Salisbury Academy Kidsbloom Festival and 5K to be held May 16

Salisbury Academy invites families to attend the annual Kidsbloom Festival and 5K and Fun Run on May 16.

The festival will be held on the school’s campus at 2210 Jake Alexander Blvd. N., from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will include a bounce house, climbing wall, book sale, silent auction, raffle and concessions.

A new addition this year, Trashed Studio will provide an art tent where children can create repurposed masterpieces. The studio offers a creative environment for all ages and experience levels to learn and enjoy the craft of repurposing while raising environmental awareness. This new activity is part of Salisbury Academy’s Project Green Space initiative, which aims to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly school as well as conservation-minded citizens. Admission to Kidsbloom is $5 per person.

The festival will be held in conjunction with the third annual 5K Run/Walk and Fun Run, which will begin at the Carter Kindergarten Building, 1801 Bellevue Road. Registration will open at 7:45 a.m. and the 5K Run/Walk will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the half-mile Fun Run which will begin at 9:50 a.m. The race course will be accurately marked by the Salisbury Rowan Runners club.

Participants in the 5K and Fun Run will also receive free admission to the Kidsbloom Festival. Visit www.salisburyacademy.org for registration details.

 

Catawba students join biological honors society

Catawba College’s Tau Eta Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, the national biological honor society, inducted 18 members at its annual induction ceremony April 9. The inductees will be lifetime members of Tri-Beta.

At the ceremony held in the Center for the Environment on campus, graduating seniors who are members of the society were also recognized and received their honor cords.

Dr. Jay Bolin, assistant professor of biology and Tri-Beta faculty advisor, presented the keynote entitled, “Botanizing Oman the Land of Frankincense.”

Members inducted include Brooke Baumgarten of Salisbury; Elizabeth Brown of Salisbury; Katelyn DeZego of Lexington; Kaytee Frabotta of Sterling Heights, Michigan; Shannon Garrick of China Grove; Maria Gurski of Norristown, Pennsylvania; Kyle Henderson of Concord; Kenneth Hipp of Salisbury; Audrey Hoffman of Dacula, Georgia; Matthew Jordan-Steele of Lexington; Forrest Karriker of Greenville; Haley King of King; James Lohr of Salisbury; Andrew McCollister of Rockwell; Taylor Parker of Mount Ulla; Katherine Shumaker of Blanch; Santiago Suarez of Lewisville and Joshua York of Salisbury.

At the induction ceremony, 18 graduating seniors were recognized with red and green honors cords. These will be worn during commencement.

 

Tri-Beta members recognized for research and presentations

Ten Tri-Beta members received the Buxton Baranski Biology Honors medals.

Named in honor of retired biology faculty members Dr. Jay Buxton and Dr. Michael Baranski, medals are award to graduating seniors who conduct significant biologically related undergraduate research and present their work at a regional or national conference. These students include Christopher Bolick of Chuckey, Tennessee; Elizabeth Brown of Salisbury; Logan Ellis of Julian; Susan Ethridge of Concord; Paul Frye of China Grove; Finn Furstenwerth of Hamburg, Germany; Kyle Henderson of Concord; Kenneth Hipp of Salisbury; Amber Williamson of Lexington and Joshua York of Salisbury.

The Biology Service Award for outstanding leadership and service in biology was awarded to Paul Frye of China Grove.

Tri-Beta student leadership for the 2014-2015 academic year included Paul Frye of China Grove, president; Titus Hunt of Lexington, vice president; Elijah Wittum of Cleveland, secretary; and Johnathan Boles of Salisbury, treasurer. The faculty advisor for the society is Dr. Jay Bolin, assistant professor of biology.

The Tau Eta Chapter of Tri-Beta was founded at Catawba in 1992. The society is dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research.

 

Catawba’s chemistry honor society inducts members

Gamma Sigma Epsilon, Catawba College’s chemistry honor society, recently initiated new members. The induction ceremony for the Alpha Delta Chapter took place April 23 on campus.

New members inducted included students Faron A. Brazis of Salisbury; Nadine Brockmann of Hamburg, Germany; Justin M. Burroughs of Salisbury; Kaytee N. Frabotta of Sterling Heights, Michigan; and Cayli N. Mena of Kannapolis; as well as Chemistry Department faculty member, Dr. ChaMarra Saner.

 

Microsoft Word and Excel classes

The Rowan-Salisbury School System Career and Technical Education Department will be offering weeklong Microsoft Word and Excel classes to the public for $50 this summer.

This class will include a chance to earn a Microsoft Office Specialist certification.

The first session will be June 15-18 and the second session will be June 22-25. The classes will be 8 a.m.-3 p.m. daily at East Rowan High School. The cost is $50, and includes instruction, lunch and the certification exam.

To register, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/officeacademy.

For more information, contact Mandy Mills at 704-630-6018 or mandy.mills@rss.k12.nc.us.

 

Cat-AMA powderpuff football game raises funds

The Catawba Chapter of the American Marketing Association held its inaugural powderpuff flag-football game on April 24 on Frock Soccer field. The game was held to raise money for the student club in its efforts to compete in the annual International American Marketing Association competition held each year in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In a heated competition, the freshmen and sophomores defeated the juniors and seniors 45-21.

“The powderpuff game sponsored by the Marketing Association was an enjoyable event. Tasty food, friends, laughter and a dazzling trophy. What more could you ask for on a Friday night?” said Victoria Hedrick, who played on the lowerclassmen team and scored two touchdowns in the competition.

“The event was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for next year’s game!” Skylar Hathaway said.

Hathaway played on the upperclassmen team and contributed with a sack and interception during the game.

“I am really proud of how the Cat-AMA was able to come together and put on such a great event in such a short period of time. It was a thrill to see participants have so much fun. I look forward to seeing how the event will grow and improve in the years to come,” said Cat-AMA president and Catawba freshman Jonathan Gerstl.

The Cat-AMA is a student-run group that emphasizes professional and educational development for students interested in the marketing discipline.

Nicole Duncan, Victoria Hedrick, Jennifer Lomax, Kayla Guffey, Michelle Eisenman and Erin Feldman participated in the lowerclassmen team.

Lauren Hardison, Shannon Morton, Devan Purvis, Katelyn McNabb, Melissa Edwards and Skyler Hathaway made up the upperclassmen team.

 

PICS: Skyler Hathaway, Michelle Eisenman, Jennifer Lomax, Kaetlyn McNabb, Victoria Hedrick, Kayla Guffey, Shannon Morton

 

 

Catawba student’s play part of 10-Minute New Play festival

A play written by Catawba College junior Daniel Mowery of Salisbury has been selected as one of six plays to be produced as part of Lee Street theatre’s seventh annual 10-Minute New Play Festival. Plays in this year’s festival, which runs May 6-9 beginning at 7:30 p.m. each night, focus on yard sales.

Catawba alumnus Justin Dionne, managing artistic director of Lee Street theatre, will direct Mowery’s play, “Seems Trustworthy,” which features another Catawba alumnus, Greg Stoughton. Mowery is a writing and literature major.

 

Northrop Grumman Foundation STEM innovation contest

Northrop Grumman Foundation is accepting submissions now through June 12 for its Fab School Labs online contest. The school lab makeover contest provides public middle schools with an opportunity to make their dreams of a state-of-the-art science lab a reality with grants up to $100,000 each available to five winning schools.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation invites teachers, principals and school administrators to enter their eligible school by visiting www.FabSchoolLabs.com, where they can learn about the contest and submit their application, along with photos and video to help tell their stories.

Semi-finalist schools will be chosen, and their videos will receive online votes of support to assist with the final selection process. The winning schools will team up with Fab School Labs contest partner Flinn Scientific Inc. to design a state-of-the-art lab complete with all of the tools, resources and furnishings needed.

The contest is designed to drive students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by giving public middle school teachers and school administrators the chance to create the STEM lab of their dreams and provide students access to the latest learning tools and technologies that will stimulate as well as teach.

 

Give Five, Read Five

As part of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Give Five, Read Five initiative, all schools in the Rowan-Salisbury School System are banding together to help give new and like-new books to kindergarten through fifth-grade students to facilitate summer reading.

The Department of Public Instruction first launched the statewide Give Five, Read Five campaign in 2013 to address summer learning loss. As a part of this annual campaign, parents, business leaders and community members are encouraged to donate five new or gently used books to local elementary schools so that students have books to take home at the end of the school year.

As the system moves forward with its strategic plan, literacy and reading skills are a key focus. Research from Harvard shows that reading five books helps students to better retain literacy skills over the summer.

The media coordinators at all schools are leading the Give Five, Read Five campaign and are accepting both cash and book donations.

A donation of $25 will allow the schools to purchase approximately five books. This will help a student meet his or her summer reading goals.

The school system is asking for all monetary and book donations to be turned in by May 27 so there is time to coordinate the purchase and distribution throughout all of the receiving schools.

Books may be dropped off at any school media center, and monetary donations may be sent to: Rowan-Salisbury Schools Media Department, 1636 Parkview Circle, Salisbury, N.C. 28144.

New or gently used books can also be dropped off at CiCi’s Pizza on Jake Alexander Boulevard. Donors will be given a coupon for their next purchase.

For more information, visit www.rssgive5read5.weebly.com .

 

Statesville charter school to host enrollment event

The Success Institute Charter School will host an enrollment event for students in kindergarten through eighth grade on May 12 from 6-7 p.m. at the Kiddie Land Childcare Center located at 100 S. Long St. in East Spencer.

Snacks will be provided at this session. For more information, contact Principal Tenna Williams at 704-881-0441.

 

Livingstone students provide hands-on science fun at Koontz

For the second year in a row Livingstone College’s TRIO: Student Support Services Program conducted a Science Night at Koontz Elementary School as part of a statewide program called the Duke Energy North Carolina Science Festival.

Approximately 37 Livingstone students set-up 12 stations of pre-designated science activities: Garden in a Glove, Build-A-Bubble, Gross Goo, Invisible Ink, Sound Sandwich, Marshmallow Towers, Fingerprints, My Genes Bracelet, Paper Flying Machine, Parachutes, Create –A-Coaster and Stomp Rocket. There was a science behind each hands-on experiment as the students prepare for their End of Grade testing. The Science Night was enjoyed by both children and parents.