REE Sins na REA February 17, 2000 Herald/Times *1 : GARY STEWART / THE HERALD Kings Mountain teachers Jewel Kendrick, Carla Bennett, Jenny Hollifield and Carol Elliott, left to right, were recognized for receiving National Board Certification at Monday night’s School Board meeting. Board recognizes KM teachers The Kings Mountain Board of Education used a brief meeting Monday night at Central School to recognize four teachers who' have attained National’ Board Certification. Recognized with certificates and a $500 bonus from the’ school system were West teach- er Carla Bennett, East teacher Jenny Hollifield, and Kings Mountain Middle School teach- ers Carol Elliott and Jewel 1 Kendrick. BEA at Achieving national certifica- tion also results in a 12 percent pay increase from the state’ of North Carolina. : Supt. Bob McRae pointed out that attaining certification from the National Standards Board is a “rigorous process.” He said Kings Mountain's percentage of “national certified teachers is ‘higher than the state average. McRae also recognized three School Board members for par- ticipation in the N.C. School Boards Association Academy ~ for School Boardsmanship. Larry Allen received a Level 3 “Certificate of Excellence, Shearra Miller received a Level 4 Certificate of Distinction, and Ronnie Hawkins received a Level 5 Graduate Diploma. In other action Monday, the Board: : WM Heard first reading of revi-. sions to various policies which were approved by the Board over the past 18 years. Asst. Supt. Ronnie Wilson said the re- visions are necessary due to changes in state law. The mat- ter will come up for vote at the March meeting. HB Approved summer base- ball, softball and basketball camps at KMHS. B Approved numerous stu- dent transfers and: personnel matters. BY ALAN HODGE Staff Writer Over 300 Kings Mountain High School students took part in ceremonies Monday celebrat- ing their academic achievement. Part of the Renaissance Program, the presentation saw awards given to outstanding Renaissance students for the | grades they earned last semester. An academic incentive pro- gram, Renaissance operates on a basis of three “cards” which students receive according to their Grade Point Average and attendance. The Gold Card des- ignates a student who has made a GPA of 4.0 or better for the semester. A Silver Card is for - those with a GPA of 3.5 to 3.999. Bronze Card holders have im- proved their GPA by an in- crease of at least .5. There are currently 366 - Renaissance Program students at Kings Mountain High School. The mission of the organization is to “acknowledge the educa- tional achievements and out- standing contributions of the students and staff member of our school through a process of reinforcement, recognition, and reward.” Renaissance Club member- ship has soared at Kings Mountain High this year. According to Gay Henderson, there are 47 new senior mem- bers, 38 new junior class mem- bers, 24 new sophomore mem- bers. The freshman class has the highest number of Gold Card members with 64. “Renaissance makes the stu- dents aware of their Grade Point Average and gives them something to strive for,” Henderson said. “It also makes them aware that attendance is part of academic achievement.” Being a member of the Renaissance Program brings students more than a card and recognition. Other Renaissance perks include special pizza par- ties, T-shirts, free attendance at nore nlrnse Renaissance awards siven ALAN HODGE, THE HERALD The Renaissance Club at Kings Mountain High School held an awards ceremony Monday to honor students for their scholastic achievement. “Pure Gold” winners at the event were, front left to right; Cheryl Greene, Melita Betler, Heather Causby, Manisone Phanthalack, Basit Gangoo. Rear, left to right;; Anna George, Joshua McDaniels, Marylee Dilling. Not pictured; Stopanie, Saneist, Wendy. Neisler, Ola Moore, Brad Bridges. tain sporting events for Gold Card holders, coupons, and free parking on campus. Many of the incentives are made possi- ble through sponse by lo- cal businesses! “Being a Retniisance mem- ber makes students stand out among their peers,” said media specialist Julie Rikard. “It also teaches the students successful study habits that they can carry on to their next level of educa- tional achievement.” Monday's Renaissance recog- nition ceremony saw 12 seniors receive special trophies for their hard work and good school citi- zenship. Called the “Rare Gold” group, these’seniors have been Gold Card holders ever since they started attending Kings’ Mountain High School. (#4 rreyoye A successful commbinntiont of staff and students working to- gether, the Renaissance Program achieves superlative results for the current:school year as well as the future: ~~ Vir 2 NOW OPEN 15% Off Special thru the End of February Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10-7 Saturday 9-7:30 Sunday 1-6 734-8333 Diu dio 120 York Road, Kings Mtn. (Formerly "Main Attration Videos” building) Y ht ails Page 5A Update from KM Schools Some up- dates from your school system: -Soil test- ing on the proposed site for the 5-6 school result- ed inno con- Bob McRae cerns. RE Completion Supcntendint of the survey kar Schools is the only step left before final purchase of the site is made. Ride by the site on the new road from Phifer to Highway 74. I think you'll see what should be a very nice loca- tion for a school. I understand that an assisted living facility will also be built on this road. It sounds as if the location will soon become a vital part of our community. -The Board of Education re- cently recognized four teachers in our system who have achieved National Board Certification in the last few months. Karla Bennett of West School, Jenny Hollifield of East School, and Carol Elliott and Jewel Kendrick of Kings Mountain Middle School suc- cessfully completed the lengthy process. National board certifi- cation provides further verifica- tion of the high quality of per- formance in these ladies’ classrooms. ~The school year slips by quickly. Seniors at KMHS are al- ready looking towards end of the year activities. Graduation exercises are clearly our most important single event of the year. I am asking Mr. Weathers, his staff, and the senior class to give direct attention to return- ing much needed dignity to that event. I hope the community, especially the families of the graduates, will assist us in that effort. I want this event to be very special for our graduates, however I also want them to know that proper decorum is still not only appropriate but al- so expected. -Remember that school missed due to inclement weath- er causes schedule alterations. Days which are begun on a de- layed schedule do not have ta, be made up, however days completely missed do. This Friday, February 18, is our first make-up day and will make up the day of school we missed on : {] 93 DODGE GRAND CARAVANTE St# 1039B. Automatic, AM/FM/ Cass., Tilt, Cruise, 98 CHEVROLET TAHOE 4X4 St#9873A. 350-8, Auto, Tilt, Cruise, PW, PDL, Frt. & Rear A/C, P. Seats, AM/FM Cass./CD, Leather Int., P. Mirrors, Much More. Deep Tinted Glass, Rear Window Defog., Local Trade. i AN January 18. The missed days of January 24 and 25 will be made up, as stipulated in the pub- lished calendar, on Friday, March 10 and Monday, April 17 respectively. It is our board’s position - and a very good one, I believe - that days missed should be made up prior to the end of the year testing. I think that is one of many strategies which have combined to enable us to do well in the state's ABC accountability program. Please be certain your students attend school on these make-up days. -It’s not too early to plan for important state testing this spring. Writing tests will be giv- en in March. These involve stu- dents in the 4th, 7th, and 10th grades. End of grade and end of course tests will be given in May. It’s very important that students prepare diligently for these tests by attending school regularly and being very seri- ous about their work. At testing time, it is important that stu- dents are well rested before tak- ing the tests. For a number of years the local recreation de- partment has worked with us to avoid the scheduling of youth baseball games after 7 p.m. on . the nights before these tests are given. I am pleased to say that the YMCA is continuing that level of cooperation this year. Kudos to our teachers who work so very hard each day to help our students prepare to do well. -Our new technology special- | ist, Cheryl Lutz, and her staff are working to upgrade our sys- tem’s website. Over the next several months we hope to pro- vide a well developed site for use by our community. You can access the site at www.kmds.k12.nc.us, and I iir- vite you to do so. It’s in an in- fant state at this time, but plans include adding our board poli- cies and up-to-date weather an- nouncements in the future. You'll also be able to link to sites for our individual schools through our district site. Suggestions can be given to Cheryl, and we'll be glad to consider them. -Spring activities include our annual KMHS musical, cultural arts performances, and spring sports events. Take time to at- tend as many of these as you can. You'll be impressed with the talents of both our students and their teachers. Admission price, when there is one, are usually a bit easier on the pock- etbook than the typical night out, and you'll certainly be en- tertained. Enjoy!" I hope the remaining three months of the school year are productive for you and your family. GARY From 4A Alexander said members of his staff have not prepared any comments for commissioners, but added that the staff of Gil Middlebrooks, the attorney the commissioners hired to assess merger, assisted commissioners in preparing some remarks. Middlebrooks was out of his office and could not be reached for comment. And, Alexander said, to his knowledge the two commissioners presently on the Ambulance Advisory committee, Charlie Harry and Joe Cabaniss, have attended every meeting but that there may have been times in the past that previous commissioners did not attend meetings. I've always been one to try to present both sides of a story and let the people believe what they want. But, regardless of the points mentioned above, I believe the commissioners have made enough boo-boos during this merger assessment to justify the public’s questioning their trust. I applaud Commissioner Willie McIntosh for giving citizens the opportunity to voice their concerns during his “listening known. tour,” but I'question why commissioners are following the ads... “Vice of a non-elected group whose identity is not publicly I also find it hard to trust members of an elected board who cannot speak their own minds and have to have their remarks prepared by a “member of staff,” regardless of whose staff that may be. “See The USA In The Y2K With Carter Chevrolet” 93 EAGLE TALON ES St# 9642B. 5 Speed, PW, PDL, AM/FM Cass., A/C, Local Trade. *5,240 95 FORD CONTOUR SE St# 9868A. PW, PDL, Tilt, Cruise, Sun Roof, Auto, Much, Much More! 94 FORD T-BIRD LX St# 9225A. V6, Automatic, PW, PDL, Tilt, Cruise, Sun Roof, Extra Clean, Must See! 3 EO NEIRO LSI 7,9 98 CHEVY MALIBU Sti# 9837A. PW, PDL, A/C, Automatic, AM/FM Cassette, Local Trade, Very Very Nice. 96 OLDS CIERA St# 818A. 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