A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE - Henderson County Public Schools

Accolades
STUDENTS
•Aubrey Masters, Rugby Middle, was the third place winner for the
state in the North Carolina Young Lawyers Photo Essay Contest (only
three winners are selected).
•The Hendersonville High School Advanced Theatre received state
recognition for Distinguished Play, State Qualifier at the NC Theatre
Conference for the third consecutive year. Only 16 high school theatre
classes are selected (two from each regional festival). HHS’ Advanced
Theatre performed “That’s What I Love About You, Nancy Drew!” – an
original production written entirely by the students. They received awards
for Sound Design, Costume Design, Excellence in Playwriting, Honorable
Mention in Acting by Maria Katsadouros and Tucker Shelton, and Best
Actress Award by Lauren Lampley. Todd Weakley is the Theatre director.
Theatre students are: Amber McCleery, Chris Bakke, Shelly Warner,
Elizabeth Daubert, Turner Rouse, Maria Katsadorous, Matt Foster,
Mitchell Altman, Lauren Williams, Claire Oliphant, Michael
Shellenberger, Lauren Lampley, Tucker Shelton, Natalie Griffith, Katie
Bailey, Brian Boushey, Maren McGlashen, Kelsey Stout, Aaron
Fairbanks, and Ryan Neale.
•East Henderson High Advanced Theatre achieved the honor of
Distinguished Play, State Qualifier for the third consecutive year at the
NC Theatre Conference. Their teacher, Zach Walker, was given the “Excellence in Directing” for plays performed at the regional festival.
He is the only director this year to achieve this distinction for both entries from one school.
•Scholastic Art Awards Competition winners were: Rachel Benny (Gold Key Award/Drawing); Josue Garcia (Gold Key Award/Painting);
Teresa Lange (Gold Key Award/Mixed Media and Painting); Elizabeth Pettengill (Gold Key Award/Painting); Mary Margaret Burdett
(Silver Key Award/Mixed Media and Sculpture); Travis Halford (Silver Key Award/Drawing); Nicole Benny (Honorable Mention/Drawing);
Nolan Berger (Honorable Mention/Drawing and Painting); and Diana Gamez (Honorable Mention/Sculpture).
•Kayla Brank, East Henderson High, received a National Gold Award by the National Alliance for her Computer Art entitled, Never
Coming Home. This award is an honor bestowed on only 70 high school and middle school artists per year across the United States.
•Michele Dills, North Henderson High, was selected the 2007 North Carolina Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Clubs. She received
a $8,500 college scholarship. She represented the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County and was the local Youth of the Year winner.
As one of the service projects each year, the
Rotary Club of Hendersonville distributes
dictionaries to every third grader in
Henderson County. The children love the
dictionaries and always ask if the book is
really theirs to keep. The students are usually
given a question to answer after getting their
dictionary. This year it was, “Do you know
what the words ‘level’ and ‘racecar’ have in
common?” Answer: “They spell the same
word read forward or backward.”
Clear Creek Elementary, Dana Elementary, East Henderson High,
Fletcher Elementary, Glenn C. Marlow Elementary,
Hendersonville Elementary, North Henderson High, Rugby
Middle, and West Henderson High Schools each received a $500
grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program to
support special projects at the schools. Barry Edwards, Paul
Jordan, and Connie Cunningham of Henderson Oil Company
worked with school officials to secure the grants from 4,000
available to schools across the country served by Exxon or Mobil
stations. The grants were made possible by funding from the
ExxonMobil Corporation.
STAFF
•Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Clark, USAF (Retired) and Master Sergeant Joseph P.
Froidcoeur, USAF (Retired) were awarded Outstanding Instructor Awards for 2006 by
the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
•Lucia L. Tatham, a bus driver at Fletcher Elementary, was the 2006 recipient of the
Henderson County Petroleum Marketers Association Award. This award is presented
each year to a Henderson County Public Schools’ bus driver for safe, dependable, and
faithful service.
•Hendersonville Elementary School was awarded a $10,000 grant from the State Library
of North Carolina to help strengthen the school’s library book collection. Hendersonville
Elementary’s grant was one of 44 awarded this year to school libraries statewide (there
are over 2,300 public schools in North Carolina).
•Flat Rock Middle School was recognized as a “School To Watch” by the National
Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. Flat Rock was one of nine middle schools
chosen in North Carolina and among 107 middle schools chosen from the United States.
•The Creative Teaching Grant Committee of the Henderson County Education Foundation
awarded five Creative Teaching Grants totaling $4,350.00. These grants are awarded to
develop and implement innovative teaching practices, for pioneering model programs to
enhance standard courses and to spark learning. The grant recipients are: Rebecca Russell
(Dana Elementary); Cyndi Felosa (Flat Rock Middle); Robin Frisch, Sally Carr (Hillandale Elementary); Lois Gordon, Robin Rice, Claire
Ungerer (Hillandale Elementary); and Helen Owen, Anita Owenby (Henderson County Board of Public Education).
A Standard of Excellence 15