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Thursday
February 11, 1993
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Fourth graders Christy Burgess, Lindsey Gaffney, Drew Neisler and Anna Ramey point to their pegs
on the North Carolina map in the gymnasium of West School.
West 4th graders combine P.E., Social Studies to learn about home state
West School 4th graders are jogging across
North Carolina but they haven't left the
campus.
Now they are "running across North
Carolina," not just running around the gym.
The students run during physical education
ciice a week and they record the miles they run
on a big North Carolina map.
"This activity also shows the students that
there is much more in an atlas than just map
information because it allows them to combine
information from several sources and present
creative projects to their Social Studies class,”
says fourth grade teacher Susan Deaton.
PE teacher Lisa Stewart is working in a
team effort with Deaton and fourth grade
teacher Bonnie Bryson to develop enthusiasm
which ran so high among fourth graders that
the fifth graders asked to be included in the PE
activity since they had already completed the
course work in 4th grade last year.
"We're excited," said Stewart, who said the
boys and girls have learned to read a map,
follow a specific route and approximate
distance on a map. An extra benefit is the
aerobic conditioning. The running they must
do in physical education becomes easier and
more interesting with a specific goal to
achieve.
This jogging group is ready to run at West School. Front row, left to right, Lee Owensby, Diana Falls,
Sarah Anderson, Leah Hall and Stephanie Rikard. Back row, Antonio McClain, Jodie Baity, Nina
Gregory, Amber Poole and David Moschler.
Teacher of the Month
This week the kids are half-way to
Asheville, jogging two miles a day or
combined laps of 40 miles per 20 students.
Each class has a colored peg: Denton's fourth
graders are green; Bryson's fourth graders are
yellow; Jackie Hope's-fifth graders are white
and Bea Smith's fifth graders are red. Pegs on
the colorful map on the wall of the gymnasium
record the progress.
Christopher Bennett says that when the
group reaches Asheville that the PE teacher
plans to lead them in a folk dancing activity.
Antonio McClain says that when the group
reaches Raleigh in Eastern North Carolina that
will be about time for the big basketball
tournaments and the groups will play
basketball on campus.
Amber Poole said that when the group
reaches the beach about May and near the end
of school that a big beach party will be held on
the campus. Denton explained that the children
will be permitted to bring beach balls,
sunglasses, and beach towels and will actually
participate in a beach party to celebrate the end
of the their trip across the Tar Heel State.
"It isn't all play,” reminds Stewart, who said
the boys and girls must make record books,
noting various geographic areas, cities, towns,
parks, major lakes, highway numbers or other
Section B
items of interest as they run across North
Carolina. The books are expected to be put on
display in local or school libraries.
Deaton assigns areas along the route for her
Social Studies class to report. In the classroom
they use an atlas, almanac, or general
encyclopedia to find information on an
assigned area and produce a creative book. In
the gym they mark progress on a map. Each
mile run in class is multiplied by the number of
students in the group and that distance is
marked by a student on the large map.
‘North Carolina Land and People" is the title
of the 4th grade Social Studies book. By year-
end the students will complete both the book
and their 500 mile journey across the Tar Heel
State.
The class will be traveling from the foothills
to the mountains and then back through the
~heariland and on 10" the coast, explained
“Stewart.
Deaton noted that the youngsters are excited
about the upcoming study of the mountains
where 43 mountain peaks reach 6,000 feet,
including Mount Mitchell, highest peak in the
Eastern United States. The breathtaking Great
Smokies and Blue Ridge of the mighty
Appalachian range also will spark their interest
next week.
Kerri Brutko, Michelle Quiram, Alicia James, David Phannareth and Tyler Falls, left to right, study a
map of North Carolina at West School gymnasium.
Christopher Bennett pois to a chapter in his Social Studies book
which coincides with the miles he has run with Lisa Stewart, PE
teacher.
Antonio McClain, Jodie Baity, teachers Susan Denton and Lisa Stewart, Nina Gregory and Amber
Poole plan their schedule for an hour's running exercise in the West School gymnasium.
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DIANNA BRIDGES
Coaching girls’ volleyball at
Kings Mountain High School is
one of the fun rewards of Dianna
Bridges' job as a physical educa-
tion teacher.
The Kings Mountain High
School Teacher of the Month for
February said that eight of her for-
mer students have won athletic
scholarships and two of them--
Regina Brown of Western Carolina
University and Velma Degree of
Elon Collge--have full scholar-
ships.
Fourteen years ago when she
graduated from Burns High School
such scholarships were not avail-
able. Bridges was a star on the
Burns girls basketball team which
was state runner-up her senior year.
Going to school at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill was a goal of Bridges,
the daughter of James and Phyllis
Sweezy of Kings Mountain. It was
natural that their daughter would
major in physical education be-
cause of her love of sports of all
kinds.
Bridges has taught 10 years in
Kings Mountain, eight years at
KMHS and before that at Grover.
Her husband, Wayne, is associated
with his parents, Norma and Bobby
Bridges in the family business,
Bridges Textiles.
The school and community ac-
tivities of their three sons keep her
busy when she isn't in school.
Jason, 10, Matthew, 9, and
Brandon, 7, all attend Bethware
School. The family is active in
Beulah United Methodist Church
and enjoy family recreation and
sports of all kinds.
Dianna and her mother stay busy
on weekends in their family shop
called "Personally Yours” at the
Sweezy home. They embroider lo-
gos and initials for local sporting
goods businesses and also get calls
for embroidering personal designs
and initials on sweatshirts, hats,
and other items. What began as a
Bridges hopes to touch young lives
hobby for the mother and daughter
team may turn into a full time busi-
ness at some point for Mrs.
Sweezy.
Bridges enjoys teaching at the
high school level. She hopes to
make a difference in a child's life.
She said that her former basketball
coach, Melba Carpenter, formerly
of Kings Mountain, was her inspi-
ration and she followed in
Carpenter's footsteps as a PE tcach-
Cr.
"What we teach them will im-
pact their young lives," said
Bridges of her 150 students.
Bridges says her students have im-
pacted her life in a big way.
Bridges calls volleyball one of
the best outlets for young women
and says her volleyball teams are
all academically strong as well.
She teaches five classes a day.
One of the pleasures of her cxer-
cise and conditioning class is that
spring-like weather finds the group
walking up to three miles a day.
She also encourages weight-lifting
and cardiovascular exerciscs.
And, no, they don't walk around
the school track for three miles.
“This is a big campus and wc
just get out and walk it," said
Bridges. "All of us have spring
fever.”
«rin