Rock Hill Schools Dominate State in Football

Barry Byers has a good article today on what a great year all the area schools had in football for the 2008 season. You can read it in Wednesday's Herald here. One thing that Barry left out, all the Rock Hill Youth Football teams won the state championship in their age division this year as well.

Gary Simrill Talks About Act 388

Reprensentative Gary Simrill talks about Act 388 and other SC legislative issues on the Dec. 18 edition of WRHI's Straight Talk.

Jason Silverman on WRHI's Straight Talk

Jason Silverman covers many issues on the Dec. 11 Straight Talk.

AN OPEN LETTER TO SUPERINTENDENTS AND PRINCIPALS: YOU SHOULD BLOG.

I thought this posting at  The PrincipalsPage.com Blog  was worth a repeat. So much of it is true.
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Superintendents and Principals should blog.

Well that is not exactly what I mean. Plus I feel like I am repeating myself.

They don’t have to necessarily blog, but they do need to keep up with the technological times.

It is almost 2009 after all.

You can’t be a leader in education without leading. And you can’t lead by using pencil and paper when everyone behind you is Twittering. Or Plurking. Or doing 50 other things that I don’t completely understand (yet… I am working on it slowly but surely).

How can we expect students and teachers to stay current, when we are set in our ways?

If we don’t want to get outside of our comfort zone, how can we expect others to tackle the changes and challenges in technology?

How can we make financial judgments on what is good for the school district when we don’t understand the tools being purchased?

How can we tell technology directors that have to block certain websites when we have no idea what the sites are and why they are being used?

How can we let ourselves be considered old, out of date, out of touch, closed minded, and well just really old?

Aren’t we risking looking ignorant when we stand up in front of teachers and say we expect them to use technology?

And then we don’t?

Aren’t we risking looking even more ignorant when we evaluate teachers on using technology and yet we struggle with email?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying every administrator should be a tech geek (a term that I use with love, not with judgment …after all, my wife is the biggest geek I know, and I love her dearly… yes, she wrote the last 15 words).

I am saying that we need to put in the time to advance ourselves if we want everyone around us to be taking these same small steps.

In Open Letter Part 2 (or the Deuce as the hip kids will surely call it), I will tackle the sure fire excuses that administrators will send me (if they email): I’m too busy, if I had a blog no one would read it, I don’t want my thoughts on that internet thingy, and of course the very popular Blah.. blah... blah... blah... blah... blah.

This is a big subject, so I can’t change the administrative mindset myself. This is going to take all of us.

And just one blog won’t cut it. I may be looking at a series here. Possibly even a manifesto.

But I have time. Lots and lots of time.

And cold hard cash. Actually, this part is a lie. I have don’t have a lot of money, just a bunch of change in my desk drawer (mostly pennies).

But I am willing to spend it if I have to. Although I don’t really want to because that is my morning chocolate milk money.

So I will stick to logic.

And if that doesn’t work, I will move on to Phase 2… guilt. And if that doesn’t do the trick, I may invest in frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads (I do love Dr. Evil from Austin Powers).

So it starts here.

Bombard your administrator with this first blog (in what may become an ongoing series… unless of course I get distracted but some other issue).

We can change them. We must change them. We have to do it for the kids.

Wow, I just had an Obama moment there.

Letter to Rock Hill Legislature Representatives

WBTV's Trophy Presentation to South Pointe High School

South Pointe of Rock Hill named "2008 Charlotte Sports Commission's High School Football Team of the Year" Watch South Pointe

Rock Hill Schools Information For December 16

By Elaine Baker

Sullivan to Hold Cares Concert
Sullivan Middle School will hold its First Annual Sullivan Cares Concert at 2:30 Friday, Dec. 19, in the auditorium. The concert will feature the performing arts (dance, chorus and strings) while raising money for local charities. Michael Waiksnis, principal, comments: "As an International Baccalaureate school, we place an emphasis on developing the whole child and giving back to the community. Our recent fundraising events gave our students real world experience in giving back to those in need."

Local Clubs Need Support
The Boys & Girls Clubs of York County provide a safe haven 240 days each year for today’s youth, ages 6-18, where after-school and summer camp programs are led by caring, professional staff.  Weekly fees range from $10-$30 for after-school programs. By keeping program costs affordable, the clubs must rely on the generosity of others. 

      Donations can be made in honor or in memory of loved one.

Holiday Performances

Students at Northside Elementary School of the Arts will perform several times this week.
Fourth and fifth grade students will present "Strings the Thing" at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 16, in the school cafeteria. Then, at 7:00 p.m. Dec. 18, fourth-graders will present Santa's Rockin' Christmas Eve in the Rock Hill High Auditorium. The students will integrate dance, drama, music, and art in their first full-length musical. The schools performing group, the Arts Explorers, will perform at the Galleria Mall at 11:00 a.m. Friday, Dec. 19. They performed at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Sept. and at ChristmasVille on Dec. 7.

Other school performances this week include:

Tuesday, December 16

¡Castle Heights Choral and Drama Depts.

    "Lights, Camera, Christmas" / 7:00 p.m.

¡Rawlinson Road Orchestra / 7:30 p.m.

¡RHH Choral Dept. & Visual Arts Show / 8:00 p.m.

¡Sullivan Orchestra / 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 18

¡Dutchman Creek Band /  7:00 p.m.

¡Rawlinson Road Band / 7:00 p.m.

¡Ebinport Kindergarten  / 9:30 a.m.

¡Northwestern Orchestras  / 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 19

¡Finley Road School Sing Along  / 1:30 p.m.

Fundraiser for Belleview Teacher Big Success
The Dec.15 fundraiser at Durango Bagel to benefit the family of Belleview reading recovery teacher, Elicia Miller, generated close to $5,000 according to Polly Wingate, an organizer. The money  will help offset medical expenses for Elicia's son, Hudson, who was born in late October and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Noteworthy

¡Chick-Fil-A on Cherry Road will hold "Stallion Night" on Dec. 17 with Coach Bobby Carroll and his championship football  team as guests. Chick-Fil-A will donate 10% of sales between 5:00-8:00 toward the purchase of rings for the team.

¡The NHS Jazz Band, directed by Mark Yost, will participate in Muzak's 75th anniversary celebration in February. The band will perform at corporate headquarters in Fort Mill, which will be streamed on the web to their offices throughout the country.

¡The Junior Civitans at Sullivan led students and staff in collecting over 3200 cans of food and $2500 for the Salvation Army to benefit needy families in the Rock Hill area.

¡The official S.C. "Ornaments of Hope," which were for sale last week, have been sold, but there are still five prints left at  a reduced price. If interested, contact Kathy Stanley at 981-1378.

¡At 10:30 today (Dec. 16), Henry McMaster, S.C.  Attorney General, will present a check for $35,000 to the Early Learning Partnership of York County to pay for prescriptions for the Family Resource Center's Medical Clinic. The money, which has become available as part of a court settlement, will be presented at the location for ParentSmart, 410 E. Black Street.

Holiday Message to Rock Hill Schools Employees

Dr. Lynn Moody, Superintendent of the Rock Hill Schools delivers a Holiday Message to all employees.

Can Youtube Help With Math?

Several articles suggest you might find better math instruction on Youtube. If you child is having problems with math, read this US News Report or AP Story. Then head over to Youtube and start searching for your math problem.

South Pointe Football Team To Be Recognized on WBTV @ 11:30 PM December 12

Please tune in tonight  (or DVR it) on "WBTV" Rock Hill cable channel 3...  Delano Little, Danielle Trotta sports anchors for WBTV and Michael Mistler from the Charlotte Sports Commission will present Coach Greg Taylor of South Pointe High School  (Coach Carroll is at North/South Game)  with the "Charlotte Sports Commission's High School Football Team of the year trophy.

The program will air "LIVE" at 11:30 PM tonight , Friday, December 12, 2008 

Rock Hill Schools Information for Friday, December 12

The National Dance Honor Societies of Northwestern and Rawlinson Road Students donated over $500 and two large boxes of gifts for "Toys for Happiness."

Students and staff at Rawlinson Road have donated 47 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to Samaritan's Purse; $350 to the Children's Attention Home and the Teen Health Center; and 2,694 cans of food to fill 76 bags for families in need.

The Personnel Dept. will hold its annual spring Teacher Job Fair from 8:30-12:30 on Sat., April 4, in the gallery of Saluda Trail Middle School.

Sarah Lynn Hayes, director of fine arts and gifted education, reports that the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in York County has been placed at $7 million by the Economic Impact Study done in partnership with Americans for the Arts.

Rock Hill High will host the YC Winborn Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament on Dec. 20, 22, and 23 with four boy teams and 8 girl teams. Proceeds will fund two $500 scholarships, one for a senior female participant and the other for a senior male  participant. T-shirts are on sale for  $12,  proceeds will go toward the scholarships and can now be ordered by contacting Coach Eric Rollings.

Rock Hill Schools Events

The Elementary Honors Choir will perform at 7:00 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, in the sanctuary  of Oakland Baptist Church (free).

The RHHS Choral Department will present "Sounds of the Season" at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, in the auditorium ($5).

The Nutcracker School Performance will be held from 10:00 a.m. - noon Dec.19 in Johnson Hall on the Winthrop campus.

Adult Education will hold its first graduation this school year at 7:00 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, in the Cyber Cafe at the RH Flexible Learning Center.

Rock Hill Schools Get 29 More Nationally Certified Teachers

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards said Tuesday that 754 South Carolina teachers earned the designation in 2008.

Nearly 6,500 South Carolina teachers have earned the certification. It can take teachers up to three years to qualify and requires tests, video recordings of lessons and examples of student work.

Greenville County added the most nationally certified teachers this year with 75. Greenville County also has the most teachers who have earned the certification over time with 471.

Rock Hill School District Three has 210 Nationally Certified teachers with 29 receiving certification this year.  Those reaching the milestone this year are:

Lisa Baker
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Patrice Barlotta
Mathematics/Early Adolescence   Rock Hill, SC
       
Tara Blackwell
Generalist/Early Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Carla Cato
School Counseling/Early Childhood through Young Adulthood       Rock Hill, SC
       
Anna Echols
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Nijjall Fair
Generalist/Middle Childhood     Rock Hill, SC
       
John Finley
World Languages Other than English/Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood    Rock Hill, SC
       
Crystal Gantt
Science/Early Adolescence       Rock Hill, SC
       
Sharon Gayton
Generalist/Middle Childhood     Rock Hill, S
       
Kelly Gibson
Social Studies - History/Early Adolescence      Rock Hill, SC
       
Janice Groves
Mathematics/Adolescence and Young Adulthood     Rock Hill, SC
       
Ashley Hall
Generalist/Middle Childhood     Rock Hill, SC
       
Laura Hall
World Languages Other than English/Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood    Rock Hill, SC
       
Camryn Harvey
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Elaine Howie
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Tina Infinger
English Language Arts/Early Adolescence         Rock Hill, SC
       
Mary Keith
Exceptional Needs Specialist/Early Childhood through Young Adulthood    Rock Hill, SC
       
Laura Limerick
World Languages Other than English/Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood    Rock Hill, SC
       
Robyn Nestvogel
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Marjorie Nix Pusey
Exceptional Needs Specialist/Early Childhood through Young Adulthood    Rock Hill, SC
       
Mary Nowell
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Rebecca Oliver
Mathematics/Early Adolescence   Rock Hill, SC
       
Kristen Reynolds
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Jeremiah Robertson
English Language Arts/Adolescence and Young Adulthood   Rock Hill, SC
       
Elizabeth Saverance
Generalist/Early Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Gail Steffensen
Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood      Rock Hill, SC
       
Sharon Veritzan
Generalist/Middle Childhood     Rock Hill, SC
       
Kimberly White
Generalist/Middle Childhood     Rock Hill, SC
       
Anna Winstead
Physical Education/Early and Middle Childhood   Rock Hill, SC  

South Carolina Education Oversight Committee Recommends Teacher Pay Freeze and No Board Certification Bonus!

The Education Oversight Committee voted unanimously Monday to recommend teacher pay be frozen for the coming fiscal year. The State newspaper reported the average teacher salary in South Carolina is $47,376.

The committee also recommended the state stop giving a $7,500 annual bonus to teachers who earn national board certification in the future. The panel said those in the process of becoming certified would qualify and those with the certification would continue to get the bonus.

The recommendations will go to the General Assembly, which will start work on the  budget in January 09. Sales tax collections have dropped nearly 11 percent this year because of the downturn in the economy.

Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com

Benefit For Teen Health Center

The 2^nd annual “A Night at the Cotton Club” is approaching quickly. The date is set for March 21, 2009. Mark your calendars. This is a fun event held at the Cotton Factory benefiting the Teen Health Center (which really needs your help right now, we are close to having to close our doors because our contributions are down so much this year). There are opportunities to sponsor or just purchase tickets (which are ½ the price of last year!)

Calendar, Letters, Board Meeting, and a Football Game

The Rock Hill School District has several items now posted on the web site that you should view.

First, is the 2009 - 10 school calendar. You can access it here.

Next, the notifications required for No Child Left Behind have been sent out. You can see an example of the Choice letter here, and the Corrective Action letter here.

The School Board will hold the December Work Session at the Children's School at Sylvia Circle on Monday, December 8. The agenda can be found here and at the end of this notice.

Last, there is a football game in Clemson tonight. No matter what, it's been a great fall for High Schools in Rock Hill. South Pointe and Northwestern have provided some of the most exciting high school football in the state this year, or in any year. It's a shame someone has to lose - but that's why they play the game. Best of luck to both teams and boosters.

SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION
LOCATION:	The Children's School at Sylvia Circle
START: 5:30 p.m.
DATE: December 8, 2008
ITEM#	AGENDA TOPIC	DISCUSSION LEADER	TIME
	WORK SESSION - Media Center
1	Presentation by The Children's School	Sandra Lindsay-Brown	30 minutes
2	Rock Hill Climb	L. Moody & System Design Team	60 minutes
3	Food Service Financial Update	Bill Mabry / Elaine Bilton	15 minutes
4	Future High School Focus Group	Luanne Kokolis	15 minutes
5	SCSBA Annual Convention	Bob Norwood	10 minutes
6	Executive Session	Student Hearing	45 minutes

Imagination Library Needs Your Help

Wondering what to do for that person on you gift list? Why not make a donation to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in their name and help a child to read.

40 Years of Education Reform?

Louis V. Gerstner Jr. writes in the December 1st Wall Street Journal that education reform has failed. You should read his comments. Gerstner is a former CEO of IBM and was chairman of the Teaching Commission which reported on ways to improve the quality of public school teaching.

His highlights:

Abolish all local school districts.

Establish a set of national standards for a core curriculum.

Establish a National Skills Day on which every third, sixth, ninth and 12th-grader would be tested against the national standards.

Establish national standards for teacher certification and require regular re-evaluations.

Extend the school day and the school year.

You can find his article here.