Shout Out to the 3rd
annual Success by
Design Conference!
Robyn Hadley sent in the following:
“Thanks again to everyone for your
hard work, support and attendance in
helping us to execute our 3rd “Success
By Design” conference at Cummings
High School. We had more than 300
participants from Alamance County
and several other counties!
Evaluations were very positive!!”
Here are just a few of the winners of great door prizes sponsored by local businsses: Cap & Gown
Winners: Terell Bellamy, Western; Christen Neal, Williams; Aree’ana Crisp, Middle College; Jennifer
Warriner, Cummings; David Keeler, Eastern; Kyasia Starnes, Graham,;Charity Curtis, Southern
Netbook: Courtney Blakenship, Williams
iPad: Destiny Gilchrist, Cummings
Shout Out to Haw River Elementary! School counselor Norma Thompson let me know this: “Haw River Elementary held an appreciation
event for parents, volunteers and community supporters on Wednesday, Oct 26th, from 4:30 until 6:00.
We served refreshments and students sang 2 songs to entertain the crowd. We held this event to thank
our wonderful parents and community partners for their support for our children and staff.” After the
event, I asked her how it went. She was very pleased: “We had almost 150 people! 3 board members
visited with us: Patsy Simpson, Tony Rose and Brad Evans; Jean Maness was also there. 2 groups of kids
sang songs (one in English and one in Spanish). We handed awards to recognize volunteers, community
partners and parents.”
Shout Out to Graham
Middle School! Melvin Diggs, Principal Intern
from GMS, sent this in: “Graham
Middle School hosted the
Piedmont Triad Leadership
Academy (PTLA). PTLA is
an intensive, year-long
clinical administrative cohort that
was formulated by a partnership
of Alamance-Burlington Schools,
Asheboro City Schools, Guilford
County Schools, and Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County Schools in
conjunction with UNCG's
Department of Educational
Leadership. It is designed to
prepare educators with a specific skill set to lead in Title One/high-needs Schools. The current members,
made up of 21 members, were challenged by Graham Middle School's Principal, Teresa Faucette, to "let
every decision you make be about KIDS FIRST and if it is not, you may want to examine why you are
making it!" Dr. Alisa McLean, our Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, admonished the cohort
to "know and understand the value of your Student Services teams, they can make a huge difference."
Other guest speakers included current Graham Middle AP's Rhoda Graves and Brie Butler who gave
insightful hints into making a successful transition into the role of school administrator. ABSS will host
two other sessions in the spring semester. In this photo, ABSS's PTLA members, (left to right) Hollis
Wroblewski, Shadonna Gunn, and Melvin Diggs are all smiles with Dr. McLean during the successful
sessions of instruction and inspiration.”
Shout Out to Cummings/Broadview Orchestra Students! Cindy Smith is Broadview/Cummings orchestra director, and she let me know about this:
“This Saturday, 3 bass students from the Cummings and Broadview orchestras will be attending the
UNCSA (UNC School of the Arts) Bass Day at the School of the Arts in Winston Salem. They will spend a
day attending workshops, master classes, and rehearsals and then perform in a “mass bass concert”
with more than 50 other bass players of all ages and playing levels. They will also enjoy a little taste of
campus life, eating at the school’s cafeteria, and then attend a professional bass and cello concert that
evening. All around it will a big day of music-making and exploring life after high school options.”
Shout Out to Graham High! David Bouldin from GHS sent this in: “Graham High School Occupational Course of Study Students
volunteered their time Saturday, October 22nd at the Hospice Flea Market Car Show and Sale. The sale
and car show was a huge success. This was a wonderful opportunity for our OCS Students to gain work
hours and experience in the community. A special thanks to Mrs. Julie Payne for all of her hard work
organizing and supervising students at the event. Our students worked hard all day long. They set up
sales displays, provided customer service, maintained a clean work environment, and restocked items
from the warehouse.
Mrs. Payne and myself job
coach Occupational Prep 2,
3 and 4 students second
block Tuesday through
Friday at the Hospice Flea
Market. This is a part of the
students’ community-based
training hours in the
Occupational Course of
Study. The group that came
Saturday is a mixture of all
of our OCS students at
Graham. We have worked
at some great places over
the past few years. Hospice
has been a great job site for
the students this year
though!
In the photo: from left to right: Becky Bouldin- OCS Teacher, Brandi Holt, Charmaine Livingston, Steven
Vasquez-Morales, Achille Deluca, Kim Pellerito- Our Hospice Job Site Coordinator, Julie Payne- OCS Job
Coach. I am in the back- David Bouldin- OCS Teacher, and our son and little helper Charlie Bouldin is in
the front.”
Shout Out to the
Western High
Dream Team! Linda Hines, school
counselor at A. O.
Elementary sent in this:
“We'd like to do a Shout
Out to the Western High
School Dream Team!
They came to A.O.
on Wednesday of this
week for Red Ribbon
Week and did a
FANTASTIC presentation
for some of our students.
Their presentation was
entertaining, interactive
and very informative.”
Left to right / FRONT ROW: Heather Morton - Jamie Sommers - Claire Dockrill - Madson Bell - Nigel Carlton
Left to right / BACK ROW: Cody Rice - Paschal Geoffrey - Danja Worden - Lindsey Dishner - Tyler Miles - Michael
Bell
Special Thanks to the WAHS Dream Team!
Shout Out to Turrentine Middle and Science! Today, Friday October 28, Turrentine Middle 8th grade science students had an outstanding
opportunity. Students in Ms. Melaine Rickard’s science classes performed 6 “green grid” renewable
energy experiments with NC State electrical engineering graduate students from the university’s
FREEDM (Future Renewable Electrical Energy Delivery & Management) Systems Center.
What’s also impressive is that Alamance-Burlington Schools is the only place this program is happening
across North Carolina because we are the only K-12 partner school district with this project from NC
State and the National Science Foundation! There are 7 universities around the nation involved, and
NCSU is one. Ms. Rickard is a 2011 Kenan Fellow with NC State and assists their researchers with
planning science lessons for students! Look out Duke Energy!
Shout Out to Alamance Citizens for Education and Elon U!
Alamance Citizens for Education & Elon University's Project
Pericles Invites You To The
Release Party for
Make Art Happen Alamance Citizens for Education and Elon University's Project Pericles are hosting a free event for the
public to launch the Make Art Happen CD on Friday November 4, from 5p.m. to 10p.m. The event will
be held in front of Company Shops Market, located on East Front Street.
Bring your chairs, have dinner and drinks (cash bar) while enjoying music from four of the bands on the
CD:
Too Far Gone, Josh Lambert Band, Back Porch Orchestra, and Harvey Dalton Arnold Blues Band
Make Art Happen is a project that highlights the importance of arts education in Alamance County
public schools with the support of local musicians. The project is producing a CD of talented local
musicians and is offering it to community for purchase. All of the proceeds will go towards forming a
grant program that will benefit any public school in Alamance County that has a need for arts education
funding. Each CD is $15, great gifts!
Make Art Happen also helps Elon University students by giving them valuable opportunities to promote,
sell, and market the CD.
Shout Out to Hillcrest and Government! Karen Traywick, second grade teacher sent this in: “Hillcrest 2nd grade classes will be studying ‘Local
Government’ next week. We contacted Burlington Mayor Ronnie Wall to talk to our students about his
job, what he does, what is expected of him, etc. He has agreed to come @ 9:00 on Tuesday, Nov. 1st to
speak w/ all of our classes!”
Megan James, new school counselor for the Hornets said: “At our first Student Council General Body
meeting on Tuesday, November 1st at 2:00, we will be visited by two Burlington City Council members:
Mr. Jim Butler and Mr. Celo Faucette. They will be speaking with students about their responsibilities as
City Council members, what they think it means to be a leader, what they’ve learned from being a
leader and some of their favorite things about their job. The students worked very hard on the
campaign and are very excited about participating in our first Student Council at Hillcrest! Students,
counselors and administrators will be attending the meeting. The students attending include the 5
officers (grades 4 and 5) that were elected on October 17th and the classroom representatives (one per
class in grades 3-5) totaling about 20 students.”
Shout Out to Southern High FFA! Southern FFA advisor Nick Anders sent this news about the Patriots’ award-winning program, and boy,
have they been busy! “In August, twenty-six Southern Alamance High School FFA members traveled to
White Lake for the 21st consecutive year. The campers spent five days competing in various activities
and learning different leadership techniques at FFA Camp. Southern’s two teams competed to win the
camp banner, which is awarded to the team who gets the most points competing in activities against
other FFAs. Competitions lasted for three days. The three main events were softball, volleyball, and
water ball. Water ball is
basically playing softball in the
water with a dodge ball.
Southern also competed in
checkers, shuffleboard, canoe
races, basketball and ping
pong, among others. It was a
head to head battle between
the two Southern Alamance
teams in all three major
events. In the end, the upper
classmen dominated the
underclassmen and brought
home the camp banner for
the third year in a row!”
“On September 20th and 21st, the
students of the Southern
Alamance FFA Chapter
participated in Farm to Table Day
at Cedar Rock Park, an event
where students and workers from
the community volunteer to
teach fourth graders the various
parts of agriculture and farming.
Some students taught at booths,
such as Plant Science and Farm
Equipment, while others led the
groups of children from place to
place. Students worked for the
entire morning and afternoon,
helping the kids learn more about
the environment. Farm to Table
Day opens the eyes of our
younger generation and allows them to be more in tune with their planet and the nature that exists all
around them.”
“On September 29, the
Southern Alamance FFA
Chapter traveled to Eastern
Randolph High School for the
Regional Leadership
Conference. This year around
30 members and two of our
very own Regional officers,
Alan Capps and Haley Lohr,
went. At the conference,
members from the West
Central FFA Region came to
participate in different
workshops to help them learn
to be better leaders and FFA
members in their communities.
The workshops included how to
dress professionally, how to be
a professional in the real world,
and other workshops on
professionalism. There was also
a canned food drive, where each school brought a number of cans they had collected in the present
weeks. This year Southern FFA took 769 cans of food. The canned food collected in the weeks before
RLC was brought back to Alamance County and donated to Loaves and Fishes Ministry Food Bank. The
Regional Leadership Convention was a wonderful opportunity for FFA members to better their skills as
citizens.”
Southern High FFA State Winners! The Southern Alamance FFA Chapter took a group of 19 students to the North Carolina FFA State
Convention. The students spent two nights in the downtown Sheraton in Raleigh, North Carolina. All of
the events took place in the
Raleigh Convention Center.
The students competed in a
variety of competitions ranging
from Creed speaking to Nursery
and Landscape. There were also
three of the chapter’s members
who went and worked at a thrift
shop for community service.
Those members were Max
Crouse, Alan Capps, and Dalton
Curtis. The Creed speaker for
Southern Alamance was Katie
Way. The Tool Identification
team consisted of Jon
Pendergraph, John Teague, Alex
Patrum, and Graham Kirkpatrick. John Teague got the individual high score and the boys placed third in
the state as a team. Southern Alamance had three plant identification teams that competed at the state
level. The Introduction to Horticulture team members were Drew Hanford, Austin Greeson, D.J.
Johnson, and Blake Oakley. Austin Greeson, Drew Hanford, and Blake Oakley all tied for high individual.
The team received first place in the state as a whole. The Floriculture team members were Summer
Holland, Jess Patterson, Drew Riggins, and Colt Robertson. Summer Holland was the second highest
individual in the state and the team received second place in the state as well. The Nursery and
Landscape members were Amber Palmer, Ethan Farlow, Zack Ferguson, and Will Carden. Ethan Farlow
was the second high individual in the state and the team placed second as well in the state.
Shout Out to Nathan Page at BMS!
Jodi Hofberg, Middle School Math Curriculum Support Team, sent this shout: “Nathan Page was a
presenter at the NC Council of Teachers of
Mathematics in Greensboro! He shared how the
individualized, web-based program ALEKS is used
in his math classroom at Broadview Middle
School to motivate students for success. Thanks
for representing ABSS at a state conference!”
P. S. If you will keep reading and look at the link
below for the Everything Song………you will see
the results of what happens when Mr. Page
ducks into the nearest phone booth…….
Shout out to Broadview Middle!
Folks, BMS is bringin’ it!!!
If this doesn’t put you in a great mood for the weekend and make you proud to work for Alamance-
Burlington, I can’t imagine what could…….
Cindy Smith, orchestra teacher for BMS and CHS sent me this news about two outstanding
productions by BMS students and staff:
“Broadview Middle School just submitted not one but TWO videos to the eInstruction Classroom
Makeover Contest! Mrs. Peres-da-Silva, our Teacher of the Year, had a group of 7th grade students who
wrote a rap and created an accompanying video. It’s very creative and impressive! Mr Page, 8th grade
math teacher, also submitted an outstanding video that was a collaborative effort involving his classes,
my orchestra classes, Mrs. Penn’s Chorus classes, with help from art teacher Mrs. Burrell, Mrs, Paisley,
and many others. We are waiting to see if we make the finals!
If we do, we will need votes from everyone to help us win the big prize…$75,000 of technology from
eInstruction. Here are the links to go view the videos and rate them:
Mr. Page’s “The Everything Song” http://2011classroommakeover.shycast.com/submission/show/1911
Mrs. Peres-da-Silva’s “eInstruction+Students=The Future”
http://2011classroommakeover.shycast.com/submission/show/1485
Shout Out to Alexander Wilson Relay for Life! We just happened to find out about this great event…….by accident! A-W is raising money for
Relay for Life and having a blast doing it. They’ve got all sorts of stuff going on……. Secretary
Jennifer Foust let us in on the fun: “1st grade paper dolls; 3rd Grade is Black Eye Peas; Kindergarten is
Rock Paper Scissors. Also, for Relay for Life fundraiser, the children can do Scary Hair and donate .50!
That is really neat. Today we raised $152.63 for Relay! We have some really amazing hair do’s.”
Do you recognize these paper dolls? They are first grade teachers at A-W:
Morgan Thompson, Stephanie Slaughter, Ryan Wade, Janna Shoffner & Jenny Smith
Check out the pumpkins in disguise! A-W is raising money for Relay for Life by having folks vote for their
favorite decorated pumpkins. Too cute! Do you see Big Bird,The Hamburger McPumpkin, the Tar Heel
Ram and the pink M&M, Humpty Dumpty and Clifford the Big Red Dog just to name a few?
Shout Out to Garrett Gators! Kris L’Heureux sent this in: “Today, the Storybook Theater came to Garrett to perform 3 plays to kick-off
the school's reading incentive program. For the next 7 mos. each student has a goal of 25 nights of
reading and there are classroom goals that 80% of the class will read their 25 nights each month. Mr.
Achey has promised a neat treat if the whole school meets their goal!” Wonder what it will be?
Shout Out to E. M. Yoder! At E. M. Yoder, Mrs. Slagle’s fifth grade class learned about the Kids Path program (a service of Hospice)
that helps children deal with loss. They created a community project during the month of October. The
fifth graders asked other students in the school to bring in poly-fill and fabric to donate to the program
to help make teddy bears. They collected a total of 132 pieces of fabric and 33 bags of poly-fill.
Shout Out to our
2012 ABSS Wells
Fargo Principal of the
Year! Just announced
today………drum roll,
please……….
Cynthia McKee is our
winner!
Congratulations! Dr.
Cox and Mark Doane went
out on prize patrol this
morning to surprise our
winner. As you can see,
Coach McKee was busy and
hard at work with ABLP this
morning.
Shout Out to our 2012
ABSS Assistant Principal
of the Year!
Congratulations to Pam Henline,
Queen of the Bobcats!
Pam is our winner! Dr. Cox and
Mark Doane interrupted a very
busy AP this morning intent on
handling five things or more at
once when they arrived to
surprise her. She stopped just
long enough to receive her
beautiful flowers and congrats
from the boss.
Here’s another Shout Out for Pam! From Deborah Oxendine and the entire cafeteria staff at BMS: “Ms Pamela Henline here at Broadview
deserves a Big Shout Out for being AP of the Year! Ms Henline is a very important part of Broadview and
is very special to all here including our Cafeteria staff. We are very proud of her!”
Shout Out to Elon Elementary! The Little Phoenix marched in a Book Parade today captured by Board Member Tony Rose’s camera. Do
you suppose that Principal Jack Davern knocked down the Chik-fil-A cow and stole his cow suit?
If Ms. Carr and Mr. Davern were really standing side by side, it would be hard on the eyes!