May 2, 2008
In this edition: Teacher Appreciation Week
Musical Instruments to Arrive Next Week – Thanks To CMA!!!
Summer School Registration Information
Give a Chair, Honor a Teacher
Three MNPS Students Win Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship
Hume Fogg Racks Up Honors
Stratford Students Partner with A.C.E.
Antioch Student Headed to Washington
McMurray Middle Dedicates Football Field
Maplewood High Auto Shop Appreciation Day
MNPS Custodians Honored
Pearl-Cohn’s Parade of Stars
MNPS Students Win at Tennessee Junior Academy of Science
MNPS Principal Headed to Japan
NSA Student Ranks in the Top Ten
2nd Annual Tennessee Academic Bowl
School Crossing Guards Needed
Teacher Appreciation Week
As you may or may not know, May 4-10, is Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a week to celebrate the hard work, commitment and dedication of our teachers. MNPS has many nationally recognized teachers and principals who serve as role models for their work and contributions. More than 95 percent of MNPS teachers have earned the coveted “highly qualified” status. On behalf of the district, congratulations and thank you to all of our wonderful teachers.
Musical Instruments to Arrive Next Week – Thanks To CMA!!!
Country Music Association Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese and Mayor Karl Dean will be at Thurgood Marshall Middle School next Thursday, May 8, at 1:30 p.m. to help celebrate a major gift to Metro Nashville Public Schools – more than 675 musical instruments. The contribution is a result of an innovative effort called “Keep The Music Playing,” a program which donates half the net proceeds of the CMA Music Festival to the Nashville Alliance for Public Education for music education needs in Nashville’s public schools.
The instruments – flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, French horns, tubas, xylophones, trombones, drums, bells, oboes, bassoons, cymbals, cellos, basses and other pieces – were purchased with a gift of $655,624 by CMA from proceeds of the 2007 CMA Music Festival. Schools receiving the instruments include: Antioch Middle, Apollo, Bailey, Bass, Bellevue, Croft, Ewing Park, Dupont Hadley, Gra-Mar, H.G. Hill, Hume-Fogg, Hunters Lane, J.E. Moss, John Early, J.F. Kennedy, Litton, McGavock, McKissack, McMurray, Marshall, Martin Luther King, Meigs, Oliver, Overton, Pearl-Cohn, Ruby Majors, Stratford and Wright.
The contribution is part of a continuing effort by CMA to support music education in Metro Nashville Public Schools. In addition to contributing funds, CMA is involving students in this year’s CMA Music Festival and providing free family events. For more information about this year’s festival, including ordering tickets, please visit www.cmafest.com.
Summer School Registration Information
MNPS 2008 Summer School early registration begins Monday, May 5 and runs through Thursday, May 22. Between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., students in grades K-12 may pre-register for summer school at the MNPS Customer Service Center, 2601 Bransford Avenue.
All students enrolling must have a completed registration form signed by their school counselor, along with a MNPS free lunch eligibility form, if applicable. For summer school sites, dates and fees, please visit http://www.mnps.org/Page34488.aspx.
Give a Chair, Honor a Teacher
To recognize some of MNPS’s most distinguished teachers, MNPS and the Nashville Alliance for Public Education are offering community members the opportunity to honor a Metro school teacher and provide a chair for Turner Auditorium at the new Martin Professional Development Center. For each donation of $50 or more, a teacher’s name will be inscribed in a gold plate on the back of a chair. If you would like to recognize an outstanding teacher by purchasing a chair, visit www.mnps.organd download the application form.
Three MNPS Students Win Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship
Congratulations to Yan Chen, Overton High School; Rakia Johnson, Whites Creek High School; and Eriny Mikhail, Glencliff High School for receiving $1,000 scholarships from The Comcast Foundation. These students were selected for their outstanding commitment to community service.
Hume Fogg Racks Up Honors
Congratulations to the Hume Fogg High Concert Band, Orchestra and Silver Jazz Bands for their successes at the Six Flags, St. Louis Music in the Parks Festival. The groups received all “superior” ratings and won all of the top awards in every category for which they were eligible, including:
- HFA Concert Band: Best High School Concert Band and sweepstakes award for Best Overall High School Concert Band.
- HFA Silver Jazz Band: Best High School Jazz Band and sweepstakes award for Best Overall High School Jazz Band
- HFA Orchestra: Best High School Orchestra and sweepstakes award for Best Overall High School Orchestra.
In addition, HFA senior Alex Geller won the individual award for the festival's Best Jazz Soloist, for his outstanding violin solo.
Stratford Students Partner with A.C.E.
Congratulations to a group of Stratford students and teachers for their outstanding work with the A.C.E. Mentors program (architecture, construction and engineering). Each year, a dedicated group of A.C.E. mentors leads Stratford students on a weekly venture to learn the process of constructing a building from the initial architectural stages through to completion. The mentors meet with the students throughout the year and each group of mentors works with a different area of the building project. Examples include: architectural construction of the building, HVAC and construction. Students visited a construction site (NISSAN) and saw how a building was put together. This year, the student’s project was to design a coffee shop and art gallery they named the Monet Cafe. One student, Edwin Enamorado, also won a $2000 scholarship this year through the A.C.E. Mentors Program.
Antioch Student Headed to Washington
Francis Torres, a senior at Antioch High, is the first Metro student to win the District 5 Congressional Art Competition in five years. His drawing will join the work of other high school artists from across the nation at a yearlong public exhibit in the corridor leading from the House office buildings to the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Francis received three round trip tickets to attend the reception in Washington and participate in the national competition. He won "Best of 12th Grade as well as "Best of Show." Congratulations, Francis.
McMurray Middle Plans Football Field Dedication
Friday, May 9, McMurray Middle School will hold a special ceremony to dedicate the school’s football field to Ronald Webb, former principal of McMurray Middle School. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., on the football field at McMurray. If anyone is interested in speaking during the ceremony please contact Mike Terry at 390-8315 or 333-5126 ext 1500.
Maplewood High Auto Shop Appreciation Day
Maplewood Highwill participate in a special appreciation day Tuesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. The event will be held and sponsored by Tennessee Speed Sport. The day will be filled with fun, friendship and refreshments. Students will participate in wheel barrow races, a 1,000 pound tug of war, Canadian skiing and an adult size pedal car run. Prizes and points will be awarded in each event, with an event trophy presented to the overall winning team.
MNPS Custodians Honored
Congratulations to several MNPS custodians for being nominated as 2007-2008 Custodian of the Year. Good luck to each candidate and thank you for all your hard work. For a complete list of custodians nominated, visit www.nashville.gov/beautificationand click on the lower right link.
Pearl-Cohn Hosts a Parade of Stars
Thursday, May 8, at 6 p.m., the Ninth Grade Academy at Pearl-Cohn High School will host its first “Parade of Stars” celebration for all students within the academy. This celebration will be in the form of an “Oscar” night with red carpet, lights, technology and much more.
Students will receive awards for many areas, including achievement and citizenship. Parents will participate in the ceremony, as well as other school personnel. Entertainment will be provided by students and faculty, and refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend. For more information, please call 329.8150, extension 1904.
Local Students Celebrate Literacy
The Middle Tennessee Reading Association hosted the awards presentation for Celebrate Literacy Friday, April 25, at the Ezell Center, Lipscomb University. Approximately 250 entries were submitted by local students in public and private schools, grades 1 – 7. Local award winning entries were: Angela Vasquez, McMurray Middle, for Rise of the Living Dummy; David Ontiveros & Leonardo Guerrero, McMurray Middle, for The Scary Story; Jonart Moreno, McMurray Middle, for Jason-X The Killer of Camp Swamp Moon; Tommy Nguyen, McMurray Middle, for The Haunted House; Lucio Esteban, McMurray Middle, for The Abandoned House; Daisy Alvarez & Anamayri Marco, McMurray Middle, for What a Bad Dream; Madison Brock, Lakeview Elementary, for The Best Summer Ever; Natalie Spears, Lakeview Elementary, for Tian the Tiger; Victoria Asante, Gateway Elementary, for The Haunted House; Brandon Ward, Gateway Elementary, for The Adventurer Penguin; Michael Richards, Gateway Elementary, for The Big Dog; Tristan Taylor, Gateway Elementary, for The Day Dinosaurs Died; Tres W. Lawless, Gateway Elementary, for Come Here; Shelby Atkins, Gateway Elementary, for The Magical Dog; Billie Cagle, Gateway Elementary, for The New Premiere; Faith Long, Gateway Elementary, for The Tornado; and Jason Castellanos, Gateway Elementary, for The Storm. Just one student, Michael Richards of Gateway Elementary, won a silver medal from the Tennessee Reading Association for his work on The Big Dog. Congratulations to all of these students.
MNPS Students Win at Tennessee Junior Academy of Science
Three MNPS senior students who attend the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt presented research papers at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science, which was held in April. The papers represented the research these students had conducted in Vanderbilt faculty labs as part of the school curriculum.
Judges evaluated the presentations for research design and creativity, oral presentation, knowledge of the subject and quality of the written paper. Awards were made for the top papers. In addition to two top prizes of $500, five $200 prizes were awarded. School for Science and Math students Natalie Christian, Runbin Dong and Natalie Darar each received one of the $200 awards for their work. Their papers will also be published in the Handbook and Transactions of the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science. Congratulations to these students.
MNPS Principal Headed to Japan
Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Williams, who will depart for Tokyo this October as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (JFMF) Teacher Program. Dr. Williams, principal of McGavock Elementary, was selected from a national pool of more than 1,700 applicants by a panel of educators. This program allows distinguished primary and secondary school educators in the U.S. to travel to Japan for three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations.
Dr. Williams will be among 160 educators visiting Japan in October. During the trip, they will visit numerous cities, learning about Japanese education, life and culture. The group will also meet with Japanese government officials and educators.
The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund, based in Tokyo, oversees all aspects of the Teacher Program. The program is sponsored by the Government of Japan and was launched in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. government Fulbright Program, which has enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the U.S. on Fulbright fellowships for graduate education and research. The Institute of International Education acts as the agency for the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund to coordinate the recruitment and pre-departure activities of the Teacher Program in the United States.
For more information about the JFMF Teacher Program, please refer to http://www.fulbrightmemorialfund.jpor contact 1-888-527-2636 (1-888-Japan-FMF) or jfmf@iie.org.
NSA Student Ranks in the Top Ten
Congratulations to Ricardo Beaird, a Nashville School of the Arts senior, who placed among the Top 10 Shakespeare performers at the National Shakespeare Competition in New York. Beaird, a theatre student at NSA, first won the English Speaking Union’s (ESU) Shakespeare Competition held in Nashville. He then traveled to New York’s Lincoln Center and competed against 60 high school students from across the nation, reciting a Shakespeare sonnet and a monologue from King Lear. Ricardo Beaird is only the second student in the state to have placed among the top on the national level.
Tennessee Academic Bowl
Wednesday, May 7, MNPS will host the2nd annual Tennessee Academic Bowl at Warner Elementary. The Tennessee Academic Bowl is a combined effort from 4th grade teachers and media specialists at the following schools: Inglewood Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Lockeland Elementary, Percy Priest Elementary and Warner Elementary.
This year’s emcee will be Janet Ivey from Janet’s Planet. There will be two rounds of competition, one with individual students answering questions, the other a Jeopardy round in which the entire team works together. Between rounds, students will enjoy a brief intermission in which Ralph E. Raccoon, the mascot from the Tennessee State Museum, will provide entertainment. Winning teams will be presented trophies, and students will receive ribbons and medals for their accomplishments.
School Crossing Guards Needed
Metro Police Department is always searching for qualified crossing guards to keep children and pedestrians safe in all school zones. It is a great part-time opportunity for parents or community members. Those interested must be over the age of twenty-one (21) at the time of employment, must present a valid Tennessee Driver’s License or picture ID and a Social Security card, must have a checking or savings account before being hired (Metro payroll is direct deposit only), must pass a pre-employment drug screen test and criminal background check, and must be of good moral character and submit three (3) character references with their employment application. If you are interested, contact the School Crossing Guard office at 862-7752.