PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2007

FEBRUARY 15, 2007 - Principals' Biweekly Message

February is Black History Month, and reminders are abundant - from public service announcements on TV to special assignments in many social studies courses from K-12. This special attention to black history is helpful as we try to assure that all parts of our country's history receive the attention they deserve. I hope, however, that you will encourage teachers in your schools to make sure that the contributions of all parts of America are recognized every month - not just in February.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Weekly Superintendents' Message:

1. State Board to Meet Under New Committee Structure
2. Regional Teachers of the Year Selected
3. NCVPS Recruiting Teachers
4. U.S. Dept. of Education to Visit Laurel Hill Elementary
5. Wayne County's Teacher Script Published
6. NC Museum of History Offers Teachers Instructional Resources
7. LEARN NC February Update
8. Understanding the Holocaust Essay Contest

State Board to Meet Under New Committee Structure

Beginning with the March State Board of Education meeting, members will be meeting under a new committee structure. The new organization reflects the Board's 21st century mission and goals. Committees will meet on Tuesday afternoon (Globally Competitive Students), Wednesday morning (21st Century Professionals, Leadership for Innovation) and Thursday morning (Business/Finance and Advocacy). The Board's formal meeting will be on Thursday mornings. An information session will be held for the full Board on Wednesday afternoon.

Regional Teachers of the Year Selected

Congratulations to the following teachers for being selected 2007-08 North Carolina Regional Teachers of the Year: North Central Region: Sonya Kiser, North Johnston High (Johnston County Schools); Northeast Region: James Bell, Chowan Middle (Edenton-Chowan Schools); Northwest Region: Sherrard Pearce, Mooresville Sr. High (Mooresville Graded Schools District); Southeast Region: Beth Howard, Dixon Elementary (Onslow County Schools); Southwest Region: Denise Andrews, North Belmont Elementary (Gaston County Schools); Sandhills/South Central Region: Bridget Johnson, Vass-Lakeview Elementary (Moore County Schools); Piedmont-Triad/Central Region: Shawn Watlington, Greensboro Middle College (Guilford County Schools); and West Region: Jerome Hughes, Asheville High (Asheville City Schools). These teachers will now compete for the title of 2007-08 North Carolina Teacher of the Year. The winner will succeed the 2006-07 Teacher of the Year, Diana Beasley, a biology teacher at Hickory High School, Hickory Public Schools. The announcement will be made May 1 at a dinner and awards ceremony sponsored by the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association.

NCVPS Recruiting Teachers

The North Carolina Virtual Public Schools (NCVPS) is recruiting teachers who have taught online or who have interest in learning how to teach online. NCVPS will begin offering a series of professional development sessions later this month to assist teachers with the transition from traditional classroom instruction to online instructional delivery. As NCVPS falls under the State Board of Education, state licensure requirements do apply to instructional staff. To meet these requirements, NCVPS courses will be taught by North Carolina certified teachers working in the field. If your teachers have an interest in teaching for NCVPS, please have them forward their resume and contact information to Linda Austin at laustin@dpi.state.nc.us. If they have already submitted their resume for a teaching position with NCVPS and have not received an acknowledgement, please have them contact Gloria Williams at 919.513.8550 or by email Gloria_williams@dpi.state.nc.us before resubmitting.

U.S. Dept. of Education to Visit Laurel Hill Elementary

Congratulations to Laurel Hill Elementary (Scotland County Schools) for being one of nine schools nationwide selected for a site visit by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) and the RMC Research Corporation. Laurel Hill Elementary was one of 281 schools to earn the distinction of 2006 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School. The team, which visited the school on Feb. 6-7, looked at Laurel Hill's instructional program, what factors contribute to the school's success and which instructional practices can be shared with other schools. The information gathered will be included on the USED's Web site.

Wayne County Teacher's Script Published

Congratulations to Wayne County Public Schools' teacher Gregory Brown who just had his first children's script published by Benchmark Education of New York. The play, "Johnny Appleseed - An American Legend," is part of the company's Readers Theater series, which promotes fluency and vocabulary growth. Brown currently teaches Reading Recovery, Guided Reading and Readers Theater at North Drive Elementary School in Goldsboro.

NC Museum of History Offers Teachers Instructional Resources

The North Carolina Museum of History offers outreach opportunities to teachers and their students including Distance Learning virtual field trips (access available in almost every county, History-in-a-Box, Online Teacher Workshop, Streaming Classes and Videos for loan Please go online to www.ncmuseumofhistory.org (Education/Outreach) for details, or contact Jerry Taylor at jerry.taylor@ncmail.net or 919.807.7972 for more information.

LEARN NC February Update

Learn NC's February update is now online and includes the following: Content Area Reading Comprehension K-8, LEARN NC Live: Interactive Web Broadcasts, Black History Month, Multimedia: The Ramayana, American Memory: North Carolina Educator's Guide, Get Your Character Education Act Together, Roan Mountain Highlands, The Missing Revolution, Chinese New Year, and LEARN NC 2007 Fall Conference for Coordinators. Check it out at www.learnnc.org.

Understanding the Holocaust Essay Contest

The Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation is sponsoring an "Understanding the Holocaust: Why It's Important" essay contest for high school students. Student essays will be judged on several aspects including: ability to demonstrate historical knowledge of the Holocaust, depth and maturity of understanding of issues surrounding the Holocaust, evidence of thoughtful learning about the Holocaust, ability to identify lessons of the Holocaust, and ability to demonstrate how lessons of the Holocaust can be applied to modern social and political issues. Essays cannot be longer than 1,200 words. Students must use a size 14 Times Roman font and double-space text. The winner will receive a $200 prize and the runner-up will receive a $100 prize. All entries must be emailed by Feb. 28 to essaycontest@shalomdch.org.

 

If you'd like to review past Principals' Biweekly Messages sent to the listserv group, just go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/principalsarchive/