Every Penny Counts at Cooper Every penny counts when preparing for college. Cooper students have the opportunity to receive a $500 scholarship upon graduating from a Johnston County public high school to go towards college tuition. The Cooper Elementary Parent Advisory Council hosted "College Night" on Friday, April 28, for parents and students to help get everyone thinking about what it takes to go college. The council believes you can never start talking about college too early. Various college pennants and pom poms were hung around the stage to create a pep rally atmosphere. To get all the students (staff and parents, too) involved, the council pitted girls against boys in its first-ever week long "Penny Wars" to help raise money for the scholarship fund. Two jars labeled "Boys" and "Girls" were placed in the lobby for students to fill with pennies. Everyone enjoyed watching the jars daily to see who had more pennies...girls or boys. In the end, the boys won by collecting $453.64. The total amount collected was $899.84. All the money raised will go to the Cooper Scholarship Fund. (Photo Attached.) Pictured with the jars from left to right: Marco Herrera, Juan Gonzales, Laurenza Blim, Selena Hendry, Michelle Reyna, Nautica Christian, and Rosie Santos. For more information, please call Julie Jailall, Principal, at 919.553.0256. JCS Students Participate in State Envirothon Three teams from Johnston County participated in the NC State Envirothon Competition on April 28-29, 2006, at Cedarock Park in Alamance County. Two middle school teams from McGee's Crossroads Middle School, the Laughing Leeches and the Pink Panthers, participated in the middle school competition with the Laughing Leeches placing third and the Pink Panthers placing 16 out of 54 teams. The participating high school team from West Johnston High School, the Loraxes, placed thirteenth out of 49 teams. The Envirothon is a two-day event with training on Friday afternoon and the competition on Saturday morning. Team members for the Laughing Leeches include: Kersten Brown, Kayla Wise, Stephanie Tolar, Casey Burns, Frankie Johnson, Camille Brown and Thomas Lineberger. Team Members for the Pink Panthers are Travis Burns, Cody Thompson, Nicole Clemmons, William Higgins, Nick Wert, Allie Jarrett, and Alex Long. The advisor for both teams is Melody Lineberger. The high school team members of The Loraxes include: Erin Lineberger, Kim Yunk, Ethan Lineberger, Lewis Braswell and Taylor Creech. Their advisors are Heather Earp and Melody Lineberger. The Envirothon is a hands-on environmental education program for teams of both high school and middle school students. These students study soils, forest resources, aquatic resources, wildlife and current environmental issues during the entire school year. They go on field trips, hear presentations given by resource speakers, and study the Envirothon resource materials with their advisor. Before arriving at the state competition, Envirothon participants and their advisors have already placed among the top seven teams at an area competition. Some have already competed in local competitions before going to the area competition. For more information, please call Steve Bennett, Envirothon Coordinator, at 919.571.4700. Motivational Speaker coming to Selma Elementary School Selma Elementary will host motivational speaker Michael Walden on Thursday, May 18. He believes "Attitude is Everything!" He speaks to over 10,000 students and 50,000 parents and staff each year. His high energy presentations are life changing. He will be the speaker at the EOG Pep Rally for the 3rd and 4th graders at 2 p.m. He will also present at 5:30 p.m. during "Feed the Faculty", where he will give a motivational talk to the staff. Last, but not least, he will be the guest speaker at the PTA meeting at Selma Elementary at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. His topic is "Who's the Parent?" For more information, please call Angela Piper at 919.965.6373. Glendale Kenly Elementary School held fourth annual Field Learning Day Glendale Kenly Elementary School held its fourth annual Field Learning Day on April 13 with 28 presenters conducting nine 25-minute presentations each on a variety of subjects/activities for the K-5 students. The Field Learning Day was started after the Athletic Field Day was discontinued. Listed below are several of the presenters: Grades K-2 Wilson Co. Fire Dept. Farm animals Horses Horse & Buggy rides with Al Boykin Gurganus reptiles Johnston Co. Sheriff's Dept/ 1/2 day Dental Hygiene -Eleanor Wrenn Tobacco Farm Life Museum Johnston County Animal Control w/Ernie Wilkinson Nixaliz Rose - Hispanic culture with Hispanic students and families Storytelling Chalk drawing in the parking lot Clemmons State Forest Science experiments with Jesse Woodard NC Wildlife Grades 3-5 Lynn Sanders with the NC prison system NC Science Museum reptiles - Kim Smart Yoga w/ Martha Katz Kenly Police with Kilo the drug dog Japan Center at NCSU (Tony Moyer) Dept. of Defense speaker LTC Peter Wood Historical Society of Kenly Aycock Birthplace Museum Indian artifacts with Mr. Robert Langley Fred Grady and Grady Edwards- painting Cummins Diesel Aycock Auto Auction Being a Responsible Pet Owner - Cindy Jones For more information, please call Ann Weaver, Visual Arts Instructor, at 919.284.5087 Smithfield-Selma High School student serves as Governor's Page During Spring Break, Quenna Harris, a freshman at Smithfield-Selma High School, volunteered as a Governor's Page. During the week, Quenna assisted in delivering mail to departments throughout the offices. Quenna toured several other buildings such as the Museum of History and Natural Sciences, the Women's Prison and the Legislative Building. She also volunteered with Urban Ministries and the Soup Kitchen. On one day, Quenna volunteered in the childcare facility taking care of children ranging in age from 6 months to two years old. Quenna truly enjoyed the learning and serving experience and looks forward to serving as a Senate Page in the future. (Photo attached.) For more information, please call Michael Taylor, Assistant Principal, at 919.934.5191. Johnston County School Nurses provide training to other counties Johnston County School nurses will be training school nurses in Warren County on June 2 using training, procedural, and administrative manuals developed and produced by Nurse Coordinator Jean Tripp. The group has already conducted training in Pender County. Tripp's manuals have been sought-after and utilized throughout the state. For more information, please call Jean Tripp, Coordinator of Nurses, at 919.934.9810, extension 287. Making Tracks at Glendale-Kenly Elementary Glendale Kenly Elementary students began a walking program on the first day of school. They walk the bus parking lot or the gym in order to reach 100 miles by the end of the school year. The walking areas have been calculated so each teacher knows how many laps it takes to equal a mile. Twelve sponsors donated $200 each to the program so that T-shirts could be awarded to students walking 100 miles and shoestrings could be provided for those reaching 75 miles. Sixteen classes participated in the activity. A program will take place at 2 p.m. on June 2 to award the T-shirts. For more information, please contact Becky Jones at 919.284.2821. Mothers are special at Cooper Elementary School Cooper Elementary 1st grade teacher Meredith Clawson celebrated Mother's Day with her students by hosting a Mother's Day Tea on May 12th. All Moms were invited to share in a special reading of "I Love You Forever" and then they were treated to pink lemonade, strawberries dipped in chocolate, and tea cookies. (Photos attached.) MVC-003-from left to right-Tammy and Alyssa Stogner, Patsy Eakes (TA), and Meredith Clawson (Teacher). MVC-005-from left to right-Jen and Natalie Davison, Christy and Cayli Sutton, Suzan and Roman Fontaine, Amy and Pamela Turnbaugh. For more information, please call Meredith Clawson at 919.553.0256. South Smithfield To Host National Author Jan Brett, one of the nation's foremost children's book authors and illustrators, will visit South Smithfield Elementary School next Spring. The students and staff earned the visit, which is granted to just one school every year, through an on-line contest that involved answering questions about her books. The school was selected from a pool of 5,500 entries. The visit will take place after her promotional tour for her new book Hedgie Blasts Off. She will conduct a session for K-2 students and one for 3-5 students. She will also autograph books for students and faculty. The school has entered the contest for the past four years, as Brett is a favorite author of many of the students and faculty at South Smithfield. "We look forward to hosting her visit and giving our students the opportunity to meet an author/illustrator," said Mary Aker, Media Coordinator. For more information, please call Mary Aker, Media Coordinator, at 919.934.8979. West Johnston Salutes Its Seniors West Johnston High School will host its annual Senior Scholarship Awards Night on Wednesday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the school's auditorium. Scholarship sponsors from the community will be present to award local scholarships to deserving WJHS seniors. Honor graduates and North Carolina Scholars will also be recognized for their accomplishments. Students, parents, and community members are invited to attend. For more information, please call Wendy Gupton at 919.934.7333.
