Art by Meadowlark Middle Students in February Issue of Forsyth Family Magazine

By Alivia Bargoil

By Rachel Ter Bush

By Teondre Chappelle

By Andrea Romero

Each month, Forsyth Family magazine publishes art by students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. In the February 2013 issue, all the art is by students at Meadowlark Middle School. Their art teacher is Heather Dutton. The students are: Alivia Bargoil (seventh grade), Rachel Ter Bush (eighth grade), Teondre Chappelle (seventh grade) and Andrea Romero (eighth grade). You will find The Artist's Corner on Page 78.

Taking a Moment to Visit with a Friend

SharonMcLaurin with Rosco

In the Tuesday Jan. 29 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, photographer Lauren Carroll has a picture of Sharon McLaurin, who works as a crossing guard for Paisley IB Magnet School, playing with Roscoe during a break in her duties. "We met on the first day of school," McLaurin told Carroll.

Hanes Magnet Student Wins National Yes I Can! Award

Asha Gandhi when she was a student at Brunson Elementary

Asha Gandhi, who is a student at Hanes Magnet School, has been honored with a national award that honors people who achieve much despite disabilities. The Council for Exceptional Children has given Asha a Yes I Can! Award in the Academics category.

“Asha embodies the Yes I Can! Award's spirit of honoring ‘youth who shine,’” said Mary Todd Allen, the Exceptional Children Middle School Program Manager. “Asha is an amazingly inspiring and caring young lady who represents our district well.”

The award will be given to her in April at the council's national convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Asha said that she was ecstatic when she learned about the award and is looking forward to receiving it.

"Of course, as parents, we are incredibly proud of Asha," said her father, Sanjay Gandhi. "I can't think of three better words to describe her than 'Yes, I can!' She has a remarkable zeal for learning and faces all challenges with gritty determination. And she does this with such a persistent sense of optimism!"

Asha, who is in the school system’s program for highly academically gifted students, has limited vision and hearing. Her exemplary approach to dealing with the challenges she faces prompted the N.C. Council for Exceptional Children to give her its Yes I Can! Award when she was a fifth-grader in the highly academically gifted program at Brunson Elementary School.

This fall, the state council invited her to speak at its annual conference in Greensboro.

Altogether, the national council recognized 21 award winners in seven categories - academics, arts, athletics, school and community activities, self-advocacy, technology and transition.  

The national council describes itself as “an international community of educators who are the voice and vision of special and gifted education. CEC’s mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with exceptionalities and their families through professional excellence and advocacy.”

Three Churches Support BackPack Program at North Hills Elementary

In the Thursday Jan. 10 issue of the Chronicle, reporter Layla Garms writes about the BackPack program at North Hills Elementary School sponsored by three churches - Piney Grove Baptist, Mount Tabor United Methodist and St. Paul United Methodist.

The school – where 99 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch – partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina and the three churches to create the BackPack program earlier this year.

Through the program, 50 students at the predominantly African-American and Hispanic school receive bags each Friday that contain enough nonperishable, nutritious food for four meals during the weekend.The program is being paid for by a $10,000 grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation.

When the grant expires at the end of the year, the churches will raise the funds needed to keep it going, said North Hills Principal Karen Roseboro.

For the full story, go to Winston-Salem Chronicle

Parkland Student Leads Project to Paint Backpacks for Students in Ghana

Ginaya Meyer

In the Thursday Jan. 17 issue of the Chronicle, reporter Layla Garms writes about Ginaya Meyer, a senior at Parkland High School, who is coordinating a project to paint canvas backpacks to send to school children in a village in Ghana.

Meyer's goal is be able to send 60 backpacks. So far, she and other students have painted 35 backpacks.
 
The photo is by Layla Garms. You will find Garms' full story at Winston-Salem Chronicle

Classified Employee January 2013 Spotlight

Nikki Woodruff

Each month, the Classified Advisory Council shines the spotlight on a classified employee. This month, the spotlight is on Nikki Woodruff, who drives a school bus.

Woodruff has been working with children for 15 years. She has been driving the bus for nine years under the supervision of Alfred Adams. She is the youngest of nine children. Woodruff is in school earning a degree in Early Childhood Education. She has one son who she loves with all her heart. Woodruff can truly say that she "loves her job, but had to learn how to enjoy it".

You can find out more about the Classified Advisory Council at Classified Advisory Council

First Baptist of Kernersville Supports BackPack Program at Kernersville Elementary

The Rev. Alicia Turner, Dr. Stephen Martin, Kay Justice, Mayor Dawn Morgan and other members of First Baptist Church of Kernersville

Kay Justice is a member of First Baptist Church of Kernersville. After hearing about a program that provides food on the weekends for children who might otherwise go hungry, she wanted to do the same for young people in Kernersville.

“It sounded like a really good opportunity for our church,” she said.

She talked with others at the church, including Dr. Stephen Martin, the senior minister, and the Rev. Alicia Turner, the minister of children and missions. Everyone wholeheartedly supported the idea, and, working with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, the church established a BackPack program at Kernersville Elementary School. On Fridays, church members fill backpacks with food for 50 students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches during the week to take home.

John Morgan, student at East Forsyth High School

On Tuesday Jan. 15, everyone celebrated the program with a ribbon-cutting in the school’s media center. Among those present was John Morgan, a freshman at East Forsyth High School who, for his Eagle Scout project, built a closet with hooks at the church where the backpacks and other program materials are stored.

“I wanted to support this new ministry,” Morgan said. “I think it is very important to reach out to those in need in the community.”

Also there was Tony Rupard, one of about 100 church members who participate in the program in one way or another. He owns an enclosed trailer so he volunteered for being responsible for going over to Second Harvest to pick up more backpack meals whenever the supplies at the church run low. “It’s my part and I have the equipment to do it,” Rupard said.

The First Baptist’s BackPack program is one of 20 in Forsyth County that churches sponsor. The churches buy prepackaged meals through Second Harvest. It costs $10,000 per school year to provide weekend meals to 50 students.

Clyde Fitzgerald, Becky Carter, Dana Caudill Jones and others

Clyde Fitgerald, the executive director at Second Harvest; Dana Caudill Jones, Kernersville’s mayor pro tempore, and Mayor Dawn Morgan, who also happens to be John Morgan’s mother, were among those who spoke. In her remarks, Mayor Morgan talked about how the backpacks carry not only food to sustain the student but also a message of caring from the community. “The message is ‘You are loved.’”

When Martin spoke, he said, “This is a wonderful program because it has the opportunity to change the lives of children.”

The program at Kernersville is being sponsored by donations from individuals. Turner said that eventually they hope to be able to expand the program. “We recognize that so many more children could benefit.”

Kernersville Principal Becky Carter thanked the members of the church for supporting the school through the BackPack program and in other ways. “You all are a constant blessing to this school,” she said. “We could not do what we do day in, day out without your help.”

You will find a story about BackPack programs that help students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools by going to BackPack Programs

Since that story was posted in November, two more programs have been added. Central Triad Church now sponsors a BackPack program at Griffith Elementary School and Mineral Springs Baptist Church sponsors one at Mineral Springs Middle School.

Curriculum Coordinator at Flat Rock Middle School Receives Grant for History Project

Mitzi Talbert

Mitzi Talbert, a nationally board certified teacher (NBCT) at Flat Rock Middle School who serves as the curriculum, LEP (Limited English Proficient) and testing coordinator, has received a $1,318.22 grant from EnergyUnited’s Bright Ideas education program.

The grant will be used for a project called "Making History Come Alive."

“Students will make history come alive by building visual storylines of history and relating it to their life today,” Talbert said. “Students will be able to use a variety of resources to discover how history can repeat itself by exploring different concepts laid out in the new Essential Standards and discovering how the underlying themes keep resurfacing through history.

“Students have not been taught history through concepts before. When you think of a history class, most people think about facts like battles that happened during a war. Teaching through concepts asks students to look at the underlying reasons for the battles and compare those reasons to other battles going on today. Students will gain an understanding that knowing the reasons behind the battles can help them from occurring in the future.”

The Bright Ideas grants are available to North Carolina teachers for innovative, hands-on classroom projects that might not otherwise be funded. Previous winners in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools include Cynthia Needham at Griffith Elementary, Heather Stickler at North Hills Elementary and Dave Boyer at Kernersville Middle.

New applications will be accepted beginning in April. For more information Bright Ideas

High School Students Making Grants for Programs that Have a Positive Impact on Forsyth County

Youth Grantmakers in Action

In the Monday Jan. 7 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal, special correspondent Carson Capshaw-Mack writes about the Youth Grantmakers in Action (YGA), a Winston-Salem Foundation program that gives high school students the change to award grants to projects led by other young people that are intended to have a positive impact on young people in Forsyth County.

“It’s about giving them leadership opportunities and also about giving them a voice," Andrea Hulighan, a program manager at the Winston-Salem Foundation, told Capshaw-Mack. “We, as adults, aren’t out there in the youth community – they’re experts in that.”

Using the proceeds of an endowment from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, YGA distributes about $2,000 each year. The average grant is about $475.

  

The students from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools participating in YGA are:

Mariah Adams - Walkertown High School

Jamilla Benton - Parkland High School

Peter Bi - West Forsyth High School

Eileene Dowell - North Forsyth High School

Tori Galyean - North Forsyth High School

Rachel Glock - Reynolds High School

Taylor Hill - North Forsyth High School

Austin Jackson - Reynolds High School

Sami Lachgar - Reynolds High School

Jackie Lin - Mount Tabor High School

Sofia Lyons - Reynolds High School

Te-Nia MacFarlane - North Forsyth High School

De’Gary Martin-Hargrave - Atkins Academic & Technology High School

Jennifer Matthews - Atkins Academic & Technology High School

Imani McClure - Parkland High School

Sequoia Miller - Reagan High School

Bre’Ida Riddick - Early College of Forsyth

For more information about the YGA program to Winston-Salem Foundation

For the full story go to Winston-Salem Journal

Student Art in January Issue of Forsyth Family Magazine

In the January 2013 issue of "Forsyth Family" magazine, you will find art by four students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Katie Thomas goes to Jefferson Middle School. Her art teacher is Allison Pegram. Jasmine Lopez is a first-grader at Hall-Woodward Elementary School. Her art teacher is Joanna Smith. Drew Brownlee is a fifth-grader at Rural Hall Elementary School. Drew's art teacher is Henry Moss. Julianna Costa is in the 10th grade at Reynold's High School. Her art teacher is Phil Benenati.

Enjoy.

By Katie Thomas, Jefferson Middle School

By Jasmine Lopez, Hall-Woodward Elementary School

By Drew Brownlee, Rural Hall Elementary School



By Julianna Costa, Reynolds High School