School news

Davidson Elementary

Scholastic reporter: CMS fifth-grader Julia Desmond from Davidson Elementary was one of 37 students around the country that was recently chosen as a Scholastic Kids Press Corp reporter for the 2009-2010 school year. Members of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps cover news stories around the nation for Scholastics online and its classroom magazines. Kid reporters are selected based on writing samples, attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines. The student reporters are given their assignments from Scholastic and some of their assignments have included interviewing famous people for future articles. The reporter's articles can be found on Scholastic's Web site. Desmond is now working on a piece about former Davidson College basketball star Stephen Curry and his decision to skip his senior year of college to join the NBA. The call for new reporters for 2010-2011 will begin in August 2010.

Hopewell High

Get in shape: Basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, volleyballs and other sports toys were given out to about 1,000 children at the Thomasboro and Hornets Nest elementary schools before the holiday break. Student athletes and cheerleaders from Hopewell and Providence high schools held a toy drive during recent basketball games to encourage families and fans to donate new sports-related balls or other fitness equipment for the elementary schools. About a dozen Hopewell student athletes stopped by Hornets Nest in December to drop off the balls. Several of them, including Johnathan Jones attended Hornets Nest. He said it felt good to give back to Hornets Nest. "Our goal is to get these kids to move," said Jones, who is a senior at Hopewell and plays on the football team. "It is important at a young age to get into and stay in shape, so we hope they play with these balls all the time and have fun."

Helping young engineers: Hopewell High School's Academy of Engineering students had the opportunity to rub elbows with professional engineers recently. A group of engineers from Rubbermaid came to Hopewell to give students a real-world design challenge. The task consisted of creating an accessory for the current Rubbermaid water bottle. The accessory had to hold at least three "on-the-go" drink packets of varying sizes. It had to be durable, reusable and be able to be attached to the bottle. Students worked in groups using material supplied by Rubbermaid.

Parent University

Free courses: The spring semester of Parent University will offer more than 50 different free courses for parents, teachers, caregivers, and community members. Beginning the first week in January and running through May, Parent University will offer courses on topics ranging from Preparing for the End-of-Grade/End-of-Course tests, High School 911/Understanding Graduation Requirements, Reading Strategies, and more. To register, go to the CMS Web site, www.cms.k12.nc.us, and click on the link in the Bulletin Board section at the bottom of the home page. Parent University catalogs can also be found in CMS schools and public libraries.

North Mecklenburg

New leaders wanted: The Student Leaders® Program is an integral part of Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative®, and it offers community-minded high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to help change the world. The program includes an eight-week paid summer internship at a local non-profit and a Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Apply by Feb. 17: bankofamerica.com/neistudentleaders.

Davidson Day

Tennis state champion: Junior Jenny Falcone has been awarded the Sonic Scholar Athlete of the Week by Fox TV (WCCB). This award is given to local student-athletes who set a positive example in the classroom, in athletics and in the community. The award was presented to her by Fox Sports Director, Bruce Snyder. For winning this award, a check for $500 will be given to Davidson Day.

Middle school news: The results for the second competition of the Math Olympiad Teams are in and on the seventh- and eighth-grade team, Jake Bringewatt had a perfect score. Other top scorers for the team were Hannah Beck and Rachel Bringewatt. On the team of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, the high scorer was Nell Buechler. Other top scorers were Aaron Augustine, Nikhil Gavini, Alexis Lynch, Chandler Parrott, Laura Phillips and Jakob Schall.

Homecoming: On Jan. 9, Davidson Day School celebrated its first Homecoming. The school's first Homecoming Queen was Allie Sherman.