Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010

School Notes

School names new principal

The Johnston County Board of Education on Feb. 9 named a new principal for West Clayton Elementary School. Dolores Gill will begin work March 1, succeeding Bruce Bunn, who is retiring.

The board also named Rachel Findley the director of child nutrition, replacing Beth Taylor, who retired in December. She begins March 1. Tabitha D. Lee was named internal auditor.

The board also made the following transfers:

Starting April 1, Riverwood Middle School Assistant Principal Charles B. Ferrell is transferring to Corinth Holders High School.

Starting April 1, McGee's Crossroads Middle School Assistant Principal Jenna R. Sauls will transfer to Cleveland High School.

Barry Honeycutt will be transferred to energy management at facility services, starting March 1.

William G. Smith will serve as the interim principal at South Johnston High School, starting March 1 through the end of the school year.

Pembroke honors

A number of area residents earned academic honors during the fall semester at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The following were named to the Chancellor's List with grade point averages of 3.7 or better: Jenessa Isabell Mikolowski of Clayton; and Curtis Lee Adams of Garner.

The following were named to the Honors List with GPAs of 3.2 or better: Matthew L. Brown and Kaitlin Ann Payton, both of Clayton; Tommera Cash Roberson and Richard Thomas Chassereau, both of Willow Spring; and Bradley Nicholas McLean, Alvner Florine Strong and Ashton Marie Young, all of Garner.

Silver award winner

Rosalynn Villaescusa, a senior at West Johnston High school, won a silver key award in the regional Scholastic Art and Writing competition. Run by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the awards recognize student achievement in the visual arts and creative writing.

Annually, the competition draws more than 100,000 art and creative writing submissions nationally. Past winners include Richard Avedon, Joyce Maynard, Tom Otterness, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates, Andy Warhol and Zac Posen.

Mustang Manners

Wilson's Mills Elementary School recently honored second-grader Terrek Frazier for showing his "Mustang Manners." A teacher saw him displaying outstanding kindess, the school said. Terrek is in Amanda Hedrick's class.

Class on talking

Wake Technical Community College will host a class on making money with your voice from 6:30 till 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the Western Wake Campus. For more details or to register, go to plusfifty.waketech.edu or call 919-866-5800. The course number is 50865 and the cost is $35.

Hall of fame inductee

Clayton native Harvey Heartley Sr. will be inducted into the 2010 class of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's John B. McLendon Jr. Hall of Fame. Heartley played basketball at North Carolina Central University from 1951-55. During that time, he was co-captain of the team in 1953 and '54. The induction ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Spelling Bee winner

Tessa Burns won this year's spelling bee at Dixon Road Elementary School. She spelled "correspond" to advance to the county spelling bee.

Character awards

The following Timber Drive Elementary School students were recognized during January for displaying the character trait of self discipline.

Kindergarten -- Grace Pethos, Stephen Crawley, Fred Patterson and Katie Heckman.

Grade 1 -- Abby McGlamery, Kayla Jacklitch, Ryan Ngo, Davis McCann, Nicholas Hollingsworth and Jaquan Milliam.

Grade 2 -- Camryn Collier, Ryan Davin, Caitlyn Thrush, Lindsay Goldberg and Sean Gilmartin.

Grade 3 -- Karmin Richardson, Jada Taylor, Morgan Barnes, Fatima Almazan-Morales, Caitlin Harper, Jay Parrish, Zach Brittain and Sydney Jones.

Grade 4 -- Ashtyn Powell, Cassi Deckard, Chloe Mangum and Tyler Gillespy.

Grade 5 -- Cara Peterson, Martin Martinez, Alysia Nesmith, Connor Harrison and Alex Johnson.

Poetry winner

Sahraya Hunter, a sophomore at the Early College Academy, recently won the county Poetry out Loud competition. She'll represent Johnston County at the state competition on Feb. 28 at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.

Community helpers

Kindergartners at Polenta Elementary School recently participated in the school's Community Helper Fair.

Students learned about the jobs of a carpenter, a sign language interpreter, a Blockbuster manager, a seamstress, a police officer, a probation officer, a rural mail carrier, an office specialist and an Army solider.

Yard sale Saturday

A yard sale is scheduled from 7 a.m. till 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at Smithfield-Selma High School, 700 Booker Dairy Road, Smithfield. The sale will offer electronics, kitchen supplies and appliances, furniture, jewelry, clothing, baby clothes and supplies, tools, office supplies, toys, home décor and athletic equipment. Baked goods will be for sale. Proceeds will go to the Science Club.

Students of the month

Here are the students of the month at West View Elementary School. The character trait for January was dependability.

Kindergarten: Ashley Vazquez, Connor Lee, Dylan Wiggins, Landon Jobe, Brayden Martin, Sarah Prosser and Laura Thompson.

Grade 1 -- Dylan Johnson, Katie Rentz, Savannah Brooks, Evy Newhouse, Chloe Harlow and Joshua Sledge.

Grade 2 -- Kamryn Potteiger, Joshua Steele, Kelly Hopkins, Cade Sobas, Noah Howard, Jessica Walker, Christian Young and Conner Martin.

Grade 3 -- Hunter Hansen, Jesse Martinez, Gabrielle Kincaid, Josh Moody, Skylar Stengele, Aryn Jospupait, Lauren Hesse, Kristin Bundy, Cassidy Crist and Gustavo Sanchez.

Grade 4 -- Autumn Carlson, Emma Creech, Chloe Parsons Aleahya Hunter, Benjamin DeBord and Audrey Rentz.

Grade 5 -- Erik Crist, Kayla Sobas, Nick Iuso, Kyle Pfister, Cara Satoskar, Hugo Paredes-Leon and Katy Lopez.

Leading with heart

Several Powhatan Elementary school staff members were recently recognized for "Leading with the Heart." They were presented with flowers and boxes of heart-shaped chocolates. Those recognized were Sandra Badgett, Kristi Nelson, Liz Strobel, Carrie Wilkerson-Lee, Dee Fingar, Amy Williams, Dianne White, Bonnie Hunter and Nancy Adams.