Page 16
October 31 - November 6, 2014
AT&T DONATES SUPPLIES TO LOX GROVES ELEMENTARY
On Oct. 20, AT&T Pioneers donated six Kindles and $400 in gift cards to Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School. The Kindles will be a great motivator for the students to read, and the gift cards will be used to purchase e-books. Shown here is Principal Rich Myerson and Media Specialist Colleen Psoinos with AT&T Pioneers Denise Caruso and Gayle Gilbert.
The Town-Crier
www.gotowncrier.com
SCHOOL NEWS
Eagle Arts Academy Launches Artademics With A Visit From Disney’s Mitchel Musso Eagle Arts Academy has had a great start with its arts-infused program. Disney’s Mitchel Musso recently dropped in to share his story with students. Musso, who played Oliver Oken on Disney’s Hannah Montana, was right at home with the interviewing format first used at the school’s “Inside the Eagle Arts Studio” just a few weeks earlier with actor/comedian Tommy Davidson of In Living Color fame. “We are on our way,” Interim Principal Jeannette LaFleur said. “This has been a terrific month.” Musso, 23, sat through two sessions with students as they interviewed him in a variation of Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio hosted by James Lipton. They used three students instead of one and thought up their own questions. “We use this format to work on interviewing skills,” LaFleur said. “Students research the person they are interviewing and try to find questions that associate their subjects with their lessons or events.” Eagle Arts students were curious about being a child actor, if
Musso had been homeschooled, missed his family or ever bullied. He called life as a child star “amazing.” But warned it comes with a cost. “You are told what to do and say and what to wear,” he said, adding that he did miss out on a lot of things, but he wouldn’t change things. Musso went to public school until the sixth grade, and then was schooled on the set. To the audience’s surprise, he went through some of the same things as other kids. “I was surprised to find out that he was bullied,” sixth grader Emma Daubenmire said. “He’s, like, famous!” Musso also is known for other Disney Channel roles, such as Jeremy Johnson in the animated series Phineas and Ferb and King Brady on Pair of Kings. He also was the host of the Disney Channel’s PrankStars. As an accomplished songwriter and singer, his songs are pop favorites. Celebrity interviews are an important part of the program, but the book-to-film series brings “artademics,” the arts-infused
Disney’s Mitchel Musso with Eagle Arts Academy students. instruction program, to the class- James Blount. Look for Alice in room and materials. This year, Wonderland throughout the year Alice in Wonderland rules. in classroom learning and extra“On all grade levels, we will be curricular activities. introducing a series of choicework Eagle Arts Academy is an artsprojects, reports and fun guidelines based curriculum charter school that takes this wonderful story at 1000 Wellington Trace. The and allows the children to explore school, which opened in August, their creativity and imagination,” has more than 650 students in said school co-founder Gregory kindergarten through grade six.
NMSP Recognizes Three Wellington High Students
Renaissance Charter School civics students.
Renaissance Students Write Letters To Troops Seventh grade civics students at the Renaissance Charter School at Palms West have undertaken a project to recognize and appreciate soldiers through written cards and letters. Recently, 135 letters were sent to soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, and to U.S. Marine Corps recruits at Camp Lejeune. Staff members, parents and friends of soldiers both home and abroad have requested and enlisted assistance in thanking them for their dedication, courage and commitment to our country. This “Hand to Hand” letter-writ-
ing campaign is part of the school’s community service project, in which students engage in performing a variety of services. The sincere appreciation of a soldier’s willingness to serve was evident in all of the letters. The concepts and standards for this civics course have never been more relevant and alive, and Renaissance students showed how they value and love the freedom guaranteed by the men and women who serve. With overwhelming support, the school will be continuing the program.
Three outstanding Wellington High School students were recently recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Austin Hart was named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, Lisa Melamed was named a commended student in the National Merit Scholarship Program and Bryan Walker was named a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) — a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year — and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements. In early September, about 16,000 students, approximately one-third of the 50,000 high scorers, are notified that they have qualified as semifinalists. To
ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in the talent pool, semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state. The program provides scholarship application materials to semifinalists through their high schools. In late September, about 34,000 of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. Commended students are named on the basis of a nationally applied selection index score that may vary from year to year. Although commended students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses. The National Achievement Scholarship Program is an academic competition established in 1964 to provide recognition for outstanding black high school
students. Black students may have entered both the 2015 National Achievement Program and the 2015 National Merit Program by taking the 2013 PSAT/NMSQT and meeting other published requirements for participation. The two programs are conducted concurrently but operated and funded separately. A student’s standing is determined independently in each program. Black students can qualify for recognition and be honored as scholars in both the 2015 National Merit Program and the 2015 National
Achievement Program, but can receive only one monetary award. Of the more than 160,000 students who entered the 2015 National Achievement Program, more than 4,700 are honored. A group of about 3,100 Outstanding Participants are referred to colleges for their potential for academic success. A smaller group of about 1,600 are named semifinalists. They are the only students who have an opportunity to advance in the 2015 competition for National Achievement Scholarships.
Scott Dobbs Of RPBHS Nominated For An Award Palm Beach County School District Mathematics Program Planner Diana Snider has nominated Royal Palm Beach High School teacher Scott Dobbs for a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). The award is the highest recognition that a math or science
teacher can receive in the United States. Awardees are heralded with a presidential certificate, a trip to Washington, D.C, and a $10,000 prize. Awarded for more than 30 years, PAEMST teachers serve as models for their colleagues, an inspiration to their communities, and leaders in the improvement of math and science education.