Recently in SCHOOL Category

Elementary schools across Watauga County celebrated the annual national "Read Across America" event to promote reading yesterday. Watauga County Schools spokesman Marshall Ashcraft said State Senator Steve Goss, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson, Superintendent Dr. Marty Hemric, representatives from the Boone Police and Fire departments, representatives from the Watauga Sheriff's Office, and other volunteers read to children at Hardin Park Elementary. Students at Mabel decorated cakes to look like book covers and students at Valle Crucis celebrated Dr. Seuss-style by coloring green eggs and reading Horton Hears a Who.

Read Across America was developed by the National Education Association and was first celebrated in 1998.

Lees-McRae College will have a new president effective June 1. The school's board of trustees announced that Dr. Barry M. Buxton will be the 15th president in the 110-year history of Lees-McCrae College. Buxton is a Blowing Rock native and has served as president of science and history museums in North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia. Buxton was also presented with a service award from the Blue Ridge Parkway for historic studies he conducted.

As of today, Watauga County Schools have been closed for 23 days this school year because of inclement weather. Earlier this week, Schools Superintendent Dr. Marty Hemric took time to clarify system policies on closing and explain the reasoning behind new guidelines on Saturday school and limited bus routes. All school systems in the state are required to have 180 days of instruction and make up any days that are missed. However, because of the quantity of days missed so far this winter, Watauga County Schools have prepared the paperwork to request a waiver from the state for some of the missed days. For more information about limited bus routes, school closings and makeup days, call 828-264-7190.

Although Watauga County Schools have missed 17 of 32 scheduled school days since Christmas break, the system is in much better shape than other school districts in the region. Watauga County Schools spokesman Marshall Ashcraft said WCS is allowed to start earlier in the year, so they should be able to finish the required 180 days without a major issue. Ashcraft explained, "Counties that have, on average, missed more than 10 days of school for weather related reasons are allowed a waiver from the school calendar law which otherwise requires North Carolina school districts to start no earlier than August 25th.

As of today, Watauga County Schools have canceled more than half of their scheduled school days since Christmas break. WCS Community Relations Coordinator Marshall Ashcraft said winter weather has wreaked havoc on the school schedule, causing class to be cancelled 16 of the past 30 school days. The National Weather Service is calling for a chance of snow every day this week through Thursday.

With so many snow days canceling school this year, Watauga County Schools has to get creative when it comes to making up for lost classroom time. The system already holds school on Saturday, but now the administrative team at Watauga County Schools has tweaked the Saturday school procedure. Under the revised guidelines for Saturdays, schools will be open on Saturday if they are closed on any day, including Friday, of the same week. Previously, schools would not open on Saturday if schools were closed on Friday. In another change, if school opening is delayed on a Saturday, schools will dismiss at their regular weekday time instead of on an early release schedule. Under Plan B limited bus routes, school buses travel only on specified major roads. A list of roads included on Plan B limited routes is available on the Watauga County Schools website from the 'Parent Link" page.

More detailed information about these routes is available from school offices or from Transportation Director Toni Weaver Floyd at 264-6391.

The Watauga Education Foundation is now accepting applications from college-bound Watauga High School Seniors for the Kate Swift Reese Scholarship.  At $1,000 the scholarship is a noteworthy addition to the funds that are available to local students for post secondary education. The endowment was established with the Foundation this past year to honor Miss Kate, who was best known for showing kindness to all she encountered and for being a natural born educator. Eligible students are those who graduate from WHS, are enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education in the US who demonstrate excellence in academic achievement, citizenship and community involvement and who clearly demonstrate a need for the scholarship.

The Kate Swift Reese Scholarship will be awarded this May, to a WHS student who epitomizes Miss Kate's spirit of helping others. Applications for the scholarship are available on the Watauga Education Foundation's website at wefnc.org, and through guidance counselors Watauga High School. They must be received by the foundation by March 1st.

To learn more about the positive impact this organization has had on students how you can join the effort, visit wefnc.org.

Committee assignments for the Watauga Board of Education for 2010 were announced at the board's meeting on January 11. The committees play an important role in reviewing issues in their assigned areas and often develop recommendations that are brought to the full board for final action. Board chair Lowell Younce will serve on the committees for finance, personnel, and parks and recreation. Vice chair Dr. Lee Warren is a member of the high school curriculum committee, while Steve Combs will participate in the committees for facilities and for safe schools. Deborah Miller will represent the board on the elementary curriculum and student services committees, and is also the board liaison to the Watauga Education Foundation. Marsha Walpole will be serving on the Teacher of the Year, technology, and calendar committees, and will also be a board representative to Watauga for Youth. Both Younce and Miller will serve on the Watauga High School core committee and the Watauga High School education subcommittee. Warren and Combs will be members of the athletic focus group.

Snow isn't the only thing that's been accumulating lately, as area school systems are having to deal with the accumulating amount of snow days. Avery and Watauga County Schools will hold classes for on Saturday to make up for lost time in the classroom. Avery County Schools will release students at noon on Saturday, while Watauga County elementary schools will let out at noon and Watauga High School at 1:00 p.m. The Avery County School Board also made a decision to make Monday, January 18, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a regular school day. Marshall Ashcraft with Watauga County Schools said that from this point on, any time school is cancelled on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday because of inclement weather, the system will hold school the following Saturday.  Watauga County Schools will not be open on Saturday if they were closed the Friday before.

Tuesday marked the fifth snow day for Watauga County Schools for the 2009-10 school year. Marshal Ashcraft, school-system public information director, said Saturday school make-up days could begin as early as Jan. 16 if additional snow days occur next week. Friday was previously scheduled as a teacher workday, however, if in session, it will be a regular school day for students. Ashcraft said there will not be a teacher workday until after high school exams are complete.

The North Carolina Humanities Council has awarded the library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $5,400 for the project "Worth 1,000 Words: Essays on the Photographs of Hugh Morton." The grant will fund 13 essays that will provide insight into Morton's work. The library will post about one essay every two weeks on the blog "A View to Hugh" (http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/morton/) beginning in late January. Morton, who died in 2006, was best known to many in North Carolina as the owner of Grandfather Mountain, now a state park in Linville. He also was an avid photographer with interests in conservation, sports, politics and tourism. He attended UNC from 1939 to 1942, then enlisted in the armed forces.
In 2007, Morton's widow, Julia T. Morton, gave the UNC Library's photographic archives approximately 500,000 of Morton's photographs,negatives and transparencies, plus 60,000 linear feet of motion picture film.
The grant from the humanities council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will enable the archives to commission original essays by scholars, researchers and journalists. Topics will include:

* The Blue Ridge Parkway, by Anne Mitchell Whisnant, author of
"Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History" (UNC Press, 2006);

* UNC basketball and football, by Art Chansky, sports writer and
associate general manager of Tar Heel Sports Properties;

* North Carolina political history, by Rob Christensen, political
reporter for the News & Observer of Raleigh and author of "The Paradox
of Tar Heel Politics" (UNC Press, 2008).

If you're looking for a complete list of authors and essays visit: (http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/morton/index.php/2009/12/morton-project-awarded-nchc-grant/). For more information about the project, contact Hugh Morton Collection Archivist Elizabeth Hull, at eahull@email.unc.edu, or call her at (919)962-7992.