By Jeanna Baxter White It’s 3:15 in the afternoon. While most of their friends are finished with school for the day, four third-grade girls are bursting through the door of the Mebane Foundation office in downtown Mocksville to take advantage of an amazing opportunity to boost their literacy skills. The Mebane Foundation is piloting a […]
By Jeanna Baxter White It’s 7:45 a.m. on Monday, November 12th, and hundreds of Davie County Schools’ teachers and administrators are filing into Davie County High School for Davie Experience 6, a full day of workshops and collaborative sessions designed to provide professional development for all certified staff in the district. A key workshop for […]
By Jeanna Baxter White Davie County Schools is on a roll–an honor roll. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has released its statewide End-of-Grade (EOG) test data for 2017-18, and Davie County has moved from 45th to 17th out of 115 districts in 3rd-grade reading proficiency. Based on last year’s test results, Cooleemee Elementary […]
By Jeanna Baxter White The Mebane Charitable Foundation has approved a grant of $200,000 to Bookmarks to support “Book Build: Fostering Connections by Building Collections,” a three-year, $450,000 initiative focused on infusing the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School libraries with current, culturally-relevant books. But there is a catch ….. while $50,000 will be released immediately, $50,000 of […]
By Jeanna Baxter White Assessment of child progress, a National Association for the Education of Young Children program standard, helps teachers to improve their teaching and enhances student learning. Currently, observation-based assessment is the most common assessment approach in Head Start and state-funded Pre-K programs. However, it is also time-consuming for teachers, who spend four to […]
By Jeanna Baxter White “Some kids are art smart, or music smart, or book smart, and we don’t get to explore enough of that during a traditional school day,” says Kerry Blackwelder, a veteran Read to Achieve third-grade HillRAP instructor. “I get excited for the kids who are coming to camp because this environment helps […]
By Jeanna B White How much can 16 days change a child’s life? One hundred twenty-one Davie County students are finding out as they attend this summer’s Read to Achieve Camp at Mocksville Elementary School. Read to Achieve Camp is designed to help third-graders meet state requirements in reading to advance to the fourth grade. […]
By Jeanna B. White The teachers became the students as 28 Davie County educators explored using the arts to teach reading, a skill that is fundamental for success in school as well as in life. This A+ Schools training was in preparation for Davie’s summer Read to Achieve Camp which is designed to help third […]
As a result of last summer’s phenomenal results, the Mebane Charitable Foundation, located in Mocksville, NC, has approved a grant of up to $99,845 to support Davie County’s 2018 Read to Achieve summer camp for third graders who have not met state requirements in reading to advance to the fourth grade. During the summer of […]
By Jeanna B. White The Mebane Foundation and ApSeed Early Childhood Education have joined forces to increase literacy scores among at-risk children in Davie County by providing a free e-Reader preloaded with applications designed to improve literacy and strengthen vocabulary. Thanks to a $105,000 grant from the Foundation, based in Mocksville, NC, 1,000 custom-built tablets, […]
By Jeanna B. White Carefully, they climbed from the van. Wide-eyed and wiggling with excitement, the twenty rising kindergarteners from Kountry Kids Learning Center & Preschool and Young Children’s Learning Center were ready for their tour of Mocksville Elementary School. Transitioning from preschool to elementary school can be a scary proposition for many students, particularly […]
By Jeanna B. White Learning to read and write is an ongoing process from infancy. Contrary to popular belief, it does not suddenly begin in kindergarten or first grade. Children who fall behind in oral language and literacy development in the years before formal schooling are less likely to be successful beginning readers; and their […]
By Jeanna B. White The Mebane Foundation has awarded $50,000 to Triad Academy at Summit School to support Camp Pathfinder, a five-week summer literacy intervention for students and professional development camp for public school teachers in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the surrounding area. This unique camp was established to serve rising first through fifth-grade students with […]
By Jeanna B. White “Hello, how are you? May I PLEASE have a cat? — A tiger’s your reward for asking like THAT,” read Author, Kyle Webster, to the gasps and giggles of 90 delighted first graders at Moore Magnet Elementary School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Webster was reading his book, “Please Say Please!” to […]
By Jeanna B. White “What steps will you take forward to help ensure a growth mindset for your team?” asked DavieLEADS consultant, Barbie Brown, during a workshop for the leaders of Davie County Schools’ Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Professional Learning Communities allow teachers to meet regularly, share expertise and work collaboratively to improve teaching skills […]