JCS Academic Calendar Dates *October 30—Early Release Day for staff development *October 31—Student Vacation Day/Teacher Workday *November 8—Report Cards Go Home *November 12—Holiday (Veterans’ Day) *November 21, 22, 23—Thanksgiving Holidays Cleveland Middle School, Here’s Some News for You! By: Ilana Green (New) On Thursday, October 17, 2007 at 1:45 p.m., I was scheduled to be in social studies with Mr. Morehead. Instead I was at Raleigh Durham Airport having a little talk with Colin Powell. Yes, I met Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bush! General Powell was in Raleigh speaking at the RBC Center. In his speech he explained that his parents were immigrants from Jamaica, and he grew up very poor. He grew up in South Bronx area of New York City. General Powell said that he did not know what he wanted to be when he was in high school, but he chose to attend college. He enrolled at the City College of The City University of New York. There he joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program. He joined because he thought he would be good at it; and he was! He was an average student making mostly “Cs” in college but, when he graduated, he was at the top of his ROTC class. General Powell told us about his new program he and his wife, Alma, started. It is called America’s Promise; it is a program which helps less fortunate children succeed in life. It was because of this program I was able to meet him. This program sends several children to a 4-H camp called Camp Challenge every summer. These children are usually those who cannot afford to attend camp without assistance. General Powell’s America’s Promise Program pays for them to attend. I am a part of the Raleigh Rangers 4-H Club, and I have had the opportunity to attend Camp Challenge. General Powell encouraged us to work hard no matter where you come from. He told us to find what we are good at, and then strive for perfection. After General Powell spoke to us, we were able ask questions. I was one of the lucky children who asked a question. I asked about the creation of a Palestine state (to bring about peace in the Middle East). I was encouraged to ask this question by my 4-H leaders. The question I really wanted to ask was if he could have dinner with me and my family. Unfortunately, I did not get to ask him that question this time. I did however, send him a thank you letter and that is when I asked if he would be able to take me up on this offer next time he is in town. I will keep you updated! For more information, please contact Cleveland Middle School at 919.553.7500 Also at Cleveland Middle School, Hispanic Heritage Month (New) Cleveland Middle School celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing a bit of culture with our community. Many of our teachers and students brought in items of various cultures of the Hispanic world. They were displayed in the media center throughout the month. There were textiles, instruments, hats, baskets, small pieces of furniture, handheld fans, recipes, and an assortment of decorations. Many of the items from Guatemala were provided by Mark Cooper, while many of the Mexican pieces were provided by Dorothy Eubanks and Lisa Graham. We also learned Spanish words of the day via the morning announcements. In addition, Hispanic recipes were made available in the library for anyone interested in trying their hand at a new dish. SYATP ’07 (See You at the Pole)(New) On September, 26, students at Cleveland Middle School began their day at the flagpole, before the school bell rang. Many of them met at the flag pole to gather, unite, and pray for their school, friends, family, and country. Veteran’s Day at Cleveland Middle School (New) On November 9, Cleveland Middle School will hold a Veteran’s Day Assembly in honor of area veterans. At the assembly, Major John A. Wolf, Jr. will present a United States Flag that he flew over Iraq in honor of Cleveland Middle School, along with a Certificate of Appreciation signed by his Colonel. Major Wolf is doing this in recognition of our Rambassadors’ project that supplied essential personal items to his company last year. Area veterans are invited this very special assembly in the gym at 1 p.m. Bullying Prevention at Cleveland Middle School (New) At Cleveland Middle School, we take bullying very seriously. There are several initiatives used each and every day that help us ensure that students are able to attend school in a safe and orderly environment. One of those initiatives is our three times to tell policy. Students are required to report to an adult any time that one or more of the following three conditions are present: 1. when someone says they want to harm themselves, 2. when someone says they are going to harm someone else, and 3. when someone is doing something to them and they feel like they are going to react or retaliate. By reporting these situations, students ensure that adults can handle circumstances that might otherwise get someone into trouble. It also lets the adults in our school know when something is brewing before trouble begins. There are several activities planned for this school year that promote a safe and orderly school environment. Students will view videos and participate in follow-up activities that teach them how to handle bullies and improve character. The PTO is working with the Guidance Department to secure additional resources and guest speakers are being scheduled. Please help us help your child stop bullies by encouraging them to adhere to the Three Times to Tell Policy. Some strategies that are helpful in dealing with bullies are to: 1. ignore the bully: he/she is bullying to gain power or attention so don’t give it, walk away; 2. make a joke: don’t let the bully know that you are intimidated; 3. keep track of events, times, places, and dates that bullying takes place: write them down and give them to an adult; 4. tell a friend: it is tougher to pick on someone who is not alone; and, 5. don’t fight back: that is what bullies want, and it is hard to bully someone who doesn’t seem to care. By using these strategies, students disarm the bully and help create a more positive learning environment for our school. For more information about this and other programs, please contact Cleveland Middle School at 919.553.7500 Meadow School Teacher Receives Grant (New) Donna Price, sixth- and seventh-grade science teacher at Meadow School, recently received a grant from Bright Ideas given by South River Electric Membership Corporation in the amount of $615.40. The grant is titled, “Weathering IT Out.” Ms. Price will be using this grant to teach about weather in her classes. For more information, please contact Donna Price at 919.894.4226 Also at Meadow School, Principal says “Thank You” (New) Mr. Rodney Peterson, new principal at Meadow School, served lunch to the entire staff on Friday, October 19 in the school cafeteria. Each teacher paid for a vegetable tray and Mr. Peterson provided the meat. This was to celebrate the beginning of the school year and to say “Thank You” for a job well done. For more information, please contact Janet Pope at 919.894.4226 Care Bear Musical at McGee’s Crossroads Elementary (New) McGee's Crossroads Elementary School is featuring students in first and second grades for an evening of entertainment on Friday, November 2, beginning at 7:15 p.m. in the cafeteria. The students are featured as bears, chorus members, bees, and winter wind, narrators and other characters. The Art Department headed by Ms. Tammy McLean assisted with the scenery and the parents assisted with the costumes. The creation and the development of the musical was under the direction of Ms. Debra Rutt, music teacher at the school. For more information, please call Debra Rutt at 919.894.7161. Riverwood Elementary Participating in Red Ribbon Week (New) This week, Riverwood Elementary students participated in Red Ribbon Week. Classes made posters and wore red to pledge to stay drug free. Second graders in Miss. Pittman's class had a DEA officer come to speak for Red Ribbon Week; they are writing reports on the presentation. Riverwood Elementary entered the Technology Showcase this week as well with a 2nd and 5th grade project. The Fun Run that was scheduled for Friday has been rescheduled due to the rain. For more information, please call Mary Pittman at 919.359.6300. Service Project at Riverwood Middle School (New) Riverwood Middle School is collecting 6 million pennies for the Holocaust Museum. The pennies will represent the number of Jewish people and others who were killed in the concentration camps during WWII. All monies will be donated to the museum. This will be an ongoing service project until all pennies are collected. For more information, please call Jean Tapley at 919.359.2769. West Johnston High School Students Selected for Honors Chorus (New) Three members of the Senior Class at West Johnston High School have been selected to participate in the North Carolina Honors Chorus, a 150-member choir selected from more than 1500 of the best singers in the state. Ashley Alexander, Zackery Morris, and Matthew Tucker, all members of the WJHS Honors Vocal Ensemble, will attend this "weekend of music" in Winston-Salem which will culminate in a performance for the opening of the NC Music Educators' Annual Conference. The performance will be held at the Steven's Center in downtown Winston-Salem at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, November 11. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, please call Sarah Phelps or Jennifer Swartz at 919.934.7333. Small Business Entrepreneurship “Apprentice” Activity (New) In September, the Smithfield-Selma High School Small Business Entrepreneurship Class began the year watching the reality television show “The Apprentice” and having their own competitions based on course-directed business practices. “The Apprentice” provides a good look at business concepts for the students including marketing, teamwork, leadership, business ethics, communication, and entrepreneurial experiences. Students can learn lessons from other’s experiences and just as importantly, they can learn things not to do. Throughout the semester, student teams perform various tasks in which they break into groups, plan their own strategies and then put their ideas into practice. Following each exercise the class discusses the activities of the event. While there is a winning and a losing team, students are not “fired” as they are on the show; instead they just take a hit on their win-loss record. They can recover with new leaders and get another shot at winning on a subsequent project. At the end of the semester those with the most points will receive a prize. The first exercise revolved around the selling of Smithfield-Selma High School t-shirts. Students were split into two teams with the goal to sell as many t-shirts to their fellow students and teachers as they could for one day. Two captains were selected and when teams were picked, it turned out to be men vs. women, with senior Brett Embler leading the gentlemen and senior Tabitha Anderson leading the women. Each team then selected a day to perform and put their plans into action. The teams sold their merchandise before school, during lunch and after school. Both teams did very well selling during the lunch periods, with the women slightly out-selling the men. “Location, location, location” was the key to the activity as the women chose to sell outside of the gym before and after school and the men elected to sell outside of the media center. As it turned out, the men chose the better location, outselling the women 3:1 in sales before and after school leaving the men with a narrow victory. Winning members were: Linderick Auber, Darrell Bridges, Adam Charity, Chris Driver, Brett Embler, Ricardo Flores, Mario Gonzalez, Edgar Guerrero, David Price and Cliff Sharpe. The two teams combined to sell over $1300 in SSS t-shirts, all of which went to the SSS Booster Club. The student body was provided with an opportunity to show their school spirit and the two teams of business students had fun and learned valuable business lessons in teamwork, marketing, communication, and leadership. For more information, please call Bud Hanley at 919.934.5191. Also at Smithfield-Selma High School, Smithfield-Selma Marching Spartan Regiment Hard Work Pays Off (New) On Friday, October 19, 2007, the Smithfield-Selma Spartan Marching Regiment set out with three tour buses and two equipment trailers to the Regional Bands of America Competition at Towson University in Towson, Maryland, where they placed third in their class. Many supporters traveled with this talented troupe in anticipation of competing against bands from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey, and as far away as Utah. Because the Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University is an artificial turf field and many of the SSS Spartan Regiment freshmen had never marched on artificial turf, a preliminary stop was in order. After leaving Smithfield-Selma High School Friday morning, the band and their entourage traveled to Herndon, Virginia to practice on an artificial turf field used by the Washington Redskins during their pre-season practices. Throughout the day the band was soaked when rainstorms passed through, but they didn’t “miss a beat” while practicing. These high school students showed great professionalism all weekend when faced with certain unforeseen obstacles like an unexpected rain shower. On Saturday morning the SSS Spartan Regiment competed in Class 2A along side 14 other bands in their division. Their field show entitled “360 degrees” has already won them several awards in North Carolina. This spectacular field show was a genuine crowd pleaser in Maryland as well. For more information, please call 919.934.5191. West Johnston to Host Cultural Fair West Johnston High School freshmen will hold a Cultural Fair on November 8. They will present and perform their work for parents, students, staff and community members. For more information, please call Chad M. Jewett, Assistant Principal, at 919.934.7333. Also at West Johnston, West Johnston High School students Caitlin Hunnicutt, Katie Stover, and Meredith Tart received a "Gold Star" in Wednesday's News & Observer (October 24, 2007) for their SkillsUSA community service project last year. The girls collected 240,000 can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Durham, enough to pay for lodging costs for 960 family overnight stays. Their goal this year is 2.4 million tabs, enough for a full house for 365 days. For more information, please call Jennifer Swartz, NBCT, Lead Teacher, at 919.934.7333 or visit the following link: http://johnstoncounty.nc.schoolwebpages.com West Johnston High School Scholarship BBQ Dinner A scholarship BBQ Dinner will be held at West Johnston High School on Friday, November 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Plates are $7, eat-in or take out. BBQ & fixings will be provided by White Swan. Proceeds will provide scholarships to WJHS students. You may pre-pay for your tickets or buy them at the door from any WJHS PTSA, Wildcat Club or Band Parent Association board member. This event is co-sponsored by the WJHS PTSA, The Wildcat Club and the West Johnston Band Parents Association. For more information, please call Beth Pickens at 919.697.5663. River Dell’s Pumpkin Math Third grade students at River Dell Elementary School participated in a "Pumpkin Math" celebration on Friday. Students measured and weighed pumpkins. They took out the seeds and estimated and counted the number. They also decorated their pumpkins and parents carved them. For more information, please call River Dell 919.553.1977. Student Art Exhibit for the Johnston Memorial Hospital Pediatrics Unit An Art Exhibit featuring the work of Princeton School students will be on display from October 1 – November 30 in the Johnston Memorial Hospital Pediatrics Unit. Since its inception in 1996, this bi-monthly exhibit has provided local students a venue to display their work publicly, while offering patients, parents, hospital staff, and visitors the opportunity to experience the healing power of art. Each art show spotlights a different Johnston County School and is displayed on a two-month exhibition cycle. For more information, please call 919.553.1930. Vikings Against Hunger Selma Middle School, in conjunction with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, is sponsoring the 2007 Students Against Hunger Food Drive. Beginning October 1 through November 30, 2007, Selma Middle School will be collecting nonperishable items such as canned meals, peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, paper products, hygiene items, infant products and nutrition drinks in an attempt to fight the war on hunger. Selma Middle School’s 2007-08 theme is T.E.A.M: Together Everyone Achieves More. The school is once again looking to the community to help eradicate this epidemic that is all too familiar for families of Central and Eastern North Carolina. This is Selma Middle School’s first “Vikings Against Hunger” crusade with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Close to 20,000 individuals are living at or below the poverty level in Johnston County. Out of those 20,000 individuals, nearly 7,000 are children. The students, faculty and staff at Selma Middle School deem it necessary to be active participants in the fight against hunger due to these alarming statistics and are calling on our community and surrounding communities for assistance. All donations can be sent to/dropped off at Selma Middle School Attn: Vikings Against Hunger, 1533 North US 301 HWY, Selma, NC 27576. Please include a donor’s name so an expression of gratitude can be shown to the individuals and/or companies that contributed to VIKINGS AGAINST HUNGER. For more information, please call Katey Rowley or Amee Smith at 919.965.2555. Exploration Day at South Smithfield Elementary School South Smithfield Elementary will host its 3rd annual "Exploration Day" on Friday, November 2. The events will last from 8:45 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and will include: Langley Space Center and astronaut Donner Grigsby, Museum of Life and Science and live animal presentations, and Hightouch/Hightech science group will present hands-on science lessons. South Smithfield Elementary will also offer the Starlab with astronomy lessons and a colonial group will make home made butter and peanut butter with the students. For more information, please call Kathy Hamilton at 919.934.8979. Yard Sale Fundraiser at Princeton High School Princeton High School will be having a Yard Sale Fundraiser on November 3. It will begin at 8 a.m. and last until. Donations are being accepted. Proceeds will go to Relay for Life, Princeton Public Library and a Princeton Parent with medical issues. For more information, please call Gwendolyn Kea at 919.936.5011. Second Annual Holiday Bazaar at West View Elementary School West View Elementary School will be hosting "Hootie's Second Annual Holiday Bazaar" on Saturday, November 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Santa will be on site for pictures, craft vendors for Christmas shopping, and students can enjoy shopping at "The Owl's Nest Gift Shop". For more information, please call Nancy Parker, Assistant Principal, at West View Elementary at 919.661.6184. 2007-2008 Upcoming Band Performances at Clayton Middle December 8, 2007 Clayton Christmas Parade (7th and 8th grades) December 18, 2007 Winter Band Concert (all grades) April 12, 2008 Busch Gardens Band Festival (8th grade only) May 13, 2008 Spring Band Concert (all grades) For more information, please call Clayton Middle at 919.553.5811. Artists-in-the-School Programs for the Month of October and November October 1st marks the beginning of the ninth year of the Artists-in-the-Schools program. Since its inception in 1999, Artists-in-the-Schools has raised over $900,000 to fund over 900 cultural events in the Johnston County Schools. Building on the success of the previous seven years, Johnston County Schools will play host to over 50 different artists for more than 150 cultural programs in the 2007-08 school year. This vital program has become an integral part of the Johnston County Schools and reaches over 30,000 students at all 37 Johnston County Schools, K-12. Anyone interested in observing any performances should call the school to request permission and confirm the date and time of the performance. The Artists-in-the-Schools Program is supported by the Fred Smith Company, the Johnston County Arts Council, Johnston County Schools and corporate, foundation and individual donors.
