Konnoak and Philo-Hill Welcome the Year of the Rooster

On Thursday night, students, families and staff members at Konnoak Elementary and Philo-Hill Magnet Academy celebrated Chinese New Year.

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

Here are more pictures:

System-Wide Secondary Science Fair

On Friday, the district science fair for middle and high school students was held.

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

Here are more pictures:

Hanes Team Wins State Future City Competition

On Jan. 21, a team from Hanes Magnet School competed in and won the state championship in the Future City Engineering Competition.

The team’s teacher is John Boyd. The team mentor is Rajesh Kapileshwari. The members of “Team Aleppo” are Simran Vadgama, Vidhi Patel, Arya Vinod, Kiran Kapelishwari, May Cheron and Jake Prince.

Kapileshwari reported that the team won $1,300 in cash prizes – $1,000 for winning the state championship, $150 for the Best Research Essay, and $150 for People’s choice award for the City Model built to scale. Three team members, along with Boyd and Kapileshwari, have been invited to compete Feb. 18-21in the finals in Washington. The organizers will pay for the flights and hotel rooms for the five. 

Kapileshwari ‘s older son, Rohan, who also competed for three years while he was at Hanes Magnet, wrote a news brief. Here is an excerpt: 

Sickness, hunger, poverty. Climate change, conflict, and inequality. These are the problems that students from Hanes Magnet School engineered solutions to by implementing public spaces into a city. These solutions, ranging from the simple to the complex, took into account many factors of the city that they were designed to address: culture, citizen identity, history, and many more, eventually leading to a hopeful view of a futuristic city that could be free of the issues that plague us today.

Here is what a release from Future City had to say:

The Future City Competition is a project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future. Keeping the engineering design process and project management front and center, students are asked to address an authentic, real-world question: How can we make the world a better place?

Public spaces have the capacity to revitalize a city’s economy by introducing new businesses and bringing in new visitors. They can also help reduce crime, ease traffic congestion, improve pedestrian safety, promote healthy living, improve the environment, and enhance civic engagement. A recent study by the UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Observatories Unit found that cities that devoted about 50% of their space to public use tended to be more prosperous and have a higher quality of life.

Since returning to school earlier this fall, 31 student teams across North Carolina have been hard at work on their Future City projects. Altogether, more than 40,000 middle school students from 1,350 schools around the country are engaged in similar competitions.

Working in a team with an educator and engineer mentor, students are challenged to design a virtual city using SimCity software. They research today’s public spaces and write a city essay about their solutions and city design. Students then bring their ideas to life by building a tabletop scale model of their city using recycled materials on a budget of $100 or less and give a brief presentation about their city.

Major funding for the Finals comes from Bechtel Corporation, Bentley Systems, Shell Oil Company and DiscoverE.

To learn more, visit www.futurecity.org

Wake Forest Students Visit with Eighth-Grade Boys at Mineral Springs Middle

Mineral Springs Middle School's first meeting of the Phi Delta Fraternity was held in the media center this morning! Wake Forest University Professor, Adam Dovico, founded this group for eighth grade boys to discuss personal, professional and social topics.

Collaborating with Mineral Springs Middle School Family Engagement Coordinator, Mr. James Carter, the group will meet once a month featuring guests from both Wake Forest University and the Winston- Salem community.

Phi Delta Fraternity hosted members of the Wake Forest University Baseball and Tennis Teams this morning. The Mineral Springs students received a tie and white dress shirt to wear on meeting days. The students then practiced professional handshakes and greetings, and the college students demonstrated how to tie a classic Half Windsor Knot. 

The Phi Delta Fraternity is a great opportunity for middle school students to begin to interact with students and faculty of higher education. 

Wake Forest Student Teachers in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

On Friday, Jan. 20, the Department of Education at Wake Forest University held a ceremony for its students teachers in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools during the spring semester.

Matt Dixson, the school system's Chief Operating Officer for Human Resources, and Leslie Baldwin, the school system’s World Languages Program Manager, were on hand. 

The Wake Forest student teachers are:

Front Row (Left to Right)

Simon Mercado, Social Studies, West Forsyth High School

Meredith Hall, Mathematics, East Forsyth High School

Amanda MacCormac, Spanish, East Forsyth Middle School and Reynolds High School

Elizabeth Ottenjohn, Spanish, East Forsyth Middle School and Reagan High School

Michelle Allen, Spanish, Hanes Magnet School and Reynolds High School

Back Row (Left to Right)

Lee Miller, Social Studies, Reagan High School

Ethan Cagle, English, Mount Tabor High School

Laura Parsons, Social Studies, North Forsyth High School

Harry McNeil, Social Studies, Mount Tabor High School

New Mentoring Program at Cook Literacy Model School

In the Winston-Salem Journal, reporter Arika Herron writes about a new mentor program at Cook Literacy Model School. Here is an excerpt:

When 8-year-old Alexis Bowman caught sight of Juanita Flemming, the second-grader at Cook Literacy Model School ran into Flemming’s waiting arms.

They just met about six weeks ago, matched through Cook’s new partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters, but Flemming said she and her “little sister” are already developing a close bond. For an hour every other week, Flemming meets with Alexis at the school. Sometimes they eat lunch together and read; other times, Flemming sits in class with Alexis and helps her with her work.

Alexis said she has fun reading with her “big sister” and likes it when she comes to class.

“It’s special,” Alexis said. “We’re doing fun things together.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of many new initiatives at Cook this year, in its first year of a whole-school restart plan aimed to take the school from lowest-performing in the state to a place of growth and higher achievement. While planning for her school over the summer, Principal Paula Wilkins set a goal to find mentors for each of her students.

“Research shows that connectedness is the key,” Wilkins said.

You will find the rest of the story at Winston-Salem Journal

Countdown to Kindergarten

On Saturday, families with a child starting kindergarten were invited to come to the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem to learn more.

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

Here are more pictures:

Color Run at Hanes Magnet

On Friday, more than 150 students at Hanes Magnet School ran to raise money for those in need.

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

Here are more pictures: