David Broyles | The News
New Mount Airy Board of Education member Amy Bledsoe is sworn in by Judge A. Moses Massey during the regular board meeting on Tuesday. Holding the Bible for Bledsoe are her two daughters, Abby and Elly.
David Broyles | The News
Mount Airy City Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory Little congratulates Woody Jordan for the Emmanuel Sunday school class at First Baptist Church for providing 315 Thanksgiving meals to local families.
David Broyles | The News
Mount Airy High School students receive a round of applause for their performance in the HOSA District 7 competition. Many of them finished in the top four in their categories and are eligible to advance to the state competition this spring.
The Mount Airy Board of Education meeting opened up with the official swearing in of three returning members and new member Amy Bledsoe on Tuesday night.
Judge A. Moses Massey performed the swearing in ceremony of new board member Amy Bledsoe and returning members Tim Matthews, Kate Appler and Wendy Carriker. Carriker was re-elected board chairwoman and Matthews also was re-elected to the post of vice chairman for the group. A reception was held to honor the members.
MCO Leadership Associates facilitators Dawn Wooten and Melody Clodfelter presented the board with a revised action plan of the school system’s community-based strategic planning initiative. The board approved of the revisions and the plan will next go back to the steering committee. That group is scheduled to meet in January to formulate specific ways to achieve the goals through individual school improvement plans.
According to Mount Airy City Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory Little, a roll out of the strategic plan is set for Feb. 19 with the school improvement plans out by March 5. Wooten said the two projects are proceeding in tandem in the hopes both can be completed shortly before the board begins its new budget process.
The drafts of the action plans include specific, one-year goals for the first year and overall goals which represent a two or three year or longer range goal. For instance, one priority focus area is high academic achievement and growth for all students. The short term could be by June 2014 the percentage of students demonstrating a year’s growth for a year’s instruction would increase seven percent compared to baseline scores from 2012-2013.
A combination of assessments including end-of-grade tests and formative assessment results would be used to measure student progress. Another focus area in the proposed strategic plan is for high quality employees. A specific goal for this area would be to have the percentage of certified employees achieving an overall rating of “accomplished” on annual evaluations to increase by five percent over 2012-2013.
Recognitions also were featured during the meeting. Teachers Phillip Lewis, Dawn Wilson, Melissa Martin, Pamela Mitchell, Cindy Wilson, Melissa Phillips and Abby Gallimore were honored for receiving Zack Smith Fund Advisory Committee of the Winston-Salem Foundation grants. Mount Airy High School Principal Sandy George was honored for receiving her doctorate in education from Appalachian State University.
Woody Jordan accepted honors for the Emmanuel Sunday school class at First Baptist Church for providing 315 Thanksgiving meals to local families. Spencer’s DBA Rock Ararat Products Company was recognized for donating $630 to the Hungry Bears Backpack Program.
Mount Airy High School HOSA students were honored for their performance in the District 7 competition. More than 300 students from 15 different high schools participated in the event.
Rachel Evans was first in extemporaneous speaking, Tre’von Debnam also finished first in the researched persuasive speaking competition and Emily Pfitzner was first in medical photography. Second place finishes went to Garret VanHoy in medical math and Ryan Worth for extemporaneous speaking.
Kristin Collins was third in sports medicine, Jordan Penn was third for extemporaneous health poster, Sarah Smith finished third in extemporaneous writing, Brooke Moore was third in job seeking skills and Megan Hardy took third in Courtesy Corp. Sara Hale was fourth in medical photography.
In team competition, Kaicee Snow, Andrew Jones, Dalton Mayes and Landon Mumford took second in creative problem solving. Jessica Spencer, Chelsea Michelle Carter, Emily Hiatt and Blake Bond placed third in the HOSA Bowl and Taylor Davis, Makayla Benfield, Mindy Benfield and Catherine Scott were fourth in bowl competition. Kaitlin Draughn and Cheyenne McHone were fourth in the career health display.
Little said the top four in categories are eligible to represent the district in state competition in the spring.
Reach David Broyles at dbroyles@heartlandpublications.com or 719-1952.
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