National School Lunch Week kicks off today, and New Hanover County Schools is celebrating with a variety of activities and events.
This year’s theme,”Get in the Game with School Lunch,” will recognize, locally, the National School Lunch Program and the 30 million children it serves every weekday.
As part of the observation–aimed at emphasizing healthy foods offered by the New Hanover County district–members of area sports teams will visit several schools during lunch times and offer promotions to students encouraging them to eat healthy and stay active.
“School lunches are healthier than ever, with more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less fat and sodium,” Child Nutrition Director Imer Smith said. “National School Lunch Week is the perfect time to celebrate all of the healthy options we’re serving every day in New Hanover County schools and also promote students to stay active. You have to have both, working together, to make a healthy lifestyle.”
The federally funded National School Lunch Program has been serving the children for more than 60 years.
The “Get in the Game with School Lunch” campaign is sponsored by the nonprofit School Nutrition Association and Chobani Greek Yogurt. Click here for more information about school meals in New Hanover County.
Elementary students selected for honors chorus
Seventeen local elementary school singers have been chosen for the 2014 N.C. Elementary Honors Chorus, sponsored by the N.C. Music Educators Association (NCMEA).
Selected through a rigorous recorded audition, the 200-voice chorus will present a concert at the NCMEA Annual Professional Development Conference in Winston-Salem on Nov. 9. The guest conductor will be Tom Shelton, Jr., Assistant Professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
The following New Hanover County elementary school students will perform with the chorus:
Bellamy
- Aaliyah Marshall
- Alayna Giever
Blair
- Kathleen Mounts
Codington
- Avery Lemley
- Molly Schutte
- Ella Shynett
- James Watson
College Park
- Victoria Roblero Mendoza
Eaton
- Jennifer Centa
- Molly Wells
Holly Tree
- Amelia Del Savio
- Alexa LaCognata
- Samantha Lynds
- Ella Pfeiffer
Ogden
- Riley Moore
- Georgia Smith
Pine Valley
- Bailey Hughes
All-County chorus concert
The New Hanover County Schools All-County Middle School and High School Choral Festival concert is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Minnie Evans Arts Center on Halyburton Memorial Parkway.
The concert features stand-out singers from the district’s middle and high schools.
Guest choral clinician Sandra Errante–conductor of the Girls’ Choir of Wilmington and member of the faculty at the Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences–conducts the middle school chorus. Her accompanist is Dr. Steven Errante, UNC-Wilmington music professor and conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.
The High School All-County Chorus will be conducted by guest choral clinician Dr. Welborn Young. Young is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of music at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Elizabeth Oldham is the accompanist.
The public is cordially invited to attend. There is no admission fee.
High school marching band showcase
New Hanover County Schools presents the Marching Band Showcase, featuring bands from Ashley, Hoggard, Laney and New Hanover at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, in the Scott Braswell Stadium on the campus of Hoggard (in the event of rain, the showcase will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 28).
The audience will also have the opportunity to hear the eighth-grade bands at Holly Shelter, Murray, Myrtle Grove, Noble, Roland-Grise, Trask, Virgo and Williston middle schools.
The performance is free and open to the public.
Outstanding math teacher award
Taylor Spear, a math teacher at Isaac Bear Early College High School, is the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Secondary Mathematics Teacher Award from the N.C. Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM).
“This honor is well deserved,” said Isaac Bear Principal Philip Sutton said. “Mr. Spear is one of those teachers who goes above and beyond, in and out of the classroom, to ensure student engagement and learning.”
Earlier this year, principals across the state were encouraged to nominate exceptional math teachers. From those nominations, each district selected one teacher to represent the best in mathematics teaching from the entire system.
As part of his award, Spear will receive one year’s membership in the NCCTM, recognition at the organization’s annual meeting in Greensboro in October and a special memento of the occasion.
