TEACHERS' MESSAGES 2009

JANUARY 22, 2009 - Teachers' Biweekly Messages

On Monday, the United States inaugurated Barack Obama as the 44th President, and signaled the start of a new chapter in America's story. Regardless of your politics, the inauguration of a new President is a time filled with promise and hope. For public schools, I hope that we will see some necessary changes to No Child Left Behind and a different approach to providing support to students and schools and to encouraging a more positive role for the federal government in local public schools. This is a challenging time for our nation and for North Carolina as we face tough budget decisions and the continuing need to improve our schools, extend educational opportunities to students and serve you and your colleagues. I know you join me in wishing all of our new leaders well as they begin their new responsibilities.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Teachers' Message:

1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. Board Passes Policy Reaffirming Graduation Project
3. New Year’s Greetings from 2008-09 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year
4. 2009-2010 Regional Teachers of the Year Selected
5. School Bus Safety Programs
6. SAT Video Contest
7. Mandarin Chinese Online Textbook
8. Environmental Education Grant Opportunity

State Board Meeting Highlights

At this month's Board meeting, members approved using the first retest results for grades 3-8 in the calculation of performance composites of the ABCs and AYP for 2008-09 and adding the first retest results for all 10 EOCs in the 2009-2010 school year, the Report on Gang Prevention and Intervention and revised teacher education specialty area standards. Board members also discussed participation in the American Diploma Project Algebra I and II exams and a report from Phase I LEAs implementing the Teacher Evaluation Instrument. Members heard presentations on the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, International Benchmarking and the Department’s plan for statewide assistance for schools. Complete Board highlights are availble online at www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights by clicking on the appropriate link.

Board Passes Policy Reaffirming Graduation Project

At their December State Board meeting, members approved a revision of State Board Policy HSP-N-003 and a new additional policy, HSP-N-009. Together, these policies clarify the intent of the State Board of Education in regard to graduation requirements and The North Carolina Graduation Project. The action reaffirms the State Board's intent that The North Carolina Graduation Project shall be implemented in high schools across the state in accordance with the philosophy, rubrics, procedures and guidelines as described in The North Carolina Graduation Project Implementation Guide. For more information, please contact Bryar Cougle at tcougle@dpi.state.nc.us or by phone at 919.807.3855.

New Year's Greetings from 2008-2009 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year

Happy New Year! I trust you have all returned to your classes rejuvenated from that much needed break with a renewed spirit. Personally, I waited patiently to again see school buses on the roads and hear those bells ringing.I feel that all is "right with the world" when our children are in those classrooms "filling their hungry minds with knowledge," as I say to my students.

I had the opportunity in December to attend the Education Policy Fellowship Program's Leadership Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona. The theme was "Leadership in Thought and Action" and Fellows represented 12 states and the District of Columbia while discussing educational leadership.I was touched by the comments of Thomas Bloch, former CEO of H&R Block and son of the company's founder, who at 41 years old decided he wanted to be a teacher. He packed up his offi ce and headed to inner city Kansas City, Missiouri, where he began teaching middle school math. As I enter into this new year, I want to take to heart a comment that Mr. Bloch made about teaching - he said that, as teachers, we have the opportunity to "repair the world."

As we look around us, we can see that there is much to repair. And at this moment, it may seem that we have fewer resources than ever at our disposal. But at this time of the year, with our renewed spirits intact, and our commitment to the children of North Carolina unwavering, anything is possible.

Thank you for all you do for the children of our state. It continues to humble me beyond words that I have been given the honor to represent you this year. And I am honored to join you in repairing the world, one child at a time. Cindi Rigsbee, 2008-09 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year

2009-2010 Regional Teachers of the Year Selected

Congratulations to the following teachers who were recently selected to represent their regions and charter schools as regional Teachers of the Year and will now compete for the title of 2009-10 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year:

• North Central Region: Matthew Bristow-Smith, Tarboro High (Edgecombe County Schools);
• Northeast Region: Gina Beaman, Creekside Elementary (Pitt County Schools);
• Northwest Region: Robert Turner, Grandview Middle (Hickory Public Schools);
• Southeast Region: Nicole Murray, James Kenan School of Engineering (Duplin County Schools);
• Southwest Region: Jessica Garner, Porter Ridge High (Union County Schools);
• Sandhills/South Central Region: Martha Anderson, Washington Street Elementary (Richmond County Schools);
• Piedmont-Triad/Central Region: Phillip Little, Northwood High (Chatham County Schools);
• West Region: Jo Peterson Gibbs, Asheville Middle (Asheville City Schools); and
• Charter Schools: John Hall, ArtSpace Charter (Buncombe County).

Each of the regional teachers of the year will receive a one-time stipend of $5,000 and a trip to a national conference. The AT&T 2009-10 North Carolina Teacher of the Year will be announced May 5 at a dinner and awards ceremony in Raleigh.

School Bus Safety Programs

The 2009 National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest for K-8 students is now underway. Go to www.ncbussafety.org to see the 2008 winners and access the 2009 contest information. Also it's almost time for LOVE THE BUS 2009. Participating schools are asked to recognize their bus drivers and highlight the importance of safe school bus transportation. Information on LOVE THE BUS is posted at www.ncbussafety.org. For more information on either of these programs, please contact the NCDPI Transportation Services Section at 919.807.3570.

SAT Video Contest

MIT University is running a nationwide contest in which students compete to produce fun, creative videos teaching SAT vocabulary. Videos should be no longer than two minutes. Once the videos have been submitted, viewers will vote on the videos, and MIT will award $600 in prize money to the video that receives the most number of votes. Of the $600, $200 will go directly to the winner(s) and $400 to the class or school club chosen by that person(s). To further encourage participation, MIT will give away one free iTunes song for every five videos a contestant submits or refers (up to the first 1,000 video submissions). Other important dates are as follows: Feb. 23 - video submission ends; March 1 - voting begins, March 14 - voting ends, March 20 - winners announced. For more information, please visit http://www.BrainyFlix.com/main/contest_rules. For questions not answered by Web site, contact Jack Yu at jack.yu.is@gmail.com.

Mandarin Chinese Online Textbook

LEARN NC has just published a beta version of an online textbook for instruction in Mandarin Chinese (http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/mandarin1/). It is designed to accompany an introductory- level high school language course and is based on the online course developed by LEARN NC, funded by a Foreign Language Assistance Program grant from the U.S. Government, sponsored by NCDPI, and offered by the North Carolina Virtual Public School. It includes an introductory section about the structure of the Chinese language and pinyin; fifteen video- based lessons; extensive notes on language, grammar, and culture; and more than 400 vocabulary words, each with an audio pronunciation guide.

Environmental Education Grant Opportunity

The Albemarle- Pamlico National Estuary Program (APNEP), a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, is requesting proposals for schoolyard environmental demonstration projects. APNEP grants are available to locations in the 36 county APNEP region, which includes five major river basins: the Chowan, Pasquotank, Roanoke, Tar- Pamlico and Neuse (see http://www.apnep.org/pages/ap_maps.html). Individual projects may be funded up to $12,000, but the target range per project is around $5,000. For the complete Request for Proposal and application materials, please go online to http://www.apnep.org. The deadline to apply is March 6. For more information, please contact Lori Brinn at 919.715.4196 or Lori.Brinn@ncmail.net.

 

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