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EducationEducation
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Hudson teacher suspended for placing child in cardboard box
A Hudson Middle School teacher is suspended after the school district received information that the teacher was disciplining a special needs child in her class by placing him in a cardboard box. Joy Amatuccio’s 14-year-old son, Jacob, is a seventh-grader at Hudson Middle School. He suffered a traumatic brain injury from blunt force trauma when he was 11 months old. Amatuccio said her son doesn’t understand cause and effect. He’s in a wheelchair and needs constant interaction. Sometimes, though, he needs breaks. She said his Individualized Education Plan in his special needs class calls for walking him around outside to calm him down. Isolation is not something mentioned.
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Mercury spill causes evacuation at Whitnel Elementary School
LENOIR, N.C. -- Whitnel Elementary School was evacuated Wednesday morning after a vial of mercury spilled in a fifth grade classroom. A student found the small vial and brought it to school, said Libby Brown, community services director for Caldwell County Schools. At about 10 a.m., the vial broke and the teacher swept it up.
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Cadets take a step back in time
For 15 months following World War II, the people of Berlin were unable to get food without the help of the Western Allies. The NJROTC cadets at St. Stephens High School heard about the Berlin Airlift on Thursday from Eddie Ide, the former vice-president of the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation. He spoke to the students how 2 million people depended on planes to get food, coal for electricity and medicine to heal the sick.
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Nursing student wants to give back because she's been there
When Kendayl Waugh was 17, she wasn’t thinking of what colleges to apply for or how great her senior year of high school would be. She was wondering if she would live to see her senior year. Five years later, she is graduating from Lenoir-Rhyne University with a degree in nursing. Waugh, 22, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after she was unable to run around the softball field with her team during a warm-up before practice.
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Catawba County Schools' new superintendent from Macon County
The new superintendent of Catawba County Schools is no stranger to the Catawba Valley. Dr. Dan Brigman’s wife is from Taylorsville and one of his children was born in Frye Regional Medical Center. Brigman was unanimously appointed the new superintendent of Catawba County Schools at the board of education’s meeting Monday night. His four year contract begins July 1, although Brigman said he plans to visit the county frequently prior to that so he can work with current superintendent Glenn Barger to familiarize himself with the system.
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Catawba County Schools to announce superintendent Monday
Catawba County Schools will announce its new superintendent on Monday at its board of education meeting. The school system had 26 applicants for the position, after current Superintendent Glenn Barger announced in December that he would step down at the end of this school year. His final day with the school system is June 30.
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4 LRU students charged in exploding bottle prank
Hickory police charged four Lenoir-Rhyne University students with disorderly conduct on Thursday after a 2-liter soda bottle filled with chemicals exploded in a dorm bathroom on Tuesday evening. Dakota Meadows, 19, of Cashiers; Steven McGhee, 22, of Hickory; Zachary Thomas, 18, of Hillsborough; and Michael Schlegelmilch, 20, of Holly Springs, were all charged with one count of disorderly conduct and given $1,000 unsecured bonds.
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Threatening note causes Catawba Valley Community College evacuation
Catawba Valley Community College evacuated its two Hickory campuses just before noon on Wednesday because of a perceived threat. That threat was later revealed to be a note. Students, faculty and staff on the main and east campuses were notified of the evacuation by loud speaker announcements and the in-house TV system, as well as college personnel spreading the word and emergency texts and email, said Garrett Hinshaw, president of CVCC. CVCC’s safety committee called an emergency committee meeting at about 11 a.m. Wednesday in relation to the threat and discussed which plan of action to take, said Heather Benfield, principal of Challenger Early College High School and a member of the committee.
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Charges expected in exploding bottle prank at LRU
A plastic bottle filled with a chemical exploded in a dorm bathroom Tuesday night at Lenoir-Rhyne University in what was likely a prank that went too far. Lenoir-Rhyne University’s security received a call at about 8:20 p.m. from one of Morgan Hall’s resident advisors. The caller said someone threw a 2-liter drink bottle with a chemical substance through an open window of a bathroom on the second floor of the building, according to a report filed by security officer Kevin Ripley. When Hickory police began investigating, it became apparent the bottle was placed in the bathroom by one of the people involved in the incident, said Thurman Whisnant with the Hickory Police Department.
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Bill to end tenure for N.C. teachers introduced in legislature
In about a year’s time, North Carolina teachers may no longer have the security of tenure to ensure they’ll have a job from year to year. Instead, they’ll have to rely on the quality of their teaching as reflected in student growth, academic responsibilities and other factors. Senate Bill 795 was introduced in the North Carolina Legislature on Monday, called the Excellent Public Schools Act. The bill covers many things, including funding the five additional instructional days the legislature mandated in its previous budget, eliminating funding for the office of the superintendent of public instruction and moderately adjusts the school calendar start and end days, rather than dates. The biggest shockwave in the proposed legislation, however is the end to tenure, something that is often viewed as providing protection to teachers that need to be weeded from the system. The bill will instead encourage teachers to stay with North Carolina schools through a performance-based pay, according to Part 10 of the bill, entitled “Pay for Excellence.”
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She found a calling in the classroom
Philly Hilton thought she would be a stay-at-home mom. That changed after she volunteered in her child’s classroom and realized she wanted to do more. “It was never my goal to be a teacher, just a mom,” she said. “I stayed at home until my oldest was in kindergarten.”
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Classroom tech tools inspire, enhance learning at Hickory schools
Although you can remove a Tweet once it’s been posted, the whole world can see it before you actually delete it. Fourth grade teacher Betsy Swann is teaching her students at Jenkins Elementary about the responsibility of social media by having them post what they would write on Twitter in the hallway outside their classroom, changing the message every week. Anyone in the school can read what’s posted, as though it was in cyberspace.
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Catawba County Schools begins interviews for superintendent position
The Catawba County Schools board of education began interviewing potential superintendent candidates this week, meeting on Monday and Tuesday with applicants. “I feel good about the list that we have,” said Charlie Wyant, vice chairman of the board.
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JROTC cadets mentor students, learn leadership
JROTC teaches students to be leaders in the community and in society. TheSt.Stephens High School JROTC program is taking its role one step further by having its cadets mentor students at Snow Creek Elementary once a week. The program with the JROTC students began at Clyde Campbell Elementary, and resumed at Snow Creek once the school opened three years ago. The Naval Science 1 and 2 students are bussed to the school for about an hour on Wednesdays and help students who are handpicked by teachers and guidance counselors, said Ellen Sigmon, media coordinator for Snow Creek Elementary.
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Bandys High students teach others about farm life, agriculture
Kindergarteners learned what cotton seeds are used for, what sound a pig makes when it feeds and how to lasso a cow atBandysHigh School’s annual agriculture day on Friday. “This started with a student who had a petting zoo, and they brought their animals to school for the day,” said Laura Parker, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Bandys High.
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The Little Read author inspires kids to nurture environment
Lynne Cherry’s passion for the environment started at a young age when she spent hours in a forest near her house, watching possums and raccoons rather than watching TV. Through observing nature, Cherry wrote her first book at age 8, “Archie Follow Me,” which was about her cat and the two observing each other’s habits in nature. The book was not published until she was an adult, but her love for nature was nurtured throughout childhood, and is shown in the lifestyle she leads and the books and film documentaries she creates.
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Lenoir-Rhyne, Southern complete merger agreement
Lenoir-Rhyne University grew by 150 students Monday morning, when an agreement was signed to make Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary part of the LRU School of Theology.
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Hickory school rallies around students with cancer
When you’re a high school senior you’re supposed to hold the world in the palm of your hand. For three seniors at St.Stephens High School, they’ve had to fight just to live. Evan Ford, Courtney Cook and Brandon Grant have each been diagnosed with cancer. Grant, 18, was a baby when he had his first encounter with cancer. “I was born with a birthmark on my side,” he said. “It was melanoma.”
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Hibriten High student charged in rape at school
A Hibriten High student is charged with rape after a fellow student said he sexually assaulted her on school grounds. The incident happened at the school between 2:55 and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, after school dismissed at 2:50 p.m., said Capt. Sid Pope with the Lenoir Police Department. The victim and suspect are both 15 years old and were friends. Because of his age the suspect’s name is not being released.
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Western NC educators hear about curriculum changes from state superintendent
Dozens of principals and teachers received a crash course on Wednesday in upcoming state standards to ensure a smooth transition for the changes that will be rolled out. North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson is hosting regional meetings across the state to talk about upcoming changes to the state’s curriculum standards, tests and school accountability. She held a meeting in Hickory on Wednesday for teachers and principals from Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Alexander, Ashe, Alleghany, Surry, Avery, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, Iredell, Davie and Rowan.
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Catawba County Schools wants leader with people skills, experience
Catawba County Schools’ board of education is looking for a superintendent who has good people skills, has previous experience as a principal and is a good communicator. They have 26 possibilities to find the right person for the system. The board met Wednesday to discuss the results of the surveys the North Carolina School Boards Association conducted, garnering information from the community, staff and principals. The community and staff had their top five goals for a new superintendent the same, just in a different order.
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Cherry's ripe for The Little Read
In just a few weeks students in Catawba and Alexander counties will get to hear from the author herself about the magic of the rainforest’s kapok tree and what is involved with being an author and illustrator. The Little Read is March 31, and this year’s author is Lynne Cherry. The annual event is part of Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Visiting Writers Series, bringing authors to Hickory. Cherry’s “The Great Kapok Tree” was selected as this year’s The Little Read book for second-graders. A copy of the book has been given to every second grader in Catawba County. For the first year, Alexander County is included in The Little Read.
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Check signings, motives called into question in embezzlement case
The district attorney’s office says the trial against a former parent teacher organization treasurer-turned-president is about a person who embezzled money, forged signatures and bought items for personal use. Her defense attorney said that is not the situation. “Two words sum up this case: discord and drama,” said attorney Mark Killian, who is representing Holly Specht. Specht is charged with embezzlement by public officers and trustees, obtaining property by false pretenses and four counts of forging endorsement. Specht was elected treasurer of Webb A. Murray Elementary’s PTO for the 2008-09 school year. She was elected president of the organization for the 2009-10 year.
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Trial of embezzlement of PTO funds set to begin
After a short pre-trial motion, jury selection began for a former member of an elementary school parent teacher organization accused of embezzling money from the group. Holly Specht, 32, is charged with embezzlement by public officers and trustees, obtaining property by false pretenses and four counts of forging endorsement. Specht served as the treasurer of Webb A. Murray Elementary’s PTO during the 2008-09 school year. She is accused of embezzling approximately $3,000 from the organization while serving as treasurer. She also is accused of buying about $432 worth of items from Sam’s Club using the PTO checking account for her personal use and forging signatures onto checks.
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Disgraced teacher accepts plea
Nearly three years after he was first charged with misdemeanor stalking, former Fred T. Foard High teacher John Donadio accepted a deal in the case in which he does not admit guilt. Donadio was charged in May 2009 with stalking Josh Pruitt, who was 17 at the time and a junior at Foard High where Donadio was an occupational teacher. Pruitt had been Donadio’s student for more than two years. In an Alford plea, Donadio was sentenced to prayer for judgment and to pay court costs of $205. An Alford plea is when the defendant does not admit guilt, but admits the prosecution could likely convict you. Donadio was facing a maximum punishment of 150 days in prison.
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