District Three News 11-29

York County's four school boards have been selected by the S.C. School
Boards Assn. to receive the Advocacy Program-of-the-Year Award. The
boards, which work together several times yearly, were guided by members
of the Rock Hill School Board, which was the first winner of this award
in 2005. RH board members Mildred Douglas and Ann Reid will accept the
award Dec. 1 at a state school board conference.

Marsha Bennett, a reading recovery teacher, has been selected by the
Palmetto Council of the International Reading Association as the
Elementary Distinguished Teacher of Reading.

<Fifth graders at Finley Road will lead a community sing along of
holiday carols at the "Deck the Hall" concert at 7:00 tonight (11/29) at
City Hall. Other school groups participating will be the Oakdale SPICE
Club and the Saluda Trail Middle School Band.
<Congratulations to our high school choral music teachers whose students
recently auditioned for All-State choirs. Of the 1,375 students who
auditioned, only 471 were chosen. Of those, 20 were students of
Elizabeth Mixon at Northwestern; 13 were students of Mary Ann Helton at
Rock Hill High; and 8 were students of Beverly Laney at South Pointe.
One of Beverly's students was the highest scoring second soprano in the
state!
<Michael Waiksnis, assistant principal at Castle Heights, has been
selected to serve as one of 15 administrators from across the nation on
a Task Force of the National Assn. of Secondary School Principals. The
Task Force will study the topic, "Redefining the Assistant
Principalship."
<The students and staff at Sullivan Middle School have gotten into the
"season of giving" by conducting a canned food drive for the Salvation
Army. More than 2,000 cans have already been collected.
<Hats off to teacher and advisor Cathy Griffin and the Northwestern
Model UN Team on its excellent performance Nov. 16 at the Clemson Model
UN regional competition. Team members won 8 of 16 individual debating
awards, and the team representing Israel won the first place Outstanding
Delegation Award. Most of the students running the event were products
of the Rock Hill School System.
<To raise money for a school track, the Richmond Drive Elementary Health
Committee and "Girls on the Run" are collecting household items and
slightly worn prom dresses for a sale in late January.
<A brief article by Connie Grant, asst. principal at NHS, appears in the
Dec. edition of SaltWater Sportsman magazine. Connie tells how he keeps
his surf reels clean by using cotton swabs and toothbrushes!
<Tickets are now on sale for the NHS Choral Dept.'s Winter Concert that
will be held on Dec. 6 and 7. Tickets at $8 for adults and are available
by contacting Elizabeth Mixon at the school.
<On Thursday, December 13, the South Pointe High School Music Department
will hold it's first annual "A Time for HOPE" Benefit Concert. Band,
Orchestra and Chorus will collaborate to bring the audience sounds of
the season while collecting canned food for local charity HOPE (Helping
Other People Effectively). HOPE gave out 4000 issues of food to
families in the Rock Hill area last Christmas season, and they project
that much or more to be given out this year. Admission to this concert
is at least one can of food per person and our goal is 1000 cans. The
benefit concert will be held in the South Pointe auditorium at 7 p.m. on
December 13.
<The Rock Hill High Choral Christmas concert will be at 8:00 pm on
Tuesday, December 11. Contact the school for tickets.