May 6, 20105th Annual Ceremony of Excellence Awards Top Scholars With Academic Letters
To be considered for an Academic Letter, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 4.000 or better after the first semester, no suspensions and no more than three minor discipline referrals in the past year. Certificates are awarded to ninth graders who meet the standard after the third nine-week grading period. Cumulative grade point averages are calculated on weighted class grades as determined on the North Carolina Standardized Transcript. Students with an incomplete in a course are not eligible for recognition. Incomplete courses must be cleared by the third nine weeks of the school year in order for a student to be considered for recognition in that school year. After a student has received an Academic Letter and pin for the first time, bars are awarded for meeting the standard in subsequent years. Like athletes, students receiving letters will be allowed to purchase a letterman’s jacket at their own expense.Plaques bearing the names of the students honored tonight will be prominently displayed at Mitchell High School. Their accomplishment will be a legacy for others to emulate in the years to come.The Academic Letter program and Ceremony of Excellence is sponsored by Communities in Schools of Mitchell County, the Academic Booster Club of Mitchell High School, and the faculty and staff of Mitchell High School, with particular support and involvement from the sophomore class sponsors, the guidance department and the principals’ office. Through the program, the sponsors hope to build a culture of excellence in academics at Mitchell High School. The bar has been set high. The program is designed to help students understand the importance of academic achievement to their futures and to encourage them to strive for excellence. The Academic Letter is a symbol of the community’s support of these students in their pursuit of academic excellence.Mitchell High School
2010 Academic Letter Scholars
March 12, 2010Greenlee 2nd Graders Enjoy Wildlife Presentation
Second-grade students at Greenlee Primary School learned about wildlife and hunting safety on March 12. NC Wildlife Enforcement Officers Kelly Pittman and Tim Holtsclaw of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission spoke to the second-graders about safety in the outdoors. Hunting safety was emphasized. The students watched a DVD, featuring Eddie the Eagle, promoting gun safety and warning about never handling firearms without adult supervision. Students were also shown the orange cap they need to wear in the woods to avoid accidents. Boat safety was another topic discussed, and the students learned that they have to wear life jackets while on a boat under NC law.
The students were able to touch deer antlers, feel fox, bobcat and coyote pelts, and see a stuffed squirrel. Several neat gifts were given to each student for their participation. including activity books, crayons, pencils, stickers, a boat safety whistle and a junior hunter safety badge.
Special thanks go to CIS volunteer Shirley Pittman and her son Kelly Pittman for the presentation idea and for helping to coordinate the event. December 16, 2009CIS Volunteers and Staff Enjoy Christmas Lunch at Greenlee
CIS volunteers were invited to join Greenlee Primary School faculty and staff for a delicious Christmas lunch on Wednesday, December 16. Three CIS staff members and eleven volunteers attended the luncheon, and we appreciate Principal Alan English and the staff at Greenlee for the kind invitation.
Pictured left to right on the front row are volunteers, Lila Baskin, Nancy Moody, Ima Conroy, Margaret McGraw, CIS Financial Officer, Barbara Buchanan, and volunteer Betty Duncan. Volunteers pictured on the back row are Sheilah Sockwell, Norma Smith, Shirley Pittman, Annette McKinney, Betty Sparks and Genie Manning.
December 14, 2009
Story Time with Mrs. Shirley Christmas is for children as Mrs. Shirley Pittman demonstrated to Mrs. Miller’s kindergarten class at Greenlee Primary School when she read them a classic Mother Goose story last week. The children listened with wonder and awe as Mrs. Shirley brought the story to life with her vivid narration and joyful songs. They were especially delighted when she gave them a Frosty the Snowman cookie as a special treat. Mrs. Shirley is a new volunteer with CIS and we are so thankful she is working with us, bringing her good cheer and creative learning approach to our children at Greenlee.
October 15, 2009Choice Bus Visits Mitchell County
More than 200 students from Harris and Bowman Middle Schools and Mitchell High School were put behind bars on October 15th when the Choice Bus was brought to Mitchell County by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, in collaboration with Communities In Schools and AT&T. The Choice Bus is an experience-based learning tool intended to motivate students to stay in school. The front half of the bus looks like a school bus, inside and out– but the rear half is painted like a prison bus on the outside, and on the inside it is a replica of an eight by eight foot prison cell. The presentation focuses on the fact that three out of four prisoners in the U.S. lack a high school education and includes video footage of interviews with real prison inmates. After the presentation, students were asked to step into the “cell” to experience living conditions in prison.
October 9, 2009Communities In Schools and Juvenile Crime Prevention Council Host Gang Prevention Forum
Danya Perry, field specialist for CISNC and co-author of “Preventing Violence in America’s Schools: from Putdowns to Lockdowns,” has focused his work on gangs in North Carolina for over 10 years. Perry and members of the NC Gang Investigators Association conducted two days of workshops in October for parents, educators, law enforcement officers and social services professionals. Sponsored by the Mitchell County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council and CIS, the workshops were the first steps planned by the groups to raise community awareness of gangs and build a community-wide effort aimed at prevention. The sessions were held at Bowman and Harris Middle Schools and Mayland Community College.
“It’s time for the community to take a look at the factors that are putting kids at risk for gang involvement in Mitchell County and address those things as a team,” Perry said. “Rural communities may think of gangs as only being like the Bloods or the Crips, nationally known groups,” Perry said, “but home-grown gangs do crop up in rural communities along with larger groups who see places ripe for expansion.”
Perry explained that residents in predominantly white rural areas may feel safe from gang activity because they identify gangs with minority groups, but not only are there significant number of white gangs, most gangs today are integrated racially and many have growing numbers of female members.
“It’s logical for CIS to be involved in gang prevention since many of the things that put our kids at risk for joining gangs are the same things that put them at risk for dropping out,” said Lori Gilcrist, executive director of Communities in Schools of Mitchell County. “The things we see in the lives of children or see missing from the lives of children who are referred to us as being at risk for dropping out are many of the same things these professionals identified as reasons kids join gangs or as signs of youth gang involvement.
“We know that as the dropout rate rises, so does the incarceration rate. Some young people learn about gangs in prison and bring that home with them when they are released,” Gilcrist said.
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