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Several area educators recently attended seminars at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Participating educators from Rowan-Salisbury Schools included Michael T. McConnell and Anne Zibell of Hanford Dole Elementary School, Susan Quast of Enochville Elementary School, Sandra C. Bevels of Hurley Elementary School and Elisabeth L. McCrimmon of North Rowan Middle School.

NCCAT's main focus is a year-round series of five-day professional development seminars in the sciences, arts, humanities, technology, leadership, communication and health.

For more information about NCCAT's instructional programs, visit www.nccat.org or call 800-922-0482.

Elks' scholarships

The Elks National Foundation's Most Valuable Student Scholarship contest has begun for the year.

This year, through the MVS Scholarship, the Elks National Foundation will award $2.296 million. The foundation awards 18 top winners scholarships ranging from $8,000 to $60,000 over four years. The remaining 482 runners-up receive $4,000 scholarships over four years.

This scholarship is available to all high school seniors who are United States citizens. Applicants do not need to be related to a member of the Elks. Males and females compete separately, and are judged on scholarship, leadership and financial need. Completed applications must be turned in to the applicant's nearest Elks Lodge, no later than Nov. 2. National finalists will be required to submit a secondary application. The 500 national winners will be announced by April 1, 2010.

Applications for the 2010 contest are available at Elks Lodges, local high schools, and for download at www.elks.org/enf/scholars.

For complete Most Valuable Student scholarship contest details, visit www.elks.org/enf/scholars.

SuperSibs! Summit

Spencer Scarvey, a sophomore at the University of Georgia, attended SuperSibs! 2009 Scholars Summit, an invitational meeting of 20 academically talented and promising young SuperSibs! scholarship recipients from across the United States who have been affected by a sibling's cancer diagnosis.

The weekend summit, sponsored by the Bradbury Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was held July 18-19 just outside Chicago.

SuperSibs! scholarship recipients are selected in an application process based on their academic achievement, leadership experience, essay and letters of recommendation.

Scarvey received a $5,000 Manne Family Foundation Scholarship in 2008 from SuperSibs! for her ability to take a devastating life experience and turn it into a positive, strength-building experience for herself, as well as to create good in the lives of others.

During the summit, Scarvey and fellow scholars developed sibling survivorship services to promote resilience, strength and wellbeing.

Scholars also created public service announcement videos. These will help generate awareness about the sibling impact and be viewed at professional conferences for educators and school social workers to help at-risk siblings succeed and thrive in school. The public can view SuperSibs! 2009 Scholars Summit PSAs on Facebook and YouTube.

Scarvey and fellow scholars are working to establish groups and clubs that will raise awareness of the sibling impact and engage students on college campuses across the country.

SuperSibs! is a national nonprofit organization that is changing the culture of pediatric oncology services to ensure that sibling support is integrated into all aspects of care to ensure total family healing.

Speaker at Cannon

Cannon School's admission office will welcome guest speaker Cheryl Wolfe on Monday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Taylor Hall, 5801 Poplar Tent Road, Concord.

Wolfe's lecture, "The Three Knows for Parents — Advocating for Your Child in the Classroom" is free and open to the public.

The lecture will focus on how becoming familiar with developmental stages and ages is aimed to help parents better know their child, their educational program and the options available should challenges arise.

Wolfe is a member of the National Lecture Staff of the Gesell Institute of Human Development (www. gesellinstitute.org) a non-profit organization associated with how children learn and grow. She joined Gesell's National Lecture Staff four years ago and travels nationally presenting workshops to parents, educators, and other professionals.