🌟 APRIL IS HERE - THE FINAL COUNTDOWN BEGINS!🎓
It’s hard to believe, but we’re already in the last full month of the 2024-25 school year! With just 34 school days left until May 22, the excitement is building, and there's no shortage of amazing things happening in our schools. From gardening projects to STEM innovations and robotics competitions to community-driven beautification efforts, there’s so much to celebrate as we wrap up the year. 🌱🤖✨
Read on to discover what’s happening beyond your school’s walls – you won’t want to miss it! 🌸🎉
🚀 PENDER COUNTY SCHOOLS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS SPARKNC GRANT 💡
Big news! Pender County Schools has been awarded a highly competitive SparkNC grant, funded by The Leon Levine Foundation, to provide students with hands-on learning in high-tech fields like AI, cybersecurity, software development, and game design! 🖥️🎮
With personalized learning pathways, real-world projects, and industry mentorship, this program is a game-changer for students looking to build future-ready skills and explore high-demand careers. 🌎✨🔗 Read more about this exciting opportunity HERE
TEACHER ADVISORY COUNCIL RECEIVES A LESSON IN FINANCE💲
The Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council recently gathered for another engaging meeting, bringing together the Teachers of the Year from across Pender County Schools 🏫🍎. This council provides a valuable platform for educators to connect with Superintendent Dr. Brad Breedlove and discuss key topics shaping our schools.
This session focused on finance 💵, with Chief Financial Officer Lisa Nowlin leading a presentation titled “Budget Planning with Stakeholders” 📊. Teachers gained insight into how school funding is allocated, the challenges of budgeting for a growing district, and the importance of educator input in financial planning. The discussion emphasized the vital role teachers play in advocating for resources that support student success 📚✨.
Meetings like these ensure that teacher voices remain at the heart of decision-making in Pender County Schools! 👏🎉
BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING APRIL 8, 2025
The next Pender County Schools Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Dr. Katherine Herring Resource Center located at 798 US HWY 117, Burgaw, NC 28425. For those unable to attend the meeting will be broadcast on the PCS YouTube channel. Click HERE for more information.
🌟 ROCKY POINT ELEMENTARY'S TEACHER OF THE YEAR!🌟
Dedication, leadership, and a passion for student growth—Mrs. Alyssa Romero embodies it all! As Rocky Point Elementary’s 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, she has spent five incredible years shaping young minds, mentoring fellow educators, and making a lasting impact on her students. 💡🍎
From guiding her students through a virtual hybrid class to watching them graduate elementary school, Mrs. Romero’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. Want to learn more about her story and why she’s so loved at Rocky Point? 🔗 Read more HERE
🎓 PCS BEGINNING TEACHERS& COACHES SHINE AT STATEWIDE CONFERENCES🌟
Pender County Schools’ Beginning Teacher (BT) Coach Team and five outstanding Beginning Teachers recently showcased their expertise at the UNC-Charlotte 14th Annual Teacher to Teacher Conference! 🍎✨ Representing PCS with pride, they led impactful breakout sessions and engaged in valuable professional development alongside educators from across the state.
Additionally, Lisa Godwin took the stage at the NCCAT Beginning Teacher Coordinator Institute, delivering the closing keynote address and highlighting PCS’s exceptional Beginning Teacher Support Program. 🎤👏
🔗 Read more about their amazing contributions!
🔬 PENDER COUNTY STUDENTS SHINE AT STATE SCIENCE FAIR 🚀
Students from Surf City Elementary and Penderlea School showcased their scientific talents at the North Carolina State Science Fair held at NC State University in Raleigh. Competing against top young minds from across the state, these students demonstrated impressive dedication, curiosity, and critical thinking. 🧠✨
Hailey, Audrina, and Harper from Surf City Elementary earned the Promising Young Researcher Award 🏆, a testament to their hard work and innovative projects. Their achievements highlight the strength of STEM education in Pender County Schools. 🏫🔍
Penderlea School students also took home the Promising Young Researcher Award 🎖️ after refining their experiments based on feedback from regional judges. They expanded their projects by adding additional variables—such as testing mustard and ketchup 🌭🍔—and improving data collection with temperature charts for both hot and cold water. ❄️🔥 Their commitment to scientific inquiry and perseverance was truly commendable.
We are incredibly proud of these students for representing Pender County Schools with excellence and enthusiasm. Way to go, future scientists! 🚀👩🔬👨🔬
🚜 HANDS-ON LEARNING AT PCS AG DAY 🌾
Nearly 900 elementary students from across the district got a hands-on experience in the world of farming and agriculture at our second annual AG Day at Penderlea Farms! 🐄🌱 Students explored everything from crop cultivation to animal husbandry, gaining a deeper appreciation for the role agriculture plays in their daily lives.
A special highlight? Pender High School graduate Austin Alexander returned to share his journey from student to skilled professional, inspiring the next generation of agricultural leaders! 🌟 🔗 Read more HERE
🎨 90’s-INSPIRED ART CONTEST CELEBRATES YOUTH ART MONTH🏆
To celebrate March as Youth Art Month, the Topsail High School National Art Honor Society hosted an art contest inspired by the 1990s in honor of the Topsail Centennial Celebration. Students created original artwork reflecting 90’s culture—think fashion, music, movies, TV, and more! Entries were judged on creativity, design, and how well they captured the theme, with prizes awarded to the winners.
🏅 This year’s winners are:
🎉 First Place (Tied): Senior Aydia Courtright & Sophomore Sade Williams
🥈 Second Place: Junior James Russell
🥉 Third Place: Sophomore Sydney Evans
Aydia’s piece, Sweet Chills, showcased 90’s fashion, inspired by conversations with her parents. Sade’s En Vogue captured the dramatic shapes and diva personalities of 90’s haute couture. James’ Polaroids was inspired by the iconic Michael Jordan and Polaroid photos of the time. Sydney’s A Stroll through the 90’s paid homage to the grunge era, illustrating the decade’s cultural changes through her sketches.
👏 Thank you to all students who participated, and the National Art Honor Society looks forward to next year’s competition!
WEEKLY SCHEDULES
From Pender High - PHS Prom 25' was a great time had by all! Forever memories were made! Congratulations to our Prom King, Mason Hand & Queen, Arianna Nelson!
From Burgaw Middle - Join us in wishing a Happy National Assistant Principal's Week to our very own Red Devil, Mrs. King-Jacobs! We will be celebrating you all week long from March 31st through April 4th.🌺
AND...Students dissected owl pellets today to learn about owl dietary habits and how they fit into the food web of their ecosystem. 🦉
From Rocky Point Elementary - Congratulations to 2nd grade teacher Natalie Tidler. She is in the top 4 for Pender County Schools Beginning Teacher of Promise!
From Pender Innovative Learning Academy - The Monday exploratory class for elementary students is gardening this quarter. Our students are REALLY starting to see their plants grow. We will be harvesting vegetables before you know it!!
From Surf City Elementary - Hailey, Audrina, and Harper competed in the North Carolina State Science Fair at NC State in Raleigh today. They won a Special Award called the Promising Young Researcher Award. We are so proud of your hard work. You all represented Pender County Schools and Surf City Elementary so well! Way to go!!
AND...We're thankful for the connection between our two schools. Thank you THS baseball players for opening car doors this morning and welcoming our Sea Turtles to school. 🐢🏴☠️⚾
From Heide Trask High - 🚀 Heide Trask TITANium Robotics Team 9296 had an incredible weekend at the UNC-Pembroke FIRST competition, finishing 19th out of 31 teams! A huge shoutout to our amazing team for their hard work and dedication.
A special thank you to Sgt. Quiles, our Robotics team coach, for guiding the team through the robot build and keeping everyone safe while driving to and from the competition. Ms. Daniels, our Robotics team mentor, also played a vital role, assisting students and helping them every step of the way.
Big thanks to Mrs. Davis for printing our team t-shirts and buttons, and a huge shoutout to our talented female team members for designing them! We couldn’t have done it without all of you—thank you for making this experience unforgettable!
From North Topsail Elemenaty - We are so thankful for our Hampstead community! Thank you to everyone who volunteered with Renovation Church over the weekend to make our school a more beautiful place!
AND...From the PTA - Thank you to EVERYONE in our school/community for your contributions!
We collected a whopping 65 bags of food, and Share the Table was thrilled to welcome us with our goodies!
Congratulations to the following classes from each grade level for the most bags of condiments collected:
K: Faldzinski
1st: Lee
2nd: Fulcher
3rd: Hogan
4th: Fulbright
5th: Fluke
🍿A popcorn and juice party will be headed your way! 🍿
From Pender Early College - Nurse Avery taught Anatomy students how to take blood pressure as part of our cardiovascular unit!
AND...PECHS Prom 25 #👑👑 #💃🕺#PECHSProm25
From Topsail Middle - Campus looked a bit different today! 🌴🎉 A beautiful sign and palm trees greeted our students. Huge thanks to TMS PTO, Fun Run Fundraiser, P & L Palms, and Brad Wallace Irrigation & Landscape for making this happen!
From Cape Fear Middle - Last week we had our awards assembly. Congrats to all of the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who received their honor!
AND...This week in Mr Odom's Stem classes students are testing the gliders they built, attempting to alter their flight path using ailerons, elevators, and the rudder to get them to land in their designated landing area! They are having a lot of fun and causing a bit of chaos!
From West Pender Middle - Ms. Miller’s 6th-grade scientists 🔬 brought learning to life by building classroom terrariums 🌱complete with live critters. This immersive, hands-on activity exemplified the power of experiential learning in science
From Topsail Annandale Elementary - In 2nd grade, some of our flexible groups are working on partner reading to help build their fluency skills.
From Penderlea School - Congratulations, Ms. Gurganus! You are the 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year! All of your hard work is appreciated!
From Malpass Corner Elementary - Let's celebrate some of our youngest Eagles and send a big congratulations to our Pre-K Eaglets of the Week! Way to SOAR, Pre-K!
From South Topsail Elementary - Time to Purple Up Stingrays! April is the Month of the Military Child, a time when we honor the strength, resilience, and contributions of military-connected children in our South Topsail community.
From C.F. Pope Elementary - 🎉 Celebrating Ms. Tindal! 🎉
We are so proud of our incredible 4th-grade teacher, Ms. Tindal, for presenting at this year's 14th Annual Teacher 2 Teacher Conference! 🌟
The conference, designed by teachers for teachers, offers meaningful professional development to educators across North Carolina. It’s all about empowering our educators to grow and connect—and Ms. Tindal did just that by sharing her expertise with fellow P-12 teachers and administrators. 💡👏
Thank you, Ms. Tindal, for representing our school and inspiring the next generation of educators! 👩🏫✨ We’re lucky to have you on our team!
From Topsail High - We are continuing to recognize an outstanding senior who exhibits the six qualities of a Topsail Pirate - Positive . Involved . Responsible . Attentive . Thoughtful . Empowered. This week, we are focusing on the Involved trait of a Topsail Pirate. The 24-25 Involved Pirate is Paige McGraw. As the student body president, National Honors Society secretary, and co-yearbook editor, Paige has continually advocated for improvement and taken on active leadership roles throughout our school. It is hard to be anywhere at Topsail High School and not see Paige’s influence and leadership. Congratulations Paige! We are so proud of you!
AND...This time each year we celebrate teachers whose commitment and care to students is worthy of special recognition! "Of the Years" are selected by their peers for being outstanding at what they do in the classroom and school community. For 2025-26, we are proud to announce Ms. Ana Brugh as our Beginning Teacher of the Year and Mr. Chris Blake as our Teacher of the Year! Please join us in celebrating their selfless contributions to Topsail High School! Go Pirates!
From Cape Fear Elementary - One week until the Tiny Art Show!
How cool is Dylan's Shrinky Dink self portrait!?
AND...Ms. Coleman’s class has started a brand new study “All Things Round”. Through this study students will expand knowledge through a variety of hands on experiences. Some of the things we did today were created a sports store, compared & contrasted types sizes, textures etc of all things round, number to quantity ball sensory find & word building!!
From Surf City Middle - We are excited to announce that Nine of our 6th-grade students have been selected as finalists in the Pender Spring Fest T-Shirt Design Contest! The winner will be revealed on April 10th at the awards ceremony.
📅 Pender Spring Fest will take place on May 3rd from 9 AM - 4 PM at Courthouse Square in Burgaw. Come celebrate all things “Made in Pender” and check out an art display featuring incredible work from our very own Surf City Sharks (grades 6-8)!
Way to go, young artists! 🎨🦈👏
AND...This last day of Youth Art Month we’re excited to celebrate Caiden Guy, a 7th grader whose bold and innovative artistic style has earned him multiple recognitions. Caiden enjoys exploring spray paint art and graphic art using Sharpies to create striking designs with bold black lines. He has taken art in both 6th and 7th grade and continues to push his creativity to new heights.
✨ A Few Fun Facts About Caiden:
✅ Favorite type of art: Spray paint art and graphic art with Sharpies 🎨🖤
✅ Hobbies outside of school: Playing soccer and basketball with friends ⚽🏀
✅ Why he makes art: “It’s fun… and to make money!” 💰🎨
🏆 Awards and Recognitions:
✅ 3rd Place Winner – His artwork is currently on view at the 2025 Azalea Festival Youth Art and Writing Contests Showcase in Wilmington 🎨🌸
✅ Honorable Mention – 2024 Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest 🦆✨, where 137 North Carolina students participated, exploring environmental science and habitat conservation through art.
✅ 2nd Place Winner – 2024 State Fish Art Contest 🎣🌊, which had more than 4,000 submissions. This contest blends art, science, and creative writing to foster connections to the outdoors and inspire the next generation of stewards.
Caiden’s creativity and talent continue to make an impact both in and out of the classroom. We’re so proud of his achievements and look forward to seeing where his artistic journey takes him next!
🌟 Pender County Schools is seeking dedicated educators to join our team! ✏️ Be part of our mission to inspire and educate young minds. Retirees (meeting NC Return to Work laws) are also welcome to join us! #ExperienceTheExcellence 📚 APPLY HERE
🚍Join the team at Pender County Schools as a valued school bus driver! 🚌 Experience the pride of safely transporting students to and from school while playing a vital role in their educational journey. 🌟 With competitive pay and the opportunity to make a positive impact on young lives, driving with us is more than just a job—it's a rewarding experience! - APPLY HERE
rpe - Save the Date! Our 4th and 5th grade students will be presenting their Spring Concert on Thursday, April 10th at 4:30pm, right before our Duke Energy STEAM Night! All students are expected to be in attendance. Please contact Mrs. Black with any questions!
¡Guarda la fecha! ¡Nuestros estudiantes de 4to y 5to grado estarán presentando su Concierto de Primavera el jueves, 10 de abril a las 4:30pm, justo antes de nuestra Noche STEAM patrocinada por Duke Energy! Se espera que todos los estudiantes estén presentes.
🎉 Penderlea Day is Almost Here! 🎉
Mark your calendars for April 12th from 10 AM – 2 PM and join us for a day of fun, food, and community spirit—all while supporting our students! All proceeds from this event will go directly back to Penderlea School to benefit our students.
🌭 Delicious food – hot dogs, wings, snacks & more!
🎯 Games & a fun kids' zone
🎶 Live entertainment
🚜 Touch-a-Truck
🛍️ Vendors
🎨 Student Art Display – just announced!
🎸Guitar Lessons – don’t miss this exciting opportunity!
We need YOUR help to make this event a success! If you're interested in:
✅ Volunteering
✅ Being a vendor
✅ Performing on stage
📧 Contact us at pls_info@pender.k12.nc.us for more details.
Come out, bring your family, and have fun! We can’t wait to see you there!
📍 Penderlea School
11 Garden Rd, Willard, NC 28478
Interested in joining Color Guard? Check out the flyer for more information!
🌟 Exciting News! 🌟 Join us (C.F. Pope Elementary) for Duke Energy Science Night on April 16th from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at C.F. Pope Elementary School! 🧑🔬🔬 It’s going to be a night full of fun and discovery with hands-on experiments, interactive displays, and exciting science demos. This is a perfect event for students, families, and science lovers of all ages! 🌍✨ 🔹 Explore cool science exhibits 🔹 Fun activities for kids 🔹 Free event – bring the whole family! Mark your calendars and bring your curiosity! Let’s get ready to spark a love for science! 🔥🌟
rpe - Save the Date! Our Kindergarten and 1st grade students will be presenting their Spring Concert on Thursday, April 17th at 7:45am. All families are invited to attend! Please contact Mrs. Black with any questions.
¡Guarda la fecha! Nuestros estudiantes de Kinder y 1er grado estarán presentando su Concierto de Primavera el jueves, 17 de abril a las 7:45am. ¡Todas las familias están invitadas!
🔥 Pender County Schools is 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
PENDER-TOPSAIL POST & VOICE - Front Page
WECT - Pender County Schools to hold virtual town hall for strategic plan
WECT - Major progress underway for new K-8 school in Pender County
WWAY - Superintendent of NCDPI Mo Green visits Wilmington to discuss the future of public schools
PORT CITY DAILY - New ‘Bathroom Bill’ surfaces in NC Senate, targets transgender rights
Credits:
Created with images by STOATPHOTO - "Whats New. Communication, business and knowledge concept. Wooden table" • Thomas - "Green metal lockers along a nondescript hallway in a typical US High School. No identifiable information included and nobody in the hall. " • tab62 - "Various sports equipment on white rustic wooden background" • charles taylor - "random post it stickers" • photocrew - "Nachrichten" • NaMong Productions - "hand holding smart phone with application icons interface and globe networking system. concept technology social network communication."