Former superintendent Gerri Martin. Photo Credit: Orange County Schools[/caption]The public has until Monday to weigh in on the search for a new Orange County Schools superintendent.
The Board of Education took comments on desired qualities of the superintendent at its Nov. 10 and Nov. 24 meetings. Two community members spoke at the Nov. 10 meeting.
Eric Davis said he wanted a leader who could “embrace leadership” and “galvanize people and get them together.” The superintendent should not be “weak to where they listen to the loudest voice, because loud doesn’t always mean they’re correct.” He added that an ideal superintendent would be someone who cares for all OCS students and listens to the needs of the whole county. He or she should also know the limitations of the office and how to foster communication between the school system and public.
A Hillsborough Elementary School parent, Elvira Mebane, also spoke. She said the board should ask candidates what they can contribute to the district and why they would like to become the superintendent. She suggested that a good superintendent has “integrity and honesty, good communication skills, a willingness to engage the community, (and is) well rounded.” Most important, she said, the candidate must make sure that every student gets a diverse, quality education.
“The community's input is being sought and will be taken into account during this process,” OCS spokesman Seth Stephens said. The board emailed out a survey, and a link to the survey is available on the OCS website at bit.ly/1riQyDt. Residents can also contact board members with their suggestions.
According to the job listing, the next superintendent should be able to “build and retain the trust of the board and the local education community; lead by example to inspire others and instill confidence; develop a local leadership program to recruit, grow, and retain high-quality leaders; effectively discharge the day-to-day business affairs of the school system; demonstrate good judgment, time management, and prioritization skills; understand budget planning and school law; communicate effectively within the school system and also externally throughout the region and state; and use his or her position to promote and advocate for the interests of the school system.”
Stephens could not say how many candidates have applied for the job, but he said the search is “going well.”
The next superintendent will replace Gerri Martin, who resigned in May after less than eight months on the job. She was making $151,337.88 a year.
According to Martin's resignation letter, her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in December.
Martin, the former superintendent of McDowell County Schools, succeeded Patrick Rhodes, who retired in June 2013.
Del Burns is serving as interim superintendent for the second time; he also served between Rhodes and Martin. Burns was the superintendent of Wake County schools from 2006-10.
Orange County Schools has about 7,600 students in 13 schools and an operating budget of $65 million.
Photo Credit: Maddie Norwood[/caption]The first nine weeks are over and, for some people, that means a new start to help build a strong foundation for the rest of the school year. Many students may want to bring up their grades or make new friends. This new nine weeks is a good time for a new start to a new season.
So what should you do if you are having grade problems? Becky Smith, an OHS science teacher, gave her opinion on how this problem should be solved. “They need to see their teacher for help, and they need to make sure they’re doing all the work themselves,” said Smith.
The new lunch gives anyone slipping the perfect chance to bring their grades up. More people can come for tutoring and make up work during this time. Students who aren't using it for work may want to rethink their decisions.
If you feel hesitant to go back for tutoring, just bring a friend that can support you and maybe even help, but not one that can distract you. This will help you get over your fear and learn to build study groups.
Is your focus slipping? Another tip that Smith shared addressed this. “The best thing to do is make sure you aren’t hanging around with people that can distract you from your work, causing you to slip in school.”
If a student finds himself bored or in need of a community to hang out with, Smith recommends that he become more involved in the school, whether it be with clubs or sports. When asked why students should be more involved, she said, “Do things that make you happy and enjoy your life.”
Photo Credit: Career Cruising[/caption]Orange High’s teacher assistant (TA) program, which gave students the chance to help out a teacher during a class period, has been suspended by the administration until further notice due to a lack of accountability. The program may be brought back in “a year from now, two years from now, we don’t know,” according to OHS Principal Jason Johnson. Johnson said the school would have to “have some accountability measures in place” before the program could come back.
The administration considered other options before deciding to end the program. “We thought about doing an independent study where teachers would write up a course for a TA and a TA would follow those guidelines, but I felt like even that was too loose,” Johnson stated. Seniors signed up to be teacher assistants will have the course removed from their schedules.
English teacher Brooke Connor said she is “really sad that we will no longer have the TA program.” Although there were issues with the program, she would have liked the school to “have tried some other solutions instead of just overhauling” it. Some possible solutions were “a 15-minute meeting with teachers to make sure that they knew their expectations before having a TA and ISS for students who skipped their TA period.” She said that “having a TA for the past couple of years has been invaluable to me” and she hates “that I will no longer be afforded that luxury.”
Senior Kayla Phillips, who was hoping to be a teacher assistant next year, said that she doesn’t “understand why it was gotten rid of since so many students loved it.”
Other similar courses, like the peer counseling and help desk worker courses, are still available.
Photo Credit: Jonah Neville[/caption]In 1966, Orange High School started building houses for the community. Since then, they have gone on to build 46 houses, and are currently building the fifth Hands for Habitat house. Orange has a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, while Sports Endeavors pays for sponsor costs. “They have been wonderful to work with, and this whole thing probably could not have been done without them,” construction teacher, Mat Hamlett, said.
Hamlett brings 30 years of teaching to his construction class. When asked when they were going to finish the house, Hamlett replied, “We probably would have been finished with it already, but the weather has really been an issue.” The students are usually working on the house for a hour everyday, although the time varies depending on the weather. Jaime Figueroa, a senior who has been in the class for the past three years, said, “It’s been difficult at times to work on the house sometimes because of the weather, but overall during this year it has been really fun to work on and a great experience.” All the students in construction classes talk about how enjoyable it is to work with Hamlett.
Hamlett has seen and helped build many houses throughout his teaching career at OHS. He commented on how things have changed since he first started teaching. “The biggest change, I would say, is that there is less time to build the houses every year because of graduation requirements and classes like this are being shut down everywhere.” Starting his teaching career at Stanford, then moving on to the school where he graduated from, OHS, Hamlett has experienced one fine teaching career and will always be remembered.
Photo Credit: Brianna Hales[/caption]| Week 1 | Morning 8 a.m. | Afternoon 12 noon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, May 5 | Chemistry Environmental Science | Psychology |
| Tuesday, May 6 | Computer Science A Spanish Language and Culture | Art History |
| Wednesday, May 7 | Calculus AB Calculus BC | Chinese Language and Culture |
| Thursday, May 8 | English Literature and Composition | Japanese Language and Culture Latin |
| Friday, May 9 | English Language and Composition | Statistics |
| Studio Art | ||
| Week 2 | Morning 8 a.m. | Afternoon 12 noon | Afternoon 2 p.m. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, May 12 | Biology Music Theory | Physics B Physics C: Mechanics | Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism |
| Tuesday, May 13 | United States Government and Politics | French Language and Culture Human Geography | |
| Wednesday, May 14 | German Language and Culture United States History | European History | |
| Thursday, May 15 | Macroeconomics World History | Italian Language and Culture Microeconomics | |
| Friday, May 16 | Comparative Government and Politics Spanish Literature and Culture |
Thursday, April 10, Gravelly Hill Middle School held their fourth annual Cultural Explosion to showcase many different cultures from around the world and in our own community. It was a lively event, full of food and fun.
In the halls of GHMS, there were booths set up by parents, community leaders, and students. These booths were based off of certain cultures in different parts of the world. Some booths were completely decked out with information and objects from the culture, and some even had their booth leaders dressed in the appropriate outfit from their culture.
Some of the most elaborate booths in the event were the African, Sochi Olympics and Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation booths.
There were other events going on as the booths were in full swing. Many performances were put on in the GHMS gym by gifted community members. Some OHS students were involved in the performances as well. The Todos Unidos Club, or All United Club, was one of the groups performing. Members were performing a dance that represented their culture. The Hedgehogs, our robotic engineering club, were also at the event, displaying their hobby and culture by presenting their achievements in engineering. In front of the building, there was also an African drum circle. Everyone gathered around and would beat out tribal tunes on the drums.
Many food truck vendors from the community came out to support the event and some of the money made was donated back to the community. Some of the food trucks with the most popular food and most brightly-colored food trucks were the Kona Ice Truck, which served a snow cone snack, and Mama Duke’s.
Lately there have been many questions arising about what will happen with exams this year due to extra days added on to the end of the school year. Because of the snow and ice storms that caused us to be out of school, we now have four more school days after the last exam.
The dates for exams are June 4 through June 9. This year, there was a new rule created that students had to take exams on the last five days of school. Contrary to this new rule and the extra days added to the school year, Orange High has decided to leave the dates for exams.
The last exam is on June 9 but the four days after that will be mandatory school days and students must attend or they will be counted absent. Student athletes who are only allowed to miss less than thirteen days should take into consideration these last four days because absences will go on their record.
The last day of the 2014 school year will be June 13 but graduation day for seniors is June 12.
“I feel like just because we missed days of school, our exam schedule shouldn't be affected,” Mia Maxwell, sophomore, said about the added days.
Photo Credit: Tony and Debbie (flickr username). Photo License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. No edits made.[/caption]Thursday, March 27, the Orange High School Choral Department presented an A Capella concert. Tickets to the concert cost $5 and it took place at 7:00 pm.. It was directed by Orange’s chorus instructor/teacher Jane Williams.
The concert included all three classes of chorus; Beginning, Intermediate, and Madrigals going in order from advancement. The students all wore black formal attire and did their pieces with no instruments or backing music. Chase Austin welcomed the crowd and presented the first performance of the night.
The Beginning Concert Choir began first singing three pieces, Old Dan Tucker, Red, Red Rose, Shut de Do. All went without a hitch and were a nice way to start off the concert.
After the three Beginning arrangements the Intermediate Concert Choir stepped onto stage and sang four different songs. These were; Non Nobis Domine, Ah! How Pleasant, and a crowd favorite that provided some humor for the concert, The Animals Improvise Counterpoint (a “Nonsense” song), as well as a follow up song, Liza.
After Intermediate came the Madrigal Singers who sang Flower of Beauty and Elijah Rock. After them came a Pop Mashup sang by multiple madrigal girls, Kimberly Barbosa, Nicola Cassada, Katie Clark, Ashley Holloway, Jessica Scott, Sarah Tatum, MacKenzie Turner, and Amanda Rowe.
After the female ensemble another small group of Intermediate students came forward to sing, Just The Way You Are. This group included Ally Farthing, Tyshiona Haines-Mitchell, Kaleb Hix, Julian Knight, and Jalesa Parker. Somebody I Used To Know was sang right after by another small group of Madrigal females.
Three young ladies; Erin Burgner, Hannah Cozart, and Andie McKinnon then sang The Chain. Followed up by Nicole Cassada, Katie Clark, Caleb Tolin, and Nicholas Vassello singing Because of You.
After the smaller mashups were applauded for, Matt Lewis, Montee Mitchell, Davis Scott, Jordan Toney, and Andrew Williamson performed Let’s Groove which was another hit with the audience. After the Madrigal boys sang their groove, Chase Austin Trevor Bates, Aidan Farrel, Travis Holt, Marquise Morrow, Sankwon Reams, and Dalton Shary sang You Send Me ending the concert on a perfect note.
Great job to the Panther singers and congratulations to the 12 students who were chose to perform at the North Carolina All-State Choral Festival in February and special congrats to Travis Holt for being chosen to sing one of two solos in a Mixed Ensemble chosen by Dr. Rodney Wynkoop of Duke. Stay on the watch for the All County Choral Festival at Orange April 12.
Photo Credit: Dave Hogg. No edits made to photo. Photo license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.[/caption]Mrs. Jordan Moore took a few of her students to a livestock competition where her students judged market swine, steers, goats, and lambs and breeding heifers, gilts, and ewes, Tuesday, March 24. They were able to practice presentation skills while they were there as well. In an email Moore said, "[It is their] first time ever competing."
In an email Moore disclosed the standings of the OHS team:
- Kirstin Hollaway
- Trey Palmer
- Kaylie Beniak
- Spencer Walker
- Cole Miller
- Josh Holloway
- Nick Bailes
- Cameron Pendergraft
- Kristin Hollaway placed 49th
The last stretch in the tutoring sessions for the SAT is coming up on Wednesday, March 26. The session lasts from 4 pm to 5 pm after school. For anyone interested in going to this tutoring session, it will be held in Jerry Yale’s room, number 313. All students are invited to attend the session.
The session will be taught by Lisa Best. It covers ways to overcome fears students have about the SAT. It also teaches strategies to have a faster and higher SAT score. The highest raises in scores that have come from this have been by 300 points.
There have been two previous sessions on March 12 and March 19.
One of the OHS teachers overseeing the tutoring sessions, Anaysa Turner, stated, “The last two sessions have been great. I think the strategies and tips that Mrs. Best shared with the students will really be helpful when they sit for the exam. Because of the structure of the sessions, I can't judge whether or not there has been a change, but I'm positive that if the students who've attended the sessions apply what Mrs. Best has taught them, they will see an increase in their SAT scores.”
Photo Credit: Evelyn Deloatch.[/caption]Thursday, March 13, 20 students from Orange High School went to Alamance Community College to learn about careers in medicine. Students from Orange who went on the field trip possibly want to go into the health profession. Cedar Ridge High School also attended as well as schools from Chapel Hill and Alamance County. Different medical profession representatives were there, like dental assistants and medical office assistants.
CTE, or Career and Technical Education, accrued a grant a few years ago that funds Pathways to Prosperity. One of the pathways it funds is the health science/health pathway, which helps because more people are needed in the health profession.
On the field trip, students went to three different sessions during the day, which included a hands-on session, admissions requirement session, and a business connection session.
“I think that students need to understand that there are other alternatives to going to a four-year college. Community college provides certification to many job fields. You can get your associate’s degree while going to work,” said Evelyn DeLoatch, who works in the Career Center at Orange. “I think that the students need to rethink ways to be successful,” DeLoatch added.
Photo credit: Brianna Hales. Application and college papers have been piling up for OHS seniors![/caption]Tuesday, March 19, Orange High was supposed to hold its first annual College and Career Expo for OHS students during lunch in the gym. It would have featured over 30 colleges and local businesses and helped students plan for their futures.
Due to a winter mix that included freezing rain and snow, all Orange County Schools were at first delayed, and then canceled. Evelyn DeLoatch, who is in charge of the Career Center at Orange, said that “there might not be a College and Career Expo this year because teachers are so behind because of all the weather delays and school being canceled.”
It has not yet been decided if there will be a College and Career Expo this year, but stay informed as this story develops.
Orange High School students and faculty displayed their love for all things country and FFA the week of February 17-21. Each day of the week there was a theme and an in-class activity for the students to participate in: Monday’s theme was tacky farmer, Tuesday was hat day, Wednesday was lumberjack day, Thursday was camo day, and Friday was blue and gold day. The blue and gold symbolized FFA’s signature colors.
Events that students participated in included a wood chopping contest, a seed spitting contest, hay bale toss contest, tie a bow on the pigtail contest, and a welding contest. Throughout the week all of FFA’s fun activities lead up to the the Hoedown Throwdown dance at the Cedar Grove Ruritan Club on Friday night. Senior Ben Albaugh said “We think the dance and FFA week as a whole went well and it’s a good tradition that we hope to keep doing.” In agreement Johannah Manley stated, “FFA week was a success and I really enjoyed it.”
Overall FFA week was a great experience for newcomers, teachers, and the seniors leaving after this year. With the tradition being passed down each year, from one class to another, the leaving seniors hope that each class will embrace this event and help it grow each year.
Photo Credit: Cierra Smith.[/caption]This summer Nina Daye, with several other teachers from Orange, plans to travel to Germany on an exciting adventure. She is not only going to benefit herself, but she also believes that students at Orange, and the many students yet to come her way, will benefit from the things she will learn on her trip.
While on this trip, Daye would like to learn if she would be able to communicate with certain German schools and how she could do so. As of February 28, she believes they can communicate through Skype. Her reasoning for connecting with them is so that “both of us can have worldwide data, mostly about pollution.” She plans to exchange data about how much pollution they have, how they are working to remove it, and vice versa. Daye wants the people in Orange County to have a larger view of what is happening in the world.
While in Germany, Daye also plans to learn more about alternative energy. Germany's green energy is quickly growing and they are trying to reduce nuclear energy use. Daye thinks that her trip to Germany could allow her to bring back new ideas and hopes for Orange High School to follow in Germany’s footsteps.
Another mission for Daye is to learn about Germany's school system and see if any of their ideas could possibly help modify our school system. Daye hopes to expand her knowledge by seeing the school systems first hand.
Daye commented, "I like to keep learning and discovering new ways to bring the real world into the classroom."
Photo credit: Maddie Norwood. Nicholas Mauriello goes all out for the language classes at curriculum night.[/caption]February 20, 2014, rising freshmen were able to come to an orientation that taught them about different classes they could take and visit booths to learn more about those classes.
The booths were set up from the lobby to the back of the Panther’s Den. Many booths were set up in the cafeteria for clubs that would accept freshmen. Some groups sat candy, food, or knickknacks on their booths to attract new possible students. All core classes were also represented in the booths.
Some elective classes that were represented were the languages, the CTE classes, the family/life classes, newspaper/creative writing, and band.
Band had one of the most interesting booths of the night. Band teacher Andy Carter stood at his booth in the Panther’s Den while some band students stood at the entrance playing different pieces of music to attract new students.
OHS clubs were also represented by some booths. Fencing Club and Latin Club were examples of interesting club booths. Fencing sat all of their equipment on their booth and spoke about why they loved to fence. Latin Club had many of the projects they worked on on their table. They had an almost life size TARDIS, an object from the popular show Doctor Who, sitting to the left of their booth while they were all dressed in togas.
Before the students got to look around, they and their parents sat in on a conference that gave them information about OHS and how their lives would be different in high school. They got information on the school and classes. They also learned the different schedules they would have to follow and some rule changes from middle school to high school.
Rising ninth grader Max Norwood commented on the different feelings you get as you grow in high school. “While the prospect of high school seems complex, and indeed intimidating, I do believe it will turn out to be a lot of fun, and an opportunity for growth. From the orientation, I learned about the multitude of clubs, many different classes, and the structure of both the year and each day. While I may be nervous about high school, overall, I can't wait for the experience.”
The FFA officers traveled to Boone, North Carolina for some team building and planning for exciting new club events.
While staying in Boone, the FFA chapter officer’s goals were to come up with new ideas for the club members to make them excited for everyday club life. During their stay, they created new activities for FFA members to do to enhance their learning experience.
Going to Boone also gave them the opportunity to spend some quality time together and really bond. They were able to work and complete tasks together which helped in the team building they were striving to accomplish.
To add a little fun, the FFA members went one morning to Hawks Nest for some intense snow tubing. Hawks Nest is one of the largest snow tubing parks in North Carolina but this group stuck together and went down the different slopes as a team.
One upcoming event the officers all were excited for is getting more new pigs and lambs in the barn. One thing that FFA members get to do in the club is bonding with the baby animals. This makes the new arrivals feel safe and creates a safer environment for the club members.
February 10, Virtual Enterprise had their open house to recruit rising 11th and 12th graders. The class is a yearlong course that is the highest level of business and marketing classes a student can take at Orange High School. They held the open house to encourage students that are strong in art, math, and computer skills to join the class. All students must take one business class prior to Virtual Enterprise.
The members of Virtual Enterprise began by holding a PowerPoint session where they explained what real world benefits come from the class as well as the mechanics of the simulated business environment that the students run. The business sells virtual and real stock that the students advertise to different companies. Adam Gates said, “At first the concept of fake and real money is confusing, but it makes sense later in the class,” and Ashlyn Meeks said, “I’ve gotten real world experience, like how to work well with people from this class.”
Positions are held in the company such as chief executive officer, chief financial officer, accounts payable, sales and marketing, payroll, and human resources, along with many other jobs they can do. The class is hands on and allows the students to take many trips to trade fairs, job shadowing opportunities, and business tours.
After the PowerPoint presentation, the Virtual Enterprise students talked about applying for the class. The main hook was that it has a unique atmosphere where the students are in charge and the teacher is a facilitator. Applications are due March 14, 2014 and are available in Kelly Helner’s room.
Photo Credit: Maddie Norwood[/caption]Report cards, which typically are released soon after the end of the second semester, may be given to OHS students “sometime [this] week” according to OHS Principal Jason Johnson. They were delayed because North Carolina Final Exams took longer to grade than expected. Teachers received the exam grades on February 5, and report cards will be handed out after all the grades have been entered and report cards have been printed.
On February 6, Johnson said, “We just got exam grades [yesterday].” Teachers “need some time” to enter them in. A handout given to students on January 24 that was written by Gerri Martin, the Orange County Schools superintendent, stated, “The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is waiting for a majority of the North Carolina school districts to complete first semester testing so they can analyze scores in order to ensure that test scores are valid and reliable… Once our district receives these scores from the state, we will finalize grades and distribute report cards to parents and guardians in as timely a manner as possible.”
Parents and students can see their grades on PowerSchool, the student information program that contains information about students’ attendance, grades, and schedules. The site can be accessed at http://ocs.powerschool.com/.
Meredith Connor, an OHS English teacher, said, “We’ve done the best that we could with what we were given by the state… There wasn’t anything we could do.”
Haylee Burton, a 16-year-old junior, said that the report card delay has frustrated her. “I want to know if I passed,” she stated. She is waiting on her Algebra II and Chemistry exam grades.
Being a freshman in high school can either be a great experience or terrifying. A popular theory about freshmen is, because of their new freedom, they don't understand the way high school students go about doing things. This new feeling can cause one to do things differently and become someone they’re not. One freshman - Rebecca Woodard - decided to break the status quo.
Woodard has built a life for herself here at Orange High School and she has become a highly popular freshman. She has many goals for next year in high school. She is a successful member of Girl Scouts and wants to sell 1,500 boxes of cookies. She has another goal of becoming sophomore editor of the Den Echoes next year. She also would like to become more involved with clubs at Orange High School and join the cheerleading team.
Woodard is a current member of Theatre Club and FCA. She commented about FCA, “I feel like I’ve grown a connection with others and with God.”
She said one of the biggest benefits of high school life is the freedom that you get when you first begin. She said, “In middle school we were told where to be and what to do. When you get to high school, you get to choose.” She also added that the downside to having freedom is, “with more freedom comes more responsibilities. The problem is you have to keep up with the responsibilities.”
Woodard recalled many of her favorite moments that she has experienced at OHS. Her favorite moments include football games, Ag Day, Lee Gordon’s class, and the Homecoming game. She said [about the football games], “You get to meet new people and support your school. And you get to watch them dominate people.” She also said, [about Gordon’s class], “ I liked the funny stories he told us about his life.”
Woodard commented on the way some freshmen get treated, “I have friends who are older. I think the immaturity of some of the freshmen makes people have judgement calls on people they don't know. Not all freshmen act immature.”
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Click on this image to make it bigger and clearer[/caption]If a student has six or more days throughout this semester then they may pick up an appeal form in the office or they can print off an appeal form that was emailed to their school email. That must be turned in to the office by Friday, January 10.
Exam review periods with NOT count toward attendance appeals, just overall absences if a student chooses to not go.
Exemptions are only available to seniors who have an A average in the class and have missed less than six days. Teachers decide if they are doing exemptions for their class or not. Ask your teacher if you are not sure of your exemption status.
Teachers or staff will be able to answer any questions a student has.