Thanksgiving at Hall-Woodward Elementary

On Thanksgiving Day, several hundred people had their holiday dinner at Hall-Woodward Elementary School. Winston-Salem Journal reporter Jordan Howse and photographer Walt Unks were there.

Here are a couple of pictures and an excerpt from their story:

Isabella Jimenez, 6, had finished most of her Thanksgiving meal at Hall-Woodward Elementary School. She was patiently waiting for her mother’s approval to dive into her apple pie.

With her mother’s slight nod, she plunged her fork into the flaky crust to top off her meal with her family at her school.

Nearly 300 other people joined Isabella at Hall-Woodward for a free Thanksgiving meal Thursday.

The meal was offered to students, their families and the Hall-Woodward community as a way to foster relationships and bring everyone together for the holiday.

Isabella’s sister, Sandi Jimenez, 13, is a former student of Hall-Woodward and came with her mother and two other siblings.

“Usually we’d either cook at home and invite friends over or cook a dish and go to a friend’s house,” Sandi said. “It saved time and money to come here.”

The dinner of turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls and apple pie was set in motion by Celena Tribby, the principal, Eric Jones, the parent-involvement coordinator and the Rev. Oscar Pilson of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kernersville.

“Our school is 100-percent free and reduced lunch,” Jones said. “We thought it would be good for our families and the community to have a Thanksgiving meal here.”

To see more pictures and read the rest of the story, go to Winston-Salem Journal

A Penny Campaign to Help Others at Kernersville Elementary

After students at Kernersville Elementary School raised more than $900 for Samaritan Ministries’ Penny Campaign, Cameron Kent of WXII television stopped by to pick up the check.

Classes that raised the most money different categories were also recognized.

They are:

Kindergarten through second grade: Penny Hocevar’s class
Third through fifth grade: Kathy Gates’ class
Exception Children classes: Sharyn Prescott


WXII ran a story about the visit. To see it, go to WXII 

A Tuesday Thanksgiving

On Tuesday, students in the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism at Carver High School served Thanksgiving dinner to students on the A/B Honor Roll and their families.

You will find the story at Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Here are more pictures:

A Feast of Pies

Students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools have been working to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

To read the story, go to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Here are more pictures:

Preparing for the ACT

On Saturday, students from eight high schools headed to Carver to take an ACT Prep workshop.

To read the story, go to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Here are more pictures:

A Book to Call Their Own

The members of the local chapter of the American Association of University Women gave every first-grader at South Fork Elementary School a book.

You can read the story at Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Here are more pictures:

Students at Jefferson Middle Participate in Operation Christmas Child

At Jefferson Middle School, the members of the ICONS service club filled 15 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Here is what Barry Stevenson, who teaches eight-grade social studies, had to say about the project:

“Our service club consists of students from just our team.  At the beginning of the year, I had students who were interested in being a part of the service club to write a brief essay on what they thought service was, and what ideas for projects they had.  One of the students had the idea to collect supplies and fill boxes for Operation Christmas Child. 

“Since we had never tried it before, we set a goal of filling 15 boxes, but probably collected enough to fill 20 boxes.  We donated the extra supplies to the children's ministry at my church as they were also filling boxes. 

“As a team, we also collected enough money to cover the shipping and tracking for the boxes. One great aspect of a project like this is that we can bring this into the classroom and discuss where the boxes are going and what the situation is in that portion of the world.  Having a real world hand in making the lives of those less fortunate can be extremely impactful for middle school students. 

“After the team collected supplies, the service club stayed after school and filled the boxes.  Some of the students that helped out stated that ‘it was for a good cause and was a good thing to do’ and ‘It was fun to help out the community, even in other parts of the world.’ 

“Our next project is to collect money from our team to go shopping for our school's Angel Tree. We usually take them to Target and to the mall to have them pick out the items that are needed.  This is a pretty fun experience for me as a teacher because I get to interact with students while helping them understand what empathy is for those around us.” 

Carter Students Show Lambs at Dixie Classic Fair

By Claudette L. Goodwin
Agriculture Teacher
Carter High School

Carter High School has had another chance to participate in the Dixie Classic Fair Special Showmanship Lamb event. The Special Showmanship event started at the N.C. State Fair in 1997 because Mike Smith wanted to show alongside his nieces. They got to show and Mike wanted to show too, so a class was created where Mike could do just that.

In 2008, a Special Show was formally added to the Dixie Classic Fair. Forsyth County Farm Bureau provides funds to the N.C. Cooperative Extension Forsyth County Center to purchase prizes for every youth that participates. April Bowman, Livestock, Forages and 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent coordinates entries and ordering the prizes with the help of Alpha Graphics in Winston-Salem. The Dixie Classic Fair allows the Special Show exhibitors to enter the fair for free (including parking while space is available) and provides ribbons for the event. 

Young people that have entered their market lambs in the Dixie Classic Fair Market Lamb competition volunteer their time and their animal to work with the special show exhibitors. They introduce their lamb to the exhibitor and allow them to get to know each other before they parade the animal around the ring as a team. The market lamb show judge for the fair, also judges the special show.

The Lamb special showmanship event is open to any special needs person. This year there were 34 special exhibitors that entered the show, with the majority of them being Carter alumni and students. The students were all very proud of the drinking bottles and medals that they received.

Back in school it was show time, as the proudly showed what they had received and excitedly talked to other students about what they had done. 

Claudette Goodwin, Agricultural Education instructor for Carter High School, said, "I would just like to say thank you to all those behind the scene that made this event possible.  The students both past and present really look forward to attending and get real excited as the time grows near each year. It also provides them with some continuity as they transition from school into life after school in the community where they reside.  During the school year the students in Agriscience, Horticulture and 4-H are taught how to grow food.

“They experience the true art of citizenship through sharing the food they grow with others. During the school year food we grow is shared between all three schools on the Kennedy campus (Kennedy, Career Center, and our school Carter High School).

“During the summer we share what is grown with the local community, the Samaritan Ministries, and ARCA (Addiction Recovery Care Association). We are also privileged to have the Civitan Club sharing with us in our endeavor to support the community. Thank all of you for all you do." 

Enjoying the Wonders of Science at Jefferson Elementary

On Thursday night, it was Math, Science and Technology Night at Jefferson Elementary School.

To read the story, go to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Here are more pictures: