TSA Chapters Excel in STEM

Leaders of the Technology Student Association (TSA) chapters at five of our schools recently took nearly 80 students to Greensboro for two days to participate in the 39th annual NCTSA State Conference. They engaged in STEM- (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and leadership-based competitions, and learned much in the process. They did an amazing job of representing our district's Career and Technical Education (CTE) department.

TSA chapters take the study of STEM beyond the classroom and give students the chance to pursue academic challenges among friends with similar goals and interests. 

CTE teachers serve as chapter advisors, but the student members govern the organization through chapter, state and national level officers. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' TSA students hold a legacy of leadership with 12 students holding an NCTSA state officer positions since 2003, with four of those as state presidents. 

Along with incubating the leaders of tomorrow, TSA is nurturing tomorrow's scientists, engineers, journalists, trades people and educators. This is evident when one looks at the awards our TSA chapters brought home from the conference. Below you will find a section for each of the five chapters in our district. Students from four of the schools are already making plans to attend the National TSA Conference in Atlanta, June 22-26, and will no doubt continue to represent our district with their talent, integrity and STEM skills on full display. 

In fact, both McDougle Middle and East Chapel Hill High TSAs will receive the Chapter Excellence Award in NCTSA for their respective school levels. The awards will be announced and received at the upcoming National TSA Conference. The advisors for both schools are extremely proud of all of their chapter members. 
_____ 

Culbreth Middle School TSA - Mike Sharp, Advisor

The Culbreth TSA chapter was new this year, and the level of involvement was amazing. They had 30 members join the team, and 13 were able to compete at the state conference. Under the guidance and leadership of officers, Yash Gupta, Xavier Van Raay, and Sebastian Malhotra, students performed at their personal best and succeeded in bringing home a total of 5 trophies.

The following students won trophies in their events:

1st place in Coding: Sebastian Malhotra and Ben Shoenbill
2nd place in Community Service Video: Sarah Stephens and Xavier Van Raay
2nd place in Promotional Marketing: Daniel Estevez
3rd place in STEM Animation: Daniel Estevez, Miles Prenda, and Yuta Tsuboi
3rd place in Tech Bowl: Xavier Van Raay, Yash Gupta, and Srinivas Iyengar
_____

Phillips Middle School TSA - Ryan Barnes, Advisor

Phillips Middle School TSA placed in a number of events and represented their school, district and chapter in outstanding fashion.

1st Place Structural Engineering: Kabir Grewal, Raymond Zhao
2nd Place Microcontroller Design: Ethan Bartlett, Kabir Grewal, Hanqi Xiao, Jake Boggs, Graham Troy
2nd Place Website Design: Jake Boggs, Anna Finklestein, Meilin Weathington
3nd Place Electrical Applications: Ethan Bartlett
_____ 

McDougle Middle School TSA - Redmond Grigg and Kate Major, Advisors

These young men and women worked hard, smart ,and with so much heart this year as they prepared for competition. The trophies they earned are but symbols of their consistent and forthright efforts. They resurrected and helped beautify their school's outdoor classroom. They also ran a successful campaign to raise over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society through the Relay For Life at UNC. What an amazing feat for a group that only had three returning members. 

1st Place Community Service Video: Amelia Brinson, Lula Caress, Lucas Gutierrez-Arnold, Mateo La Serna, Vincent Paquet, Sophie Ussery Intintolo
1st Place Junior Solar Sprint: Nivas Kolli, Alexis Mead
1st Place Mechanical Engineering: Nora Daley, Nivas Kolli, Katie Randolph, Noah Wegner
1st Place American Cancer Society Fundraising: Raised $1,095 through Relay For Life
2nd Place Essays on Technology: Erin Gottschalk
2nd Place Flight: Ani Yu
2nd Place Inventions & Innovations: Lars Kahn, Gabo Ochoa Samoff, Noah Wegner
2nd Place Leadership Strategies: Amelia Brinson, Lucas Gutierrez-Arnold, Lars Kahn
2nd Place Problem Solving: Diogo Gomes, Noah Wegner
3rd Place Biotechnology: Ryan Atack, Alexis Mead, Gabo Ochoa Samoff, Guillermo Vizuette
3rd Place Career Prep: Nora Daley
3rd Place Forensic Technology: Amelia Brinson, Katie Randolph
3rd Place Technical Design: Daniel Furberg, Ani Yu
_____ 

Chapel Hill High School TSA - Redmond Grigg, Advisor

While no Chapel Hill High student placed in their competitive events at the state conference, they still did an incredible job representing their chapter, school and district. All of the state officers from our district were Chapel Hill High students, including the previously mentioned four state presidents.

Kyle Halstater first joined TSA as a 6th grader at McDougle Middle School. This was Kyle's third year holding a state office as he just finished his tenure as the 2017-2018 NCTSA State President. 

Angel Koshy will carry on the tradition of leadership as the 2018-2019 NCTSA State Reporter. She's held chapter officer positions during middle and high school, frequently serving as a mentor to younger newer members. 

Jillian Breithaupt served two years as a state officer, and as the 2016-2017 NCTSA State President, she helped to revive the NCTSA Fall Leadership Rally as a means of cultivating future state officers and leaders in TSA. 
_____ 

East Chapel Hill High School TSA - Pat Pudlo, Advisor

East Chapel Hill's TSA had semifinalists (top 12) in 13 events, and for the first time in this chapter's history, two students, Gabe Valera and Mike Pudlo, ran for state officer positions.

2nd Place Coding: Andy Farkas, Ravi Pitelka, Joseph Ahrendsen
2nd Place CAD 3D: Tarun Goyal
3rd Place Video Game Design: Andy Farkas, Ravi Pitelka
_____ 

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools TSA wishes to thank CTE DIrector Kathi Breweur for her staunch and unwavering support for TSA in our district! Our TSA chapters grow and flourish as a direct result of Kathi's support and guidance for CTE teachers and students alike. Kathi's belief in the power and opportunities student organizations like TSA provide CTE students, makes her an exemplary leader.

read more "TSA Chapters Excel in STEM"

Two Carrboro High DECA Students Compete at Internationals

In April, for the first time ever, two district students competed at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Kirby Thornton and Leanne Joyce of Carrboro High School traveled to Atlanta for the three-day 2018 competition. DECA advisor and Marketing Education teacher, Julie Francis, traveled with them. When they returned, Francis reported with pride the accomplishments of her students; Joyce placed in the Top 10 of the Business Growth Plan competition in Entrepreneurship, while Thornton received honors in Food Marketing. Joyce established her 501c3 non-profit, Positive Impact for Kids, when she was in middle school, after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
   
DECA is an international Business and Marketing organization, whose mission is to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management around the world. The annual ICDC is open to two separate divisions: High School, with 200,00 members in 3,500 schools, and a smaller Collegiate division with more than 15,000 students in 275 colleges and universities. This year’s conference hosted 19,000 DECA members, so Thornton and Joyce found themselves in the midst of more business-oriented youth than they could have imagined.
   
“DECA is one of the coolest things I’ve been a part of because of the networking ability you have at a conference,” said Thornton. “It’s commonplace at ICDC to walk up to anyone and ask them where they’re from, what event they’re doing, or any other random question you may have. Our hotel had open areas, and kids from all different states would congregate and play cards together. It was really awesome to have that kind of community.” Thornton said it was especially a privilege to be the only two students representing CHCCS.
   
The whirlwind experience in Atlanta was the culmination of months of preparation and competitions at the local and state levels. Joyce placed second in the North Carolina competition for Business Growth Plan with her 30-page growth plan. Before traveling to internationals, she revised it once more and also prepared for an onstage interview by judges of the event. Thornton needed to prepare for both a test and role play scenarios for her Food Marketing competition.
   
For students who commit to DECA throughout their high school years, the pay off and increased confidence can be substantial. “My involvement in DECA has taught me so much about myself and about other people,” said Thornton. “I’m always so proud when I get to see members of my chapter improving at every competition. I’m especially proud of the younger kids. It always seems to be the young, quiet freshman that shows the most improvement. Most importantly, I’ve learned that everyone has leadership capabilities. Anyone that takes the initiative to join has the qualities they need to be successful in DECA.”
   
“Carrboro High DECA is an amazing opportunity for students who are interested in Business and Marketing,” said Francis. “This organization prepares students to get first hand knowledge about Business and Marketing as they enter the next phase of their education and career.”

read more "Two Carrboro High DECA Students Compete at Internationals"

Counselors Visit Firefighting Training Center

The day started unlike any previous Friday for several Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools counselors as they checked into the firefighting lab at Chapel Hill High and received their “gear” for the morning: overalls, jackets, helmets, gloves and goggles - along with light refreshments. The inaugural class of eight firefighting cadets helped oversee the suiting up of those somewhat bewildered counselors, showing them how to loop their suspenders and fix their masks and oxygen tanks. Kathi Breweur, Director of Career and Technical Education, joined the guests and suited up as well. Public Safety Academies instructor Perry Hall guided everyone out into the sunshine, and then the well-padded group piled into an activity bus and set out for the Chapel Hill Fire Department Training Center on Weaver Dairy Road.
     
At the center, the group was welcomed by a large contingent from the fire department, including Fire Chief Keith Porterfield. Penny Rich, Orange County Commissioner, also spent the morning with the district team, and she energetically embraced the full experience like a new recruit. The fire academy cadets have already spent numerous sessions at the center, and they often took the lead in helping the guests learn the ropes (and the hoses). Commissioner Rich said, “I was pleasantly surprised, after I put on my fire gear, to see that the class was going to be led by some of the students who have already gone through some training. They were enthusiastic and eager to teach me what they have learned…and they did an awesome job!" 
     
The participants were divided into three groups, and during the next two hours, they learned the correct use of fire extinguishers, how to operate the fire hoses and then haul the hoses through the burn building (it’s not lightweight!) With academy cadets as their scouts and teachers, the guests crawled up, down and through the pitch dark of the brick tower maze, even as they wrestled with all of the extra pounds and bulk of their gear. Ken Lathan, school counselor and football coach at Carrboro High, said, “I was really impressed by the students’ knowledge of the course, and I have a newfound respect for the hard work that our firefighters and EMT workers endure on a daily basis.”
     
Clearly, one of the of the most enjoyable activities was learning to control and maneuver the biggest hoses, which often required two people to hold on from the sheer velocity and power of the water. On a very warm, sunny day, it appeared that a few of the guests could have happily spent the rest of the morning, practicing their “extinguishing moves” as the fine spray cooled them off.
      
“After participating in some of the exercises with the students, I now have a renewed respect for firefighters and first responders,” said Julia Royal, school counselor at Chapel Hill High. “I was impressed with our EMT and firefighting students. They were confident, helpful and knowledgeable.”
     
The session at the center wrapped up with an examination of the 110 pound dummy that’s used in rescue trainings. Lathan was the only counselor who undertook the exercise of learning correct carry of dead weight. The student cadets called out encouragement as the CHS football coach grappled with the dummy, and one of them called out, “You should try the one that’s 185 pounds!” 
     
When the students and counselors returned to the fire lab at CHHS, there was still time for the EMT students to present a skills demonstration. They showed different ways to clear a victim’s airways, as well as how to apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding.
      
“The public safety academies at Chapel Hill High School are amazing!” said Keneisha Jones, counselor at McDougle Middle School. “It was incredible to see young adults fully engaged with hands on life skills that translate far beyond the classroom. These programs provide incredible career options for students who are ready to engage in life, and want to use their skills to serve our community!  The reality of students graduating from high school with the potential to automatically earn $35,000 a year with vast promotional opportunities is inspirational, especially for students who may not be fully interested in the more traditional four-year college route. These programs provide students with opportunities to find their niche and capitalize on them.”
     
Director Breweur expressed her gratitude to everyone who dedicated the morning to the training experience. “A big thank you to Chief Porterfield and his staff, as well as our Public Safety teacher, Perry Hall and his students for putting together a GREAT morning of hands-on activities for us on Friday. Thanks to our brave counselors and county commissioner, Penny Rich, for participating and learning more about the firefighting and EMT programs offered at CHHS.”

read more "Counselors Visit Firefighting Training Center"

Chapel Hill High CTE Student Advances in National Competition

Nadiya Farrington loved art and math as a young child, but it wasn’t until she took a class on Career Explorations at McDougle Middle School that she discovered architecture as a path to blending her two passions. “The fire in her didn’t start at Chapel Hill High,” said Mary Jones, Career and Technical Education Special Populations Coordinator. “She arrived with it already strong.” Now, as a senior at CHHS, Farrington already has more experience and accolades in her budding architecture career than many college seniors. Among her numerous accomplishments is her recent nomination as one of five North Carolina CTE (Career and Technical Education) students to advance to the semifinalist level in the national Presidential Scholars Program for 2018. She is the only young woman of the five candidates from our state.
     
Bound for Cornell University’s top-ranked undergraduate Architecture Program this fall, Farrington has balanced academics, club and varsity volleyball and countless hours of service during her four years at CHHS. Her resume shines with all the highlights. But architecture drives most of what she has chosen for summer experiences and volunteering, both locally with Habitat for Humanity, and construction projects in Mexico and Guatemala. It all comes back to building and design for her.
   
“I love that it’s a permanent art form, and yet it impacts people in their everyday lives,” Farrington said. “It exists for such a long time, and the buildings stand as visual representations of cultural backgrounds and values that you as an architect have - and also as reflections of the community you build them in.”
     
Her formal study began in ninth grade, in William McSwain’s Drafting I class at CHHS. Then she took Drafting-Architectural II and III, and she excelled in each course. "Nadiya's passion for Architecture has honestly made me a better teacher. Her drive and natural curiosity have challenged me as a teacher to challenge her to perform to her potential, and I am a better teacher because of it," McSwain said.
     
Although Farrington participated in summer enrichment programs at the University of Tennessee and at NC State, it wasn’t until she won a scholarship to Cornell’s Introduction to Architecture 2017 summer program that she realized her entire frame of reference had changed. “I spent six weeks at Cornell, and I took on a new perspective. I learned to look at and appreciate experiences differently, to look at the world through an architect’s point of view, noticing how you enter a room, walk through a building or what you see when you drive through a city.”
     
At Cornell last summer, she earned six hours of college credit by completing both Introduction to Architecture and Design Studio. While there, she connected with her first female mentor, and she knows it’s important to keep seeking out women architects to learn from, in a field that is still dominated by white males. As one of only seven underrepresented minorities of the 100 participants at Cornell, Farrington said she recognized how important it will be to mentor other young women of color, once she advances in her career.
   
In addition to the pre-professional experience she has gained through the summer programs, she has undertaken much more strenuous and rudimentary building projects during her service trips to Guatemala and Mexico. “On both trips, I was helping build houses for families in need. In Guatemala, we first had to clear out their old living environment of corn stalks and dirt floors. It was really eye-opening that four sturdy walls represented so much to them,” Farrington said.
     
The trip to Mexico was organized by her church, and the main project was the construction of a church and parsonage which were on top of a hill. “They were visible for miles around,” Farrington said, noting that the experience taught her to consider how your work impacts not only the people who physically interact with the buildings but also from a distance, when people look up to those spaces for hope and inspiration.
     
When Farrington isn’t playing volleyball, studying physics or calculus or volunteering at Habitat, she still needs to find time to work on weekends, both as a cashier in a grocery store, and as an amanuensis for a visually impaired client. At home, she helps out as she can, cooking dinner and spending time with her younger sister. Yet she insists that she does sleep every night! “Because I’ve been passionate about everything I wanted to do, it wasn’t like I was being forced. I’m always driving myself.”
     
As Farrington’s nomination moves through the levels of judging, criteria for evaluation will prioritize involvement and service, leadership and character, heavy workload and obstacles overcome, in addition to academic achievement. Sixty CTE semi-finalists for this prestigious award will be announced in March, and the twenty winners will be selected in April.
     
“Although we had several outstanding nominations this year for the US Presidential Scholars program for CTE, Nadiya's overall experience and how she overcame personal barriers while maintaining academic excellence impressed our interview team the most,” said Kathi Breweur, Director of Career and Technical Education with CHCCS.  “Nadiya's passion for architecture, coupled with her strong desire to help others, is inspirational.  This is a young woman who is a natural leader and a solid role model for her peers. We wish her the best of luck in the next phase of the selection process.”

read more "Chapel Hill High CTE Student Advances in National Competition"

CHCCS Announces 17 Candidates for U.S. Presidential Scholars

Last month the candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program were announced, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools can claim 16 students in the general category, as well as Nadiya Farrington as the only CTE (Career and Technical Education) Scholars candidate for a total of 17 students. In 2017, the district produced six candidates, and in 2016, nine candidates progressed to the semi-final round, with Jay Pande from East Chapel Hill High winning one of the two North Carolina awards that year. This year, only Wake County has more candidates in the running from our state.

      

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program of the Department of Education was established by executive order of the President in 1964, with a mission of honoring some of the country’s highest achieving high school seniors. The program expanded in 1979 to include a category for students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the arts, and in 2015, a further expansion recognized students who demonstrate strong ability and accomplishment in CTE fields. As many as 161 students are named Presidential Scholars each year.

       

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.

        

The candidates from Carrboro High are:

        

Jackson Asaro

        Benjamin Gerhardt

        Andre Javan

        Jonathan Moul

        Arjun Shankar

        

From Chapel Hill High, the candidates are:

        Anne Crabill

        Douglas Heine

        Jerry Ji

        Maggie Weber

        Nadiya Farrington (CTE)

        

And East Chapel Hill High’s candidates are:

        Natalie Troy

        Mian Qin

        Yixuan Cao

        Matthew Dai

        Vincent Du

        Martin Hito

        Alexander Hito

          

The 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholars will be comprised of one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large, 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts and 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education.

           

For the general category of the program, candidates must score exceptionally well on either the SAT or the ACT, based on tests taken between September, 2015 through October, 2017. All candidates are nominated by their Chief State School Officer (CSSO) or by one of the Department of Education’s partner recognition organizations based on outstanding scholarship. Application for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is by invitation only.

          

Semi-finalists will be announced in late March, with Scholars announced in April. In June, the Presidential Scholars will be invited to Washington D.C. for recognition ceremonies, including a probable visit to the White House.

          

Good luck to all CHCCS candidates-- and congratulations!

read more "CHCCS Announces 17 Candidates for U.S. Presidential Scholars"

Chapel Hill High CTE Student Competes in Abu Dhabi

In mid-October, when many seniors were losing sleep as the panic over college application deadlines took hold, one Chapel Hill High senior was spending eight hour days at a computer in Abu Dhabi, competing as a web designer at WorldSkills2017. “It was kind of a problem,” Riley Johnson said about the inconvenient timing of his trip to the Middle East. Then he shrugged and smiled. Riley is a remarkably humble young man, and it’s unlikely he will ever be the one to report the extraordinary achievements he has already garnered in the web development and design field.

    

Johnson was in grade school when he discovered an old textbook on JavaScript, and his passion for programming caught fire. His first job was programming bike routes for cycling clubs using Google’s mapping API. Then he began freelancing as a web developer and has since worked for Lenovo-- and he hasn’t even finished high school. “Riley has a seemingly endless thirst for knowledge and skill which is coupled with the desire to apply this learning to his immediate contexts,” said Garrison Reid, director of the Academy of Information Technology at Chapel Hill High School. Other than the exceptional mentoring and instruction Johnson has received from Reid, he was completely self-taught until he reached the SkillsUSA competition in web design where he won the gold medal.

    

Kathi Breweur, director of Career and Technical Education at CHCCS, said “His maturity and skills have impressed me from the first day I met him. He used his skills to create a fire drill app the Chapel Hill High staff members are currently using. The CTE department is very proud of Riley.”

     

WorldSkills is a biennial event that’s like a vocational skills olympics: hundreds of young people ages 18-23 from nearly 80 countries compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in numerous categories. This year, 11 members from SkillsUSA traveled to Abu Dhabi to test their expertise in areas that include Automobile Technology, Bricklaying, Patisserie and Confectionery, Print Media Technology and Web Design. Johnson was the only high school student to make the American team. He said some web design contestants from around the world had been training with coaches for more than a year to prepare for Abu Dhabi; some were already working on their master’s degrees. Some of the national teams employ psychologists to support the stresses of preparation.

     

When Johnson won the SkillsUSA gold medal and was chosen to continue on to WorldSkills17, he began his intensive preparation in March. He spent much of the summer with professionals in the industry to learn specific skills required to compete successfully at the conference. Into the fall, Johnson worked outside of school on projects assigned and reviewed by the team of coaches.

      

The format of four consecutive days of competition in Abu Dhabi might have occasionally left him wishing he could just work on college applications like his high school peers. Each morning, he sat at his assigned computer station, in the midst of a crowded convention center. Each of the 35 web design contestants learned that day’s challenge at 9:00 and then had eight hours to complete each assignment - all in public view, with people streaming by, or stopping to watch. “It was a little terrifying,” Johnson said.

      

Although none of the 11 American contestants earned a medal, the experience was clearly instructive in many ways. Johnson learned what it’s like to compete on an international stage, and his many medals along the way to Abu Dhabi distinguish him from multitudes of young web designers.

      

Now that Johnson is back at Chapel Hill High, he’s looking toward college - where he hopes to study computer engineering and economics. He’s exploring ideas for financial technology apps. Of course, that’s just the beginning. While he’s still in high school, he continues to make a powerful impression on his teachers and peers. Garrison Reid said, “To his peers, he motivates them in pushing their internal competitive drive to succeed at state conferences. To me, as a technology teacher, he shows that dedication and passion for the concepts and tools taught in our courses can accomplish great things outside the classroom. As the SkillsUSA chapter advisor at CHHS, it's an incredible honor to have students this passionate in trade and industry concepts, and experiencing success at the state, national and world competition levels.”

      

Although Johnson doesn’t know where he’ll end up studying after graduation, he smiled when he said, “I want to help train the next web designer competing from Chapel Hill High.”

To read more about WorldSkills2017: https://www.worldskills.org/what/competitions/wsc2017/

read more "Chapel Hill High CTE Student Competes in Abu Dhabi"

CHCCS Now Owns Fire Truck

When the Chapel Hill Fire Department had trouble recruiting new firefighters, they teamed up with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to start the firefighting academy. The Fire Department took a monumental next step by donating a fire truck to the program Wednesday.

The conversation started almost a year and a half ago when Assistant Fire Chief Keith Porterfield noticed a trend.

“When Fire Chief Matt Sullivan and I came to work here back in the 80’s, everyone in the Fire Department and Police Department were from the local area,” Porterfield said. “Now, I’ve had a lot of difficulty recruiting local kids who want to be firefighters.”

Porterfield says a major component of this problem is there was not enough interaction between students and the Fire Department. This helped develop the idea behind the firefighting academy. Students enroll during their sophomore year and learn firefighting skills for the first two years.

“In the firefighting [academy], there’s 31 subjects that the students will take,” said firefighting academy teacher Perry Hall. “They do everything from personal protective equipment, to ladders, forcible injury, vehicle extraction and hose work just to name a few.”

After that, they have an opportunity to take additional classes to learn emergency medical technician skills and take the state exam to become a North Carolina certified medical technician. But there is another benefit for students who choose not to pursue a career in emergency care.

“Their courses articulate to Durham Technical Community College, so they’re already getting college credit for the high school courses they’re taking,” said Kathi Breweur, career and technical education director. “They’re already working on an associate’s degree.”

Traditional learning is still important, but students primarily gain real-life experience in the class. Hall says about 75 percent of the lessons require hands-on learning, which means having the proper equipment is crucial for the students’ success.

“Without the equipment that is required for it, which is pretty much the same that’s needed for an up-and-running fire department, we can’t do the skills and practicals that they are required to do through the state to become certified,” Hall said.

Not being able to become certified would undermine the core idea behind the class. The academy has received a plethora of donations of equipment but knew purchasing a firetruck was both necessary and expensive. Luckily, the Chapel Hill Fire Department had the solution.

“The [firetruck] belonged to our department,” Fire Chief Matt Sullivan said. “There were two firetrucks that were beyond their useful life and not worth a whole lot of money… We would have ended up selling the trucks for scrap metal value and to me, scrap metal has no benefit beyond what we are going to have from these two firetrucks and the use and development of our future fire service.”

Aside from the obvious direct pipeline for new firefighters, Chief Sullivan is hoping for an added benefit from the firefighting academy.

“It’s kind of like a mutual sharing of energy,” Sullivan said. “We can share information and experience with the students, but what I hope is the students can help keep our folks thinking about when they first got engaged in the fire service and maybe infuse some energy into our people.”

Chief Sullivan and Assistant Chief Porterfield hope to see at least half of the 10 students taking the class become career firefighters but recognize the career landscape might not change overnight.

“It’s like planting seeds,” Sullivan said. “We’ll probably see the results in five-six-seven years, but it’ll be well worth the process.”

read more "CHCCS Now Owns Fire Truck"

“Hope for Houston” at Carrboro High School

Within days of Harvey’s crippling blast through Houston, a group of students and staff at Carrboro High created a committee to organize support for affected students and teachers in Texas. They called the group “Hope for Houston,” and through a grassroots Facebook effort, “Principals Helping Principals,” Carrboro High adopted Cypress Creek High in Houston.

       

Beverly Rudolph, principal at Carrboro High, and CTE teacher, Julie Francis, set the process in motion at a faculty meeting in late August as reports of damage from Harvey dominated the news. Francis said, “It actually started through my business classes. I wanted to open up a dialogue about businesses getting involved in their communities...it boiled down initially to hey, we can write letters of support and encouragement...then look to next steps.”

      

Principal Rudolph knew of the Facebook leadership group, “Principals Helping Principals;” a member of that group, Texas principal Kristen Eriksen, created a Google sheet to share with principals around the country. Within 24 hours of Rudolph’s conversation with Francis, Carrboro High had connected with Cypress Creek High in Houston, and their drive was underway. Now, a group of CTE and other students are providing leadership and ideas as they meet weekly in Ms. Francis’ classroom.

      

Since the school adopted Cypress Creek, the country has watched as two other hurricanes have decimated parts of Florida and Puerto Rico, but the committee decided to stay focused on their original goal of supporting one high school. Ms. Francis said they recognize how many donation drives have sprung up around the country, but they want to sustain a long term partnership with Cypress Creek.

      

As future business leaders, Ms. Francis’ students, as well as the members of DECA and Skills USA, understand how important it is to step forward and contribute in your own community and beyond. During the first meeting, Ms. Francis urged the new committee to ask themselves, “How do you step out of the box and make an enormous impact?”

       

Reflecting on how social media targeted and expedited this national aid drive, the creator of Principals Helping Principals, Kristen Eriksen said in a Dallas News article, “A big part of that Facebook page was sharing great ideas and advice that helped fellow principals. Now to see those principals who have helped you in need? You have people in Texas losing everything, including schools. There’s going to be so many little things that you’re used to having that are just gone now.”

       

By early September, more than 275 partnerships between schools had formed, and the original spreadsheet now has been changed to “view only,” since all of the Texas schools in need have been adopted.

       

Anyone who would like to contribute to Hope for Houston can make donations via the following:

1. Write a check payable to Carrboro High for any amount with Hope for Houston on the memo line. Bring to room D212 or email Ms. Francis at jfrancis@chccs.k12.nc.us.
2. Go to k12paymentcenter.com: under Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools/Carrboro High School, Donation- Hurricane Harvey
3. Cypress Creek High School has suggested that if individuals would like to contribute something more personal, they are requesting gift cards to the following stores: Target, Walmart, Lowe’s Home Improvement or Kroger’s. Gift cards should be sent to the attention of Ms. Francis in D212 so that they can be mailed together.

        

The students on the committee reflect a “sky is the limit” attitude as they continue to brainstorm ideas for support, both large and small, beyond the direct financial donations. Certain Carrboro High clubs are discussing ways to adopt their sister clubs at Cypress Creek, and several members are looking toward the holiday season, when they hope to send homemade gifts.

        

One young entrepreneur at Carrboro High, Katie Coyne, is exploring ways that she can contribute from Katie’s Kreations, her growing online business that sells small stuffed animals, soft slippers and other fabric items. “I’m always trying to find a way to help out, and every year I try to incorporate my business as my way to donate.” Katie hopes the committee will create a Hope for Houston logo soon, so that she can use that on each toy or baby blanket she sends to Houston. “We can also do theme colors for the stuffed animals. Or I can donate 30% of my overall profits for a certain amount of time as well if that's easier.”

         

The entire school community has undertaken a letter writing campaign to students and teachers at their adopted school. Several of Ms. Francis’ students drew from comparable experiences in their lives. One who lived in New Orleans as a child wrote, “Before Katrina, there was an incredible aquarium in New Orleans that I loved visiting. After Katrina, there was an incredible aquarium called New Orleans that I hated visiting.” Another shared her dramatic story of living through floods in Southeast Asia, when the river “came to our home and some houses (were) taken away by the river.”

         

Another wrote that he had lived in Texas for 11 years, and he watched the news from Houston, wondering if his family would get to safety. One student described how she had watched reports on television as she worked at a restaurant, “During the time of Harvey, it never left the news channel, and so I constantly had my eyes on what was happening. I thought about high school students a lot.”

        

Who knows what new support ideas will spring from the next Hope for Houston meeting in Ms. Francis’ classroom?

Other Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are engaged in a variety of hurricane relief activities. Stay tuned for an update on those drives!

A comprehensive list of organizations collecting support for Hurricane Harvey victims is posted on the TASA website, Texas Association of School Administrators. https://www.tasanet.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=1028

read more "“Hope for Houston” at Carrboro High School"

Apple SWIFT at Chapel Hill High

Apple SWIFT Arrives at Chapel Hill High’s

Academy of Information Technology

Chapel Hill High School is one of only three public high schools in North Carolina to introduce a new course, “App Development with Swift,” this year. The free 45-lesson, full-year course is available through iBooks Store, but it’s taught as part of the Academy of Information Technology by academy director, Garrison Reid.

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) course offerings in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are expanding every year to better meet the demands of industry. “This is the first year CTE has offered any type of programming,” said Kathi Breweur, director of CTE. “The decision to move CTE in this direction came from a discussion at our IT advisory board meeting. Our business partners conveyed the need for this type of middle and high school course content.”

      

For the Swift launch at Chapel Hill High, Mr. Reid opened the class to students across the high school grade levels, so they’ve enrolled with varying degrees of prior knowledge and experience in coding. The current class has 15 students, and they work both independently and collaboratively to cover the Apple-designed lessons which help students learn Swift application design and then how to code, test and deploy apps to prepare them for internships and future jobs. Tonia Aldridge, regional Apple representative said, “The Chapel Hill-Carrboro CTE department has been a leader with Swift.”

      

The call for all students to learn coding is gaining momentum nationwide. Ali Partovi, co-founder of Code.org said, “We feel that coding is the new American Dream and should be available to everybody, not just a lucky few.”

     

"It seems that people who are not computationally literate will have to rely on others to help them navigate their lives, " writes Annette Vee, author of Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing. “Because programming is intertwining with writing, it’s changing what it means to be literate in the 21st century. Computer programming is re-coding literacy.”

      

During a recent day in Mr. Reid’s Swift class, students followed along as their teacher led them through an exercise in combining variables of a common theme using structures. The atmosphere is relaxed but focused as students look from their own screens to the overhead screen that illustrates the steps.

      

By the time the course wraps up next spring, students will have created Apple’s sample apps as well as apps of their own design. All students will gain critical job skills, as well as developing a “computational mentality.”

     

As the feeder school into the IT Academy at Chapel Hill High, McDougle Middle School now offers a semester-long course on coding for eighth graders, taught by Anderson Wyatt. The introductory Apple Swift course uses the Playground app and the curriculum "Learn to Code 1."  Mr. Wyatt will integrate activities that he designs, as well as those that are provided in the "Everyone Can Code" teacher guide. “Each student has an iPad that's assigned to them and they will use them to work through 'Learn to Code 1,'" he said.

     

The exercises and lessons in “Learn to Code” aim to demonstrate basic concepts through topics like “Intro to Debugging” and “World-Building.” Quizzes are framed as Playground Labs, so it’s easy for students to lose sight of the complexity and rigor, and focus instead on the fun.

      

Ben Kern, a freshman in Mr. Reid’s class, has been interested in computers his entire life. He smiled broadly as he said, “I can definitely see doing this as my career.”

     

Another freshman, Chloe Elbogen, first studied computing as a sixth grader, the only girl in her class. Although she participated in the program Girls Who Code, Chloe said, “This is the first real time I’ve sat down to make whatever I want…this is learning a new language. I really enjoy coding.”

      

“This is an ongoing effort to introduce programming concepts to CHCCS students,” Mr. Reid said. “This is a recognized gap by industry partners on our advisory board, but also at the state and national levels.”

     

For more information about the need for employees with higher level programming and coding skills, see the website Promote Computer Science:

https://code.org/promote/nc. Currently, the site indicates that there are more than 15,000 unfilled computing jobs in North Carolina.

read more "Apple SWIFT at Chapel Hill High"