March Students Of The Month Named
March 30, 2009
March Students of the Month have been named at North Escambia schools.
The monthly recognition is presented to two students from each participating school by the Escambia Association for Administrators in Education
The following students of the month were named from North Escambia schools:
- Bratt Elementary: Kirsten N. White, third grade; Andrianna C. Cooper, kindergarten.
- Jim Allen: Jordan S. Hamilton, fifth grade; Brianna R. Holmquist, fifth grade.
- Molino Park: Arianna N. Rudd, first grade.
- Northview High: Tyler L. Randolph, ninth grade; Emily F. Vickrey, 10th grade.
Pictured above: Northview High School Students of the Month Emily Vickrey and Tyler Randolph. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Northview, Tate Students Receive Mira Creative Arts Awards
March 27, 2009
Many North Escamba students received Mira Creative Arts Awards Thursday night.
The award honors the 10 brightest creative art stars from each high school in Escambia County.
Northview’s Mira Creative Arts Award winners were:
- Olivia Bryan, theater.
- Patrick Carlson, instrumental music.
- Brandon Coburn, drama.
- Lanie Eubanks, instrumental music.
- Briana Halteman, instrumental music.
- Josh Holder, visual arts.
- Luke Killam, wood working.
- Jackie Lowen, visual arts.
- Jace E. Stone, music.
- Jessica Taylor, visual arts.
Winner from Tate High School were:
- Casen Barnard, Visual Arts.
- Tyler Baxter, Drama.
- Samantha Bruce, Instrumental Music.
- Benjamin Carmichael, Instrumental Music.
- Madeline Chivington, Journalism.
- Stephanie Evans, Visual Arts.
- Candace Hubble, TV Production.
- Alexandria Jarman, Journalism.
- Valorie Lysek, Vocal Music.
- Brittany Nunnelee, Debate.
Pictured above: Olivia Bryan (center) in last November’s Northview High Schoolproduction of “Don’t Say No To The USO”. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Facebook Group Seeks To Reunite Century High Grads
March 27, 2009
A few Facebook group is seeking to reunite Century High School graduates.
Felicia McCaw Jones, now living in North Alabama, created the site this week for all Century High School alumni.
“I am a sentimental fool for stuff like this. I would like the group to be proactive in posting pictures from around school times, even just hanging out with friends ‘back in the day’,” Jones said in an email.
As of Thursday night, there were 43 members on the page. Century graduates still living in the area have joined, along with Blackcat graduates now living in Mobile, Jacksonville, Ohio, West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Virginia and more.
Click here to view the Facebook site for Century High School alumni. In order to view the entire site, you must have a free Facebook membership.
Carley Hetrick Wins NHS Got Talent Spring Edition
March 26, 2009
Northview High School junior Carley Hetrick was named the winner of the Northview’s Got Talent Spring Edition. This was Hetrick’s second straight year to win the competition. Pictured above: Carley Hetrick. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
EWMS Eighth Graders Learn Cyber Safety From Attorney General’s Office
March 25, 2009
The Florida Attorney General’s CyberCrime Office painted a picture of reality on the Internet for eighth graders and Ernest Ward Middle School during a Tuesday presentation.
As of last week, 127,390 students in Florida have heard the presentation on Internet safety this school year. Of those, 3,450 have reported that they have been victims.
“I want you to be safe. I want you to be knowledgeable of the hidden dangers when you post online, because some people out there are trying to lure you in and do you harm. These dangers are not limited to your computer. They are real, and some people will try to hurt you emotionally and physically. Be selective in the information you post or give out. “ASL” – Age, Sex, Location – are three of the most dangerous pieces of information to give out online,” Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote on the AG’s Cybercrime Unit MySpace page.
Anyone that requests a Myspace “add” from the CyberCrime unit, students will receive a badge to display on their MySpace page.
The CyberCrime Unit offers tips for students that believe they have been solicited online:
If you believe you have been inappropriately solicited online or find yourself in a situation that makes you uncomfortable, you should report it! There are different ways you can do this:
• Tell your parent or parents.
• Tell a trusted adult. This could be a friend, a teacher, a scout leader, a leader in your community, a coach, a member of law enforcement or a religious leader.
• Tell one of the Advocates or volunteers giving the Attorney General’s CyberSafety presentation at your school.
• Report the incident at the Attorney General’s anonymous tip line found at his SafeSurf Website.
• Visit the CyberTipLine Website.
• Call 1-800-THE-LOST.
To visit the CyberCrime Unit’s MySpace page, click here. For more information on Internet safety visit www.safeflorida.net/safesurf.
Another Escambia School Recommended For Closure
March 25, 2009
Another Escambia County school is slated for closure.
Tuesday, Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas recommended the closure of Edgewater Elementary School on the west side of Pensacola. Thomas had narrowed his decision to closing either Edgewater or Navy Point Elementary. If approved by the school board, the approximately 350 students at Edgewater would be transferred to three other elementary schools, including Navy Point.
The closure is expected to save the district about $400,000 per year. The school board will consider the closure at a special board meeting on March 30, with a final vote to come on May 11. The closure would be effective at the end of this school year.
The school board voted March 17 to close Carver/Century K-8 School at the end of this school year to save another $600,000 plus. Those students will be sent to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School.
The total savings from the two school closures is expected to top $1 million per year. Thomas said the district must cut about $30 million overall because of a decrease in funding from the state, partially due to economics and partially due to declining enrollment across the county.
What’s Hot: Ernest Ward Middle School’s Newspaper
March 24, 2009
From what’s hot, to what’s not; to the latest news around campus, students at Ernest Ward Middle School turn to the school’s newspaper Through the Eagles Eye.
“It gives us a chance to express our opinions,” Co-editor Anna Donald said. She likes to write stories about FFA and the Ernest Ward Drama Club, because “they are totally me”.
Over the years, the paper had evolved into a publication primarily by teachers with little input from students. Ernest Ward Middle School newspaper sponsor Sara McGinnis has worked to change that.
“We have returned over the past couple of years to student input. We have good group,” McGinnis said. “Every article is totally done by them, and they sell the paper during lunch.”
“It is more focused, not as random now,” staff member Dezarae Turner said.
Articles are, like at most schools, proofed by school staff to make sure they are appropriate. But McGinnis’ staff said that they work hard to play by the rules.
“We know that when she gives us ‘the look’, it is time to be good,” Donald said.
Turner said she enjoys writing articles about student life. “I like to hear what the student body has to say,” she said.
The students have also learned that in the newspaper business, the right story sells.
“We sell at least 20 extra copies with anything in it that is Twilight related,” Donald said.
(In case you don’t know: Twilight is the movie of 2008 that would be on the “hot” side of the what’s hot, and what’s not list at Ernest Ward or any middle school.)
Click here for a pdf of the January Ernest Ward Middle School newspaper. (This is 591Kb file that may be too large for readers on a dialup internet connection.)
Members of the newspaper staff at Ernest Ward Middle School are: Jazzlyn Franklin, Cheyenne Godwin, Dezarae Turner, Indigo Rodriguez, Jessica Warner, Isaac Dukes, Hannah Fiellin, Jeremy Stacey, Anna Donald and Angel Mitchell.
Pictured top: Ernest Ward Middle School students (L-R) Dezarae Turner, Jeremy Stacy and Anna Donald proofread the latest issue of the school’s newspaper. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
School District To Repair Northview Ceilings, Kitchen Hood At EWMS
March 23, 2009
The school district has awarded bids for ceiling repairs at Northview High School and for a new kitchen exhaust hood at Ernest Ward Middle School.
The Escambia County School District has awarded a $209,104 contract to repair ceilings in the 100 wing at Northview. The contract was awarded to low bidder Acousti Engineering Company of Pensacola.
The district awarded a $49,236 contact to low bidder Comfort Systems USA of Pensacola for a new kitchen hood at Ernest Ward. Two other bids — $53,472 and $67,500 — were received.
1,000 Take Part In Northview FFA Food For America Program (With Photo Gallery)
March 21, 2009
About 800 elementary school students from nine schools attended the annual “Food for America” program Friday at Northview High School , with about 1,000 people total either attending or working with the program.
The program, sponsored the National FFA Organization and conducted by the Northview FFA, gave the students a chance to learn about agriculture firsthand as they got up close and personal with farm animals, farm equipment and more. The students even had the opportunity to make their own butter and enjoy it on crackers.
The Northview FFA has participated in the program for 14 years, placing second in the state two years ago. Northview has placed in the top five in the state for the last ten years.
Click here for a complete NorthEscambia.com photo gallery with dozens of pictures from the event.
About 120 FFA students from Northview and Ernest Ward Middle School conducted the program, with about 1,200 people total either attending or working with the program.
Schools scheduled to attend the Food for America program Friday at Northview were Bratt Elementary, Byrneville Elementary, Jim Allen Elementary, Atmore Christian Academy, Jay Elementary, Molino Park Elementary, Century Carver Elementary, Pollard-McCall Elementary, Pensacola Beach Elementary and area home schooled children.
Participants in the FFA’s program included: the Northview FFA, Ernest Ward FFA, North Escambia Beekeepers Association, Escambia River Electrical Cooperative, Young Farmers and Ranchers, Pine Ridge Farms, Florida Division of Forestry, University of Florida-Milton, University of Florida/IFAS Extension, Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department, Century Fire Department, Northview 4-H, National Resource Conservation Service, Humane Society, Hendrix Tractor Company, Escambia County Farm Bureau and Stewart’s Grist Mill.
Pictured top: Hundreds of elementary students had the chance to get up close to livestock Friday morning at Northview High School’s annual Food For America program. Pictured middle: Children had the chance to sample fresh strawberries. Pictured below: Students learned about making fresh corn meal. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
School Board Votes To Close Carver/Century
March 18, 2009
Carver/Century K-8 School will close forever at the end of this school year; the Escambia County School Board has voted 3-2 to close the school.
Less than a dozen Century residents attended Tuesday night’s school board meeting, some making last minute pleas to keep the school open.
“I’ve pleaded every way I know how. I just ask that before you go into your vote that you ask yourselves if you have done everything you can do to save this school,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall told the board. “Spare us if at all possible. Give us that three years that I have asked for.”
But in the end, just two board members — Bill Slayton and Linda Moultrie — voted against closing the school.
“It is very important to this community…very important to the north end of Escambia County,” Slayton said. “I’m concerned.”
“I’m really concerned about the children,” Moultrie said. “Are we doing the right thing for the children of that community?”
School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told the board that a majority of parents had already decided how they felt about the school, with 56 percent of the parents in the Carver/Century district sending their children to other schools. Of the 473 students in the Carver/Century attendance zone, only 210 attended the school when Thomas analyzed data prior to recommending the closure.
“We struggle year after year to subsidize the school,” Thomas said, noting that the district would save about $600,000 per year by closing the school. Most importantly, the students will be moved to Bratt Elementary, an A-school for five consecutive years, and Ernest Ward Middle, also an A-school. Carver/Century was an F-school prior to rising to a B-school last year.
“They have proven that they can sustain excellence,” Thomas said of both Ernest Ward and Bratt.
Thomas asked the board to support closing Carver/Century for dollars and cents reasons.
“You will save money that will save jobs,” he told the board.
“You would think you were sending the students to something terrible,” board member Jeff Bergosh (pictured left) said. “You are putting them into a situation where they have everything. They students will adapt. They will overcome.”
“We are not turning your kids loose and saying ’sink or swim’,” Jeff Bergosh, board member, said “If you can look to Him,” he said of God, “and expect the best, you can get it.”
“This was not an easy decision,” board Chairman Patty Hightower said. Her church, Trinity Presbyterian of Pensacola, has volunteered at Carver/Century for 23 years. Prior to the meeting, many Century residents saw Hightower as the swing vote that could save the town’s only school.
She announced that she would support Thomas’ recommendation to close the school because of the great educational opportunities provided at Bratt and Ernest Ward.
Last Minute Pleas
Prior to the board’s 3-2 vote to close Carver/Century K-8 School, a few people addressed the board in support of the school.
“I am a Century Blackcat,” Century native Jewel Canada-Wynn, now a member of the Pensacola City Council and an administrator at Escambia High School, said. “Without a school, that community will suffer.”
Annie Savage, grandmother of a Carver/Century student, has attended every school board meeting concerning the closure of the school. Tuesday night, she told the five member school board that they were placing the Rock of Gibraltar on the outskirts of Century, “putting us out of action in our town”.
“You say no child is left behind,” Savage said. “Do you not mean no child except the children in Century left behind?”
“You are killing our town. We have a prison and we have inmates running around, but no students,” Century is not going to grow anymore when you take away our school…Don’t kill our community; don’t kill our town.”
Carver/Century employee Lillian Robertson told the school board they had put Carver/Century last, providing fewer resources for the school, staff and students.
“You have done nothing but undermine us,” Robertson said. “You are going to lose a lot of money when you close us.” She said 175 Carver/Century students would cross the line and attend school in Alabama. “You have lost Century.”
Leroy Boyd, leader of Movement for Change, said his group “certainly won’t be quiet while you put a padlock on Century”. The Century Town Council voted Monday night to fund Movement for Change lawyer Jeffery Toney in seeking a possible injunction against the Escambia County School Board to keep the school open. Read more here.
Click here for a photo gallery from Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
Pictured top: Century council member Gary Riley, Mayor Freddie McCall, Century businessman Jack Moran, Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite and Century businesswoman Julie Booth-Moran listed to the Escambia County School Board Tuesday night. Pictured bottom: Century resident Annie Savage addresses the Escambia County School Board. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
