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Wilkes County Schools held its annual POETRY OUT LOUD

competition on Thursday, December 5th, in the Stone Center

for the Performing Arts. POETRY OUT LOUD is a national

recitation contest which helps students master public speaking

skills, builds self-confidence, and provides opportunities to

learn about literary heritage. The National Endowment for the

Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with state art

agencies to sponsor POETRY OUT LOUD.

Since it was started in

2005, POETRY OUT

LOUD has grown to

include over one million

students across the country. Champions from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US

Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico will compete at the National Finals in Washington, DC, in

the spring.

POETRY OUT LOUD begins in the classroom. School representatives are chosen, and

then a district competition is held. Representing East Wilkes were Lisette Bahena, Kinsey

Crabb, Andrew Elmore, Evey Grimsley, and Kehlyn Jarvis; representing West Wilkes were

Kelly Dancy, Sierra LaPlante, Kandis McNeil, Emma Parsons, and Gabriella Perez; repre-

senting Wilkes Central were Krissey Browder, Sergei Miles, Jonathan Molai, Wesley Triplett, and Mark Wessels; and representing

Wilkes Early College were Loren Booker, Francisco Delacruz-Hernandez, LeAnne McAbee, Morrigan Rathey, and Dylan Yates.

For the competition each contestant recited a poem from the POETRY OUT LOUD anthology. Poems were scored on the

speaker’s presence, voice and dramatic effect, difficulty, accuracy, and overall performance. Judges for this year’s competition

were retired educators from Wilkes County Schools. Representing each district of Wilkes County were educators Barbara Halsey

(East), Joyce Campbell (North), Viki Taylor (Central), and Cathy Sebastian (West). Accuracy judges, making sure that all scores

were calculated in an ethical manner, were Wilkes County Schools Instructional Specialist Dr. Mark Burcham and Career

Development Coordinator April Marr. Emcee for the event was retired principal Hal Gatewood. Wilkes County Schools AIG

Coordinator Angie Lamb acted as prompter for the participating students.

After a heated competition including both classic and modern poetry, five finalists were called back to the stage to recite a second

poem. POETRY OUT LOUD finalists were Loren Booker, Kehlyn Jarvis, Sierra LaPlante, Mark Wessels, and Dylan Yates.

After careful deliberation, the judges declared the winner to be Mark Wessels, a junior at Wilkes Central High School. Wessels

took top scores with recitations of “The

Snow Storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

and “Tall Ambrosia” by Henry David

Thoreau. Wessels is an Honors English

student of John Elledge. As district

winner for Wilkes, Wessels will advance

to state competition in Greensboro on

March 15.

All participants of POETRY OUT

LOUD were presented certificates and

medallions by the AIG Department of

Wilkes County Schools. The winner and

finalists were presented monetary

awards by the Cultural Arts Council of

Wilkes.

POETRY OUT LOUD

WCS

High School Happenings

WINTER 2014 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

funding for their project

“Jump To It!” This project

is dedicated to promoting

physical and literacy fitness.

Since the Bright Ideas

program began in 1994,

more than $8.5 million has

been awarded to sponsor

8,300 projects reaching

Congratulations to Wilkes

Central PE Teacher Davina

Benge and Instructional

Specialist Robin Roten,

winners of a 2013 Bright

Ideas grant sponsored by

EnergyUnited. Mrs. Benge

and Mrs. Roten were

awarded $896 in grant

approximately 1.5 million

students across North

Carolina. Mrs. Benge and

Mrs. Roten hope this grant

funding will allow them to

reach an even higher caliber

of learning with students

this year and in the years to

come.

EAST WILKES HIGH BETA CLUB

EnergyUnited Bright Ideas Grant

East Wilkes High School's Beta

Club sent four Beta Club

students to the North Carolina

State Beta Club Convention

January 31st-February

1st. This was East Wilkes

first year participating in the

Convention. Haley Hodges,

Caitlin Bobbit, Krystal Carter

a,nd Maggie Weatherman

competed in academic

competitions and took part in

General Assemblies with close

to 1,000 other North Carolina

Beta Club Students. They are

already looking forward to next

year's convention and have

hopes of returning with more

club members and running a

candidate for the State Beta

Club Office.

HIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGS

CONGRATS

To

Haley

Hodges

who finished

6th in state

on the

NC BETA

SCIENCE

Exam

West Wilkes students

participated in HOSA—

Future Health Professionals

District Competition held in

Hickory in

November. These students

are now eligible to compete

at the state level in the

Spring. Please congratulate

the following students on

their accomplishments:

1. Kandis McNeil--

2nd place in Courtesy Corps

and placed in the top 10 for

Medical Terminology

(district finalist)

2. Savannah Ellis--3rd place

in Job Seeking Skills

3. Madison Lira--4th place

in Extemporaneous Health

Poster

4. Katie Batts--placed in the

top 10 for Extemporaneous

Health Poster (district

finalist)

5. Sunny Patel-- placed in

the top 10 Medical

Math (district finalist)

6. Abby Dawson--placed in

the top 10 Sports Medicine

(district finalist)

7. Gabby Perez--placed in

the top 10 Nurse Aide

(district finalist)

West Wilkes HOSA Competition Results

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

I am so very proud of all of the students in HOSA. Each of

them represented our school very well! _Angela Ellis/

WWHS CTE Instructor

www.hosa.org

Playhouse Project at NORTH WILKES

The Carpentry program

classes at North Wilkes

High School are construct-

ing a playhouse. This play-

house is a project sponsored

by Wilkes-Yadkin Home

Builders Association.

Several donations have been

made by local contractors

and suppliers. This will also

serve as a competition

between some of the other

high schools in the

county. Our program has

the potential to win up to a

$750 tool package if our

project is chosen as best in

county. We will be selling

raffle tickets for the play-

house. Tickets are $5 each

or FIVE for $20, winner to

be drawn March 22,

2014. The proceeds of this

raffle will help fund

future projects through the

Wilkes-Yadkin HBA. Feel

free to come by our shop

and see the playhouse in its

construction stages. Our

school and I appreciate your

support. Please let us know

if you would like to

purchase tickets. Enjoy

these pictures of the

construction process

performed by our students.

_Michael Johnson/NWHS

CTE Instructor


VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

REGIONAL SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS

Jonathan Molai, Brittany Faw, and Makayla

Estep-WCHS

Lydia Burcham-EWHS

Angela Huie-WWHS

Ben Church, Parker Jordan and Melvin

Gojak-WCHS

Jackson Smith and Forester Myers-WCHS

High School Student Academy of Science-

Lydia Burcham-EWHS


Also receiving recognitions were:

Silvia Cabrera-Aispuro-3rd Place Senior

Biological B - WCHS

Zoe Palmer and Tatem Miley-Honorable

Mention Senior Physics - NWHS

_Angie Lamb/WCS AIG Specialist

& Coordinator

Congratulations to the following students for advancing to the State

Science Fair which will be held in March at Meredith College:

English IV Honors classes

convened in January at Talia

Espresso for their

Art for the Environment

culminating

product. Previously,

students completed a mini-

environmental study.

Students read the text,

GREEN ILLUSIONS,

had group assignments, and

an individual assignment to

create a form of art that will

promote awareness and

action for an environmental

issue. Projects included a

performed rap with beat

box, letter to the editor,

sculpture, poetry, a video on

YouTube, and

paintings. The text came

from the AIG mini-grant

won this fall by English

Language Arts instructor

Kaylene Burcham-Hall.

Clipart from www.amazon.ca

The Wilkes Central High School Choral Department is

presenting the musical "Footloose" this weekend. The

dates are Feb. 27th - Mar. 1st at 7:00 pm, and a Sunday

Matinee at 3:00 pm on Mar. 2nd. The performances will be

held at the Pit Auditorium on the campus of WCC. The

cast has tickets to sell if you would like to attend. The cost

is $10.00. Please come out and support these students as

they have worked extremely hard to prepare for this musical

extravaganza.

WCHS Explores GREEN ILLUSIONS

Insid e S tory Headl ine

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

“Peace is not

an easy

prospect--it

requires

greater

bravery than

does

conflict.”

― Ozzie

Zehner, Green

Illusions

POETRY CAFE

Intense faces. Snapping

fingers. Happy chatter.

Music. Laughter. Silent

tears. These were the sights

and sounds at West Wilkes

High School’s recent poetry

night café. More than 50

students came to the media

center, set up like a café

with small tables, bean bags,

and comfortable chairs, to

hear and share poetry, both

original and found. Poems

ran the gamut from short

humorous “found” poems

written by others and read

aloud, to lengthy original

works that students shared

about family, love, violence,

and social issues. With

student music and video

poetry breaks, the evening

was all about teens- -friends,

feelings, and fun. Everyone

enjoyed coffee and hot

chocolate, cupcakes and

snacks while listening to all

kinds of poetry written and

read by students and staff.

Thanks to the great

response, the poetry café

will be a monthly event in

the WWHS media center.

You know an evening is a

hit when students leave

school and immediately start

tweeting about the fun they

had! Go Hawks!

_Robin Rhodes/WWHS

Media Specialist


“You know an

evening is a hit

when students

leave school and

immediately start

tweeting about

the fun they had!”

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

Multi-Cultural Celebration at WCHS


Wilkes Central’s Multi-Cultural Club recently sponsored a celebration

of all people by inviting WXii’s Busta Brown to visit the campus.

Mr. Brown visited classrooms, spoke in an afternoon assembly, and

spent time meeting and talking with students. Many autographs were

signed and photos were taken as the faculty and staff enjoyed their

time together celebrating their individuality, their diversity, and, most

of all, their shared humanity.

The Multi-Cultural Club is sponsored by WCHS Science instructor

Marian Marley.

www.wxii12.com

WE

ARE

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

WC

SAT Prep Program Continues to be a SUCCESS

2013-2014 SAT Prep Results

*50 students were enrolled in SAT

prep, but only 47 of them took more

than one test. Therefore the follow-

ing statistics are based on the 47

students who took 2 or more tests.*

Average increase in scores is

214.7 points!!!

Percentage who improved their

score more than 100 points

42/47 = 89.4%



29/47 = 61.7%



17/47 = 36.2%



7/47 = 14.9%



2/47 = 4.3%

The SAT Prep class of 50 students from across the

county has completed their eleven week class with

outstanding results. The class averaged over a 200

point increase on their combined math, verbal, and

writing scores. Statistics for the class are listed at right,

and data collection from Princeton Review is shared

below. The SAT Prep class is led by WCHS Math

instructor Nancy Wayne and EWHS English

Language Arts instructor Laura Wills.


VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

Each year exceptional

teachers are recognized by the

Veterans of Foreign Wars

(VFW) for their outstanding

commitment to teach

Americanism and patriotism to

their students. The VFW

annually recognizes the

nation’s top classroom

teachers who teach citizenship

education topics—at least half

of the school day in a

classroom environment—and

promote America’s history,

traditions, and institutions

effectively. Major Brad Kitts is

a JROTC instructor at North

Wilkes High School.

Congratulations, Major Kitts!

We are very proud of you!

Honoring Wilkes County’s Veterans of Foreign Wars

National Citizenship Education

Teacher of the Year...

Major Brad Kitts

The Wilkes County High School Theatre Department and

Wilkes SmartStart present The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

This classic tale follows Tom on his humorous and exciting

adventures in Missouri in the late 1840s as he falls in love,

finds a best friend, and is forced to paint a fence. In the

climax of the show, he and the ruthless Injun Joe face off in

the cave in their famous life-or-death battle. The production

will be performed at the Stone Center on March 7th, 8th, and

9th. Tickets are $5 and kids 5 and under get in free. Tickets

are sold at the door, and concessions will be sold before

and during the show.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

March 7 & 8 at 7 pm/March 9 at 4 pm

S.T.E.M. Career Night at W.W.H.S.

Jennifer LeBlanc, Rebecca

Cooper, and the West

Wilkes EV Team hosted the

first annual S.T.E.M. Career

Night on

Thursday, February 20th, at

6pm in the West Wilkes

High School Media Center.

The event started with

Dr. Rahman Tashakkori and

Dr. Mitch Parry from

Appalachian State

University's Computer

Science Department talking

about the importance of

S.T.E.M. education and the

opportunities available for

students interested in

S.T.E.M.. They also brought

with them several students

to demonstrate current C.S.

projects. After the

introductory remarks, the

participants of S.T.E.M.

night were invited to visit

each station and learn more

about C.S. and S.T.E.M..

Some of the highlights of

the night were the virtual

reality software and

headsets, the Microsoft

Kinect games, the EV

team's display and the

"coding with cups" game.

With a turnout of

approximately 70 people,

the night was a great

success.

NEWSLETTER TITLE

SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING

MATH

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2

In honor of School Counseling Week at West Wilkes High,

Mrs. Amber Falise and Mrs. Stephanie Stone celebrated

school wide by having a Random Acts of Kindness

Week. Students and staff were encouraged to do random

acts of kindness for others. They were also asked to post

acts of kindness that they did for others, received, or

witnessed on our guidance website, which were then posted

on our Random Acts of Kindness Wall in our main

hallway on campus. Those who participated unknowingly

received a candy bar at the end of the week. Other random

acts of kindness included: handing out lollipops to students

during break, giving a massage gift certificate to a staff

member, covering teacher lunch duties, and cookies & cocoa

for staff. Students and staff were enthusiastic about doing

kind things for others as they always are, however this week

inspired more kindness, such as the special treats that were

provided by our Junior Beta Club.

Spring Events...

March 1 = Registration for 2014-15 Classes Opens

March 4 = ACT

March 5 = Tornado Drill

March 7 = WRMC Healthcare Challenge Orientation

March 15 = POETRY OUT LOUD Finals in Greensboro

March 18 = ELA and Social Studies Content Meeting at CO

April 1 = World Languages Content Meeting at CO

April 2 = REAL WORLD Event

April 8 = Math and Science Content Meeting at CO

April 11 = Registration for 2014-2015 Closes

April 14—April 18 = SPRING BREAK Annual Leave

April 21 = Easter Monday Holiday

May 3 = Science Olympiad

May 5 and May 6 = WRMC Healthcare Challenge

May 5 and May 6 = Optional Work Days

May 6 = Spring Honors Course Portfolio Reviews

May 7 = Holocaust Survivor Morris Glass Presentation

End of School Events...

Proms

Graduation Projects

Awards Nights

Graduation Festivities

“No act of kindness, no matter how

small, is ever wasted.” _Aesop

Phone: 336-667-1121

613 Cherry Street North Wilkesboro, NC 29659

HIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGS...

is a publication dedicated to celebrating good news from our high schools. If you have a “happening” to share, please contact your Instructional Specialist.

Happy Spring!

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