Celebrity Reader Day at Griffith Elementary

At Griffith Elementary on Tuesday, every class at the school had someone reading to the students at the same time.

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

Here are more pictures:

Semifinalists for Teacher of the Year

The eight semifinalists for Teacher of the Year have been announced.

You will find more information at Winston-Salem/Forsyth

Here are the pictures we have:

Joshua Present

Susan Darville-Zuk

Kathleen O'Connor

Amy Talley

Wendy Cheek

Cheryl Corts

Brandi Brown

Pamela Henderson-Kirkland

Student Art in March Issue of Forsyth Family

By fifth-graders at Morgan Elementary

By Chloe Trinh

In the March 2018 issue of Forsyth Family magazine, you will find art by Winston-Salem/Forsyth County students.

Vanessa Ruiz, fifth grade, Brunson Elementary. Cynthia Sanders, Art Teacher

Fifth-Grade Collaborative Mural, Morgan Elementary. Randy Raines, Art Teacher

Chloe Trinh, junior, Mount Tabor High. Barbara Trinh, Art Teacher

Abby Martin, senior, Walkertown High. Nina Street, Art Teacher 

by Vanessa Ruiz

by Abby Martin

Celebrating Black History at Diggs-Latham Elementary

By Amanda Gordon

NBCT Art Teacher & A+ Coordinator

Diggs-Latham Elementary School

Black History Month 2018 was a great time of learning and celebrating at Diggs-Latham Elementary A+ Magnet School for Arts Integration & Performing Arts.  Throughout the month, students and teachers dressed in Afrocentric Attire and the colors of Kwanzaa each Tuesday and learned important moments in Black History through daily quotes and announcements. On Wednesdays, students were invited to complete a Trivia Search to depend their understanding of famous African American people and events; the Trivia Search was a game with the chance to earn prizes. Hallways, bulletin boards and classroom doors were decorated with symbols and images related to the themes of Diversity and Unity. The faculty and staff even enjoyed a potluck, Soul Food Luncheon for the monthly hospitality meal.
 

On Tuesday, February 27 at 1:00pm in the afternoon, the student body, staff, teachers, parents, and visitors came together for a culminating event that focused on the Arts Magnet Program.  Mrs. Amanda Gordon, the Art Teacher and Arts Integration Coordinator who also served as the Black History Month Coordinator, opened the ceremony and introduced the Master of Ceremonies, Makelti Jackson-Thompson.  Makelti participated in the annual Black History Celebration for the first time in Pre-Kindergarten and has also been active in the Dance Honors Program over the years.  Mr. Leonard Rowe, UNCSA alumni and former NY Opera singer, led the student body in the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”  After the Master of Ceremonies gave a brief history of Black History Month and Carter G Woodson who originally started the event, 4^th & 5^th grade Band and Orchestra Honors students under the direction of Mr. Rick Sigler and Mrs. Lisa Morris, band and orchestra teachers, performed “This Little Light of Mine.”  Also during the celebration, Mrs. Amanda Nelson, dance teacher, directed 5^th grade Honors Dancers in an original piece to the song “Feeling Good” and the 5^th grade drumming circle, “Kushangaza,” (which means awesome in Swahili,) performed African drumming rhythms.  Zaree Fulwood, 4^th grader and Imari Brown, 1^st grader led Art Club in two Spoken Word pieces written by Mrs. Amanda Gordon.  The crowd joined in on the call and response poem reciting “We Are One Together.”  The ceremony concluded with the entire student body joining Mrs. Gordon in singing “Free at Last.”  Master of Ceremonies, Makelti Jackson-Thompson, also closed the ceremony encouraging everyone to come together despite our differences to work hard and change our world that unfortunately still has issues of prejudice and racism. 

The Keynote Speaker for our annual Black History Celebration was Ms. Aliza’ Diggs-Bailey.  Ms. Diggs-Bailey is the Executive Director of the Delta Fine Arts Center and has 25 years of corporate, small business, and non-profit expertise. She received the Hanes Innovation Award for the development and introduction of the Tagless Tee-Shirt.  She is a graduate of North Carolina State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Textiles & Apparel Management.  She spends her free time with her son Jaylen 19, a freshman at North Carolina State University and daughter Jayda 14, a freshman at East Forsyth High School.   Ms. Diggs-Bailey spoke to students about the artwork of Mr. John Biggers, a painter, muralist, sculptor and educator born in Gastonia, NC just outside of Charlotte.  She even brought 3 pieces of his work that belong to the Delta Fine Arts Center.  She shared aspects of Mr. Biggers life and struggles he had to overcome in order to be successful in his career.  She encouraged students not to let anything get in the way of their dreams.  “Dream big, paint your own picture of life and live life to the fullest,” she exclaimed as she ended her speech.

Black History Month at Diggs-Latham was exciting and inspiring.  It was a time showcasing our Arts Magnet Program through performances and shows.  Events, visitors, fact studies, trivia games, and more helped inform students of some difficult truths of slavery and struggles during the Civil Rights Movement in order to help them grow in unity to work together as a strong, connected student body.  Black History Month events merged aspects of traditional African culture as well as African American culture.  Writing, social studies, and the Arts were integrated.  Students as well as faculty and staff members ended the 2018 Black History Month with a renewed since of harmony and peace, reflecting on how far we have come toward true unity in this county as well as realizing how far we still need to go.

JROTC Programs Advance to Championship Rounds in Leadership Bowls

By Lt. Col. (retired) Willie McCoy

Director of Army Instruction

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Congratulations to the JROTC programs at Atkins, Mount Tabor and West Forsyth for advancing to the 2018 Army JROTC Academic and Leadership Bowls. 

Atkins cadets were one of 32 teams selected to compete in the Championship round of the Academic Bowl.

The competition began in November 2017 with 1,389 Teams and  will conclude in June 2018 with the Championship in Washington, DC.

Mount Tabor and West Forsyth were two of 40 teams selected to advance to the 2018 Leadership Bowl Championship. Their competition also began in November 2017 with 1,327 teams and will conclude in June 2018 in Washington, DC.

I have been here for 23 years, and this is the first time that three schools from this district have been selected to compete in the Championship round.

Again, congratulations and good luck to all of our teams.

Speas and Reagan Students Among Winners in State Aviation Art Contest

By Sarah Extrom, Reagan High School

Two students from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools were among the winners in the 2018 N.C. Aviation Contest sponsored by the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Rayne Williams, who goes to Speas Global Elementary, placed ninth in the state in the Intermediate Division.

Sarah Extrom, who goes to Reagan High School, placed seventh in the Senior Division.

The theme for this year’s contest was “Flight into the Future.” More than 1,200 young people from across the state submitted art.

You can see all of the winners at N.C. Department of Transportation.

By Rayne Williams, Speas Global Elementary

Read Across America Week at Easton Elementary

At Easton Elementary, they celebrated Read Across America throughout the week of Feb. 26 to March 2.

By Carlos Valencia

Teacher Easton Elementary

We had activities for every day of the week, including spirit week with colors and characters from Dr. Seuss books. We also had a door-decoration contest, bulletin board decoration, class tours around the school, and, of course, lots of reading in every classroom.

On Friday, March 2, we had our culminating event with about 30 guest readers visiting Easton to read with our students. Our Easton student ambassadors welcomed the readers and escorted them to their assigned classrooms.

Among the readers, we had Chief Catrina Thompson and Assistant Chief Wilson Weaver from the Winston-Salem Police Department. We also had Instructional Superintendents and other Central Office personnel from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, along with several retired professionals, the president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators president, active community members, and school partners.

This week was more than a celebration of reading: It was the best demonstration of the school-community partnership and the commitment of our Winston-Salem community with our school.  

Our students and staff enjoyed the week thoroughly, and our guests were delighted for the opportunity to show their support of public education by spending time with the students we serve.

A Career Fair at Lowrance Middle School

This comes to us from Bonnie Cristina, who teaches at Lowrance Middle School:

Lowrance Middle School recently held its second annual Career Fair.

The fair had more than a dozen presenters – most young adults with disabilities – who shared their stories with the students of Lowrance. They talked about their careers, volunteer activities, educational opportunities and hobbies. 

One presenter was 9-year-old with special needs whose family sells coffee products online, and all the employees have special needs. Their business is Cam's Coffee Creations. 

The objective of the day was to provide Lowrance students with a dynamic and tangible experience that facilitates a connection between their post-secondary pursuits – not only educational but recreational, vocational and personal.  

Presenters were asked to host a table and to participate in an informal meet-and-greet with middle school students, all who have moderate to severe disabilities.

Presenters were asked to have one or more of the following hands-on materials at their tables: video clips, presentation board with pictures, samples of art, employee uniforms, sports equipment, etc.

Lowrance students walked around and looked at the presentations and interacted with the speakers.  Voice output devices and symbol-based questions were available at each table so that even our nonverbal students could interact and ask questions.

Spring Art Extravaganza at Milton Rhodes

The school system's Spring Art Extravaganza is on display at Milton Rhodes.

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

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