PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2008
PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2008JULY 18, 2008 - Principals' Biweekly Message
Recently, I hosted a "Graduation Awareness Roundtable Meeting" that included key legislators, local superintendents and representatives from major education associations and advocacy groups. My goal in this was to issue a call to action and to develop strategies for Graduation Awareness Week to be held Sept. 15-19. We are developing a variety of materials, including logos/clipart, a proclamation by Gov. Mike Easley, a news release, a student pledge card, a community support agreement, and a LEA/local school board benchmark agreement. Once all of these are completed, they will be placed online for your use.
Dropping out of school can be a million dollar mistake for students who make that choice. Although a student often makes this choice while in high school, the seeds are planted as early as fifth grade. One tool that I hope you will consider using to raise awareness and prevent this mistake is "Inside Out," a 52-minute documentary produced by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literacy and the curtailment of the dropout rate nationwide. "InsideOut" features prison inmates promoting education as the best way for young people to avoid the mistakes they made. Their personal stories told simply and in a straightforward manner are very compelling. You can get more information about the "InsideOut" dvd at http://www.mattiecstewart.org.
In addition, legislators are wrapping up their short session this week, and the Governor signed off on the budget bill on Wednesday. We will be sharing more details about the state budget next week with superintendents and others.
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Principals' Message:
State Board Meeting Highlights
The State Board of Education met earlier this month via conference call and took a number of actions including approving changes to North Carolina's NCLB Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook, and adopting the new Teacher Evaluation Instrument. Complete Board highlights are posted online at www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights.
Message from 2008 Wachovia Principal of the Year
I hope you had a successful ending to the 2007-08 school year. I begin my service as advisor to the State Board of Education in August, and I wanted to tell you how proud I am to represent you as North Carolina's Principal of the Year. I encourage you to email me at morrisd@kannapolis.k12.nc.us if you have concerns and/or issues that you would like for me to bring to the attention of the Board, as I will do my best to represent your views. Have a wonderful summer. Debra S. Morris, principal, A.L. Brown High School, 2008 Wachovia Principal of the Year
Recipients for 2007 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching Named
Congratulations to Rachel Willingham, a mathematics teacher at North Henderson High (Henderson County Schools), and Michael Bowman, a science teacher at Madison High (Madison County Schools), for recently being named the 2007 North Carolina Presidential Awardees. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is a national award administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Each year, the program recognizes outstanding mathematics and science teachers from across the United States and four U.S. jurisdictions for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession. In addition to honoring individual achievement, the goal of the program is to expand and exemplify the definition of excellent science and mathematics teaching. Each teacher will receive a citation signed by the President of the United States, a $10,000 educational grant from the National Science Foundation, and a trip to Washington, DC for a week of celebration through events and professional development activities.
Online Instructional Opportunities for Teachers
Want to teach an online course in your school? Master teaching in Moodle, LEARN NC's course management system, to customize one of our courses for your own classroom or create your own course. This is a great way to develop capacity within your school or school system to offer K-12 and professional development courses online. LEARN NC's Moodle server can even host an online course for you, meaning you can focus on teaching without worrying about technical hassles. This online course lasts 3 weeks and is worth 2.0 CEUs. It begins Aug. 5 and at other times and there is a $150 registration fee.
"Facilitating Online Collaboration," part of LEARN NC's Carolina Online Teacher Program, will help teachers develop strategies to spark online communication, moderate online discussion, and accomplish instructional goals within the virtual classroom. Communication is the lifeblood of online courses-learn how to make the most of it. This online course lasts three weeks and is worth 2 CEUs. This course begins Aug. 6 and there is a $150 registration feel.
For full course descriptions or to register, please visit www.learnnc.org/courses.
If you'd like to review past Principals' Biweekly Messages sent to the listserv
group, just go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/principalsarchive/.