NOTED. WHAT AN HONOR Olivia Riggsbee, a 2021 Northwood High School graduate, received and accepted an appointment to PHOTO BY CHRISTY the U.S. Military CLEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY Academy at West Point in New York. Olivia leaves for the academy at the end of June. Jordan-Matthews High School senior Shane Conroy earned a Park
Scholarship – a fouryear scholarship worth about $112,000 – to N.C. State. Shane completed the dual language program, captained the FIRST Robotics and Quiz Bowl teams and volunteered at West Chatham Food Pantry. Shane is one of 40 Park Scholars in the class of 2025, selected from a pool of some 2,200 applicants worldwide.
WHAT WE’VE HEARD AROUND OUR TOWNS ...
two-week international journey, learning from scientists and taking part in field experiments related to their subject of study. Amy will share the experience with her students through video. The Chatham County Board of Education voted on March 8 to fully honor Horton Middle School’s namesake by changing the name to George Moses Horton Middle School. George, born on a plantation in 1798, was an enslaved person and poet in Chatham. He spent 68 years as a slave, sold his poetry in hopes of purchasing his freedom and died a free man in Philadelphia in 1883. The Chatham County Schools Teachers of the Year are: • Tami Henson, Bennett School,
second grade; • Sabrina Burkhead, Bonlee School,
EC resource; • Cheryl Whitehead, Chatham Center for
Innovation, English;
Amy King, a history
teacher at Chatham Central High School, received a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in 2020, but the program and announcement were postponed until 2021. Fifty educators nationwide are chosen each year for the professional development program, which consists of a
• Heather Brooks, Chatham Central High
School, math; • Sara Knight, Chatham Grove Elementary
School, fifth grade; • Johnson Bohórquez, Chatham Middle
School, sixth-grade science; • Michael McMillan, George Moses Horton
Middle School, seventh-grade science; • Jennifer Tyndall, J. S. Waters School,
elementary ELA; • Manda Bass, Jordan-Matthews High
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU'VE HEARD! EMAIL NOTED@CHATHAMMAGAZINENC.COM 12
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
School, math;
SUMMER 2021
Compiled by Anna-Rhesa Versola, Renee Ambroso and Aashna Shah
• Rebecca Clemens, Margaret B. Pollard
Middle School, band director; • Holly Rapacuk, Moncure School,
third grade; • Victoria Teague, North Chatham
Elementary School, EC resource; • Julie Fogle, Northwood High School,
career and technical education; • Natalie Shaner, Perry Harrison
Elementary School, second and third grade; • Franzine Spady-Hall, Pittsboro Elementary
School, kindergarten; • Janet Brady Bridges, Siler City Elementary
School, first- and second-grade ESL; • Diana Ciro, Silk Hope School, ESL; • Madaline Allsup, Virginia Cross
Elementary School, EC resource Four Chatham-based dentists were named Top Dentists, selected through a peer-topeer survey of the local dental community: Laura A. Collatz of Enchanting Smiles Family Dentistry; Alexandra Boudreau and Kevin Ricker of Chatham Pediatric Dentistry; and Jerre L. Kennedy of Atkins Dentistry. ON THE MOVE Anthony “Tony” Jackson
starts July 6 as the new Chatham County Schools superintendent. Tony previously served as superintendent in three different public school districts in North Carolina and Virginia since 2007 and has more than 30 years of experience in public education in