A Publication by Columbus County Schools Vol. 1 Ed. 3

ECHS Arts and PE Students Teach at ADES

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Sometimes, students lear n best from oth-er students, and when older students are able to share their knowl-edge with younger stu-dents, everyone benefits. The arts education and physical education departments at East Co-lumbus High School have a tradition of developing students that can excel in their respective ar-eas but both departments were looking for a way to deepen the experience. “Students need the op-portunity to share what they have learned. It deepens the experience,” says physical education teacher Lindsey Gaines. The arts education de-partment recognized the need as well. “It is crucial

that students get as much exposure as possible to the arts at a young age because it lays the foun-dation for not only learn-ing the arts in the future but also for developing critical thinking skills,” says ECHS dance teacher Amanda McCullum. After extensive discussion, the two departments decided that exposing elemen-tary students to arts and physical education classes would be of benefit not only to the elementary students, but the high school students as well. Principal Janet Hed-rick fully embraced the idea, and each student at ADES was able to take classes in dance, physical education, or music as taught by teachers and

students from East Co-lumbus High School.

“This has been a great experience for me and my students,” says ECHS teacher Jamie Faulk. “What we all need to re-member is that the bulk of learning in one’s life takes place by fifth grade. It is crucial that students have quality experiences in the arts at this forma-tive time.”

Principal Intern Ra-chel Smith remarked, “It was wonderful having the visiting high school students as role models for the younger kids.”

Students and teachers from ECHS plan to return to ADES in the next sev-eral weeks.

ECHS arts and physical education students held classes at ADES.

Chadbourn Middle has “True Grits”As the close of harvest

season came, Jimmy Bart-ley (Chadbour n Middle Careers Teacher) yielded some outstanding, hands-on lesson ideas. He discussed agricultural career options with students and taught the origins of some foods they eat. Then after col-laborating with Chadbourn Middle’s eighth-grade social studies and language arts teacher, Ms. Carol Blake, a lesson integrating social studies and careers was de-veloped. Ms. Blake’s social studies class learned some key agricultural concepts in North Carolina during both colonial and modern times. While at the same time, Mr. Bartley made prepa-rations to demonstrate to

students and allow them to participate in the pro-cess of breaking down corn into a finished, ready-to-eat product by using an antique corn sheller and grist mill. “Students were amazed at this process, as was I! These kinds of hands-on, life lessons not found in a book have immeasurable

valuable,” commented Ms. Blake. Khaliff Shabazz shared, “I enjoyed stripping the corn off of the cob and grinding it into bitts the old-

fashioned way.” Jasmine Davis enjoyed the experi-ence and said, “This was hard work, but it was really fun! I’m glad I don’t have to work that hard to eat!” Finally, this quote given by Alexis Burchette summed up all of our thoughts when she said, “It was interest-ing to learn how they used

their own hand-operated machines to do the work. If we had to make grits this way, we’d be in trouble!” CMS Students grinding corn as part of a social studies unit.

“It was interesting to learn how they used their own hand-operated machines to do the work.” - Alexis Burchette, CMS Student

TCES students practicing their choreography.

TCES Students Perform Concert

The first graders at Tabor City Elementary School were recently having a blast practicing

for their school Christ-mas concert. This con-cert is purposed to en-hance the spirit of the

holiday season as well as provide a resource that fosters community involvement. Each grade

chose a Christmas song to present in front of par-ents, family members, staff, and peers. First grade chose “Joy to the World” as their selection followed by “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which will be sung in chorus with the remain-der of the school at the closing of the concert.

After the first few practices, it was almost impossible for any of us to believe that we were only practicing. The kids were literally begging to practice everyday! One of our children stated, “This song is perfect for our class because we have so much joy to share.” All of the first grade teachers experi-enced parents inquiring of the concert details. The lyrics were sent home and the parents help the students prepare for the big performance

in addition to the prac-tice received at school.

Preparing for this event has been such a joy to say the least. We had a parent who arrived before school dismissal to pick up her child and she asked, “What is all the singing about?” We explained, invited her to join us, and to attend the concert on December 18th. She appeared to have had the best time and of course the chil-dren performed even harder in her presence.

Not only has learn-ing the songs opened up discussion about holi-day traditions but it has also extended seasonal avenues to encourage learning that compli-ments our Common Core Standards curriculum by introducing new vocabu-lary. It has reinforced our first grade reading comprehension skills

and strategies. There’s nothing more rewarding than working smart op-posed to working hard by embracing every oppor-tunity to make learning fun in an array of ways such as teaching the arts.

At Tabor City Elemen-tary School we embrace every opportunity to in-troduce our students to strategies and opportuni-ties that produce respon-sible and productive citi-zens that can function in this 21st century global society.

Scan (or click) this QR code to watch the concert:

Page 2 – Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts

Wildcat Country was (and always is) full of characters, but recently those characters came alive!

Wi l d c a t C o u n t r y, known to most as Ever-green Elementary, has be-come a place where learn-ing is not only fun, it’s contagious. Recently our Pre-Kindergarten class participated in “Charac-ter Story Time” held at the Smart Start Center located in Whiteville. The students were selected to receive the Raising A Reader grant which allows students to have access to books at home on a daily basis. They are given book bags packed with everyone’s favorite chil-dren’s books. This made this very easy for them to prepare and decide who they wanted to be for this adventure.

We had such a wide array of characters for the visit, including our teachers and assistants.

Batman and Spider-Man were on the scene to be role models for the other children as they went about their activities. Other characters such as Barbie, Ariel - the Little Mermaid, the Little Prin-cess, and of course, Old Mother Hubbard showed up too. Landon Mason, one of the undercover Spider-Man characters said, “It was fun. I liked playing and coloring.”

While at the ELF (Early Learning Facility), Mrs. LaTonya Brown, director at the center, read them a story and discussed the story emphasizing book and print awareness skills. These activities gave them an opportunity to communicate with their peers and students from the community. They were then given pumpkin sheets to color and the materials to make work-ing models to take home with them. With the help of the adults at the cen-

ter, including their teach-ers, Mrs. Judy Bullard, Mrs. Faith Gainey and Mrs. Francis Williams, students learned how to use crayons, scissors, and glue to complete their take home projects. Mrs. Bullard stated, “This was a wonderful learning ex-perience and fun activities for everyone who attended and is looking forward to returning.” The class has already started planning for another visit before the end of the school year.

No trip is complete without the receiving of treats and this trip was no exception. The ELF center furnished a piñata for the children to enjoy. The children gathered around in a circle and then all pulled the strings that were falling down from it and candy spilled out on them. The children were allowed to gather up the candy and given a treat bag to take their goodies with them.

New Characters Arrive at EES

Three bus mechanics pose proudly in front of their service vehicles in this 1950 photo. The Columbus County Schools website has hundreds of old school-related photographs in its archives.

A Look Back in Time...

Song Writing Residency at CES

“Take a Veteran to School” at SCHS

Through the NC Arts Coun-cil, Chadbourn Elementary was funded for a Level I Artist Resi-dency January 6-10, 2014 with the Silver Trout Arts Company. The Silver Trout Arts Company consists of two artists, Timmy and Susana Abell. Susana is an artist whose career in puppetry arts has spanned two decades and three continents. Students were excited to meet her friend, Quick, the bilingual sloth. Tim-my is a nationally recognized children’s recording and touring artist who has spent 30 years presenting concerts of music

and storytelling for young people and families.

The Silver Trout five-day resi-dency offered students a truly in-depth arts and learning expe-rience. It included performances for the whole school, followed by four and a half days of hands-on workshops by both artists as well as a staff development session on curriculum connections through the arts and an evening fam-ily concert. Students, parents, teachers, and administration were so enthusiastic about the events. The workshops on pup-petry and songwriting caused an

“infectious” amount of excite-ment, stirring up the creativity and imaginations within our students. Use the QR code below to listen to original compositions by CES students.

TCMS Principal Making a Difference All of the opportu-

nities are increasing at Tabor City Middle School and it instills a sense of pride in students and supporters of the school. The most import factor in TCMS’s success is its principal, Mrs. Dianna Bellamy. Mrs. Bellamy is the glue that holds the school together; students, parents, and faculty all agree. They believe that Mrs. Bellamy leads by example and shows genu-

ine love and care for her students.

One student testified, “Mrs. Bellamy is the best principal you could ever ask for. She is always walking the halls and checking on classes to see how you are doing.” An-other student said, “Mrs. Bellamy cares about us. She goes to all of our games in order to support us.” Yet another student said, “Mrs. Bellamy is always there for you; she

believes in you.”One teacher remarked,

“As a teacher under her leadership, I can testify that she is an excellent leader. She is a great principal to not only her students, but also to her teachers. Mrs. Bellamy treats all of her teachers as a peer. She treats us in a manner that breeds a type of respect that causes all of us to want to do our very best. Mrs. Bellamy includes us in decisions

that impact our students and our school, which gives us a sense of owner-ship. She puts academics first, and still manages to show strong support of our extracurricular activities.”

South Columbus High School Media, JROTC, Social Studies and Arts Departments honored U.S military veterans at a “Take a Veteran to School” program Thursday, November 7th in the school auditorium. Approximately fifty veterans

attended the event.The veterans were greeted

with salutes as the JROTC cadets stood at attention and escorted them into the build-ing. The presentation of col-ors was performed by the JROTC followed by South

Columbus High School Mane Attraction Choral Ensemble singing the National Anthem. A roll call of all veterans in attendance was announced by Jacob Moore and Mia Benton. Faith Smith read this year’s Veterans Day Proclamation by Governor Pat McCrory. Vet-erans were honored to stand when the service song of their armed force was played on the piano by Mikayla Fowler. Introduced by Amanda Hewett and Terrence Riddick, four representatives of the dif-ferent branches spoke to the audience. Richard D. Har-relson MSgt. Retired, US Air Force rendered a motivational speech to the students about the importance of having an education today to be in the military compared to when he served. David Corbett, US Navy, spoke about his experiences in Lebanon and

Vietnam. Dale Spivey, US Army and a Purple Heart veteran, gave an emotional speech about being wounded in Vietnam. Chris Soles, US Marines, delivered an infor-mational speech concerning the Marines. After the veteran speeches, the South Columbus High School Brass Ensemble played “Taps” in honor of the fallen soldiers. To conclude the program, the band played “Escape from the Deep” and the SCHS Choral Ensemble sang “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Veterans and guests were invited to the media center for a reception where differ-ent presentations were made. The speakers were presented a print of an art piece by Stormy Simmons, a student at SCHS. The JROTC instruc-tors, Melvin Matthews First Sgt, retired and Karl Gore Sgt First Class, retired were

presented monetary gifts by the VFW Post 6064 and the American Legion Post 0507 of Tabor City.

Paying tribute to the vet-erans who sacrificed so much for our country and honoring our veterans was a way for students to show support and love for those that have served our country. Through the first-person recollections and history, students and commu-nity were drawn in by the sto-ries of bravery and dedication these men and women shared which enable so many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy each day.

SCHS military guests were honored with a print created by a SCHS art student.

Songwriters Susana and Timmy Abell spent a week with CES students, thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.

Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts - Page 3

Principal Bellamy assists a student with the SuccessMaker program.

Many students dream of playing with cool technology like high end video cameras, video editing software, and ra-dio equipment. For the broadcasting students at Columbus Career and College Academy, not only is this more than just a dream, it is a normal day at the “job!” Their broadcast-ing experience or class is referred to as a “job” be-cause if you swing by to see what they are doing, it does look more like a real job at a production studio than a high school “class” with students in textbooks. Students in the radio broadcasting class learn to operate the radio equipment and software which arranges songs as well as how to interview people, how to prepare and write

speeches, and how to perfor m many other skills surrounding the radio broadcasting in-dustry. Student Kerstin Nichols commented, “It helps you get over the fear of talking to people and it clearly helped me realize what I wanted to do in my future.” In the video broadcasting courses, students often have the experience of creating short films, learning to use equip-ment, and also lighting effects. The broadcast-ing students continue to provide a public ser-vice to the community

by filming local sports games on Friday nights. Through these weekly broadcasts, students gain valuable insight and real hands-on ex-perience doing what ca-reer camera crews do. These students will defi-nitely be able to carry this experience with them as they graduate high school and move on to their careers. Their highlights are featured on WECT and WWAY weekly. Go to www.wzco.org to see their work in action!

Page 4 – Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts

Hitting the Airwaves at CCCA“It helps you get over the fear of

talking to people and it helped me realize what I wanted to do in my future.” - Kerstin Nichols, CCCA Student

Students Caitlyn Soles and Natltaly Razo operate a switcher and graphics overlay.

ADMS’s FBLA students excelled at a recent competition.

WTS Art Students’ Work on Display

ADMS FBLA Competition Winners

Art students at Williams Town-ship and Nakina Middle have been working on a year-long project sur-rounding turtles. Art teacher LuAnn Pickell has helped students under-stand the biology and environment of the turtle, and in turn the students have created turtles in paint, pencil, foil, prints, clays, pastel ink and

even soda bottles! The exhibition, which includes over 900 pieces of art, is now on display at the North Carolina Museum of Forestry through the month of February. It is believed to be the largest show of middle school art in southeastern North Carolina. Admission to the museum is free.

Acme Delco Middle School’s FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) attended the Re-gional Competitive Events on Friday, December 6, in Fayetteville, NC. Pic-tured are the students who placed during competition along with Mrs. Chris-tie Brown, Principal, and Ms. April Corbett, FBLA Advisor/Business Educa-tion Teacher. Acme Delco Middle School FBLA at-

tended the Regional Com-petitive Events on Friday, December 6th, in Fayette-ville, NC. Sixteen students competed and twelve of those students placed in the competition.

Computer Slide Show: 1st Place - Brianna Wil-liams, Carrie Grace Cole-man and Chance Snowden

Career Exploration: 2nd Place - Dontrell Stevenson

Intro to Business Com-munications: 3rd Place - Je’Juan Bryant

Public Speaking: 3rd Place - Makell Brown

Intro to Parliamentary Procedure: 2nd Place - Ry-lan Bordeaux

Intro to Career Manage-ment: 2nd Place - Phillip Snowden

Over 900 pieces of art from LuAnn Pickell’s art classes at Wil-liams Township and Nakina Middle are on display at the NC Museum of Forestry.

Students enjoying archery at Nakina Middle.

Archery at Nakina Middle The National Ar-

chery in Schools Pro-gram (NASP), which is sponsored by Wildlife Conservation agencies across the country, aims to improve student moti-vation, attention, behav-ior, attendance, and focus. Nakina Middle Schools’ students and teachers are enthused about in-corporating archery into the curriculum. Docu-mentation of the pro-

gram has proven that it instills qualities desired by teachers, parents and peers of today’s students, such as respect, disci-pline and adaptability.

The NASP is avail-able for students in el-ementary through high school. Both state and national tournaments are held each year. Best of all, our program is for all types of students. Archery is an activity in which people from all walks of life and almost every size and ability can participate. Boys and girls, experienced bow shooters and beginners, athletes, and scholars all can join together and en-joy a round of shooting.

That is what is taking place at Nakina Middle School. Nakina is in the third year of participat-ing in the NASP and the students are excited and responsive to the thrill of archery. Archery has an exceptional safety record, as stated by the National Safety Council. It is more accident-free than any ball sport. Christa For-myduval, a sixth grader, stated, “Archery is fun

and I look forward to get-ting better.”

The annual state tournament is being held in February, so our stu-dents are preparing to compete against other schools across the state. In 2012, Nakina finished second in our first year of competition. For the NASP to be implemented several steps were tak-en. First, by contacting North Carolina Wildlife Resources, we were able to receive an equipment package. The package consists of one dozen unisex Genesis bows, five dozen Easton arrows, five 30” by 30” targets, a nylon protective curtain and the instructional in-

formation needed to edu-cate students. Secondly, two instructors were trained by our area Wild-life Agent to implement the program. The train-ing was for eight hours. Lessons are taught in a sequence that promotes safety and archery ba-sics. Discipline, concen-tration, and refining of shooting skills are high focus points. Next just teach the students and let them enjoy the benefits associated with archery. Pearson Ball, an eighth grader says, “The archery program is very enjoy-able and challenging. It is different and I love com-peting with my friends.”

The NASP has re-ceived 100% support from faculty, community, and students. The program is a valuable tool for student motivation while increas-ing the life skills of all participants involved. Nakina Middle Schools’ students are learning new skills. They are ex-cited and will continue to take advantage of the benefits of archery.

ODES students studying “Snowmen at Night.”

“Snowology” at ODES“I’m so glad I’m back

in school, Mrs. Buffkin!” This is something a lot of parents and teachers don’t hear very often, but these were the words resound-ing from an Old Dock Elementary first grader, Ronnie Jackson as he and I edited his story about how to build a snowman. Even though we don’t get much snow around these parts in winter, first grade children are still eager to learn as much as they can about snow, winter, and many other things. Curi-osity is high and this lends itself to my being able to mold the minds of my six- and seven-year olds in every way imaginable.

Writing in first grade is no small undertaking. It’s actually very frus-trating at times—for the child and their teacher. But it is amazing to see little authors be born and blossom. A child may produce really awesome pieces for me here in first grade, and as much as I would like to take all the credit for their writing ex-pertise, I can’t. Each one of my children received a strong foundation in writ-ing from our kindergarten teachers here at Old Dock Elementary.

“Writing begins in kindergarten?” you may ask. YES!!! Kindergarten isn’t just about socializa-tion skills anymore. A lot of preparation goes

into these children so that they’re ready for me. So I’d like to personally say, “Thank you!” to our dedicated and very ex-perienced kindergarten teachers, Miss Angie Ray and Mrs. Nancy Bennett.

Effective first grade writers must be immersed in words. That includes reading words, writing words, making words, clapping and cheering words—anything it takes to help a child learn words. On any given day, you may walk in my classroom and see students armed with highlighters and old news-papers finding words from our word wall. “I know that woman,” Andrew Ward told me one day as he spied a picture of a lady he recognized in The News Reporter. These are the types of activities that lead to better writers.

The trick for me then, is to “sell” writing to my students. Make them en-joy it even though it is hard work. That’s the trick. This is where the pencil meets the paper so to speak. I must take full advantage of the curios-ity my students have. I do that by having them write on topics that they can relate to and enjoy. Winter lends itself to so many things children love-especially snow and snowmen! Just because we don’t have a lot of snow here to actually build a

snowman doesn’t mean these first graders don’t know HOW to build one. So I set the stage for them to tell me how to build a snowman through their writing.

“Okay boys and girls. Who can show me some of the things the snowmen in our book did during the night?” Mrs. Erica Jack-son, mother to Ronnie Jackson and who is also studying to be an elemen-tary teacher, asked this question to the class after she read the book Snow-men At Night to them. The children were more than excited to act out the actions of the snowmen. This excitement led them into writing their own stories of building snow-men and what they would do at night if they were snowmen.

“Whew. Writing is hard work.” These were the words Mrs. Jackson said to me after she helped go over all the snowmen stories. She is absolute-ly right. Reading and re-reading, checking for capital letters, critiqu-ing grammar, neatening up our handwriting, and inserting needed punctua-tion is a lot of work! But the big smile on the faces of these little ones as they proudly read their stories to the class is priceless.

“Archery is fun and I look forward to getting better.”

- Christa Formyduval, Sixth Grader at NMS

Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts - Page 5

Fitness and Archery at HMSAccording to the

North Carolina Depart-ment of Health and Hu-man Services, physical inactivity among U.S. children is at an all time low. Many changes con-tribute to this, including an increase in sedimen-tary activities and less fo-cus on physical activities in school. Lack of physi-cal activity is shown to be the leading cause of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in children. N.C.D.H.H.S. recommends sixty min-

utes of physical activity per day. The majority of the activity should be aerobic in addition to muscle and bone strengthening activities.

The physical educa-tion teachers at Halls-boro Middle School are aware of this trend in childhood obesity and the negative impact it has on our students. Coming up with in-novative activities to pique the interest of middle school students can prove challenging, particularly during the colder winter months

of the year. At Halls-boro Middle School, the students are fortunate to have indoor exercise equipment and teach-ers who understand the importance of keeping children active. The stu-dents engage in physical education classes daily for fifty minutes.

Mr. Smith, physical education teacher and coach says, “The physi-cal education program offered at HMS allows for a diverse population to participate and excel

in areas other than tra-ditional sports.”

Located above the gym floor, the students have access to station-ary bikes, treadmills, free weights, as well as weight machines, and interactive electronic ex-ercise games purchased with grant money from North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Students are instructed on the use and benefit of each piece of equipment. They are encouraged to record their time on the machines and monitor their heart rates. The

students learn how to take a resting and work-ing heart rate as well as the benefits of exercising while maintaining their maximum heart rate.

In addition to the fit-ness room, students are given the opportunity to participate in The Na-tional Archery in the Schools Program. The physical education de-partment has ten bows that were donated by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The program consists of approximately ten hours of classroom time where they learn safety (range and bow safety), etiquette, discipline, goal setting, decision making, and technique. The stu-dents are then allowed to apply the skills they learned in the classroom to actual target practice outside.

When students are not in the gym, they are spending time in the classroom learning about the benefits of healthy lifestyles. Les-sons are focused on the application of healthy food choices in students’ daily lives.

Both in and outside of the classroom, students are learning healthy lifestyle skills that will impact their lives now and into adulthood.

CGES students creating homemade telescopes.

“Problem Solved” at CGES

Teachers and students at Cerro Gordo Elementa-ry School are meeting the Common Core challenge. Students are solving real life problems through inquiry, research, and problem solving. The Cerro Gordo hive is buzz-ing as students think and create their way through Common Core problem solving.

Mary B. Waddell’s fourth grade language arts class is currently reading the novel Who Is Neal Armstrong? by Ro-berta Edwards. Through-out this book, the students are learning many new vocabulary words. One of the most recent words is telescope. Mrs. Waddell took this opportunity to integrate art and science with language arts, and students created home-made telescopes using everyday household items such as plastic bottles, tape, reading magnifying glasses, and gift wrap tubes. The students were given time to explore with their “telescopes” after

constructing them. Guess what? They worked!

Fifth grade students in Rob Foringer’s class stud-ied the scientific method, gravity, aerodynamics, and friction. Students designed a prototype that would allow a Kinex car to travel the fastest or furthest down a ramp. They discussed the effects of gravity and friction on objects in a prior lesson to prepare a hypothesis. The groups of four were given individual roles to complete (navigator, pilot, copilot, and gun-ner). Jobs were switched each day of the activity. Each group enjoyed a chance to build a car out of the Kinex materials provided. First, students shared their hypothesis and then dropped the car on the ramp, recorded their time and distance traveled, and analyzed the results. To wrap up, the class discussed how friction against tires, the weight of the vehicle, and where the weight was distributed on the car af-

fected how it performed. After a lesson on bar-

tering with limited re-sources, seventh graders in Karla Nobles’ social studies class experienced bartering at a simulated market. Students re-ceived items that repre-sented wants and needs. S t u d e n t s c i rc u l at e d through the market trad-ing their wares. Once the trading session end-ed, students reflected on their experience. Written reflections showed that several students found the experience to be over-whelming, and they were grateful to have modern shopping centers. Others described bartering as lively, challenging, and thrilling. A few felt trad-ing was difficult because they were limited to the items in their bags, and their items were not in demand that day. Though opinions varied, reflec-tions confirmed this proj-ect allowed students to experience the challenge of living with limited resources.

Page 6 – Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts

HMS students have a fully-equipped exercise room.

“Our archery program and the fit-ness room are going beyond the traditional idea of ABC’s and 123’s.”

- Mike Williamson, HMS Teacher

Did you know all of our schools have Facebook pages along with Columbus County Schools? Be sure to “like” your school to get instant updates!

Mr. Rashad Roberts, a former West Columbus stu-dent, was chosen for Janu-ary’s alumnus of the month. Mr. Roberts graduated from West Columbus in 1992. Af-ter high school, he attended North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, NC. He currently attends Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, via a remote campus in Wilmington, NC, pursuing a degree in Public Administra-tion. He is the postmaster of the Riegelwood post office, where he started working in 1998. He stated, “It was a great opportunity to do a

job that would allow me to provide for my young fam-ily.” He is also on the town council of Chadbourn, and he has been a member since 2003. When asked what his advice was for the seniors, he replied, “For those who are serious about school and secondary education, don’t squander your opportunity. If school is not for you, de-velop a trade so that you can provide for yourself and con-tribute positively to society.” West Columbus is happy that such a great leader gradu-ated from here!

This story was submit-ted by Ivana Price, WCHS student.

Mrs. Tyler’s and Mrs. Howerton’s third grade class-es went to the Planetarium in Sunset Beach. They ex-perienced what an actual hurricane feels like in the wind machine. It was a real hair raising experience. The students were able to learn about the solar system, along with what constellations can be seen from our very own homes. Did you know that just a few months ago a planet was discovered that is very similar to Earth and it

is only six light years away? Talk about close encounters, we just might get to experi-ence travel to another planet in the future!

Celebrating Education at Hallsboro Artesia

Rashad Roberts, WCHS Alumnus of the Month

Faculty, students and staff at Hallsboro-Artesia Ele-mentary School celebrated American Education Week on November 4-8, 2013. The school media center kicked off the celebration with our annual HAES Panther Book Fair allowing students to purchase lots of books, posters, pencils, games, and more. “A Family Book Fair Night” was held on Novem-ber 7th from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. so family members that work could have a chance to visit the HAES Book Fair. All teachers were asked to display a book wish list in the media center and parents purchased books or posters for their child’s classroom.

Parents with children in

all grade levels had the op-portunity to eat lunch with their child at 12:00 noon each day. The parents and students enjoyed the special lunch “together” time.

To celebrate and encour-age writing in our curricu-lum, kindergarten, first, and second grade students wrote essays and illustrated what they liked best about their teacher. Third, fourth, and fifth graders wrote essays on the topic, “What Would I Do If I Were Principal?” Students read famous educa-tional quotes each morning and afternoon on the school intercom and during our school broadcast.

Other highlights of the week involved having the

students show their school spirit and panther pride. On Monday, students dressed up as their favorite teacher. Tuesday was “Sock It to Me Day!” Students wore silly socks in a rainbow of colors. Wednesday was Hat Day! Students wore all types of hats to celebrate the day. Thursday was Book Charac-ter Day and students dressed up as their favorite storybook character. School uniforms were worn on Friday to show school pride and support for public schools.

Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts – Page 7

GES students visited Ingram Planetarium recently.

GES Visits Ingram PlanetariumRashad Roberts, WCHS Class of 1992.

Parents at Hallsboro Artesia Elementary were invited to eat lunch at school recently.

This free app gives you access to:

- District and school news - Instant notifications (weather, etc.) - Arts and athletics calendars- WZCO-FM live streams- Lunch menus- School calendar- Photo galleries and much more!

ADES Students Learn about Producers and ConsumersAt Acme-Delco Elemen-

tary, we strive to give our students the best instruc-tion possible incorporating critical and creative thinking along with collaboration and communication of ideas. By integrating social studies and science with the reading

curriculum, we can help our students deepen their com-prehension and vocabulary skills while learning social studies and science content.

Students in second grade have been identifying ways in which people are both producers and consumers of goods, while exploring the relationship between pro-ducers, consumers, service jobs, and earning an income. The lesson began with the fictional story, The Ugly

Vegetables, by Grace Lin in which a family originally from China grows unusual vegetables in their garden. Class discussions revolved around the needs of plants. In science, students studied different kinds of weather and identified types of clouds

and weather patterns and how weather affects crops.

The next story the stu-dents read was the nonfiction selection Super Storms by Seymour Simon. Students continued to learn about wild weather such as thunder and lightning storms, blizzards, hurricanes, and tornadoes. They made inferences about how weather can affect dif-ferent kinds of jobs and daily lives. To demonstrate that students had mastered key

concepts, a writing assign-ment was given in which each student choose a par-ticular job along with a par-ticular weather pattern and wrote what it would be like to perform that job in that kind of weather. They could be a farmer during a hurricane, a teacher during a tornado, or a policeman during a thunder and lightning storm, to name just a few of the op-tions they could choose from.

Teachers took the oppor-tunity of a county field trip to a corn maze to discuss how corn producers buy the seed, prepare the ground, plant, grow, and harvest the crop. Upon returning to school, students were treated to guest speaker Calvin Mal-pass. Mr. Malpass took the students through the process of crop production in North Carolina and how products go from the farm to the store to their table.

“Producers make the goods and consumers buy them. I liked how Mr. Calvin

brought in examples like corn, beans, and sunflowers. He told us how corn could be used for different things like in syrup, pancakes mixes, or to feed horses or cows,” said Summer Smith, second grader.

“Mr. Calvin talked to us about how he was a producer because he makes food that

goes to the grocery store so that other people can buy it. They are the consumers because they eat the food to be healthy,” remarked Landon Coyle, second grader.

ADES students learn about crop production.

Page 8 – Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Class Acts

“I liked how Mr. Calvin brought in examples like corn, beans, and sunflowers.”

- Summer Smith, ADES Second Grader

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