Pocomoke High School Dedication

Written by

Bill Kerbin

POCOMOKE CITY -- After years of holding classes amid construction, Pocomoke High School will dedicate its newly renovated and enlarged facility at ceremonies on Saturday, Sept. 24.

The program, beginning at 10 a.m. (doors will open at 9:30), will include student performances and comments by Jon Andes, superintendent; Board of Education president Bob Hulburd; County Commissioner President James (Bud) Church; Pocomoke Mayor Bruce Morrison; and Kiana Smith, student representative to the Board of Education. Following the comments, the ribbon will be cut to officially dedicate the school.

The project, costing $42 million, or $1 million under the bid price, increases the school's footprint from 74,000 to 125,000 square feet.

Another feature that Principal Tyrone Mills points to with pride is the fact that it finally allows for the removal of the temporary buildings in place when he attended the school in the 1970s.

A state-of-the-art building, it will be heated and cooled by a geothermal system. Although he expects to see energy savings, Mills said that they will learn more about the extent after the school has been open for a while.

The classrooms, which are all larger than the previous rooms, have Smart Board technology. Each of the rooms will have a LCD TV that will be available for school announcements throughout the day, eliminating the need for the morning announcement session. They will be available for broadcasting events from other parts of the school as well.

A completely new science wing includes 24 lab stations in each room as well as a number of computers. The labs include hoods over stations, automatic gas shutoffs and showers in each room incase of a possible spill.

New to the school are two full computer labs as well as five wireless mobile computer carts, which can be taken to any of the classrooms when the labs are in use. A system using cameras in the hallways, the parking lots and the athletic complex provides security for the school.

With the construction of a new and larger gymnasium the school now has an auxiliary facility in part of the former gym. It can be used by both the physical education department and the ROTC.

"Our fitness room is second to none," Mills said. Also, the new gym doubles the seating capacity for games from about 490 to almost 1,000. The renovated auditorium now has seating for almost 500 people.

The new field for the outdoor athletic facility is permanent turf. It allows for play in the rain unless there is a downpour.

Mills called the transition a "community project," saying there was cooperation from all segments of the community. The Mar-Va Theater was used for events. Practice and games for sports teams were held at Newtown Park, Cypress Park, the YMCA, Pocomoke Middle School and Pocomoke Elementary School.

He also complimented the custodial staff for their extra efforts during the construction as well as the parents who had to take students to the games and practices.

Mills said that with the cooperation of the construction management company, the Board of Education, the County Commissioners and the staff that the construction turned out to be "a very smooth project."

"I can't thank everyone enough," he said.

Source;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110915/WCT08/109150344/Pocomoke-High-to-dedicate-new-facility?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s

Option To Transfer For Nandua Middle School Students

By  Candy Farlow

Students enrolled at Nandua Middle School have the option of transferring to Arcadia Middle School and the county will have to pay for their transportation.

Thats according to Dr. W. Bruce Benson, the new Division Superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools.

Benson told the Accomack County Board of Supervisors Wednesday evening that, because Nandua Middle had failed to meet a benchmark of the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for the second consecutive year, students enrolled there are entitled to public school choice.

In all this year, five of the countys schools did not meet their AYP goals based on last springs assessment while six schools did. Of those failing to meet the requirements, only Nandua Middle School and Metompkin Elementary School are required to offer public school choice. This is the second year Metompkin Elementary students are able to choose another school. Last year, of the 581 Metompkin students eligible, only 19 chose to attend another school.

Now Nandua Middle students also have the right to attend another school, in this case Acadia Middle. Students choosing to transfer will be afforded free transportation.

Despite the situation, Benson made it clear that Accomack County is not alone. Noting such situations are prevalent statewide due to requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation, Benson said it is important that folks understand that we have good schools. Still, he said there are absolutely places we can improve.

A contingent of 54 new teachers in the county will be among those charged with making those improvements. Benson said the new instructors are very enthusiastic and noted that the majority are young, newcomers to the Shore, many taking on their first teaching assignment.

In other news from the Accomack school system, Benson announced that teachers at both Pungoteague and Kegotank Elementary Schools will be participating in a pilot program which offers additional compensation to those who excel. Under the program, individual teachers who are rated as exemplary will receive an additional $3,000 while those who are part of a teaching team can receive up to $2,000.

Source;  shoredailynews.com

Bogus Bomb Threat Evacuates School

Written by:

Shawn J. Soper - News Editor

SHOWELL -- Hundreds of Showell Elementary students were evacuated from the school building for a couple of hours yesterday as authorities investigated a potential bomb threat.

Around 8:40 a.m. yesterday, Maryland State Police officers responded to Showell Elementary to investigate a reported bomb threat on the school made during an apparent domestic dispute Wednesday night. According to a source close to the situation, an unidentified man was involved in a domestic dispute with his estranged wife, the mother of a student at Showell, the night before and made a veiled threat to blow up a classroom at the facility.

School officials immediately set in motion Showell’s prescribed and practiced emergency plan and the students, teachers and staff were evacuated from the building in a measure of “extreme caution.” The students, teachers and administrators remained outside the building for about two hours as Maryland State Police investigators along with allied law enforcement agencies searched the building for a potential explosive device.

A bomb-sniffing dog was brought in to do a complete scan of the school building and property, which turned up negative. Students, teachers and administrators started trickling back into the facility around 11 a.m., over two hours after police first arrived on the scene.

Colonel Doug Dods of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday the investigation was ongoing.

“At this point, we don’t think it was a valid threat,” he said. “Investigators are trying to track down where it came from. It appears somebody took something out of context. We had people calling and telling us there were armed gunmen in the school. That’s how it snowballs.”

According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jon Andes, when police informed school administrators of the potential threat, Showell Elementary’s school safety plan was immediately put into effect.

“The State Police arrived at the school around 8:40 a.m. and informed the administration about the situation,” he said. “As a result of that information, we implemented the school’s safety plan, which we practice and rehearse monthly in preparation for a potential situation such as this. Our primary concern is for the safety the children, and as a precaution we evacuated the facility to provide police with an opportunity to search the school.”

County Schools Public Information Officer Barb Witherow said yesterday the school’s automated message system was activated to inform parents about the pending situation.

“The students practice evacuation drills once a month and as a result, we had a very calm and very organized evacuation,” she said. “You hope that you never need the plan in real life, but it worked exactly how it was designed to work.”

Source; mdcoastdispatch.com http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/articles/2011/04/08/Top-Stories/Bogus-Bomb-Threat-Evacuates-School

Parents Made Teenage Son Wear Sign As Punishment

(Tampa Bay, Florida) James Mond, 15, was forced by his mother to wear a sign for getting bad grades and was also made to stand on a street corner. His mother defended her actions and said both her, and James’' father had tried everything but nothing worked, so they thought about this way to knock some sense in to their son about the importance of good grades in school.

The eighth grader had been getting low grades and he offered different excuses for his bad performance.

When James got a F in physical education, then it was obvious that his parents needed to do something about it. His father - Mond Jr. 33, who is a landscaper, had a meeting at his son's school with a guidance counselor, a teacher and the vice principal.

He just sat there looking up at the roof like he wasn't listening,"  Mond said.

Ronda Holder, 33, finally decided to make him hold a sign saying, "I DID 4 Questions on my F-Cat AND Said I Wasn't Going to Do it!. GPA 1.22...honk if I need education."

According to Holder, her son wasn't tested for learning disability and said that he was doing well in school and his grades were fine up until the seventh  grade. " I should have  been working harder

than I was in school", said James, who now understands why his mother made him wear that sign.

Some child care experts say that this punishment might be considered as maltreatment and it wasn't a proper approach to make him improve his educational performance.  It definitely would fall with the category of emotional abuse. This will be a lifelong memory for him." said Arlinda Amos, a psychologist in Hillsborough Children's Board.

However, his mother insists that what she did was all about her child's education because she didn't want him to end up on the streets.

Source; http://www.dbune.com/

Parents Of Pocomoke Middle School Students Make A Request

Parents of Pocomoke Middle School Students have done a wonderful thing by taking their concerns to the school board. Does the lack of recess have anything to do with educating the student for life or for educating the student so they can pass the required testing that gives the school a higher rating? Is it really about the student?

Pocomoke Middle School parents have a request of the school's administration: Please reinstate recess.

Most adults have some sense that taking a break from routine is a good thing, whether it's a few minutes to walk away from the task, 15 minutes to chat with co-workers or a full-fledged half-hour brisk walk. People who return to work (or the classroom) after a break often find themselves feeling refreshed, focused and ready to tackle the job at hand.

A break is a great stress reliever, too.

In today's public schools, everyone from administrators to teachers and students is feeling the pressure to increase test scores and meet the increasing demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Indeed, Pocomoke Middle School's elimination of recess was part of the effort to improve academic performance and raise test scores. Eliminating recess increases instructional time in the classroom.

But is this productive? Research indicates withholding recess may actually contribute to behavior problems and decreased ability to focus on the part of students, making elimination of recess counter-productive. A recent study on how recess affects academic performance found that in schools without recess, the amount of instructional time lost to fidgeting adds up to the amount of time it takes to have recess; the gain in instructional time may be without benefit. Other studies reach similar conclusions. Teachers who do not get an adult equivalent of recess may also become more irritable as the day wears on.

According to a 1998 study, this need for regular downtime is part of our physiological makeup -- our brains need a break every 90 to 110 minutes to recycle chemicals for long-term memory establishment. Regular physical activity can contribute to both mental and physical well-being.

Perhaps schools should seek to increase the quality -- as opposed to the quantity -- of available instructional time. Experience, tradition, science and observation all point to the same conclusion: Recess effectively contributes to an enhanced ability for students to focus on academics.

Pocomoke Middle School has now tried operating with and without recess. Short of discovering that academic performance improved dramatically without recess, administrators should reinstate recess as parents have requested.

www.delmarvanow.com

Delmarva Power Offers Mini Grants

SALISBURY -- Delmarva Power is accepting applications for its annual Education Mini-Grant Program. This program provides classroom teachers with grants of up to $500 to support innovative projects that are geared toward energy-related issues, such as wise energy use, local conventional and alternative energy resources, energy-related science content and electric safety. The grant money can be used for purchasing materials, conducting special lessons, taking field trips and implementing special classroom projects that are not usually funded by school districts.

Grants are available to public and private school teachers in kindergarten through twelfth grade and special education in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and in Cecil, Harford and the Eastern Shore counties in Maryland.

Applications are available in schools or by calling 410-860-6586. The application deadline is Friday, Nov. 12.

www.delmarvanow.com

Pocomoke Middle School To Be On TV Today

Don't forget!

This morning the Pocomoke Middle School will be one of the handful of schools in the nation featured in this weeks "Education Nation" series on NBC's "Today Show."

Film crews were at Pocomoke Middle last week to gather footage for the feature.

Pocomoke Principal Caroline Bloxom was interviewd and filmed along with teachers and students.

Congratulations Principal Bloxom, Pocomoke Middle School students, teachers and staff !!

Pocomoke Middle School To Be On 'Today Show'

Congratulations Principal Caroline Bloxom, PMS Teachers, Staff and PMS Students! You should be very proud!!!

POCOMOKE CITY -- Pocomoke Middle will be one of a handful of schools in the nation featured in next week's "Education Nation" series on NBC's "Today Show."

NBC News film crews and the "Today Show's" Ann Curry visited the school Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday to gather footage for the feature.

"Our entire school felt an enormous amount of pride to have the 'Today Show' visit," Principal Caroline Bloxom said.

The school gained the notice of producers working on the series after being named one of the country's 10 NASSP Breakthrough Schools for its improvements in student achievement in 2008, and then being profiled on the U.S. Department of Education's website in 2009.

On the "Today Show" piece, Pocomoke Middle will be featured as an example of a successful public middle school in spite of the challenges it faces as a rural school with a high population of poverty. Curry interviewed Bloxom, while teachers and students were filmed sharing their thoughts on programs and initiatives -- such as its literacy program and Arts Immersion initiative -- that they thought made the school unique.

Bloxom, who is beginning her 11th year as the school's principal, said it was an exciting experience for her as well as the school's students and staff to have film crews at Pocomoke Middle.

"It's not every day that a national news network rolls into our school," she said.

She said students and staff were looking forward to seeing what producers chose to use for the three- to four-minute piece that would be aired on "Education Nation."

"They have an amazing amount to choose from," Bloxom said.

Although it's not known what time the piece will air on Wednesday, Bloxom said if it was during school hours the school would be tuned in. Otherwise, students will get to view the piece on DVD after it is broadcast.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/

Accomack County Board Of Supervisors Want To Use Grant Money To Increase Teacher Salaries

In the Accomack County Board of Supervisors meeting in Accomac on Wednesday night the Board of Supervisors postponed a budget amendment that would have given Accomack County Schools an additional $5-8 million in revenue from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Supervisors had a host of questions regarding what is normally a routine adoption of the meeting's agenda, most notably how the money will be spent. The Supervisors wanted as much of the money as possible to be devoted towards teacher salaries before approving the amendment. However, the funds are tied to education initiatives and are not allowed to be used to increase teacher salaries.

The Board unanimously passed a motion to ask for a report on how the funds would be used as well as how the funds raised by a tax increase the Board passed in April before voting for the revenue.

Supervisor Sandy Hart Mears then asked for Accomack County Schools to refund the $730,000 from the tax increase passed in April to the County of Accomack if the additional State Revenue is received.

However, the money in question is not additional money according to Accomack County Schools Finance Director Beth Charnock. The $5-8 million is a lump sum used to fund 30-40 different programs, such as "No Child Left Behind." These programs and initiatives are appropriated into the budget every year and will not give Accomack County any additional funds. The Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Department of Education have very strict rules and guidelines for the uses of the funds and increasing salaries is not a viable option.

The Board will revisit the amendment at the October Board meeting.
www.shoredailynews.com

School Is Now Open................

A new school year begins today. Hundreds of students will descend upon the public schools in Accomack and Northampton County today as the school systems, continuing to face the burdens of state budget cuts, will work to keep quality education their main goal.

Accomack County School Superintendent Rick Bull said in a letter to parents dated Sept. 6 "Like many school divisions across the state of Virginia, Accomack County has been charged with reducing its budget while still maintaining high quality services for its students. Our long-range fiscal planning has ensured the resources needed to educate students in modern facilities with staff sizes aligned with the Virginia Standards of Accreditation. The support of the School Board and Board of Supervisors cannot be overstated. These positive working relationships have helped us achieve great things in our division."

Bull went on to say that despite difficult economic times, Accomack County Schools remain dedicated to providing each and every student in the division a quality education.

This years Accomack County Schools projected budget is 45,201,416 which is a little over $500,000 less than last years budget.

Northampton County School students and parents will be looking at a new policy regarding cell phones in schools.

Elementary students are not permitted to have cell phones at school and high school students are only permitted to have cell phones out after the instructional day has ended.

High school students must keep the cell phones in their vehicles or lockers until after school ends.

Any cell phones confiscated during the day will be kept by the school administrators until the last day of school in June.

Northampton County also faced budget cuts for the 2010-2011 school year. Those figures werent available to us at the time this story was composed.

Broadwater Academy also welcomes students today. Shore Christian Academy began its year August 25.
www.shoredailynews.com

The Newest NASCAR Sponsor ~~ The GI Bill

In an effort to bring more attention to veterans education benefits, the GI Bill will sponsor a car in a Sept. 11 NASCAR race in Richmond, Va., and is also one of the sponsors of the race itself.

The Air National Guard is the chief sponsor of that Sprint Cup Series 400 race, which will be called the Air Guard 400.

The idea, according to Veterans Affairs Department officials, is to get the GI Bill plastered on a racecar and frequently mentioned by broadcasters to spread the word about the availability of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Sponsoring the race and a car in the race is part of an outreach program aimed at getting more people to use the year-old GI Bill benefits program.

The combined cost of sponsoring a car and the race will be about $420,000, a significant part of a $1 million advertising campaign that also includes buying ads in college newspapers and in online publications to try to reach eligible service members and veterans, VA officials said.

Having a racecar painted with the GI Bill as its sole sponsor, having the pit crew dressed to match the car and doing some pre-race promotions will cost about $200,000, VA officials said. Serving as an official race sponsor will cost another $250,000. Sponsorship will result in frequent mentions of the GI Bill and its purpose during the nighttime race on the oval track, officials said.

NASCAR is a good way to reach service members and veterans, VA officials said, because marketing surveys show that one-third of NASCAR fans are veterans or personally know a veteran. The Defense Department also advertises at NASCAR events because of marketing surveys that show race fans have a greater interest in military service than people who don’t watch NASCAR events.

An added benefit of being a race sponsor is that NASCAR events are broadcast on military radio and television networks, VA officials said.

“We wanted to do more than just reach veterans and influencers that are thinking about school … we wanted to also reach those folks who could be going to school but may not be fully aware of the benefit,” VA spokesman Nathan Naylor said.

www.navytimes.com

Local Contractor Wins One MILLION Dollars

Pictured: Michael Reagan, President of Local Class A-Contractor M. Reagan & Sons, is presented a $1 million check from Virginia Lottery Deputy Director Richard Williams. Reagan bought the check from the Tasley Oceanway "after having a bad day at work," he said.

Michael Reagan of Harborton pointed to a Virginia Lottery scratch ticket and said, "Yeah, give me that one." With those five words, he won $1 million.

"That one" was a Maximum Millions ticket he bought from Oceanway Market at 24328 Lankford Highway in Tasley. He scratched the ticket and discovered he had won the top prize: his choice of either $1 million dollar in annual payments over 25 years or a one-time cash option of $564,000 before taxes. He chose the cash option.

On June 18, Mr. Reagan returned to the store to receive his prize from Virginia Lottery Deputy Director Richard Williams. The store received a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the ticket.

Reagan is the seventh player to claim the top prize in Maximum Millions, which means eight-top prize tickets remain unclaimed. Although his win was the talk of the are even before he officially claimed the prized, Reagan took it in stride.

"I didn't jump up and down and I haven't jumped up and down since," he said.

Reagan is the President of M. Reagan and Sons contracting, a local Class-A contractor. When asked what he's going to do with the money he said "Not a whole lot is going to change. I'm going to pay some bills and make life a little easier, but I still went to work this morning and I plan on continuing to work."

At the presentation Reagan was asked how he felt, he responded "OK, you know, honestly OK."

Nearly 95 cents of each dollar spent on the Virginia Lottery by players goes back to the Commonwealth in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retailer commissions. Since 1999, all Virginia Lottery profits have been designated solely to K-12 public school education in the Commonwealth. In that time, the Lottery has turned over more than $4 billion for Virginias public schools. The latest annual profits of $439.1 million currently represent about 7 percent of state funding for public education in Virginia. In 21 years, the Lottery has sold more than $21.1 billion in tickets, awarded more than $1.1 billion in retailer commissions and paid more than $11.6 billion in prizes to players.

www.shoredailynews.com

Virginia General Assembly

The General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a new two-year budget that makes unprecedented cuts to state services and programs.

With little debate or dissent Sunday, the House approved the $70 billion funding plan at 5:30 p.m. on a 73-23 vote, while the Senate passed it 34-6, the last act of the 2010 session taken one day behind schedule.

The compromise budget cuts $250 million from public education, erases unpaid days off for state workers and slashes fee increases the Senate sought by 60 percent.

It also retains Medicaid reimbursement cuts of 7 percent by 2012 for hospitals, nursing homes, doctors and other health professionals unless Virginia receives $370 million in federal support for the program.


www.shoredailynews.com