February 13, 2015

Friday News

Hoke High—Plans to make it bigger and better

KEEPING YOU IN THE KNOW

FREDDIE WILLIAMSON, SUPERINTENDENT

JODIE BRYANT, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

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Last week, administrators from Hoke County Schools met with

the Board of Education and the Hoke County Board of Commis-

sioners to discuss the future of Hoke County High School and the

idea of adding a third campus in order to do two things—

accommodate growth and to offer the students of Hoke County

High School more opportunities to become college and career

ready.

The proposed additional campus would include classrooms with a

focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and

career and technical education. The building, which would serve

as the new main entrance into Hoke High, would also have a new

cafeteria, administrative offices, a gym with a swimming pool

hidden underneath a retractable floor in the gym, equipment for

firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) training, as

well as health science classrooms and labs. By adding additional

classrooms and labs for health sciences, as well as firefighter and EMT training, students would be offered as

many as 19 additional credentials while in high school.

The intention of Hoke County Schools is to partner with the community to make certain aspects of this building

accessible for community use. As part of a partnership with local hospitals, Hoke County Schools hopes to use

the health science labs for a community clinic on weekends. The pool and gym would be open to the public, as

well as a restaurant and dining room operated by the culinary arts department. The firefighter and EMT training

facility would also be available to assist in the training of firefighters throughout the community. County commissioners toured Hoke High’s campus last Thursday and heard presentations from FirstFloor archi-

tect Robert Ferris, who worked with the county to build Sandy Grove Middle School, and others who are assisting

in the process.

The proposed high school addition “is a place we want kids to be excited about learning,” Ferris said.

“We all know that strong schools create vibrant communities and vibrant communities make a better future for

everyone,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is about making Hoke County strong financially, for the long-

term.”

Board of Education member Della Maynor, Board of

Education Chair Rosa McAllister-McRae, and County

Commissioner Vice Chair Allen Thomas posed with

students while touring an existing culinary arts

classroom at Hoke High.

SGES students celebrate first semester success

Sandy Grove Elementary Doves celebrated their

2nd quarter accomplishments on January 30.

Friends and family gathered in each classroom for

an assembly. Awards were given for academic ac-

complishments, perfect attendance, BUG (bringing

up grades), most improved, citizenship, Dove

Readers, and honor roll. Resource awards were al-

so given for the first semester. Staff are already

looking critically at data to target interventions in

the second half of the year and students will soon line the halls with their

year-end goal as part of SGES's Academic Olympics line up! Keep up

the great work DOVES!

West Hoke Elementary School's Peer Me-

diators have had extensive training in the

areas of listening skills, communication

skills, leadership technique and conflict

resolution techniques. Each morning, the

WHES Peer Mediators report to designat-

ed areas, in teams of two, to assist students. Their attention is given

to all students traveling in those specific areas on campus. The

WHES Peer Mediators remain on duty until after the morning an-

nouncements start.

Thursday night, during the Snack and Chat at West Hoke Elementary,

parents and students were introduced to the "Read 20" program. The

program was made available by a mini-grant from Partners

in Education and encourages students to read for 20

minutes each night. Several students shared their love of

reading with the crowd. Prizes will be awarded for partici-

pation, not to mention the great rewards that come along

with reading. This will be a year long activity. There is

much excitement at WHES!

WHES Peer Mediators help others

Students at

Turlington have

been working

through the loss of

former student,

Austin Oxendine,

with grief

counselors and

art therapy.

Kindergarten students in

Ms. Mitchell's class at

Upchurch Elementary are

working on decomposing

numbers and showing the

relationships with

marshmallows and

M&M's. They had a great

time learning with edible

math.

WHES introduces parents to ‘Read 20’

UES Artist/Scientists Create Conservation Posters

Congratulations to the Upchurch Elementary artists who placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

in the annual North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation District poster con-

test. The theme of this year’s contest was “Wetlands are Wonderful.” Each

poster is a colorful and eye-catching work of art that demonstrates each stu-

dent’s keen insight into the importance of protecting our environment. Assign-

ments like this highlight the important role artists play in society. One needs on-

ly to look at these posters to realize...“wetlands really ARE wonderful!”

First place winners in grades 3 -5 will advance to compete at the Hoke County

School District level. They are:

3rd Grade: Sukanya Mitchell

4th Grade: Lilly Obregon

5th Grade: Bella Khantivong

Second Place winners are:

3rd Grade: Crystal Gomez

4th Grade: Kaylen Lopez

5th Grade: Nyeelah Lee

Third Place winners are:

3rd Grade: Nancy Perez

4th Grade: Giovanni Basco

5th Grade: Alan Ramiriz-Santibanez

Sandy Grove Middle has won its first athletic champi-

onship in wrestling, with a score of 223. Sandy Grove

Middle beat out five other schools to claim the title, in-

cluding New Century, West

Pine, Cranes Creek, East Hoke, and

Southern. Ty Crudup from Sandy

Grove Middle was the MVP. The

team was coached by Coach Tim

Billinger.

WHES Peer Mediators help others

Raeford Fire Department supports McLauchlin Media Center

Mrs. Brindley’s first graders took a pic-ture of one anoth-er, and then using

an app, aged themselves to see what they would look like at 100. They had a lot of

laughs!!

J.W. McLauchlin Elementary

School would like to thank

Raeford Fire Department for

supporting our media cen-

ter. Because of their generous

donation, the media center is

able to maintain a book collec-

tion that is current, relevant and

of interest to students. Our goal

is for all students to foster a love of reading and with community sup-

port we will attain it. Thank you Raeford Fire Department!

J.W. McLauchlin Elementary celebrated Bus

Appreciation Week by practicing safety. As-

sistant Principal Mr. Yanick instructed stu-

dents how to properly evacuate the bus if

there was ever an emergency. McLauchlin

bus drivers were given daily snacks, a ban-

ner, and numerous cards from students to

show how appreciative we are! We ‘Wheelie’ Love Our Bus

Drivers!

Semaj Jessup (left) and Kenneth Murray (right) are the latest

PBIS winners at Turlington Alternative School. Semaj is a

leader in the 7th grade and Ken-

neth is an outstanding artist who

won first prize for his drawing

in the 2014 District Fine Arts

program.

The Kindergarteners

and 1st graders at

Scurlock celebrated

the 100th day imagi-

natively. In kinder-

garten, students

dressed as if they

were old and made

hats reminding eve-

ryone that they were

“100 days smarter!”

McLauchlin ‘Wheelie’ Loves their Bus Drivers

Turlington Schools recognizes PBIS winners

Grand Opening of Makerspace at Scurlock

The Scurlock Media Center now has a “makerspace”

– a place where students can create, cooperate and

collaborate. Makerspaces are one of the newest inno-

vations for libraries and are designed to provide stu-

dents with a place to explore interests, learn to use

tools and materials creatively and develop projects.

For their first project, 5th graders made marble runs,

using their knowledge of force and motion as well as simple ma-

chines to create the winning run. The students pictured below engi-

neered the best project. Other students were engineering a transport

system for the future! Keep reading Friday News to learn when

Phase II opens and what it holds for Scurlock students!

Everyone had a wonderful time at Hispanic Night. Our Spanish speaking parents felt special because all of the sessions were held in Spanish. Students also had sessions and child care was provided for the littlest ones. Parents learned ways to assist their students at home in reading and math. We are thankful for all of our parents who help their students with their learn-ing.

Scurlock hosts Hispanic Night

WHES celebrates 100 days of school

Cody Lowry (left) and Mikell Isaac try

out the new ping pong table in the

Turlington PE room.

West Hoke Elementary School celebrated 100

days of school by having the students and teach-

ers dress up as if they were 100 years old. Fun

was had by all. The Resource Team hosted an

activity in the gym that the students really en-

joyed.

Congratulations to Robert Creech, Executive Director

of Transportation, on his retirement after 33 years of

service to Hoke County Schools.

The Student Govern-

ment Association at

Don Steed Elemen-

tary is selling Candy

Grams for Valen-

tine's Day. Money

made will be used

for upcoming activi-

ties for the 3rd-5th

grade students.

Devlin Barrett pictured with

Assistant Principal Alison Leis and PIE

representative John Jordan

Partners in Education Teacher and Student of the Month Upchurch Elementary School

Shequetta Fripp pictured with

Assistant Principal Alison Leis and PIE

representative John Jordan

Sovere Torrence pictured with

Assistant Principal Michael Yanick,

PIE representative John Jordan, and teacher

Bryonn Willms

Partners in Education Teacher and Student of the Month McLauchlin Elementary

Patricia Corella pictured with

Assistant Principal Michael Yanick and PIE

representative John Jordan

Hoke County Schools

Board of Education

Meeting Date

March 10

6:30 pm

310 Wooley Street

Raeford, NC 28376

(910) 875-4106

Hoke Commissioners

Meeting

Tuesday, February 16

7:00 pm

County Admin Bldg.

227 N. Main Street

Raeford, NC 28376

Raeford City

Council Meeting

Monday, March 2

7:00 pm

Raeford City Hall

315 N. Main Street

Raeford, NC 28376