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Tramway celebrated the 100th day of school with many exciting activites. Kindergarten students wore hats decorated with one hundred items and participated in the annual Kindergarten parade. Some second grade classes had Pajama days and character days.

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Lee County High School will host its 2nd semester Open House on January 30:

5-6 pm:  Schedule pick-up in the lobby of the Administration Building
5:15 pm:   Meeting in the cafeteria with administrators
5:30-6:30 pm:  Parents visit with teachers, floating

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West Lee Middle School student and 2011 gold medal winner Spencer Magee recently competed in the 2012 North Carolina Special Olympics.  Spencer was one of more than 130 athletes from North Carolina and Virginia competing in skiing and snowboarding.  Spencer won a silver medal in the highest snowboarding division and will now compete in the North East Regional Winter Olympics in February.

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You didn’t have to travel all the way to Raleigh to get a taste of the Arts when West Lee hosted its own second annual Fine Arts Gala on Tuesday, January 10.

Mrs. Jessie Bachler's Art students had various art media on display.  We were treated to pencil, colored pencil, paint, and watercolor drawings as well as wire, papier mache and collage pieces.  The students created their own Art Gallery with displays in the hallways and on tables in Mrs. Bachler's classroom.

Miss Shelley Ray had 8th Grade students playing solos and duets on their instruments. Cello soloists Alana E and Sarah S performed “Think Of Me” from Phantom Of The Opera (arranged by Alana and Sarah), “Jack Sparrow Theme” from Pirates Of The Caribbean, “Stairway To Heaven”, “The Oyster Girl,” “Sonata in C Major” and “The Trumpet Hornpipe” on cello.  Alana and Sarah then performed the duets of “Music Of The Night” from Phantom Of The Opera and “Danny Boy.”  Following the ladies, percussionist Gregory L  performed “Carol Of The Tubes,” which he wrote himself and played on the tuberaphone, an instrument that he first saw on a You Tube and which he constructed himself using PVC pipes in a wooden casing.

Ms. Jennifer Starkey joined the West Lee Chimes in performing renditions of “Yankee Doodle” and “Ten Little Indians.” To close out the evening, visitors to the Fine Arts Gala were treated to several students performing solos on the keyboard, including Taylor M—“Morning Song,” Stephen G—“Canon,” Billy M—“Ode To Joy,” Hannah O—“Maleguena,” and McKenna M—“The Entertainer.” 

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Congratulations to Lee County Schools’ Classroom Webpage of the Month winner Mary Ann Miller, science teacher at Lee County High School!  Mrs. Miller’s webpage was chosen for its many content links, classroom assignment information, and webpage organization. Her webpage can be found at http://bit.ly/ADfNGg.  (Photo:  Mary Ann Miller shown with LCHS Principal Greg Batten)

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Tramway Year-Round Elementary School has announced the following schedule for 2012-13 school year registration:

Jan. 26 - Invitation letter, enrollment forms, new tentative calendar, sent home to current K-4 parents
Feb. 3 - Last day to accept current students’ re-enrollment forms and siblings enrollment forms
Feb. 6 - Intent to enroll process begins (open to all Lee County K-4 students)
Feb. 8 - Letter of continued enrollment to current students who returned enrollment forms
Feb. 17 - Intent to Enroll process ends
March 1 - Lottery Drawing at Central Office with Clerk of Court-10:00 A. M.
March 5 - Letter sent to accepted students (new enrollment)
March 12-16 - Registration for 2012-13 school year
April 2-3 - Kindergarten Screening (please note date change)

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Recently, “Team Gus”, as Anna Gustaveson’s fourth grade class at Edwards Elementary School calls themselves, was immersed in a full day of science.  The day centered on the physical science property of magnetism.  The morning began with students exploring the properties of a magnet: what it will attract, what it won’t pick up and how they interact with other magnets. Students gathered this data and analyzed it in order to construct a graph for math. Reading groups were also centered on the science. Outdoor time, recess, proved to be another great opportunity to explore the natural world and Earth’s magnetic field by learning how to use a compass. Students learned cardinal directions and how to determine the direction they were going by using a compass. Once they had mastered the basics, the class played games using the compasses. Quiet reflection at the end of the day in the form of writing their conclusions brought the day to a natural close. 

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Students at J.R. Ingram, Jr. Elementary together with Communities In Schools recently partnered with Lowe's Food to help with their Friends Feeding Friends food drive. Lowe's offered a pizza party to the class who collected the most food. For one week all classes competed to collect as many non-perishable food items as they could to donate to this cause. The winner was Ms. Young's 3rd grade class. They collected 101 pounds of food. Even in tight times, the school as a whole managed to collect 1,303.5 pounds of food.

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There’s something exciting happening lately at West Lee Middle School and Ingram Elementary.  It’s an after-school program called Learning Together which follows the old adage, “If you can teach it, you definitely know it.”   Facilitated by the two schools’ ESL teachers,  Mary Sening and Eilem Arellano, Learning Together places middle school students in the role of reading teachers to the elementary students.  If you visit Room 106 at West Lee on any given Monday between 3 and 5, you will find the young “teachers” encouraging and praising their young students and asking just the right questions to help them become better readers.  

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The Lee County High School National Art Honor Society and the Lee County High School Art Club recently teamed up for a day of art. The group first visited Pittsboro potter Mark Hewitt and toured his pottery facilities. Hewitt explained the processes he uses to create his beautiful pottery vessels from how he prepares his local clays to specialized glazing and decorative techniques with melting glass shards. He discussed his apprentice system, of which he is one of the only local potters who still offers this unique experience and also demonstrated the proper technique for pulling a handle for an English style tankard. The visit was completed with a tour of his hand built walk-in kiln and admiring his finished wares in his display shop. In the second leg of the trip the group traveled to the North Carolina Museum of Art to take in the Rembrandt in America exhibit. This is the first major exhibition of Rembrandt’s works in America with nearly 50 of the artists signed works from 1606-1669 on display.

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On December 14, current and former members of the Lee County Board of Education and Lee County Commissioners cut the ribbon to officially open the new Administration and Classroom buildings at Lee County High School.  Renovations to the campus will continue throughout the first half of 2012, with a formal dedication of the campus expected in Fall 2012.

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SLMS AVID club work on their community service project - the Larod McKoy Memorial Garden.

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BOARD OF EDUCATION

Important Dates:
February 14, 2012 - Board of Education meeting, 6 pm, McLeod Auditorium on LCHS campus

Meeting Highlights
Highlights are now available from the January 10, 2012, Board of Education meeting.
 

   
    
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