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Alleghany High School senior Jacob Brooks spoke this week in Atlanta to a crowd of more than 6,000 key staff and locally-elected directors from the nation's cooperative electric utilities during the annual membership meeting for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Brooks spoke about the importance of life experiences and specifically about how his experiences during the Washington Youth Tour last year had enriched his life. Brooks was originally selected by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation last year as one of the co-op's Youth Tourists to attend an educational trip to Washington, DC, along with other youths from across the nation sponsored by their local electric cooperatives. The Youth Tour is one way cooperatives support local education as they sponsor rising high school seniors to attend a week-long trip to the nation's capitol where they learn not only about cooperative business principles but also about government and history.

Jacob wrote his speech and presented it Tuesday morning, sharing the stage with speakers including actor Ed Asner, former White House official David Gergin, and TV host John Walsh.

Local girls in grades 3 through 5 are invited to participate in Girls on the Run of the High Country, a successful self-esteem building program for pre-adolescents. Registration is now being accepted for spring classes, which begin on Monday, February 15.  The program's curriculum and activities will address girls' physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being. Local organizers said they believe the program is important in order for girls to resist peer pressure as they enter middle school and high school.

Each local group is open to 12 students, who will be enthusiastically coached by trained adult volunteers. The groups will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:15 and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:15 at the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System's Wellness Center in Boone. The 2010 spring session will operate from February 15 through May 14, and the girls and their running buddies will participate in a 5K run/walk/skip/hop/crawl at the end of the session. To register or for more information, contact Mary at ASU's Institute for Health and Human Services at 252-7557. Learn more about Girls on the Run International by clicking to girlsontherun.org. 

President Barack Obama made a recent proclamation naming January National Mentoring Month. Angela McMann, who oversees Western Youth Network's mentoring program, said they are waiting for an official proclamation from Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson. McMann said Western Youth Networks's mentor program is celebrating 25 years of mentoring here in the High Country.  She explained in 2009, WYN's mentors spent 2,900 hours of one-on-one time with area children. McMann explained WYN is always looking for more mentors to spend time with children in the area.  She said Mentors are super important because there are folks that can just contribute some time and a listening hear to local kids who might just need a little extra of that." Interested residents who would like to learn more about being a mentor with can visit WesternYouthNework.org, print an application, and drop it by the headquarters on Western Youth Network Way in Boone.

The Watauga Education Foundation is "flipping" for better schools.
The annual Flapjack Flip, now in its twelfth year, will be held at Watauga High School on Dec. 12 from 7:30-11am. The fund-raising breakfast buffet will feature pancakes, blueberry syrup, orange juice, bacon and coffee, offering a chance to warm up and fortify the system before the annual Boone Christmas Parade the same day. In addition to the food, which is available for $6, there are raffles and craft sales, with all proceeds going directly into local classrooms. The foundation's primary mission is to provide classroom grants and it sponsors the annual Shooting Stars competition. The foundation is also supporting another initiative called Imagination Library, which gets books into the hands of kids before they ever get to school, setting in motion a lifelong love of reading and better preparing children for kindergarten. For more information or to bid on the raffle packages, visit wefnc.org. Bullard can be reached at 268-1273.

The Ashe County High Marching Band marched in the 2009 Carolina's Thanksgiving Parade on Thursday in Charlotte. According to Cynthia Wadsworth, of Ashe County, this was the 25th year in a row that R. Scott Turnmyre, the director of the Ashe County High School Band, led a marching band in the statewide parade. There were around 140 entries in this year's parade and over 100,000 spectators lined the streets of uptown Charlotte for the event. Wadsworth said the Ashe County High Band took first place in the Class A Division at last Thursday's parade.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol is once again working with Watauga County Schools to ensure the safety of its children on buses. It's part of an effort by the Highway Patrol over recent weeks to crack down on drivers who pass stopped school buses with a mechanical stop sign extended. Those areas are now being targeted for increased monitoring and enforcement. Unmarked law enforcement vehicles are following school buses on some routes and cameras have been placed on buses to provide video evidence of violations, said Marshall Ashcraft, Watauga County Schools spokesman, in a press release Friday. Ashcraft encourages drivers to remember that stopping for a stopped school bus is not a simple matter of "stop and go."  Vehicles approaching a school bus displaying its mechanical stop signal and flashing red lights must stop and remain stopped until the flashing red lights are off, the stop signal is not displayed, and the bus has resumed movement.

Breast Cancer Patients and survivors or immediate relatives of a breast cancer patient or survivor who would like to pursue their dreams of a higher education are encouraged to participate in University of Phoenix- North Carolina's Breast Cancer Awareness Scholarship Program. Local campuses will award two full-tuition scholarships to individuals who have struggled with breast cancer diagnosis. It's all part of an effort by University of Phoenix to raise breast Cancer Awareness and assist individuals and families in North Carolina who have been affected by this disease. The scholarship program is available to residents living in Charlotte, Raleigh and surrounding cities. Applications must be submitted by October 31. For more information, contact Nancy Newton at 602-417-0684.

The state's community college system voted today to allow illegal immigrants to enroll at all its campuses beginning next year. According to the Associated Press, the State Board of Community Colleges approved the motion on the stipulation that illegal immigrants would pay a higher out-of-state tuition rate. The regulation change is meant to help children who came to America illegally with their parents. Bev Perdue was against the change and told reporters this week it's hard to understand why the state should educate these people when they can't work legally after they are educated.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE CULLIE TARLETON WAS REAPPOINTED TO THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION ON DROPOUT PREVENTION AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION THIS WEEK. ACCORDING TO TARLETON'S OFFICE, THE COMMISSION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVALUATING INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE DROPOUT RATE ACROSS THE STATE AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL. THE COMMISSION ALSO EVALUATES DROPOUT PREVENTION GRANTS AND STUDIES MAJOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL REFORM EFFORTS. REP. TARLETON IS SERVING HIS SECOND TERM, REPRESENTING DISTRICT 93 (ASHE, WATAUGA).  HE IS CHAIRMAN OF THE WATER RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE AND VICE-CHAIRMAN OF BOTH THE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE AND THE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION.

With the school year now in full swing, bus drivers are noticing continued stop-arm violations in which motorists illegally pass stopped school busses. Though school buses only drop children off on the right side of the road, often children will cross in front of the bus to reach the other side of the road. Every year, for a single day, bus drivers conduct operation "stop-arm", where systems document the total number of stop-arm violations. In 2008, there were 13,830 observed violations for that day in North Carolina. Drivers in either lane or direction must stop for all stopped school buses. The only exception is for roadways of four or more lanes and a center turning lane, in which case oncoming motorists don't have to stop, only those following the bus. During last year's operation stop arm, Watauga's bus drivers observed eight violations. Multiplied by 180 school days, that suggests more than twelve hundred violations a year. Anyone violating the law could be found guilty of a class I felony penalty of six months or more in prison.