Daughters of the American Revolution winners

The Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has announced the winners of the local DAR American history essay contest.

In commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Ellis Island, fifth-grade through eighth-grade students wrote essays describing a child’s experiences traveling through the immigration station.

Three of the winners are students at North Hills Christian School.

Rachel Sue Judd won for grade five and Caroline Nance was the grade six winner. Gavin Lutz, the grade eight winner, also won at the DAR district level competition, and his essay will compete at the state level.

Kerry Campion, a student at Knox Middle School, is the grade seven winner. Campion’s essay was also a district level winner, and her essay will compete at the state level.

Megan Guzman, a ninth-grader at Rowan Early College, wrote the winning high school essay. The title of her Christopher Columbus essay was “Joining Christopher Columbus on His Voyage to the New World.” Guzman is also a district level winner, and her essay will be considered at the state level completion.

 

Two Lunch and Learn sessions offered at Downtown Catawba

You are invited to “brown bag it” for two free Lunch and Learn sessions at Catawba College’s Downtown Catawba storefront, located in The Plaza at 100 W. Innes St., Suite 103.

Bring your lunch and enjoy two different hour-long sessions with Catawba faculty members.

Francis J. Farina, an associate professor of accounting and director of the Institute of Business and Accounting will offer a program entitled, “Who owes those employment taxes?” between noon and 1 p.m. on Feb. 26.

Dr. Renee A. Just, a visiting assistant professor of business, will offer a program entitled “Organizational Culture and Change” between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on March 4.

Hear these faculty experts talk about what they know best and then have a conversation with them to get your questions answered. Admission is free.

 

Alpha Kappa Alpha Fashionetta Pageant

Registration for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Fashionetta Pageant will be held Feb. 28 from 10 a.m. until noon at the Livingstone Hospitality Management and Culinary School, the old Holiday Inn, on Jake Alexander Boulevard.

The Fashionetta Pageant is open to girls ages 8-11. Parents or guardians are invited to bring their child. A workshop on “Sheroes” will be presented as well as information concerning the pageant.

The Fashionetta Pageant is the major fundraiser for the Delta Xi Omega Chapter’s Scholarship Fund.

Contact Shelia Brown-Miller at 704-223-0263 or Lovetta Ealy Moore at 704-637-7995.

 

Sacred Heart Beta Club

Sacred Heart Catholic School’s Beta Club members won third place in the Beta Club State Convention Competition’s Quiz Bowl – Hannah Smith, Mary Sobataka, Spencer Blackwell and Lauren Denhard.

The North Carolina State Convention was held at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel in Greensboro on Feb. 9 and 10.

 

Sacred Heart Ash Wednesday

Sacred Heart Catholic School held an Ash Wednesday Mass for its students at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

 

Prom fashion show

Encore Elegance will host a prom fashion Show March 9 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Spencer Doll and Toy Museum.

The fashion show will feature styles from Precious Formals, Dave and Johnny, Cache, Cassandra Store, Tiffany, Xcite, La Femme, Alyce, Jovani, Camille, Betsy Adam, Toni Bowls and Sherry Hill.

Admission is $3 students and children and $5 for adults.

Tickets can be purchased at Encore on Main, 118 S. Main St. in China Grove Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Sundays 1-5 p.m. or Thursdays 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. They can also be purchased at the Spencer Doll and Toy Museum, 108 Fourth Street in Spencer, Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

 

Catawba’s men’s swim team named Scholar All-America

The Catawba men’s swim team topped the list of 20 schools named to the 2014 College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America teams for the fall semester.

Teams are honored that have achieved a 3.0 grade point average for a semester.

There were 20 schools on the men’s side to achieve the honor and Catawba’s grade point average was the highest at 3.67.

It marked the 12th time in 14 semesters that the men have made the Scholar All-America list.

Catawba’s women were also honored and were ranked 14th out of the 47 school’s that qualified with a 3.39 grade point average.

Members of Catawba men’s swim team include Rafal Baran, Arnold Blohme, Dominik Brus, Finn Furstenwerth, Jevgenij Gamper, Toomas Goutt, Sebastian Holmberg, Andrew McCollister and Theo Zatterstrom.

 

Salisbury Academy hosts western region spelling bee

For more than 10 years, Salisbury Academy has hosted district spelling bees, now called the Western Region Intermediate Bee.

District Coordinator Heather Coulter has worked for years to maintain an avenue to the Scripps National Spelling Bee for Rowan County students from non-public schools.

“Academic competitions provide students with important opportunities to strengthen personal presentation skills, to set and work toward goals, and to highlight and hone their gifts and talents,” said Coulter.

Dr. Karl Hales, professor emeritus from Catawba College, has served as the pronouncer for the event for the past 10 years and says it is a wonderful opportunity for students.

“It is a good discipline to learn,” he said. “It is probably one of the few things that has been maintained from the old way of educating, to learn by rote. They have to sit down and study and learn on their own. The process is very worthwhile.”

This year, 16 students from area non-public and charter schools competed.

Allison Brower, an eighth-grade student from Pine Lake Preparatory School in Mooresville was the winner. She will now move on to the Winston-Salem Journal regional bee.  The winner from that bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Mitch Porter, seventh-grade student at Woodlawn School in Mooresville, was the runner up.

Coulter and Dr. Gary Freeze, professor of history at Catawba College, along with Dr. Gordon Grant, chair of the Department of English at Catawba College, served as judges for the Western Region Intermediate Bee.