48 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(01/17/07 5:00am)
Carrboro Elementary School's fourth Family Literacy Night wasn't as well attended as organizer Barb Carroll was anticipating.
Only about a dozen adults showed up to an event designed to increase awareness of ways they can aid their children's literacy education at home.
"We're trying to get parents more involved," said Elise McLean, an English as a Second Language teacher for grades K-2.
In past years about 40 to 50 people attended the event, and this year's lower total comes as organizers expanded invitations to include the entire student body.
The school's principal, Emily Bivins, began the evening with an overview of the literacy curriculum in a speech that was echoed by a Spanish translator.
"There's not a part of your day that literacy doesn't affect your life," she said. "I think that even with the best readers or writers there's always something to learn."
Joshua Waldman, whose daughter Ervanny is in the third grade and a participant in the ESL program, had only positive things to say about the school.
"I've been very happy with ESL," Waldman said. "They're very sensitive to her needs."
Carrboro is a Title 1 school, meaning that it gets federal monies for educational programs such as ESL.
Waldman's daughter, originally from Indonesia, was enrolled at Carrboro six weeks ago, and Waldman feels the staff is doing a good job of giving her individualized attention without making her seem like an outsider.
At Family Literacy Night, Waldman attended a workshop that showed parents how to help choose books to read with their children.
Later he saw a presentation on Web sites designed to increase child literacy in an entertaining way.
When Waldman enrolled Ervanny in the school, he asked the ESL coordinators to set specific benchmarks.
He said he and his fiancee chose Carrboro because of programs such as this one.
Approximately 1,100 students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools do not speak English as their primary language, said Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations.
The statistic is generating a desire to expand both the ESL and dual language programs. Students in the dual language programs are taught half of the school day in another language.
The city school district has 62 languages spoken by its students and is unlikely to see that number lessen in the future, Knott said.
"We're not getting smaller in numbers - it's getting bigger," McLean agreed.
Ten years ago McLean was the ESL teacher for six district schools. Now she is one of two full-time ESL teachers at Carrboro.
Bivins said she thinks the growing number of multilingual students will help with issues of tolerance in the future.
"I think sometimes the reasons adults aren't as accepting and tolerant is lack of experience.
"The kids today won't be fearful of what they don't know."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
Jane Brown has been studying sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll for the last 30 years.
This is her own way of describing her experience as a mass media effects researcher.
Brown, a journalism professor at the University, delivered a speech Wednesday night at Guy B. Phillips Middle School as part of Media Smarts, a presentation intended to educate parents about their children's media environment.
About 25 people, mainly parents, attended the event which is part of the M.A.G.I.C. program, created by the Women's Center of Chapel Hill.
M.A.G.I.C., Media Analysis of Gender and Image Construction, has held regular workshops with local students for the last four years with the intention of helping adolescents learn how to think critically about their media environment.
Jean McDonald, the mother of 8- year-old triplets, said that many of her questions and concerns were answered. McDonald jovially said it is nice to let the kids watch TV when dinner needs to be cooked.
"We're lucky to have the researchers so near."
Brown spoke of her work with the Teen Media project, a study of several thousand central North Carolina teens, their media usage and how it related to behavior.
Brown told those in attendance that people only notice 80 of the about 3,000 advertisements they are exposed to everyday.
With so much attention focused on the negative side of media exposure, Brown stressed that there are healthy ways to enjoy it.
Kate Rademacher, director of community outreach at the Women's Center, also spoke and fielded questions from parents.
Rademacher focused on ways parents can find out what their children are being exposed to without becoming the enemy.
As part of the M.A.G.I.C. program, Rademacher leads workshops for students that include analyzing advertisements for subtle messages.
Brown said children spend between six and seven hours daily on average with media - often with more than one media at a time.
While college students might be accustomed to spending the hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. filled with iPods, AOL Instant Messenger, TV and a cell phone all at once, many parents of younger children were surprised by the thought.
Brown also spoke of a trifecta of sorts - sexuality, body image and violence.
Music and movies often portray a consequence-free world, where sex is a commodity, while video games, specifically first-person shooters, desensitize youth toward violence, Brown said.
"Basically what we're doing is training our kids to be lethal shots."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
The honorary judges had to leave early from the fifth annual chili cook-off Wednesday at Mary Scroggs Elementary School.
As they have done for the last four years, members of the Chapel Hill Fire Department judged entries from parents and teachers in an event to show appreciation for the staff at the school.
The firemen had to rush away to a call, but not before choosing the best chili.
Parent Carrie McClelland's entry won the honor.
McClelland, who has children attending Scroggs, delivered a hearty dish packed with beef and sausage, plenty of vegetables and not too much spice.
About a dozen different chilis were prepared, mainly by parents, with the winner getting a gift certificate and the prize-winning recipe posted in the school's newsletter.
"Parents in our community are really good at showing thanks," third-grade teacher Shirley Pyon said.
Pyon, who has taught at the school for seven years, said the entries get better each year.
"It's become a tradition," she said.
The event's creator and organizer, Kim Hanlon, worked with the rest of the PTA to find a way of giving thanks to the staff that would enable parents to support the school in ways that aren't financial.
Several parents showed their support by volunteering their time to serve chili.
Elizabeth Mawch, a volunteer at the cook-off since its beginning, said that previous years' entries contained ingredients such as ostrich, while one man's entry has gotten spicier every year.
Rita Singh, in her first year as a third-grade teacher at Scroggs, said that parental involvement is a strength of the school.
"Being involved with PTA gives a sense of community to the parents," she said.
The annual event comes at a stressful time for the teachers, who recently finished first quarter grades and parent-teacher conferences.
"It's a nice point in the year to get reinforcement," Singh said.
The students did not get to try any of the dozen different chilis, because of regulations about food safety and the amount of parental notification that would be necessary.
By the end of Wednesday's event, the school's principal, Grace Repass, already was thinking about next year's cook-off, and considering who next year's judges will be.
Pyon will be ready, as well.
"I'd like something spicier," she said in anticipation.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/06 5:00am)
Some students find themselves in minor brushes with the law during the weekend, but few are the targets of an in-depth narcotics investigation.
After several months of surveillance, Chapel Hill police arrested University student Brian Brown, 21, and three other men Nov. 4 and Nov. 6 on felony charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of selling drugs, according to Chapel Hill police reports.
The men, who all live at 304 Columbia Place East, were arrested individually between 6:39 a.m. Nov. 4 and 10:30 p.m. Nov. 6, reports state.
Michael Stelten, 22, a 2006 UNC graduate, William Harris, 25, and Daniel Piergallini, 22, also were arrested as a result of an ongoing narcotics investigation by the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Capt. Chris Blue said the narcotics department began investigating the men's home on Aug. 8 after receiving a tip about the residence.
The weekend's arrests happened in two stages, the first of which was an early morning raid by narcotics officers who were assisted by a 15-person special emergency response team.
The officers executing a search warrant found Stelten at the residence and arrested him.
Stelten was found in possession of 282 grams of marijuana and $2,800 in cash.
Shortly after the raid began, Harris, who was in possession of 96 grams of marijuana, arrived at the residence and was subsequently arrested.
Piergallini was arrested at 2:23 p.m. Monday, when he turned himself in at the Chapel Hill Police Department.
A uniformed officer arrested Brown on site at the Columbia Place residence at 10:30 p.m. Monday.
"I'm real proud of our investigators," Blue said. "They did a great job, and we're looking forward to working with the district attorney's office."
Blue said the department used rental information, drivers license records, tax information, vehicle registration and in-person observation to identify the suspects.
He also said that while other investigations have yielded greater amounts of money or drugs, it is unusual that all the residents of an investigated location were involved.
Even though the number of people charged might be unusual, Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Perez is familiar with the charges.
"Drug cases are very common," she said.
This arrest is the first offense in Chapel Hill for all four men, according to police records, though the district attorney's office declined to say if the men have previous charges elsewhere.
Perez said the first offense for these charges usually carries a sentence of 36 months probation.
But if convicted, the four men could be sentenced to up to 15 months in prison for each Class I felony.
The judge would have a fair amount of leeway in sentencing, Perez said.
Brown also could be tried by the University Honor Court.
"You could conceivably receive one sanction in criminal court and a different sanction in honor court," said Jonathan Sauls, assistant dean of students at UNC who oversees the court.
The University's drug policy is set by the Board of Trustees and has a sliding scale of mandatory minimum sentences.
The minimum sentence for a first offence of possession with intent to distribute a schedule III through VI substance, the category under which marijuana falls, is at least a one-semester suspension.
After their arrests, police reports state all four men were transported to Orange County Jail with bails ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.
Stelten and Harris both posted bond and Piergallini and Brown were released pending trial.
Harris was scheduled to appear in court Monday. Piergallini and Brown are scheduled to appear Dec. 22 and Stelten is scheduled to appear Jan. 26.
When asked if the four arrests will make a significant impact on drug trade in Chapel Hill, Blue sighed and said he was optimistic.
"We certainly hope so."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/13/06 5:00am)
School celebrations are often rambunctious events.
Unless the school is the Emerson Waldorf School of Chapel Hill.
Corporate logos, cellular phones, iPods and shrieking children were noticeably absent from the school's annual Martinmas festival Saturday, which was open to the general public for the first time this year.
Martinmas is a holiday honoring St. Martin, a fourth century army officer who - according to legend - went out into the night searching for people in need of help.
Benjamin Trueblood, a second-grade teacher at Emerson and graduate of another Waldorf school, told the children gathered at the festival a story of St. Martin taking the form of a winged horse and looking for honest men.
The festival, which included arts and crafts and a campfire singalong, culminated in a lantern walk led by Trueblood during which the students re-enacted St. Martin's search.
Lanterns were made by students at the school during the week and were then carried down a wooded path lined with luminaries.
In preparation for the festival, students partook in a snack-sharing activity during the week.
This lesson of helping others is only one part of the Waldorf school's approach to education.
That approach was created by Rudolf Steiner in 1919 as a means of developing the "whole child".
Steiner was a contemporary of Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori method of education, but his methods were very different.
Waldorf schools, named after the Waldorf cigarette factory in Germany that housed the first institution, do not stress a specific religious perspective, but do see each child as a soul in development.
Erika Muller, a parent who has sent her children to Emerson Waldorf for three years, said she is comforted that her kids are kept out of mainstream culture there.
"You never get to be a child again," she said, referring to the perception that children grow up too fast.
That feeling is not confined to the United States.
There are Waldorf schools located around the world, but Karla Boyce-Awai said she moved to Chapel Hill with her husband eight years ago specifically for Emerson Waldorf.
Boyce-Awai is originally from Trinidad & Tobago and lived in England for 13 years before coming to the U.S.
She said that she sees Chapel Hill as an oasis and is glad her children are taught to think for themselves at the school.
Self-confidence is a byproduct of the school's curriculum, which places a diverse education, from woodworking to public speaking, ahead of more traditional academics.
Kathleen Stone-Michael, a nursery teacher at the school, said rhythm, repetition and love are the biggest parts of her class, which is composed of children between the ages of 2 and a half to 4 years old.
Stone-Michael said children can attend Waldorf with a parent before their first birthday to prepare them for the school routine.
Though socialization and personal growth are key elements and "teaching to the test" is not, Emerson does not dismiss academics.
Janet Buehler, a parent and volunteer public relations agent for the school, said she thinks students are prepared for life after graduation.
According to the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, almost 90 percent of Waldorf graduates continued their education at another institution from 1993 through 1999.
Alex Verhoeven, a multimedia developer who attended a Waldorf school in Chicago until eighth grade, said he enrolled his child at Emerson because of its strong academics and focus on the whole being.
"It focuses on creating a free-thinking, independent, creative child."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/06 5:00am)
Not every house gets a blessing at its groundbreaking.
But under Saturday's sun-filled, breezy sky, the Rev. Brooks Graebner, of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, led a crowd of about 50 people in a dedication prayer for 18 lots that will become affordable homes in Hillsborough's Fairview neighborhood.
After nearly two years of planning between Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and the Hillsborough Town Board, the first walls went up Oct. 20.
"This is going to be terrific for Hillsborough," Mayor Tom Stevens said of the project. "We're very pleased."
Much of the cost of the work was defrayed by donations and what Stevens referred to as a 'pot of funds' the town has available for projects such as the Fairview neighborhood.
Mayor Pro Tem Frances Dancy, who resides in Fairview, said the development will be positive.
"Those that really truly care welcome and accept the change" she said.
Dancy, who is in her third term on the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, called the area "a community in transition."
Susan Levy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, said the program has a rigorous screening for home ownership, including "sweat equity," which requires future homeowners to invest 325 hours of labor into building the houses.
As of Saturday's event, 16 of 21 families who applied had passed the first round of screenings for homes in Fairview.
One of the 16 families was represented by Rene
(10/26/06 4:00am)
Dean Smith is not a doctor.
But the lack of a medical degree did not stop him from speaking about the importance of influenza vaccinations at the Chapel Hill Senior Center on Wednesday.
Smith, who has spoken at flu prevention events for the past six years, spoke about the late Dr. W. Paul Biggers giving him his flu shot during basketball practices.
"It's the best shot you'll ever take," Smith said to about 30 people.
State Health Director Dr. Leah Devlin said thousands of people, most of whom are above the age of 65, die from influenza each year.
Despite a shortage of flu vaccinations last year, Devlin said she anticipates having enough to go around this season and urges people of all ages to get vaccinated.
"It's not too late to get it in December and into January," Devlin said, saying that's when North Carolina's peak flu season occurs.
Smith, who celebrated his 75th birthday in February, smiled when saying that no, he had never had the flu.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that about 36,000 people will die from the influenza virus this year. Those most in need of vaccinations are infants, people more than 50 years old, pregnant women and health care workers.
Andrea Held, a public health educator for the immunization branch of the N.C. Division of Public Health, said washing your hands with warm soapy water and staying home if you are sick are common sense ways of not spreading the virus.
Held also allayed fears of a pandemic.
She said each year there are different strains of influenza, such as last year's H5N1 avian flu, that are candidates for a pandemic. Public health groups are ready, she said, even though the chances of a serious outbreak are low.
For those afraid of needles, Held described the flu shot as "minimally painful" and said a mild soreness in the arm is usually the only negative side effect of immunization.
Event organizer Myra Austin, the wellness coordinator for the Orange County Department on Aging, opened the event by reminding those in attendance that flu season runs from October until April.
Anne Butzen, senior associate of the outpatient team at the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence, was there with the Flu Clinic Finder, an online resource at www.thecarolinascenter.org that enables people to find flu shots by zip code in either of the Carolinas.
While the overall demeanor of the event was easygoing and oft-interrupted by laughter, speakers stressed the importance of flu vaccines and also of a healthy and active lifestyle.
Mixing humor into her message, Devlin joked that in next year's speech she would make the analogy that "a touch of the flu" is like saying someone is "a little bit pregnant."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/22/06 4:00am)
Local high school students will get a chance to learn ways to affect both their personal lives and the world around them at a collaborative conference next month.
Terri Houston, recruiting director at UNC, will deliver the keynote speech at the Peace by Peace Conference, an event created to teach young people that their voices can make a difference.
The conference will be held Oct. 7 at the UNC School of Social Work and is designed for high school students
"I feel privileged to be a part of an experience that focuses on emerging leaders," Houston said.
She was chosen as the keynote speaker because of an impassioned speech she gave at a similar event, Lee said.
The Peace By Peace Conference was inspired by a like-minded event in Portland, Ore.
The Dispute Settlement Center of Orange County is sponsoring the conference. The center took interests that bothered students and found ways for community groups to speak to them about those issues.
Joanne Lee, an AmeriCorps member of the center and a UNC alumna, has been working with Orange County student committees since January in an effort to empower young people in the areas of communication and conflict resolution.
Lee said she wants them "to be able to see conflict as opportunity rather than crisis."
Among the local organizations that will be presenting workshops at the conference are the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County, UNC's Center for International Studies, Open Sky Aikido, El Centro Latino, the Carrboro ArtsCenter and the Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
The workshops will be arranged in a way that starts with the self and works outward, going through personal relationships and community involvement on the way to global efficacy.
A session on interpersonal relationships, such as what constitutes consent and the importance of mutual understanding, will be presented by the Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
Krista Park, assistant director of the rape crisis center, said the goal is "to stop (sexual abuse) before it occurs".
The Family Violence Prevention Center, which frequently partners with the rape crisis center for high school presentations, will be educating participants about healthy relationships.
"It's a good opportunity to start a discussion with the youth," said Natalie Andrews, family violence community outreach coordinator
Tara Muller, outreach coordinator for K-12 at UNC's Center for International Studies, said several speakers will discuss international disputes.
Lee said she thinks that will be a plus because high school students often feel unable to participate in discussions of global concerns.
She said she remembers a certain amount of helplessness that went along with being in high school.
"I want high school students to know they can be a source of positive change," Lee said.
Seating is limited to 125 students but many spots are still available. All area students are welcome to attend.
Registration must be completed by Sept. 30.
There is a $5 registration fee. Scholarships are available.
For more information or to register visit www.peacebypeaceconference.com.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.