🌟 As we prepare to gather around the table with family and friends, our hearts are filled with gratitude and warmth, much like the spirit of Thanksgiving. 🍂 In the spirit of expressing thanks, we extend our deepest appreciation to all who have enriched our lives and shaped our community. 🙏🏽✨ In the spirit of gratitude, we wish you a joyous and bountiful Thanksgiving celebration! 🦃🍁
🎶🎵Here's the South Topsail Elementary Chorus to ease us into the last PCS News before we break for Thanksgiving 🦃
RPE MUSIC TEACHER NAMED NCMEA ELEMENTARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR
The Rocky Point Elementary community is thankful for the work that Laura Black puts in. Recently her efforts have brought in more than $15,000 worth of grants which is partly why she was recently named the North Carolina Music Educators Association Elementary Teacher of the Year!!🎉🎈🎊You can read more about Ms. Black's award HERE #ExperienceTheExcellence
CFE TEACHER AWARDED BRIGHT IDEAS GRANT
Mrs. Coleman was awarded a Bright Ideas Education Grant from Four County Electric to purchase YOTO players for her 3rd grade classroom at Cape Fear Elementary. The grant will help to assist with reading fluency and comprehension. Thank you FOUR COUNTY!
grant money awarded to pair of rpe teachers
A huge "Thank you!" to Four County Electric Membership Corporation for awarding TWO Bright Ideas grants to Rocky Point Elementary! Ms. Hansley-Jones was awarded $2,000 for a "Literacy Through Photography" project and Mrs. Black was awarded $1,000 that will go towards the orchestra program. We are so thankful for our community supporters!
MAKING AN IMPACT!
🌟 At Pender County Schools, our commitment to excellence extends beyond the classroom, and this month, we are thrilled to spotlight the outstanding efforts of some exceptional individuals within our educational family! 👏🏻🍎 In the spirit of celebrating dedication and impact, we proudly announce our honorees for the month of November: 🍎 Beginning Teacher (BT) of the Month: A round of applause for Jenna Coleman of Rocky Point Elementary, whose passion and commitment inspire both students and colleagues alike. 👩🏫 Mentor of the Month: Let's extend our congratulations to Cheryl King of Burgaw Middle School, whose guidance and support make a profound difference in shaping the next generation of educators. 🏫 BT Site Coordinator (SC) of the Month: A heartfelt acknowledgment goes to Karen McGowen of Pender High School, whose leadership at the site level ensures a nurturing environment for both novice and experienced educators. These folks embody the spirit of excellence, going above and beyond to make a lasting impact on the lives of our students and the educational community at large. 🌟📚
FALL INTO YOUR FUTURE" CAREER FAIR AT HEIDE TRASK HIGH SCHOOL!
Heide Trask High School on Friday hosted a county-wide 8th-grade Career Fair, offering a valuable opportunity for students to explore over 65 careers, educational programs, and Career and Technical Student Organizations. With a focus on guiding students toward becoming Enrolled, Enlisted, or Employed post-graduation, the event featured a large outdoor exhibit area. Attendees could actively engage by completing a "passport" for a chance to win exciting door prizes, making this an informative and interactive experience for our aspiring young minds. Don't miss the chance to be part of shaping our students' future! 🌐🔍 Click HERE for more pictures
UNIFIED CHAMPIONS UNITE AT ROCKY POINT ELEMENTARY!
Discover how Rocky Point Elementary, a designated Unified Champion School, is transforming the tennis court into a space of unity and inclusion. In collaboration with Special Olympics North Carolina, 40 students—both Exceptional Children and General Education—came together at Porters Neck Country Club for a spirited Unified Tennis Clinic. Read more HERE 🏆🤝
WHAT DID YOU DO OVER THANKSGIVING BREAK!?!
Just a reminder...🎺🎷 Two of Topsail's Marching Pirates are set to be part of a Thanksgiving Day tradition!! 🌟 Sophomore Samuel Casamalhuapa and senior Shayne Hughes will be part of the Macy's Parade Thanksgiving morning. The Pirates share their excitement and experiences ahead of what will be a once-in-a-lifetime (or is it???) performance 🦃🎉 Read More HERE
SO MUCH GOOD GOING ON ACROSS THE DISTRICT!!
coaches corner
Mary Britt Hamilton - 2nd grade teacher at CFE - Ms. Hamilton has been teaching for 11 years, and this is her 3rd year teaching at CFE where she has taught both 1st and 2nd grades. Her mother and her grandmother were both teachers, and she has always known sheI wanted to follow in their footsteps! She believes in making meaningful relationships and setting high expectations for them. When those relationships are in place, her students always rise to the occasion and strive to meet those expectations. Teaching is a process of learning from students, colleagues and parents, and she tries to bring a positive attitude, open mind and high expectations into the classroom every single day. Mrs. Hamilton was asked about the impact of Wit & Wisdom on students in Pender County Schools. “I think the heavy emphasis on building knowledge about the world along with the language and vocabulary that Wit and Wisdom brings to ELA benefits the students of Pender County in a very meaningful way!”
Lora Guthrie - 5th grade teacher at STE - Next month Mrs. Guthrie and her husband will celebrate 26 years of marriage. They had a whirlwind romance and were married just four months after meeting one another! They have one son, Kevin, who is 21 years old and has a heart as big as the sea! They love spending time with their family and friends. Mrs. Guthrie loves to work in the yard and swim every summer day, but her favorite hobby is fresh water fishing. She also loves to do home improvement projects and gets too many grand ideas from HGTV. Interesting Facts: She was born and raised in Ohio...Go Buckeyes! She has been a Bengals fan for over 50 years. She saw every Star Wars movie at the theater on opening night. She has been teaching for 24 years with 23 of those years being at STE. She started teaching at STE in the Head Start Pre-K Program. After a few years she moved up to kindergarten. She spent a couple more years in second and third grades and then made the jump to fifth grade. This year in fifth grade she is teaching math and science. In the past, as they are departmentalized, she has taught reading and science or social studies and science, with many years just teaching science. She loves all the subjects and really enjoys bringing skills from one subject into another area. Mrs. Guthrie was asked about the impact of Eureka Math Squared on students in Pender County Schools. “I believe Eureka Math Squared Curriculum is designed to expose the students to many different ways to solve a problem. This curriculum design should help build a deeper conceptual knowledge of mathematics that will benefit our students as they progress through their academic career.”
From Surf City Elementary - Dr. Martin and his ‘Sea Turtle Pirates’ visited outer space yesterday! To kick off Module 2 of Wit & Wisdom, our reading curriculum, the classroom was transformed into space, which is the theme of the new module in reading. When students entered the classroom this morning, they were greeted by Neil Armstrong and experienced the first walk on the moon! Then, the students boarded Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong, and had their tour guide, Galileo Galilei, guide them through outer space! They were given some “moon candy” to help make the trip to outer space more ‘delicious’. During the day, students worked on their phonics, and subtracting using the Take Ten & Hundred Away strategy in outer space, while everything glowed and shimmered! Most notably, the student astronauts participated in a book tasting (Space Food) of the new core texts for the second module of Wit & Wisdom. They got excited about all of the new texts they got to read; their favorite was Zathura! At the end of the day, students raced the Sphero’s around the outer space classroom to learn about the planets and galaxies in space. Dr. Martin would like to thank Mrs. Lake for her time yesterday afternoon; she helped in transforming the classroom into outer space. In addition; a special thanks to Faith Harbor Methodist Church, Ms. Murray, & Ms. Sawyer for donating the black lights. We couldn’t have the special space decor if it wasn’t for Ms. Sawyer, Ms. Lake, Mrs. Coburn & Ms. Olmstead: thank you so much!! 🌏🪐💫🌞🌚🌜
From North Topsail Elementary - THANK YOU to ALL of our NTES veterans‼️
From Cape Fear Elementary - Ms. Billig's 2nd grade class at CF Pope created a book that showcases both writing and reading. This book stems from Wit & Wisdom Module 2, A Season of Change.
From Malpass Corner Elementary - Wow! We have some of the best dressed job interviewees around Pender County at school today! Who's hiring?? Tomorrow is "Dress Like Your Favorite Teacher Day" for CTE Spirit Week. And a few pics from yesterday for "Wear Your Future College Shirt" are included in today's post.
From Cape Fear Elementary - Kindergarten just completed Module 1, where we learned all about our 5 Senses and how we use our senses to help us read and learn about the world around us. They completed the module by becoming authors and illustrators, creating books sharing what they have learned, specifically referencing evidence from the different texts we read. They shared their books with a partner, practicing giving their partner compliments about their work.
South Topsail Elementary - Our future is looking bright at STE!!!
From Topsail Middle - TMS wants to congratulate the WWAY Teacher of the Month, Mr. Travis Geddie. WWAY surprised him this morning and will be airing a broadcast of today on Tuesday at 6 pm. He was nominated by a parent of one of his students this month. Running the dream team, member of the sunshine committee, and being a Champion for his students. Thank you for all that you do, Mr. Geddie.
From Burgaw Middle - Earlier this week the🎵Heide Trask High School Band🎵 visited Burgaw Middle School for a 🥁special performance🥁 followed by a meet and greet!! These Red😈Devils are aspiring musicians!!🎼🎶🎼
And...The BMS Color Guard performed an impressive ceremony to honor two of our nation's veterans who help BMS students. The Color Guard carried our flag in step, raised the flag to the tune of "Reveille" and read poems of gratitude. Veterans Nurse Futral (Navy) and Master Gunnery Sgt Lettinhand (USMC, Ret) addressed our students with some motivating and inspiring words. Thank you Veterans!
From Pender Innovative Learning Academy - There were a TON of smiling Otters on campus today with the inaugural day of swinging. Children of ALL ages enjoyed our new equipment today! All the Otters want to give a HUGE thanks to the PCS Facilities Department for making this dream a reality. #ExperiencetheExcellence
From Cape Fear Middle - Today is Dress Like Your Favorite Teacher Day and our staff dressed like their favorite teacher, Coach Reece. You can tell how much Coach Reece is loved by our staff. They even included her signature chapstick and sunglasses. We all appreciate everything Coach Reece does for our students and staff. #ExperienceTheExcellence #HOMEoftheGrizzlies
From Penderlea School - The CTE classes are working on a cookie drop! Students must design a parachute to drop a cookie with it breaking
From Topsail Annandale Elementary - First Graders have been working on Wit and Wisdom Module One. This Module is "A World of Books" and teaches students about the many ways that books change peoples lives around the world. To deepen their knowledge, students took a walking field trip to the Public Library!
From Rocky Point Elementary - If you didn't already know, we have some outstanding teachers here at RPE! They're so amazing, that our students dressed up like their favorite teacher today for National Career Development Month! #ExperienceTheExcellence
From Pender Early College - Deck the Halls at PECHS! PECHS students and CFCC staff getting the building ready for the holidays! #NoGrincheshere
From Surf City Middle - A huge thank you to the Landfall Foundation for the grant used to provide an adaptive and accessible classroom for our students! The grant was used to purchase brand new band chairs, chair racks, brass visualizers, pneumo pro tone developers, leather neck guards for trombone and French horn, as well as wall brackets for our classroom speakers.
The West Pender Beta Club is selling raffle tickets to raise money for the state convention! Enter to win 4 passes to the Polar Ice Skate House in Wilmington! Contact Ms. Miller or a Beta Club member to purchase your raffle tickets!
Another new class to check out for next semester at Pender High School!
ROTC Blood drive - help out YOUR community by donating blood! Sign up with PHS ROTC.
To honor those who served this Holiday season we are kicking off our annual Wreaths Across America campaign & fundraiser. Time has flown, and we are about one month from Wreaths Across America Day, December 16, 2023. We hope that you will consider sponsoring wreaths at Wilmington National Cemetery, or another location of your choice. No matter the location, please use the Topsail High School Music Booster's page to support Wreaths Across America. **Please scan the QR code in the image above to go directly to our page**
Pender County Schools is teaming up with Cape Fear Navigating Change to help spread the word about their survey. This survey is all about Cape Fear Navigating Change 2050, which is a big plan for how residents handle transportation in our region over the next 25 years. The plan looks at things like airplanes, bikes and walking paths, ferries, trains, buses, and roads to make sure they meet our community's needs. Take the survey HERE
South Topsail Elementary School has Been Nominated for the "Tell Us Something Good" Award. Families across the state were invited to nominate their child’s school for the “Tell Us Something Good” AWARD sponsored by the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC). South Topsail Elementary School was nominated for the "Tell Us Something Good "Award by Jesaya Hargrove. Voting ends on Sunday, November 19th. The winning school will receive $1000.00 to support a family engagement activity. VOTE
Having trouble getting connected to our new communication tool? Join us at C.F. Pope Elementary on November 28 to learn more and get connected if you are not already! The new PCS communication tool provides many opportunities for parents to stay informed and engaged with school and classroom updates, activities, and expectations.
🌟 Pender County Schools is excited to announce a $5,000 signing bonus for full-time teachers in Math, EC, Science, and Pender Innovate Learning Academy. ✏️ Be part of our mission to inspire and educate young minds. We welcome retirees (meeting NC Return to Work laws) to join us too! #ExperienceTheExcellence 📚 APPLY HERE
Pender County Schools is offering a signing bonus of $2,500 for school bus drivers joining our team 💰🎁Starting pay for drivers is $15/hr 🚌Join our team of committed drivers, providing a vital service to students and their families - APPLY HERE
🔥 This year, we're committed to engaging students in exciting experiential learning activities that will prepare them for their futures. These experiences are designed to equip our students with the skills needed for enrollment, enlistment, or employment upon graduation. We're proud to offer incredible opportunities in Career and Technical Education! 🛠️👩🔬👨🎓 Click HERE for the latest from CTE Director Dominique Bates #CTEforNC #ExperienceTheExcellence
WWAY - Pender County Schools release survey regarding switch to 3-tiered bell schedule
WECT - Pender County Schools issues survey on potential bell schedule changes
STARNEWS ONLINE - Two Topsail High School students to perform at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
PORT CITY DAILY - Pender County Schools launches survey on three-tier bell schedule
PENDER-TOPSAIL POST & VOICE - Front Page