Education roundup

Mel Watt to speak at DCCC graduation

LEXIINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-Charlotte, will speak at Davidson County Community College's commencement Sunday on the Davidson Campus.

The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. on the front lawn adjacent to the Mendenhall Building.

Graduation may be viewed live online. Just before 3 p.m., an icon alert on www.davidsonccc.edu will provide instructions on how to watch and hear the commencement.

In case of rain, commencement will be held at the Edward C. Smith Civic Center at the same scheduled time, without a live computer feed.

The 2010 graduation class is made up of 769 candidates, 446 who earned two-year associate degrees, 342 who earned certificates and 154 who will receive diplomas. Many students will receive more than one credential.

Watt, who has represented the 12th District in Congress since 1992, secured funding to enlarge and renovate the DCCC Learning Resource Center, better known as the library. He will tour the facility before graduation.

Christopher Speed on APU dean's list

Christopher L. Speed of Kannapolis was named to the dean's list at Azusa Pacific University. Speed, a theater arts major, is honored for a fall semester 2009 academic standing of 3.5 or better grade-point average. Speed is joined by more than 1,565 other students receiving the same honor.

Nagy among 14Cannon studentsrecognized by Duke

CONCORD — Madeleine Nagy of Spencer is among 14 Cannon School students who recently earned state recognition from Duke University's Talent Identification Program.

The program identifies academically talented middle school students in a 16-state area.

One Cannon student, Uday Uppal of Huntersville, also earned grand recognition for being among the nation's highest scorers in the seventh grade talent search.

In addition to Nagy and Uppal, other students who qualified for state recognition were:

- Concord: Kelli Baker, Logan Foster.

- Cornelius: Kent Andrews, Rachel Fitzpatrick, Kendall Thomas.

- Davidson: Mitchell Carson, Joanna Copio, Trip Goff, Erin Norton.

- Huntersville: Jessica Abel, Erin Sullivan, Troy Terveer.

All 14 Cannon School students will be honored at a May 13 ceremony at Davidson College.

Uday Uppal will also be honored at a Grand Recognition Ceremony to be held May 24 at Duke University.

Cannon School is an independent Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12 college preparatory institution.

Catawba scholarships for top class rankCatawba College has a new scholarship for incoming students who have been high school valedictorians and salutatorians.

Students who achieve either one of these benchmarks will receive a merit scholarship from the Office of Admissions for their consistent, high academic achievements throughout high school.

The new academic merit awards range from $1,000 to $1,500.

"Catawba College has always been and continues to be dedicated to finding new ways to help students and their families afford an outstanding education," remarked Lois Williams, vice president for enrollment management at the college.

More than 90 percent of Catawba students receive some sort of financial aid.

"I am very pleased to announce that Catawba has once again recognized and answered a need to reward a special group of high–achieving students; our valedictorians and salutatorians," Williams said.

Students who qualify for the new scholarship will receive notification from admissions counselors. They will present a final high school transcript noting their top-ranking status to the Office of Admissions.

Cleveland GoodCitizens

The following Cleveland Elementary School students were named Good Citizens for the month of April:

Tocara Brown, Jamila Smith, Patrice Cuthbertson, Jeri Taylor, Kailee Keller, Markus Leo, Caden Goodman, Isiac Livengood, Emily Beaver, Emily Wilhelm, Justin Henderson, Lathan Hager, Satavia Martin, Brooklyn Trivett, Nicholas Freeman, A'Nique Miller, Cade Sells, Thomas Waldo, Justin Sheesley, Megan Brown, Reese Webb, Courtney Bogle, Michelle Lloyd, Robert Yount, Bridget White, Guadalupe Melchor, Keshun Bradley, Chyna Cuthbertson, Toby Brown, Samantha Hensley.

Millbridge Ruritan Club scholarships

The Millbridge Ruritan Club awarded five scholarships at its May monthly meeting.

Four scholarships valued at $750 each were awarded this year to two high school seniors from West Rowan High and two from South Rowan High.

This year's winners from West Rowan are Wilson Holloway and Claire Steele. Wilson plans to study pre-med at East Carolina University and Claire plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to study nursing.

The winners from South Rowan are Taylor Patterson and Autumn Walter. Taylor plans to attend UNC-Charlotte to study engineering and Autumn plans to study surgical technology at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

The fifth scholarship, valued at $530, is awarded under the Ruritan National Foundation's "Build Your Dollar Grant Program." This year's winner is Amber Himes of Salisbury. Amber is attending UNC-Charlotte. The "Build Your Dollar Grant Program" is an innovative program that allows the local club to select a worthy individual from its community to receive a grant. More than four hundred awards are made annually across the country.

Ruritan is a community service organization. For more information, contact a local Ruritan Club or the National Home Office at P.O. Box 487, Dublin, Va. 24084, or toll-free at 877-787-8727.

Nance recognized by national honors group

Spencer D. Nance of Cleveland, a student at West Rowan High School, has been selected for membership in the National Society of High School Scholars out of Atlanta, Ga., an organization that recognizes academic excellence at the high school level.

At West, Spencer is a member of the Student Government Association, is secretary of the sophomore class, and a member of HOSA, JCL and Junior Civitan clubs.

She is a member of the West basketball team, varsity softball team and was a recent Relay 4 Life participant. She also volunteers at Lifespan Circle School and participates in her church's youth activities.

Spencer is the daughter of Brian and Mary Nance of Cleveland.

North Elem. honor roll

Students named to the A honor roll at North Rowan Elementary School for the third quarter are:

Third grade: Kaylee Armenteros, Nicole Bates, Caleb Bell, Abby Beuchler, Kevin Brizuela, Desiree' Ellis, Spencer Everhart, Katherine Greene, Shayla Lackey, Joshua Mason, Makakyla Mason, Anna Nguyen, Sydney Patton, McKenzie Shoaf, Stacy Thao, Michael White, Victoria White, April Zeock.

Fourth grade: Rochelle Bowman, Miranda Dok, Sarah Earnhardt, Taylor Ellis, Toni Fisher, Michael "Maddux" Holshouser Dawson Hoover, Jayden Jones, Caroline Koerner, Naquez Reid, Russell "McGwire" Smith, Hannah Spry.

Fifth grade: Mason Greenwood, Brandon Myers, Corbin Smith, Maixe Vang, Margie Villalobos, Brianna White.

Morgan honor roll

Students named to the A honor role at Morgan Elementary School for the third quarter are:

Third grade: Dylan Barkley, Camryn Corriher, Eli Hiskey, Abigail Hoosie, Larken Lancaster, Jocelyn Miller, Victoria Plyler.

Fourth grade: Trevor Ludwick.

Fifth grade: Josh Beaver, Anna Brindle, Jonathan Brindle, Marissa Brinkley, Noah Drye, Kelly Earls, Katie File, Chase Fritz, Micah Furr, Hannah Mayhew, Michaela Patterson, Annah Seaford.

Overton honor roll

Overton Elementary School named the following students to its A honor roll for the third quarter:

Third grade: Kiera Cherry, Blake Clark, John Luke Deneen, Brian Engwall, Allison Green, Jared Hensley, David Holden, Evan Hollingsworth, Ava Holtzman, Briggs Hudson, Bo Rusher, Rachel Seifert, Aniaya Toney, Ian Walser, Lacee Whitlatch, Christian Bennett, Laura Bullock, Steven Camacho, Carolina Cruz- Alvardo, Jessica Gonzalez, Paola Gonzalez, Luke Grenoble, Meredith Gross, Rebecca Lewis, Timothy Little, Ethan McGee, Rosa Martinez, Domaneke Morris, Skye Mowery, Kaitlyn Pryor, Andrew Sharpe.

Fourth grade: Katana Alexander, Alexandra Burnham, Cole Goodnight, Bethanie Stauffer, Isabel Temple, Keshaia Daniels, Julia Honeycutt, Ryan Lewis, Griffin Myers, Simon Post, Samantha Schafer, Magenta Godfrey, Juliana Peele, Zoe Watson, Alison Collins, Cristian Gonzalez-Hernandez, Brooks Kennedy, Mikayla Young, Christion Burns, Meliya Parker, Anna Patel, Summr Perry, Aydrian Reynolds, Briana Richmond, Shelby Vogel, Zoe Watson, Zarrek Barger, Dhasan Boler, Jaquan Cuthbertson-Banks, Veronica Hannawi, Alyssa Lang, Cristian Ramirez-Orellana, Saleema Sabakada, Hayley Sain, Xavier Sloan.

Fifth grade: Daniel Engwall, Dakotah Insley, Isis Wilson, Laura Bullock, Will Casmus, Marcus Corry, Christian Deneen, Leonel Garcia Aldaco, Tessa Halpin, Elisabeth Harper, Danariae Livingston, Sean Perry, Boothe Pfaff, Haley Sims, Hastings Wagamon, Eliza Walser.

School Bus Safety poster contest held

Students entered 245 posters in the annual School Bus Safety Poster Contest held May 6 by the Rowan-Salisbury Schools Transportation Department.

The contest theme was "Be Aware — Know the Danger Zone."

Judges chose three posters from each division to submit to the statewide School Bus Safety Poster Contest in Raleigh, to be judged in July. Winners from the state contest go on to the national level.

The students whose posters were chosen are:

- Division 1, kindergarten- second grade: Areli Vargas, second grade, China Grove Elementary School; Emma Gusler, second grade, Cleveland Elementary School, Macklyn Kepley, first grade, Faith Elementary School

- Division 2, third-fifth grade: Evans Leinback and Jeremy Carter, fifth grade, Faith Elementary; Christian Lemly, fifth grade, Cleveland Elementary ; Brandon Truett and Dalton Williams, fourth grade, Faith Elementary.

- Division 3, sixth-eighth grade: Maria Delgado, sixth grade, Southeast Middle School; Cuera Kardys, seventh grade, Southeast Middle; Seth Culp, eighth grade, Southeast Middle School.

- Division 4, Special Education: Larry Dixon Gobble, second grade, China Grove Elementary; Bryson Sanders, second grade, China Grove Elementary; Madison Eaton, fifth grade, Morgan Elementary School.