Bernd Elementary Pre‐Kindergarten teacher Tracy McWilliams was recently awarded two grants. She was rewarded $700 through the Target Field Trip Grant and $80 from the Pets in the Classroom Grant. She has planned a trip to the Museum of Arts and

Sciences with the Target Field Trip Grant. The grant will provide enough funding for all of Bernd Elementary's Pre‐K and kindergarten students to attend the field trip, as well as the required transportation. “I chose the Museum of Arts and Sciences because it is hands on and extremely student friendly,” Mrs. McWilliams. “I love that my students are given the op‐

Parents throughout Bibb County helped the District kick off registration for the 2014‐2015 Pre‐Kindergarten Pro‐gram on Saturday, February 1, at the Welcome Center. About 200 students were registered for Pre‐K during the event Saturday. Pre‐K registration will continue through February 28 at the Welcome Center, 2003 Riverside Drive in Macon, and the event Saturday gave some parents a head‐start on the

registration process. Hours of operation for registration are 8 a.m.‐4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for Monday, February 17, when the District will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday. Parents will need to bring the following docu‐ments to registration:

February 3, 2014 * Page 1

A Little Extra ...

Funding FunFunding Fun Students in Tracy McWilliams Pre-Kindergarten class at Bernd Elementary School spend some quality time with class pet Chloe. Mrs. McWilliams purchased the Betta Fish with a Pets in the Classroom grant.

District Kicks Off Pre-K Registration

Continued on Page 2

District Set to Host Financial Aid Night

The District will host a Finan‐cial Aid Night on Thursday, February 6, at 6 p.m. at Rut‐land High School, 6250 Skip‐per Road in Macon. Represen‐tatives from the Georgia Stu‐dent Finance Commission, Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Middle Georgia State College, and Central Georgia Technical College will be on hand to discuss the financial aid process and money man‐agement tips for students. The event is free and open to all students throughout the District. For more, contact your guidance counselor.

Bernd Elementary Teacher Earns Grants for Field Trips, Class Pet

Continued on Page 2

Jones’ Annual Health and Fitness Event

Jones Elementary School will host the second annual Fit‐ness and Health Extravaganza on Tuesday, February 4, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. Jones is lo‐cated at 2350 Alandale Drive in Macon. The event is open to ALL families with students in Bibb schools. Families are invited to learn ways of living a healthier lifestyle and ex‐perience an energetic night of fun. The free event will fea‐ture six creative snack‐making stations, an obstacle course, Zumba lessons, and more. For more, call (478) 779‐2581.

Taste of Porter to Feature Jazz & Art

Porter Elementary School will sponsor the Taste of Porter with an Art and Jazz Twist on Thursday, February 13, at 6 p.m. Porter Elementary School is located at 5802 School Road in Macon. The evening's fes‐tivities will include a jazz band and art gallery, as well as sam‐ples of food allowing guests the opportunity to experience a variety of cultural cuisines. There also will be an art sta‐tion, at which families may create their own artwork at their leisure. For more infor‐mation, call (478) 779‐4350.

portunity to see a snake, learn about its habitat and be able to touch it.” Because there is limited space at the museum’s picnic tables, the teachers plan to split the group of 100 students into two groups. On March 20, two kindergarten classes will attend the museum, and

one kindergarten class and all of Pre‐K will go on March 21. The Pets in the Classroom Grant provided Mrs. McWilliams with several vouchers adding up to $80 for her to purchase accessories for her new classroom pet. Pre‐K teachers can choose between several classroom pets, including fish, snakes, rab‐bits, mice, and hamsters. Mrs. McWilliams chose a Betta Fish for her Pre‐K class. The class named

their new pet Chloe. “We love Chloe," she said. “Chloe gives us an opportunity to show responsibility. As well as she is calming. I’ve noticed if some of the students get worked up you can see them walk over and watch her. And even I do it myself. It kind of renews your spirit.”

‐ Emily Brunner

‐ Proof of residence (current telephone, gas, water, electric or cable bill), ‐ Child’s certified birth certifi‐cate, and ‐ Child’s Social Security card. There are currently 748 Pre‐K slots available to children who are 4 years old on or before Sep‐tember 1, 2014. Students may attend Pre‐K at their zoned school or Northwoods Academy. Selection is based on a random computer lottery, and there is no cost to participate. If a child is selected by the lottery, parents will be notified by mail by June 15, 2014. If a child's name is not selected by the lottery, his or her name will automatically be placed on the waiting list. Parents will be noti‐fied of this information by June 15, 2014. Parents must attend a sched‐uled orientation before the 2014‐2015 school year to indicate acceptance. If parents do not attend orientation, the child's slot will be given to the next

student on the waiting list. For more information regard‐ing Bibb County’s Pre‐K Registra‐

tion, call the Welcome Center at (478) 779‐3700, or Northwoods Academy at (478) 779‐3204.

February 3, 2014 * Page 2

PRE-K Continued from Page 1

Above, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Erin Weaver reads to children at the Pre-K Registration Kick-off on Saturday, February 1. At left, students put on a puppet show of “The Three Little Pigs” at Northwoods on Friday, January 31.

GRANTS Continued from Page 1

CBF T-Shirts to Feature Southwest Senior’s Art Southwest High School senior Tyisha Wells won the Cherry Blossom Festival children’s T‐shirt con‐test for 2014. Students throughout Middle Georgia in kinder‐garten through 12th grades could enter the con‐test. The theme for 2014 is “Cherrylicious – it’s Cherry Blossom Party Time!” Tyisha was speechless when she received a phone call announcing that her T‐shirt design will be sold to children and adults throughout Cherry Blossom season. “I felt so honored and happy,” she said. Tyisha is the go‐to artist at Southwest High. She partners with the Drama Club by designing and painting their sets. She has also created the prom banners in past years. She recently won first place in the “Operation Graduation” logo for the class of 2014. She was

awarded $75, and the graduating class will wear her pin design at graduation.

Last semester, Tyisha also won first place in the 96th Birthday Celebration Design Contest for the Modern Free and Accepted Mason of the World Inc. She painted the building the organization was established in. She received $50 and par‐ticipated as a judge of floats in a parade celebrating the or‐

ganization’s birthday. She also has a self portrait hanging in the Bibb County School District’s Welcome Center. Tyisha hopes to attend the Art Institute of At‐lanta and further her passion for art.

‐ Emily Brunner

This artwork by Tyisha Wells will be featured on a T-shirt sold during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Tyisha Wells

The Bibb County School District's Infinite Campus Student Portal is now open to stu‐dents in grades 6‐12. Student Portal allows students to view information such as: Sched‐ule, Assignment Information and Scores, and Grades. Student Portal can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. To log in, stu‐dents should go to the Bibb County School District's website at www.bibb.k12.ga.us. From the left side menu, click Parent and Student Information, then click Student Por‐tal. Student's login is the following format: ‐ Username: Student's BCS lunch number ‐ Password: Student's <first name ini‐tial><last name initial>six‐digit birth date (mmddyy)> Passwords are lowercase with no spaces, slashes or dashes. The above login format is for student logins ONLY. Parents will still need to continue sub‐mitting an application (with proof of ID) for an account. If students have difficulty with login, e‐mail campushelp@bibb.k12.ga.us.

Student Portal Now Open for Grades 6-12

Alexander II Magnet School

Five Schools Recognized as Reward Schools by GaDOE for High Performance and Progress

February 3, 2014 * Page 3

Recognitions from Jan. 16 Board Meeting

The Bibb County School District is proud to announce that five schools have been designated as Reward Schools by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), with one of them being categorized as a Highest‐Performing School. Alexander II Magnet School has been designated as a Reward School ‐ Highest‐Performing School. A High‐est‐Performing School is a Title I school among the 5 percent of Title I schools in the state that has the highest absolute performance over three years for the “all students” group on the statewide assess‐ments. A school may not be classi‐fied as a Highest‐Performing School if it has been identified as a Priority, Focus, or Alert School. Four schools have been identified as a Reward School ‐ Highest Pro‐gress: Bernd Elementary, Burdell‐Hunt Magnet, Appling Middle, and Bloomfield Middle. A High‐Progress

School is a Title I school among the 10 percent of Title I schools in the state that is making the most pro‐gress in improving the performance of the “all students” group over three years on the statewide assess‐ments. A school may not be classi‐fied as a High‐Progress School if it has been identified as a Priority, Focus, or Alert School. "We are excited about the pro‐gress these schools are making," Interim Superintendent Dr. E. Ste‐ven Smith said. "It's a credit to the teamwork of the administration, faculty, staff, students, and parents,” he said. “Our Offices of School Improvement and Teaching and Learning are align‐ing their work to increase achieve‐ment in all Bibb County schools. It demonstrates that working together we can accomplish our goals of suc‐cess. I look forward to even greater progress in the future."

Bernd Elementary School

Appling Middle School

Burdell-Hunt Magnet School

Bloomfield Middle School

Nationally three out of four K‐12 teachers assign homework which requires Internet research. Hence the goal of Connect2Compete and Macon partners, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Bibb County School District, Cox Commu‐nications and Quality Computer Sys‐tems is to facilitate home Internet access for every Bibb student. Brought to Macon as a pilot pro‐gram by the Knight Foundation and Cox, Connect2Compete offered fami‐lies in the free lunch program afford‐able Cox Internet ($9.95 a month) and computers ($150 for a desktop, $199 for a laptop) via online or phone registrations. The 2012 Con‐nect2Compete pilot (in which Bibb schools were the top performing market) clearly indicated that quali‐fying Bibb school families wanted a local computer retailer who would allow cash and installment transac‐tions and coach families through computer features and options. On August 7, 2013, owner Brad Spiegel announced Quality Computer Systems, located at 2940 Riverside Drive, would serve as the local Con‐nect2Compete (C2C) partner for affordable computers. Mr. Spiegelʼs

commitment to Bibb schools and connectivity has been extraordinary. Within the first few weeks, he responded to demand and expanded the offer to all Bibb school families versus only those in the Free Lunch Program. He went above and beyond the C2C product criteria, buying only metal framed laptops, installing Mi‐crosoft Office 2010 (versus 2007),

adding a larger 15” screen option for laptops, and even offering lower priced options ($99 laptops) to school families. The staff at Quality Computer Sys‐tems jumped in to set up a Connec‐t2Compete showroom at the front of the store, load links to recommended educational websites on each C2C computer, coach Connect2Compete

clients about computers, and even gave up a Saturday morning to serve as the tech gurus for Maconʼs Every‐oneOn Day. Mr. Spiegelʼs compassion matches his passion for connectivity. In De‐cember when Quality Computers began to get calls from installment customers struggling to pay for gifts, Brad and his staff forgave the re‐maining debt for 16 C2C customers, calling each to come pick up their computers that day. It is no surprise that Quality Com‐puters Systemsʼ par cipa on in Con‐nect2Compete has essentially tripled the number of Connect2Compete computers sold to Bibb school fami‐lies, selling well over 325 laptops and desktops within the last six months. The District and Connect2Compete are fortunate to partner with com‐munity citizens like Quality Com‐puters, Cox Communications and the Knight Foundation. The Connect2Compete discounts continue through December 31. To learn more about Connect2Compete, visit www.connect2compete.org/cox, or visit Quality Computer Systems, located at 2940 Riverside Drive in Macon.

From left are Mary Robinson of Connect2Compete, Beverly Blake of the Knight Foundation, Interim Superintendent Dr. E. Steven Smith, Brad Spiegel of Quality Computer Systems, Mary Bowman Hampton of Cox Communications, Chad Allen of Cox Business, and Airrion Lytle of Cox Business.

District Recognizes Local Business for Partnership Benefiting Bibb Students, Families

February 3, 2014 * Page 4

Recognitions from Jan. 16 Board Meeting

Burdell-Hunt Magnet School fifth-graders Natalie Snead and Devon Barnes lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, January 16. They are seen with Principal Tanya Allen, left, Interim Superintendent Dr. E. Steven Smith, back center, and family.

Burdell-Hunt Fifth-Graders Lead Pledge of Allegiance at BOE Meeting

Alexander II Students Learn Physics at STARBASE Robins Fifth‐graders in Priscilla Stanley's class at Alexander II Magnet School recently participated in various math and science activities at STARBASE Robins at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base. They created rockets using straws, erasers and index cards, and after creating them, they launched them on site. After the launch, they measured how far the rockets traveled before landing.

February 3, 2014 * Page 5

Students representing service or‐ganizations from schools throughout the District have come together to form the new Tri‐Service Color Guard. “All of the JROTC programs at the different high schools have a Color Guard program but we really wanted to get a collaboration between all the schools and bring the schools together to not just highlight one certain program but to highlight all the programs,” said Jason Weiss, Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Supervisor at Cen‐tral High School. “All of the students at the schools are excellent and it is a good chance to showcase each indi‐vidual school as a team together." Color guard instructors selected students to partake in the district team based on who would benefit best from the extra practice, further exposure, and those interested in taking a military career beyond the secondary school system. Color Guard Commander for Cen‐tral High, Dontrell Rice, said, “I have learned how to do flag drill, rifle drill, and color reverse and the different movements for color guard.“ “I chose to join the district team because of the fact that I am on the color guard already at my school and

I wanted to further my color guard experience," said Rutland High Color Guard member Tytiana Lockett. The District’s Tri‐Service Color Guard team practices as needed, and more frequently when they are pre‐paring for a large event. Last semes‐ter, they presented at the 2014 Bibb County Teacher of the Year banquet in November and at the October Board of Education meeting. The district team plans to present at fu‐

ture Board meetings and at any sig‐nificant events for the District. “This is a really good opportunity because we have a unique situation here in Bibb County where we have three services represented in the school district: Army, Marines and Air Force,” said Southwest High School’s Drill Team Adviser, JROTC Air Force Instructor and Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Taylor Lankford. “It gives us an opportunity

to get our cadets together in team function because usually we are competing against each other. We come together to form the Tri‐Service Color Guard and actually represent the District.” “We are really excited," Mr. Weiss said. "This initiative has been in the works for a while. CTAE is really proud that these students have come together and we have had a chance to highlight the great thing the JROTC programs are doing at the schools and what CTAE can do for them.”

‐ Emily Brunner

Schools Form District Tri-Service Color Guard

Members of the District’s new Tri-Service Color Guard have presented the colors at the 2014 Bibb County Teacher of the Year banquet, above, and the October Board of Education meeting, right.

Westside CTI Coordinator Receives National Attention Westside High School Career and Technical Instruction (CTI) Coordina‐tor Philip A. Starke was named the 2013 recipient of the Breaking Tradi‐tions Achievement Award from the Career Technical Education Equity Council (CTEEC). The Breaking Tradition Achieve‐ment Award recognizes an individual or company that has demonstrated distinguished achievement or per‐formance that had a national impact on public attitude regarding gender equity and/or stereotyping. Mr. Starke was selected for this award because of his outstanding commit‐ment to equity in career and techni‐cal education as an advocate for students with disabilities. Mr. Starke was invited to CareerTech Vision 2013 in Las Vegas to receive this prestigious award; however, due to late notification he was unable to attend the ceremony. Mr. Starke said he was pleasantly surprised by the recognition, but that

he is pleased by simply making a difference in the lives of students. “Helping students to realize their potential and the benefit of investing in themselves is the greatest reward

to me," he said. CTEEC’s goal is to provide leader‐ship in promoting equal opportunity in career and technical education, which includes the following pur‐

poses: ‐ To increase the effectiveness of career and technical education eq‐uity programs to meet the needs of students, parents, teachers, counsel‐ors, administrators, and employers. ‐ To encourage promotion of non‐discriminatory education at all levels. ‐ To stimulate research in the elimination of bias and stereotyping. ‐ To encourage interest and con‐cern for equity in career and techni‐cal education. ‐ To develop leadership in career and technical education, especially in the area of educational equity. ‐ To maintain close cooperation and working relationships with all career and technical education ser‐vices. ‐ To develop, maintain, promote, and coordinate cooperation in edu‐cational equity through the inter‐change of ideas, materials, problems, and accomplishments among the States and Territories.

Westside High School Career and Technical Instruction Coordinator Philip A. Starke holds the 2013 Breaking Traditions Achievement Award from the Career Technical Education Equity Council.

Howard High School started a new club for literary pupils: a literary magazine named The Snow Hook. Senior Kellen Gordon is the chief editor of the Snow Hook. The club has two editors under Kellen, sopho‐more Amanda Rowan and junior Jay Brunner. As editors they work to‐gether to proofread all of the sub‐missions, and judge which entries are added to the magazine. The club also has staff members, including Tierra Murphy and Chris Beckworth, who type up handwritten submissions. “We want to get the writing of the students out and we want to see better writers,” said Alicia Tudzin, the literary magazine's sponsor. “If they have an outlet for writing they will be encouraged to do more writ‐ing, improve writing and showcase the talent we have here at Howard High School.” Currently, The Snow Hook is avail‐able to the public on the Howard High website. The Snow Hook fea‐tures works by the students and faculty of Howard. The works pres‐

ently include poetry, short stories, essays and artwork. “It is not only just great fun, it is a way for students to showcase their talents because not everyone can

play football, basketball, play an instrument, or be in choir," Amanda said. "It is just another thing that students can do and showcase their talents.”

“Being our first year we are focus‐ing mainly on assembling people to submit things, but hopefully in the future it will be more competitive to get in, higher student involvement, and more creativity” Jay said. The staff’s plans for the future of The Snow Hook include adding a travel journal section, foreign lan‐guage stories and even a section showcasing musical talents. “I want to partner with the foreign language department,” Kellen said. “I would like to get the teachers to create class projects so we can have submissions from those students who enjoy foreign languages.” All faculty and students of Howard High may submit entries as long as they meet the criteria. Submissions should be no longer than three pages and cannot contain any vulgar mate‐rial. Students and faculty may give their literary pieces to their literature teacher, take them to Mrs. Tudzin’s room, or they may submit work by e‐mail to thesnowhook@yahoo.com.

‐ Emily Brunner

Senior Kellen Gordon is the chief editor of Howard High School’s literary magazine, The Snow Hook.

February 3, 2014 * Page 6

Howard Students Producing Literary Magazine

Three Win Local School Nutrition Competition The Bibb County School Nutrition Association held its annual contest today at Elam Alexander Academy at Burke. School Nutrition employees could enter dishes in three categories: Breakfast with Whole Grain, Chicken Entree, and Vegetable Side Dish. First place winners advanced to the district competition and then winners from that contest move on to the state competition held at Le Cordon Bleu in Atlanta. Local winners were: Rhonda Drawhorn from Union Elementary School for her Chewy Oat Bars, Gloria Terry from Vineville Academy of the Arts for her Chicken Roll‐up, and Marie Gilchrist from Miller Middle School for her Roasted Broccoli with a Twist.

Winners were Marie Gilchrist from Miller Middle School, Rhonda Drawhorn from Union Elementary School, and Gloria Terry from Vineville Academy of the Arts.

Southwest High School Hosts College Fair Southwest High School partnered with the Middle Georgia Center for Aca‐demic Excellence Upward Bound and Education Talent Search Programs to host a College Fair for students and their parents on Wednesday, January 22. Repre‐sentatives from various technical and two‐ and four‐year colleges were on site to provide parents and students with information about their programs, includ‐ing admission requirements, curriculum requirements, financial aid, and stu‐dents activities. Some of the colleges that were represented included Georgia Southern University, Albany State University, Georgia State University, and Georgia College and State University, Savannah State University, Central Geor‐gia Technical College, GMC, Wesleyan College, Columbus State and Kennesaw State University. The United States Armed Forces were represented, as well as Job Corps, banks, health centers, RiverEdge, and more.

February 3, 2014 * Page 7

University of Georgia Head Football Coach Mark Richt visited Rutland High School on Friday, January 22, to speak with football recruit Shakenneth Williams. National Signing Day will take place on Wednesday, February 5.

UGA Coach Visits Rutland High Ahead of National Signing Day

FFA Instructor Nominated for National Award Jeff Wilson, an Agriculture Science instructor at Rut‐land High School, has been nominated for the Teacher Turn the Key Award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). He was nominated for the award at the Georgia Vocational Agricultural Teachers Conference on January 17 in Covington. This award rec‐ognizes outstanding Agriculture Science teachers that have less than 3 years of teaching experience. Mr. Wilson was nominated for his contributions to professional ac‐tivities and his active FFA chapter at Rutland High School. The winner of the award will be announced in May at the national conference.

28 Macon Orange Duffel Bag Grads Tour Kennesaw State Graduates of the Orange Duffel Bag Initiative (ODBI) reunited recently to spend a day touring Kennesaw State University. ODBI is a nonprofit organization that offers a 12‐week coaching pro‐gram for at‐risk youth. Students enrolled in the program are mentored by life coaches who help the students develop a life plan that expands beyond high school. Twenty‐eight of those attend‐ing the reunion were graduates of Macon's ODBI program. They learned more about the oppor‐tunities offered at Kennesaw State and attended a basketball game. To learn more about the Orange Duffel Bag Initiative, visit http://orangeduffelbagfoundation.org.

Pictured from left are Rutland High School Principal Dr. Jerri Hall, Shakenneth Williams, and UGA Head Football Coach Mark Richt.

About This Newsletter

This newsletter is created and distributed by the De‐partment of Communications / Community & School Affairs as a means to inform the community of the events, announcements, and highlights of the Bibb County School District. Permission to reprint unal‐tered photos and/or stories is hereby granted, pro‐vided the Bibb County School District is cited.

www.bibb.k12.ga.us * Facebook.com/bibbschools

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Follow Us on the Web

February 3, 2014 * Page 8

Members of the Central High School Sugarbear Band were selected for the Regional Honors Band. The Honors Band encompasses Bibb, Houston, and Baldwin County students. Adonijah Palmer, a Central High junior, was selected as the 11th and 12th grade First Chair for the tuba section. On February 8 at 2 p.m., the Honors Band will make its debut at Baldwin County High School.

Central Students Selected for Regional Honors Band

Heritage Students on the Move for Better Health This year, Heritage Elementary School's fourth grade teachers are working with HealthMPowers to create more opportunities for students to be active before, during and after school to improve health and learning. Experts say that physical activity is linked to higher test scores, increased attention levels, and better health, and HealthMPowers says children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Many Heritage fourth‐graders are trying to reach that goal by attending early morning movement classes every Monday and Friday, participat‐ing in movement after morning announcements, and walking 15 minutes after lunch.

On January 8, the entire Heritage family decided to join the movement toward promoting better health and learning by participating daily now in MIND in Motion after morning announcements. The children are re‐sponding positively to this program, and administrators and staff have noted prolonged attention spans in stu‐dents who typically have difficulty paying attention, weight loss (as much as 16 pounds), increased flexibility and better moods.

E-mail Us

Stephanie Hartley, snhartley@bibb.k12.ga.us

Kim Pelt, kdpelt@bibb.k12.ga.us

Emily Brunner, communicationsintern@bibb.k12.ga.us

communications@bibb.k12.ga.us Westside High School DECA Chapter Members Organize Blood Drive DECA members at Westside High School hosted a blood drive with the American Red Cross. The students assisted with promoting, recruiting, scheduling, registering and operations.

Students in Fran Daniel's fourth grade class at Heritage Elementary School participate in MIND in Motion.

Pictured are, front row, Tamera Lester, clarinet; Adonijah Palmer, tuba; John Ngo, flute; Janae Starling, clarinet; Johntavis McLean, tuba; back row, Malik Walker, French horn; Khalil Guy, trombone; Queen Semaj, clarinet; Blayze Jackson, trumpet; Joseph Awoyeye, tuba; and Joseph Gaines, trumpet.