HCPSLife

Summer 2015

Katie Bradley2015 Teacher of the Year

6 High Schools

Pledge to Be Drug-Free

GiftingCeremonyEast Students Return Holocaust-Era Letter to Living Relative

Team 1225Regional Robotics Champs

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HCPSLifeSummer 2015HCPS Life is a free publication produced by Henderson County Public Schools highlighting special programs, events, activities and our student and teacher successes throughout the district.

Hello there!

I’ve been working as Henderson County Public Schools’ public information officer since December, and in this short time I’ve already seen hundreds of motivating and uplifting stories within our schools that I know parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles would be proud to share.

My goal for this publication is to more personally connect parents and families to their children’s education and educators.

I envision HCPS Life growing beyond the stories I’m able to witness and write through my position in the schools, including more original content from teachers, staff and potentially even students.

We’re starting small – a few pages available on

school and througout the community.

Thanks for reading,

Molly McGowan Gorsuch

digital format – but I hope we’ll see enough interest to pursue print copies available in each

Robotics Team Wins RegionalCompetitionPage 4

HCPS Launches PeachjarPage 5

Students Return Holocaust-EraLetter to FamilyPage 6

We Are Hope CampaignPage 8

Summer Reading atHenderson County LibrariesPage 10

Share the news!

Website: www.hendersoncountypublicschoolsnc.orgTwitter: twitter.com/HCPSNCFacebook: facebook.com/HCPSNC

Katie Bradley WinsTeacher of the YearPage 3

Photo Gallery: ElementarySchool Field DaysBack Cover

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Katie Bradley Wins Teacher of the Year

LEFT: Katie Bradley received a congratulatory hug from Sloan Neuburger, the 2014 Teacher of the Year. TOP RIGHT AND ABOVE: Students greet Bradley with handmade “congratulations” signs upon her return from the Teacher of the Year luncheon.

BY Molly McGowan Gorsuch

ach year, an outstanding teacher in each of our 23 schools is chosen by his or her peers as that school’s Teacher of the Year. All 23 are then in the running for the overall HCPS Teacher of the Year award, designated by a committee comprised of administrators, teachers and parents. East Henderson High’s Exceptional Children teacher Katie Bradley blew away the committee members this year, and was awarded the honor during the annual Teacher of the Year luncheon at Hendersonville Country Club in May. "Katie is a compassionate, caring, and motivated educator. Her willingness to grow as a teacher has benefited both students and adults in our school,” said East Principal Scott Rhodes. "Katie is very passionate about meeting the needs of all students. She is a leader in our school and is very respected among her peers,” Rhodes said. “I have no doubt that Katie will continue to accomplish great things in public education.” The individual schools’ Teachers of the Year are: Apple Valley Middle: Lisa Lightfoot; Atkinson Elementary: Lisa Dennison; Balfour Education Center: Christine Mukosiej; Bruce Drysdale Elementary: Nicole Conti; Clear Creek Elementary: Donna Caban; Dana Elementary: Sarah Owen; Early College: Justin McKenzie; Edneyville Elementary: Lena Robertson; Etowah Elementary: Allison Keever; Flat Rock Middle: Anthony Campbell; Fletcher Elementary: Elizabeth Barbour; Glenn C. Marlow Elementary: Goeff Kinsey; Hendersonville Elementary: Jessica Hughes; Hendersonville High: Elise Joyce; Hendersonville Middle: Julie Rogers; Hillandale Elementary: Holly Brookshire; Mills River Elementary: Tamara Byrd; North Henderson High: Keang Uy; Rugby Middle: Laurie Rigg; Sugarloaf Elementary: Julie Conn; Upward Elementary: Holly McMurray; West Henderson High: Rebecca Hanson.

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The Gorillas finished with the highest number of totes stacked, recycle bins placed and the highest OPR (offensive power rating), earning them an invitation to play in the FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) World Championship in St. Louis April 22-25. The team built a competition robot in six weeks and competed in two regional tournaments: one in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Palmetto Regional) and one in Raleigh (North Carolina Regional). The first weekend in January they traveled to Charlotte to the Kickoff to pick up some of the parts required to be used on the robot. Over the next week, they brainstormed, presented the ideas to the group, discussed in a roundtable fashion, brainstormed some more, presented again and settled on some ideas. They spent the next couple weeks proving their concept using basic machining tools to build prototypes. The last couple weeks before competitions were spent building the final design, finishing the electronics board, programming and setting up the pneumatics – with only a few days left for testing. During week six on the same day around the world, FRC teams sealed their robots and were not permitted to work on them any longer before competition. Between that day and the day the team left for

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“The Gorillas”win FIRST Robotics

Competition NC Regional

During three long days of exciting competition at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, the team qualified in the number 1 seed and was the overall winner of the Saturday afternoon tournament. From March 19-21, The Gorillas played a total of 18 rounds, working with other teams to have their robots stack totes

BY Mike Murphy / FRC Team 1225 Coach enderson County Public Schools’ FIRST High School Robotics Team 1225 “The Gorillas” won the North Carolina Regional Robotics Competition and earned the “Excellence in Engineering Award” March 21.H

on scoring platforms, top the stacks with recycling containers and dispose of pool foam toys that represented litter.

The Gorillas and their robot at the regional competition. {Patrick Sullivan}

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“The Gorillas”competition, The Gorillas worked on a shirt design for the year using student artwork, buttons,

NC Regional. This year’s team built on the successes the team has had over the last several

and other marketing items to distribute during the competition in hopes of building alliances with teams for the final tournament on Saturday afternoon. The top eight teams at the competitions are team captains and pick alliance partners for the afternoon tournament. This year The Gorillas had the No. 1 team captain, with every team wanting to build alliances with the students. Of the 55 teams that competed, The Gorillas had 14 of the 20 students representing nearly all HCPS high schools at the

years along with help from many great mentors – engineers and marketing professionals within the community volunteering their time to teach the students. Throughout the year, The Gorillas work on team building, public presentations, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, accounting (team budget), marketing, program management, computer sciences, STEM based learning objectives, and more. Learn more about the team on their Facebook page, or at www.team1225.com and follow the team on Twitter at @1225gorillas.

What’s Up With ? enderson County Public Schools now uses an electronic flyer distribution program called Peachjar, which replaces paper flyers. Through Peachjar, each school can send e-flyers to its families, and outside organizations can send approved e-flyers to families in the school system. If you provided your email address to your school on your student’s contact information form at any point during your child’s enrollment in an HCPS school, a Peachjar account has been established for you – and in February 2015 you should have received an email from Peachjar with your login information. Login information is provided so you can manage your account and flyer delivery preferences – you do not need to log in to receive or view e-flyers. Be sure to look for the Peachjar button on your school’s website, since e-flyers are also posted on each school’s Peachjar website for at least one month. Parents and teachers who have been receiving e-flyers since Peachjar was launched in February may have noticed a brief influx of e-flyers advertising events or fundraisers outside their children’s specific schools. This is due to the fact that, during Peachjar’s early implemenation phase at HCPS, flyers for other school events were approved for all schools as long as they met HCPS posting guidelines. At the request of parents and administrators, e-flyers advertising school-specific fundraisers will be limited to parents of children in that particular school, and not sent to every HCPS parent. Exceptions, such as e-flyers advertising summer sports camps and spring musicals at each of our high schools, will be considered as presented. If you did not provide your email address and would like to receive the e-flyers, let your school office know to add your email address to the district contact form, or register by visiting www.Peachjar.com and clicking “Register” at the top right of the page. Peachjar is used exclusively for distribution of school system-approved flyers. Your email address will not be shared or used for any other purpose. We strongly encourage parents to opt into receiving e-flyers via Peachjar, so they’re in-the-know about school activities like 5K runs, fundraisers, special event nights and opportunities available outside the classroom – such as engineering, art and sports camps, swim lessons, special exhibitions at local museums, scholarship information and free health clinics. If your email is on file with your school and you are not receiving emails from Peachjar, the e-flyers are going into your spam folder or you can’t see the images in the email. To prevent the e-flyers from going into your spam folder, add “HCPS@peachjar.com” to your email contacts. When you receive your first e-flyer, be sure to click “always display images.”

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B. Erb in Philadelphia in hopes that they were family and he would send money so she and her “intended” could escape Germany and emigrate to Bolivia. The letter came into Singer’s possession in 2010 as he began taking Holocaust artifacts off the market and collecting them for an exhibit he and his wife donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington,

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Returning a Legacy to the LivingBY Molly McGowan Gorsuch

In the spring of 2014, Todd Singer’s American History I & II classes embarked on a journey to find a living relative of Betty Erb, a young Jewish woman who had written a plea of help from Berlin in 1939. She had reached out to a John

Suzanne Goldberg introduces her daughter, Shira, to East students.

D.C. Still in his files, Betty Erb’s letter became a lesson in research, persistence, empathy, and the horrors of the Holocaust as his students unfolded Erb’s and others’ experiences while tracing her lineage. Upon discovering Erb and her husband, Martin Selling, had perished at Auschwitz in 1943, the students vowed to find living relatives and give them Erb’s letter. In the summer of 2014, local philanthropist Benjamin Warren connected Singer’s class with Shaya Ben Yehuda, managing director of International Relations Division at Yad Vashem – the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust in Israel. Ben Yehuda said that prior to the students’ research, Erb and Selling were unknown victims of the Holocaust. Now, they have been added to Yad Vashem’s “Hall of Names” Holocaust memorial

and the Central Database of Shoah Victim’s Names. Ben Yehuda commended the students’ efforts in finding Erb’s living relatives, and offered Yad Vashem’s vast resources – including researcher Malka Weisberg. Weisberg collaborated with the International Tracing Service’s world-renowned archival and research center in Bad Arolsen, Germany, and found a living relative of Erb in Perth, Australia by the name of Andrew Blitz, who connected Singer’s class with his sister, Suzanne Goldberg, in Florida. On May 6, 2015 – more than 75 years after Erb typed her

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Shani Lourie of Yad Vashem, left, with the Goldbergs and Todd Singer of EHHS with Betty Erb’s letter.

Seniors Maria Morava, left, and Breeana Clayton fill out the Pages of Testimony for Betty Erb and Martin Selling, which will be displayed with Erb’s letter at Yad Vashem in Israel.

Word of the student’s success in finding a living relative of the Holocaust victim reached far and wide, with coverage by the international wire service Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Arizona Jewish Post, The Times of Israel, and locally by the Hendersonville Times-News, The Lightning and WLOS-News 13. “My formerly unknown relative now has a name and her legacy restored,” Goldberg said. “Now her name has taken its rightful place in our family tree and alongside the victims memorialized at Yad Vashem.” “Betty Erb is no longer a number, part of the collective statistic,” said Goldberg. “She has a name now, and people to remember her.”

My formerly unknown relative now has a name and her legacy restored.

“”

- Suzanne Goldberg

letter, the artifact was returned to a relative’s hands at East Henderson High’s “Gifting Ceremony,” attended by Shani Lourie, an educator at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, U.S. Congressman Mark Meadows, Henderson County Commissioner Grady Hawkins and Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt. “I am completely astounded of what you have done,” Goldberg said, addressing the students. “You undertook a project for purely unselfish reasons and because you refused to give up, the results are nothing short of staggering.” In the spirit of preservation, Goldberg and her brother agreed to in turn gift Erb’s letter to Yad Vashem. Lourie asked East seniors Maria Morava and Breeana Clayton to fill out

Pages of Testimony for Betty Erb and her husband, Martin Selling, which will accompany the letter in Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names. For his work in connecting East’s students and faculty with Yad Vashem and for his generosity in bringing guests from out-of-state and out-of-country, Warren was honored at the ceremony as an “Honorary Eagle” at East.

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Hare, a recovered drug addict, was one of several local individuals visiting Henderson County Public Schools’ six high schools during “We Are Hope” week and sharing their personal struggles with substance abuse or the stories of loved ones lost to addiction. Through a campaign organized by the high schools’ student government leaders and in partnership with HopeRx, students at Balfour Education Center, North Henderson, West Henderson, East Henderson, Hendersonville and Henderson County Early College high schools learned about substance abuse and misuse March 30-April 3. Throughout the week, students signed banners bearing their school’s mascot and a pledge to be substance free – which all hung from the Historic County Courthouse balcony during Spring Break. “They (chose) a very strategic week to kick off this campaign: the week before Spring Break,” said Julie Huneycutt, director of HopeRx. Huneycutt shared with several high schools her own daughter’s fatal battle with prescription drug addiction, which started when she was a high school student.

A shley Hare walked to the center of Balfour Education Center’s cafeteria on April 1, introduced herself, and said, “I’m going to tell you how to destroy your life.”

West Henderson High students sign their “We Are Hope” banner.

BY Molly McGowan Gorsuch

We Are Hope

“Anna was a Bearcat. She was just like you,” Huneycutt told an auditorium of Hendersonville High students. Hare said she tried drugs for the first time around the same age, when a friend invited her to a party and gave her pills and marijuana. “I knew better,” Hare said. “But it was peer pressure.” Seven years later and at age 21, Hare was using crack cocaine and methamphetamine – and doing anything to maintain her habit. “I traded favors for meth,” Hare told students. “I stayed with one man for two years because he had meth and a car.” HopeRx board member Ed Serrano said his daughter did the same things to get her hands on heroin, crack cocaine, meth and prescription drugs.“She became a thief. She would steal from our medicine cabinets,” he said.

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“(She was) living on the streets, prostituting herself to get more drugs.” Unlike Serrano’s and Huneycutt’s daughters, Hare lived to warn others about the steady spiral of drug abuse – but just barely. “My ticket out was a horrible car accident,” Hare said. She explained she’d taken a hit of meth before driving, lost control of her car and spun into the center of the road, and was T-boned by another vehicle. She broke several bones, including one in her neck, had to have a kidney removed, and now – a decade later – Hare has a pump in her back to deliver pain medicine for her horrible headaches and she still suffers from memory loss. “I will never drive again. I can’t have children,” Hare said. “My parents don’t trust me – they won’t leave me alone at home.” Instead of losing trust, Huneycutt and Serrano lost children – a grief they tried to impart to students. Huneycutt said since Anna died of an overdose alone at home, there was crime scene tape everywhere when she and her husband arrived at their daughter’s house. Serrano said when his daughter overdosed, she coded four or five times in the emergency room before being put on life support. He said she could see and hear her family, but nothing medically could be done to save her. “She would follow me with her eyes and I just told her I loved her,” Serrano said. “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was telling (the doctors) to take out those breathing tubes.” “One death is too many. You are all worth living,” Huneycutt told the high school students. “Please choose hope. Give your parents and others the gift of your life.”

North Henderson High students who made the pledge pin ribbons on each other.

Student leaders hung their “We Are Hope” banners with Superintendent David Jones, HopeRx Director Julie Huneycutt, and Sheriff Charles McDonald at the Henderson County Historic Courthouse on April 3.

Summer Reading Programs at Henderson County Public Libraries

Beginning June 15, children ages 0-11 can pick up a reading record at any library location.

Halfway Prize: Read 187.5 min/12 circles - Choose a prize from the prize box!

Final Prize: Read 375 min/ 25 circles - Win a paperback book! Children will also be entered into the grand prize contest for a Fire HD6 Kids Edition

(1 awarded per branch)

June 15 to August 15

Every Hero Has a Story w/Ronald McDonald - Summer Reading Kickoff! (all ages)June 13: 11 a.m. at Fletcher branch, 3 p.m. at Main branch

Zelnik the Magician Presents “The Adventures of the Amazing Magic-Man!” (all ages)June 15: 11 a.m. at Main branch, 2 p.m. at Mills River branch

Superhero Obstacle Course (all ages)June 16: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Fire Fighters are Super Heroes! (ages 4 - grade 5)June 17: 11 a.m. at Fletcher branchJune 18: 11 a.m. at Etowah branchJune 19: 10 a.m. at Green River branchJune 24: 11 a.m. at Mills River branchJuly 1: 11 a.m. at Main branchJuly 21: 2 p.m. at Edneyville branch

Park Rangers are Super Heroes! (ages 4 - grade 5)June 18: 11 a.m. at Edneyville branchJune 25: 11 a.m. at Etowah branchJuly 9: 11:30 a.m. at Mills River branchJuly 14: 11 a.m. at Green RiverbranchJuly 16: 11 a.m. at Fletcher branchJuly 28: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Search & Rescue Dogs are Super Heroes! (ages 4 - Grade 5)June 23: 10 a.m. at Green River branch, 1 p.m. at Edneyville branch, 4 p.m. at Main branchAug. 4: 10 a.m. at Mills River branch, 1 p.m. at Etowah branch, 4 p.m. at Fletcher branch

Touch-a-Truck (all ages)June 26: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at Main branchJuly 25: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Mills River branch

Superheroes of Science w/Hands On! Museum (grades K-5) *Registration Required, call branch location of choiceJuly 7: 11 a.m. at Edneyville branchJuly 8: 11 a.m. at Main branchJuly 15: 11 a.m. at Mills River branch

Super Hero Movie: “Super Buddies” (all ages)July 7: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Police Officers are Super Heroes! (ages 4 - grade 5)July 15: 11 a.m. at Main BranchAug. 6: 11 a.m. at Green River

Jamming with Farmer Jason (ages 2-8)July 17: 11 a.m. at Mills River branch, 2 p.m. at Main branch

Fish the Magish Presents “Super Reader: The Power of Books!” (all ages)July 22: 11 a.m. at Etowah branch, 2 p.m. at Main branch

Hampstead Stage Co. Presents “Hercules and the Heroes” (grades K-5)July 29: 11 a.m. at Main branch

Sciencetellers Presents “Super Heroes - Every Hero Has a Story” (ages 4 - grade 5)Aug. 3: 11 a.m. at Main branch, 2 p.m. at Fletcher branch

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All Summer Reading Programs Funded by the Friends of the Library

Blue Moon Puppets Presents “Hero Gumbo”Aug. 12: 11 a.m. at Mills River branch, 2 p.m. at Main branchAug. 13: 11 a.m. at Etowah branch

Blue Moon Puppets: Puppet Making Workshop (ages 3 - grade 5) *Registration Required, call Fletcher branchAug. 13: 2 p.m. at Fletcher branch

End of Summer Reading Celebration! (all ages)Aug. 14: 10 a.m. at Main branch (in field behind library parking lot)

Teen Anime ClubSaturdays June 27, July 25, and Aug. 29: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Main branch

Teen Super Hero Movie: “Big Hero 6”June 17: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Teen Fandom ClubThursdays June 18, July 16 & 30, and Aug. 13: 3:45 p.m. at Main branch

Jump Start to College Presented by Laura Misner of the College Foundation of NC *Registration RequiredJune 24: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Main branch

Beginning June 15, teens in grades 6-12 record their reading times in log.

Once students reach 750 minutes, they can bring their logs into any library branch and receive a free book and be entered into a drawing for one of the

following prizes:Grand Prize: Apple iPad Mini

Other Prizes: $25 gift cards to Fountainhead Bookstore and EPIC Theatre

(Overachievers who read 1,000 minutes can have their names entered into drawing a second time)

June 15 to

August 15

Teen Filmmaking Workshops *Registration RequiredJune 25: 4-6 p.m. at Main branchJuly 2: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Main branch

Allan Wolf Presents “Immersed in Verse: Diving Into Poetry”June 30: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Teen Super Hero Movie: “The Avengers”July 8: 2 p.m. at Main branch

Teen Whatcha Reading?Thursdays July 9 & 23, and Aug. 6: 4 p.m. at Main branch

Teen Magnet Making Workshops *Registration RequiredJuly 20: 2 p.m. at Etowah branchAug. 10: 2 p.m. at Green River branch

Teen Cartooning Workshops *Registration RequiredJuly 29: 11 a.m. at Mills River branch, 2 p.m. at Fletcher branch

Teen Super Hero Movie: “Man of Steel”Aug. 5: 2 p.m. at Main branch

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School’s Out for the Summer!