the class in an ELISA simulation to see if two mucus samples (representing two patients with cystic fibrosis) had been infected with the flu virus. Even some of our administrative team got in on the action!


Shout Out from Turrentine Middle Katie Zimmerman, STEM Instructor

You are invited! On Saturday January 10, the Turrentine Odyssey of the Mind Team is hosting a fundraiser at the Country Club Lanes West bowling alley! Between 2 and 5 pm, pay $6 for 2 games and shoes (a $9.75 value), and Country Club Lanes West will donate $2 per person to our Odyssey of the Mind team! Help us out!


Shout Out from Turrentine Middle Kim Black, TMS Dance Coach

TMS DANCE TEAM MEMBER IN THE PHILADELPHIA PARADE! Jasmine D-McClure was selected this summer (through audition at Universal Dance Association camp at Wake Forest University) as an All American. Jasmine earned the opportunity to perform in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade! Jasmine learned the routine and reported to Philadelphia a couple of days before Thanksgiving. Jasmine along with other All Americans from all over the US practiced in below freezing temps while raining! The parade was televised and there Jasmine was representing her school on the second row on Thanksgiving Day! I am so proud of Jasmine and her dedication. I love seeing young people take opportunities and run with them, Jasmine did just that. I screamed when I saw her on tv and thought to myself….she did it!


Shout Out from Williams High Susan Turner, Career Development Coordinator Located in Uptown Charlotte, N.C., the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, opened May 11, 2010 and includes artifacts, interactive exhibits, and a 278-person state-of-the-art theater. There are lesson plans on state and national learning standards including Common Core.

On December 12, members of Jim McGill's Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes visited the Charlotte Attraction. "There are many venues for students interested in a career in Sports and Entertainment Marketing. The Hall of Fame is a good example." stated McGIll. Students learned about the history of NASCAR, back to its roots in North Carolina. The museum also has brought hundreds of jobs to the area and has promoted tourism in downtown Charlotte. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is located across the street from NASCAR corporate offices. Ginny Huffman, NASCAR Digital Media Recruiter, addressed the students about the many jobs within NASCAR. Accountants, supervisors, managers, clerical assistants, chefs,

architects, , . . .it is a business, it is a big business and we need top quality, highly skilled employees." stated Huffman. After touring the facility, students got to challenge themselves with the many interactive experiences. The most popular was qualifying for a race, and actually participating in an interactive computer simulated "race". Most students agreed that racing was a lot harder than it looked! The girls challenged


the guys with the Pit Crew Challenge. This simulation involved changing a tire, gas can and a car jack. And teamwork! The girls seemed to be able to work through this challenge at a faster pace due to their communication skills. From my perspective as a CDC, this was a very enlightening day for the students. I think it is always a positive outcome when students can experience careers outside of the classroom. Most goals can be achieved by hard work, but those dreams have to start somewhere. When a student can see why their academics are important in the real work of work, it is a defining moment.

Shout Out to Dr. Harrison

Dr. Harrison was invited to be a guest panelist with local law enforcement leaders at a public forum at the Paramount Theatre in Burlington on Thursday night, January 8. He discussed the positive working relationship that ABSS shares with all local police departments and the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department.

To read more about the event, check out the Times-News story:

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/top-news/sheriff-chiefs-address-variety-of-issues-at-police-forum-1.422628?tc=cr




Shout Out to Hawfields Middle, Teacher Sadie Phelan and 6th Grade Scientists

Just before the holiday break, 6th graders in Sadie Phelan’s class had the opportunity to dissect cow eyeballs! Read about the story in the Mebane Enterprise and watch the great Connect A Million Minds story on Time Warner Cable that was broadcast across the state during the holidays, and now, posted online. Mebane Enterprise story with photo, courtesy of Karen Carter, editor http://www.abss.k12.nc.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=5079&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=87203&PageID=1 Watch the TWC Connect A Million Minds story: http://triadnc.twcnews.com/content/news/connect_a_million_minds/715120/middle-school-students-learn-ophthalmology-through-cow-eye-dissection/ Meg Smith, the Time Warner Cable reporter for Connect A Million Minds who covered the story had the following to say: “I had an absolutely wonderful time at the school. What a great group of students and teacher! It was definitely one of my favorite Connect a Million Minds stories I have done.” The story aired in December in all TWC markets across the state - so folks in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Wilmington saw it, in addition to the Triad viewers.

http://www.abss.k12.nc.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=5079&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=87203&PageID=1






http://triadnc.twcnews.com/content/news/connect_a_million_minds/715120/middle-school-students-learn-ophthalmology-through-cow-eye-dissection/





Shout Out from Grove Park Elementary All right, kids: Open wide and say...AHHH! Photos by Sam Roberts / Times-News

The Times-News 1/9/15 Reprinted with permission.

At left, first-grader Hayden Hatfield receives a dental sealant procedure using ultraviolet light Thursday at Grove Park Elementary School in Burlington. The dental sealants — free to students with parental permission — help to prevent tooth decay on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth.

Below, first-grader Amari Clark talks with dental hygenist Kim Jernigan after completing the procedure.


Shout Out to Newlin Elementary Times-News

During the holiday break, this very nice story and photo about Newlin Elementary and the staff’s dedication to serving children in their classrooms was featured in The Times-News:

Photo courtesy of Scott Muthersbaugh/Times-News

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/top-news/running-on-love-1.417569

Shout Out from Alamance-Burlington Association of Education Office Professionals

Check out the recipes from great cooks in ABSS! Get your very own copy of the limited edition Kitchen Creations Cookbook created by ABAEOP to support the organization’s scholarship program for students! Each year this group of professionals awards a scholarship to a deserving ABSS graduate. Don’t miss out on these great recipes from your friends. Each cookbook is $10—what a great value!

Contact Misty Brown at central office to make arrangements to buy yours. Trying out new recipes in your own warm kitchen is a great hobby this time of year! Stay warm!

Misty Brown extension 20092 or [email protected]



mailto:[email protected]


Shout Out from the ABSS GEAR UP Program

Invite middle and high school families and their students to attend next Saturday’s college prep Winter Workshop event to help students and families get prepared for life after high school. This event is open to the community.

It’s never too early to start planning!

Documents

Shout Out from Graham Middle Joy Rust, Choral Director · construction of a scale model parabolic-shaped suspension bridge and a full size, parabolic solar cooker. The project also