The District Six May 2010 FOCUS Summer Edition News from Inside District Six Schools Inside This Issue Dorman Athletics on the Right Track -Wins State Championship- A Quest for Excellence - District Six Academic Teams End Strong Wofford Coach Shares Game-plan for Success Page 2 Who Moved My Cheese? Page 4 Recycle & Read Page 6 Lessons in Literacy Page 7 Growing Good Habits Page 7 Message from Superintendent Page 8 Dorman High School s track and field girl s team defied the odds and made history by winning its first 4A state championship. Teams from across the state met May 15th at Lower Richland High School in Columbia. Coach Leshun McGreer said key injuries at the beginning of the year could not stop the team from pulling together and working hard. Even when everyone around us doubted if we could win, these girls bonded together as a team and refused to be denied. I have been truly blessed to be able to coach such a great group of girls. This has truly been a team effort all year. The girl s track team won every regional and invitational meet they attended with only one second place finish at the beginning of the year. District Six Teacher Runs Marathon for Worthy Cause West View Elementary teacher Andy Connolly successfully crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon, running 26.2 miles in a single day. When he was not teaching, Connolly spent months training for the world s oldest marathon. He raised more than $2,000 for a charity that supports nutrition, medical and fitness programs at Tufts University. To show support, West View faculty and staff wore shirts with the slogan Run Andy Run. Connolly says, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. It was amazing to see so many people watching. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. The school year ended strong for District Six academic teams. A group of ten students from Dawkins Middle School (pictured above) won first place in the middle school division of the Spring Knowledge Master Open academic competition in April. Thousands of students from across the world answered 200 tough questions to vie for top scores based on accuracy and speed. Dawkins had the highest score in SC and Gable Middle won second place. Fairforest Elementary School s Odyssey of the Mind team, (pictured below) will head to East Lansing, Michigan on May 26th for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, after winning first place at the SC Tournament in March. The team will compete against nearly 50 teams from Kansas to Korea. Coach Stephanie Wofford says It s impressive to see a group of children with a variety of personalities successfully put their differences aside in order to work together to accomplish something great. Fairforest Middle School is also competing in the World Finals after taking home second place in the state tournament. Turn to page five for a look at how Dorman High School s academic team is preparing students to compete on the collegiate level.
Wofford Head Football Coach Challenges and Inspires Students Mike Ayers, head football coach for the Wofford Terriers recently visited the Spartanburg County Alternative School. He spoke to both middle and high school students and encouraged them to persevere. Coach Ayers spoke about his own childhood struggles and challenged the students to achieve greatness despite setbacks they may experience. Chemistry Teacher Wins Regional Award Dorman High School Teacher Ray Tedder is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding High School Chemistry Teaching Award for the Western Carolinas region of the American Chemical Society. His students have been selected to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair each of the last four years. He has been an integral part of development of a STEM focused curriculum at Dorman and has been a strong supporter of the ACS Chemistry Olympiad program. DHS Principal Honored as Principal of the Year Jerry Wyatt, Principal of Dorman High School, has been selected as the AAAA Principal of the Year by the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association. He is in his second year as the president of the SC AAAA Conference. Three District Six schools have been named Palmetto Silver winners. Congratulations to Anderson Mill and Arcadia Elementary schools, both Palmetto Silver recipients for General Performance in 2009. Dorman High School was awarded the Palmetto Silver award for General Performance and for Closing the Achievement Gap in 2009. DFC Teacher Means Business - Training Entrepreneurs Karen Foster, Dorman Freshman Campus physical science teacher, has been named one of the best entrepreneurial teachers in South Carolina for 2009-2010 by the Youth Entrepreneurship South Carolina (YEScarolina). Only ten SC teachers were chosen. Foster will be honored in Charleston in October. She will be teaching middle school students how to start their own business and write a business plan at Wofford this Summer called Summer BIZ Camp, sponsored by Yescarolina and the city of Spartanburg. District Six Terrific Kids Honored by the Kiwanis Club Nine students from District Six elementary schools were honored during this year s Terrific Kids Ceremony held by the Kiwanis Club of Spartanburg. Terrific Kids is a student recognition program that promotes character development, self-esteem, and perseverance. A luncheon held to honor the students was held at First Baptist Church of Spartanburg on April 22nd. The students recognized are as follows: Front row (left to right) Michael Guerrero - Lone Oak Elementary, Kara Dorrity - Roebuck Elementary, Tyson McClain - Woodland Heights Elementary, and Johnny Gonzalez - Arcadia Elementary. Back row (left to right) Zakiya Hillstock - Jesse Bobo Elementary, Breanne Beeier - West View Elementary, Jacob Hutson - Fairforest Elementary, Makenzie Logue - Anderson Mill Elementary and Kate Hamilton (not pictured) - Pauline Glenn Springs Elementary.
District Six Students Land a Role in Airport Ground-breaking DHS Student Excels in Chemistry Caitlin Li, Dorman High School AP Chemistry student, was one of the top 10 students in the Western Carolinas in the 1st round of the National Chemistry Olympiad competition sponsored by the American Chemical Society. Three-hundred seventy one of the top chemistry students in the Western Carolinas took the 1st round exams this year. Dorman Student Bound for Germany This month students from Woodland Heights Elementary School participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for renovations at the Spartanburg Memorial Airport. The airport opened in 1927 and has been used by famous people such as Charles Linbergh and Amelia Earhart. The fifth graders sung The Star Spangled Banner to open the ceremony. Student Body President, Eric Branan, led the pledge of allegiance. After several city officials spoke, WHES students closed the program with Carolina Sunshine. Students from Anderson Mill Elementary School recently participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the Tyger River Park. They are pictured below. Dorman High School student Brandon Spake beat out more than 20,000 students and was awarded an all-expense paid study trip to Germany this summer. He was one of approximately 23,000 students who competed for the study trip by participating in a nationwide German testing program administered by the American Association of Teachers of German. Only 44 students were selected to receive this honor. The DHS Junior has completed Honors German III, is a member of the Beta Club, and National Honor Society. DHS Alumni Makes Major Strides Former Dorman High School student Steven Tolleson, class of 2002, made it to Major League Baseball last month. Baseball coach Ben Waddle remembers Tolleson well and says We are so proud of Steven Tolleson and his accomplishments at Dorman High, The University of South Carolina and now with Major League Baseball and the Oakland A s. Steven is an example of a true student-athlete. Teacher Forum Encourages Future Teachers - Awards Scholarships Students Article Published in Local Newspaper Two graduating seniors have been awarded a scholarship to help support their goals of attending college and entering the field of education. The District Six Teacher Forum Scholarship Fund, established in 2007, is a way for the staff in the district to give back to our very own Teacher Cadets who have chosen to move forward with their goals of becoming teachdistrict Six Teacher Cadets ers. This year the Teacher Forum held a fund-raising campaign in February. Operation GIFT (Giving and Investing in Future Teachers) allowed contributions to be made to the scholarship fund and graduating seniors Dustin Ledford and Megan Butler each received a $1,000 scholarship. Skyler Evans, senior editor of Dorman School Newspaper The Cavalier, recently reported on the issue of text messaging addiction in the school paper. Her article was chosen to be published in the Herald Journal and can be viewed online at www.goupstate. com/article/20100324/ ARTICLES/3241005 May 2010 visit us online at www.spart6.org Page 3
District Six Students Star in Suessical Musical Accepting Change and Challenges Several students from District Six played characters in the Suessical, a musical performed at the Chapman Cultural Center. Chase Wolfe, Rebecca Arrowsmith, Logen Hall and Lauren Powell from Dorman, Megan Meadows from Dawkins, Kyle McIntyre from Anderson Mill, and Copper Wolfe from Gable each had a chance to perform. This was a busy and yet exciting time for everyone involved. Cooper Wolfe played the character JoJo in nine performances. He says This was my biggest part so far and I really enjoyed it. I plan on auditioning again. Dorman Freshman Campus teacher Blair Hamilton also had a role in this production. From one group of students to another, the message was clear; accepting change is a part of life. That was the message JROTC cadets from Dorman Freshman Campus hoped to leave behind after performing a play for Dawkins Middle School students. After studying the motivational book, Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson, the students wrote an original play with songs. The book describes change and gives four typical responses to the change by two mice and two little people as characters. Check out the District Six Report to the Community. Just log on to www.spart6.org. You ll find it under recent news. DHS Chorus Breaks an All Time Record Giving Wall Street a Run for Its Money Two teams of fifth graders at Fairforest Elementary participated in the Stock Market Game for about two months. The Stock Market Game is an investment simulation sponsored by South Carolina Council on Economic Education. Each team is given a virtual $100,000 account to invest in stocks. Together, they research various companies to determine which companies to invest in. They monitor their portfolios, buying and selling as they see fit, in an effort to have the greatest return on their investment. The boys team with Andrew Davison, Mark Kozariz, Parthak Patel, and Thomas Cunningham came in third place out of all SC elementary schools. District Six FOCUS Wins State Award Thirty-students qualified for the SC All State Chorus, breaking an all-time record for Dorman High School. Over 3,500 students from around the state auditioned, and DHS students were amongst the highest scorers. Dorman also had 61 students make the South Carolina American Choral Directors Association Honor Choir. Recently, the Ithaca College Concert Choir, from New York State, was featured in combination with the Dorman Chamber Singers in concert at John Knox Presbyterian Church in Greenville. In addition to being featured with Ithaca College in performance in SC this year, the Dorman choir has been selected four times in the past eight years to participate in the prestigious Ithaca National Choral Composition Competition. The District Six Focus has been recognized by the South Carolina Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association. The District Newsletter won the statewide Newsletter/E-Newsletter Award. There were 152 entries in this year s competition. The competition recognizes outstanding communications and public relations efforts by schools, school districts, education agencies and associations. Congratulations to Focus representatives Michelle Kimbrell, Bobbie Freeman, Cindy Haggerty, Kristen Trzaska, Charlene Sanders, Robin Arthur, Lindi Metcalf, Mary Jane Michels, Kathy Krawczyk, Nancy Rogers, Elizabeth Phillips, Marie Freeman, Stacey Cabaniss, Christi Thompson, Joanne Carter, Nora Moore, Katherine Caston, Stanley Bishop and Eric Parker. The newsletter is formatted by District Six Director of Public Relations Cynthia Robinson.
Lone Oak Elementary Student Wins Picture Perfect Award Lone Oak Elementary School student Kara Wilson won first place in the Boys and Girls Upstate Art Show for her water pastel painting in the city-wide competition. She went on to compete in the southeast regional competition and won first place in that show as well. She is now competing in the national level. Boys and Girls Club artist, Jonas Criscoe, came to Lone Oak Elementary and worked with students in the after-school program on various art projects. Students worked on painting projects, photography and made their own claymation movies. Jacob Painter won first place for his collage in the city-wide competition. West View Raises Funds for March of Dimes The Junior Beta Club at West View Elementary raised $1,300 for the March of Dimes. The students were challenged to ask fellow students and adults about people born prematurely. This project helped them to realize that many people have benefited from the March of Dimes. Their sponsor, fifth grade teacher Jennifer Giesick, is very passionate about the March of Dimes because her baby was born three months early and weighed only 1 lb 10 oz. He spent 77 days in the NICU. With the technological advances made possible by March of Dimes, her baby is now two and very healthy. Gable Student Defies Language Barriers Gable Middle School eighth grader Muhammad Ghaffar received Honorable Mention in the 2010 Spartanburg Soil & Water Conservation Essay Contest, "We All Live Downstream. The contest was open to all Spartanburg County students in grades 4-9. This is a special honor since Muhammad has only been a resident of the United States since August. He has learned to speak English while learning the normal 8th grade curriculum. Dorman s Academic Team Celebrates Another Great Year - Leaves Impact on Alumni Dorman s Academic Team is making tremendous scholarly strides, competing nationally and leaving behind lasting impressions. Under the direction of Eric Huff, the academic team has an overall record this year of 135-12. Dorman High School has a reputation across the country about being an elite team. We get to take kids and encourage them to learn far beyond what they would learn in the classroom, Huff said. Dorman s academic team competes in Quiz Bowl championships. The Quiz Bowl is an academic tournament in which teams of students are quizzed on a broad range of topics including history, literature and science. The responsibilities and expectations for Dorman s Academic Team members exceed normal school requirements. We compete at a pretty high level and that experience prepares them well for the collegiate experience, Huff said. Many members of Dorman s Academic Team do go on to compete on a college level. Four former DHS students went to Clemson University and started their own Academic Quiz Bowl Team: George May 2010 Stevens, Freddy Deangelis, Kevin Lybrand and Nick Clusserath. This year they took second place at the National Academic Quiz Bowl Team Intercollegiate Championship Tournament, competing against 64 teams including Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Rice, Brown, and Cornell. Clusserath says his educational experiences at Dorman were priceless. The academic team at Dorman had a huge impact on me. We are super thankful for our time at Dorman and the support we got from our parents and the administration. We don t take that kind of thing lightly. Huff remembers the students well and is proud of them for carrying on the tradition of excellence from Dorman to Clemson, who was without an Academic Quiz Bowl Team. I was really excited about their success, instead of giving up on it, they started a team themselves. Huff compares coaching the academic team at Dorman to coaching basketball at Notre Dame. We are really blessed with kids who work very hard and great administrative support. visit us online at www.spart6.org Page 5
Book Drive Encourages Students to Recycle & Read The National Honor Society at Dorman High School collected books this spring for other schools within the district. The goal was to recycle used books to restock teachers' classroom libraries or to give to students as incentives. The NHS was able to donate approximately 350 elementary level books and 250 middle school books. They also had about 250 high school books that will go back into the classroom or into our book swap sponsored by the media center. DHS Jets Soar at State Competition The Junior Engineering Technical Society won first place in the state at the TEAMS Competition. The problems involved high-level math and science applications. The JETS team included Anuj Gupta, Gregory Peacock, Aaron Ringel, Nicholas Hewson, Brian Orr, John Jackson, Caitlyn Li, Matthew DeAngelis and Will Wenger. CDC vs. Maintenance - It s a Blowout The District Six Maintenance Dept. took on students from the Child Development Center in a fierce game of kickball. The CDC Bombers, students from Billie Huskey s TMD class and Jessica Woodson s Elementary Intervention class, practiced for weeks on the field and beat the Maintenance Department Lightning Bolts 21-6. Roebuck Hits Recycling Head-On -Increases Go Green EffortsRecycling is nothing new to students at Roebuck Elementary School, but this year they have taken the term go green to another level. In addition to recycling paper, this year students added ink cartridges, batteries, eye-glasses, cell phones, drink bottles, and juice pouches, among other items. Coca-Cola collects the bottles from RES so that they can be manufactured into new bottles. Currently, RES has collected over one-hundred fifty 44-gallon bags of plastic bottles and about fifty 44-gallon bags of cans. The Roebuck Fire Department collects the cans for the Children s Burn Center. They have recycled over 10,000 Capri Sun pouches, over 300 glue tubes and five gallons of batteries to be recycled. Over 100 pounds of paper was collected by the school s Recycling Round-Up Crew each week and placed in a dumpster that is picked up for recycling by Republic Recycling. An $800 Target field trip grant allowed students to visit the Spartanburg County Landfill and Recycling Center to see what happens to the items they recycle. Students Give Early Morning Activities A Thumbs Up Jesse S. Bobo is touting success of a new early morning activity program implemented this year. Based on its success, Principal Patrick Suber says Bobo will offer the program again next year to provide meaningful learning experiences and activities even before classes begin. Fifth grade students enjoyed activities such as basketball and jump rope which provided additional physical education and gets the oxygen flowing to their brains as they prepared for the school day. Third grade students worked on puzzles, read self-selected books, and practiced keyboarding skills. Students in grade four added to their team points in the 80% club in Compass Learning. First and second graders enjoyed thinking skill game centers where they played board games to practice strategy skills. Mr. Suber says, Research tells us that our brains build working memory, sequencing skills, and processing speed through the use of games like those in our early morning game rooms. Relevant early morning activities can help increase children s readiness scores by up to 32% and 13 IQ points.
Exploring Lessons in Literacy - Anderson Mill and The Spartanburg Writing Project Anderson Mill Teacher Martha Frye (pictured right) co-authored an article in the South Carolina English Teacher sharing her experiences with the Spartanburg Writing Project. This project implements writing instruction through a writer s workshop for students. Dawn Mitchell, a partnership director with the Spartanburg Writing Project assisted AMES teachers with this project last year using a group of kindergartners. They will continue the writer s workshop with these same students each year to complete a longitudinal study of their progress. The overall purpose of the Spartanburg Writing Project is to improve writing and the teaching of writing. Garden Central Featuring Gardens from The Child Development Center, Arcadia Elementary and Pauline-Glenn Springs Elementary Five classes at the Child Development Center along with Farmer John, a student master gardener from the Clemson Agricultural Center, have been working on a Victory Garden. Prior to Spring break, students planted lettuce, broccoli, and onions and were able to see beautiful plants once they returned. The students are also learning about compost and how to enrich the soil for next year s garden. To help with those efforts, the students bring vegetable peels, coffee grinds and other organic matter to add to the compost bin. The students at the Child Development Center are also learning many valuable lessons such as where food comes from and how things grow. Arcadia Elementary School received a $2,500 grant from Chartwells for raised bed gardens. Maintenance Director Mark Kirkland had a crew to install the beds and compost. Jerry Allen from the Hub City Farmers Market worked with each grade level to plant and tend to the vegetables. Most of the seeds were planted in March but the students are already seeing the fruits of their labor. The kids love watching their seeds and plants grow. May 2010 Third graders planted an herb garden at Pauline-Glenn Springs. The plants were provided by the Healthy Harvesters grant from the Department of Agriculture and DHEC. School nurse, Nancy Stewart, who wrote the grant says students really enjoy knowing that something they helped grow in the garden is being used in student lunches. Herbs planted include rosemary, sage, basil and mint. This is in addition to the plenteous vegetable garden and a strawberry patch. visit us online at www.spart6.org Page 7
A Message from District Six Superintendent Dr. Darryl Owings During the 2009-2010 school year, District Six students have again excelled in academics, arts, and athletics, earning recognition that has come to define the District Six experience. Our schools and our community share the credit for creating an environment where students are able to achieve at high levels. All of these efforts and accomplishments occurred in a year that has been one of the most difficult in the history of education in this state. We have faced the worst budget cuts in recent history and are preparing to face a more challenging funding forecast for the next several years to come. I encourage each of you to become familiar with the platforms of each candidate running for office and to engage in the political process by voting in the June 8 primary. I cannot overstate the importance of the election. As we close this year and prepare for the next, let me say Thank you! for all your work, commitment, and caring as we continue to create outstanding opportunities for all of our students. Finally, I hope you have a safe and productive summer! District Six 2010 Retirees Thank you for the time you invested to make Spartanburg County School District Six a better place. Nancy Rogers Elizabeth Bragg 33 years 25 years Donna Vaughn Carol Shearer 12 years 29 years Dell Prater 4 years Dr. Kathleen Allen 36 years Marie Perry 27 years Cheryl Martin 43 years George Wenger 24 years Diane Greer 34 years Brenda Bishop Laura Jones 38 years 36 years Judy Morris 40 years Diane Owings 31 years Anita Jones 2 years Lynn Morrow Kathleen Reynolds Suzy Taylor 32 years 33 years 19 years E. Lane Moore 14 years Marty Owens 31 years Terri Lancaster Louise Parton 30 years 25 years Charlene Sanders 35 years Donna Metcalf 9 years Jane Jones 20 years Brenda Gaillard 26 years Mary Smith 25 years ** Not pictured Neil Richter - 26 years, Jean Strickland - 26 years, Diane Suttles - 10 years, and Jeff Wyatt - 36 years Spartanburg County School District Six Board of Trustees Mr. Alex Meadows Chairman Mr. Mike Crook Vice-Chairman Mr. Lynn Harris Secretary Mr. Dale Evans Mr. Michael Forrester Rev. Kevin Harrison Dr. Mary Lou Hightower Mr. Michael Thompson Mr. Wendell Lee Twelve-thousand copies of this newsletter were printed, to be distributed to our families and students, at a cost of 12.5 per copy, for a total of $1,500. It was designed and formatted by the District Six Director of Public Relations.