Congratulations to Ms. Emily Blair! Our English Second Language teacher was honored Friday, November 16th by the Bright Ideas Wake Electric Membership Corporation. Ms. Blair's grant was selected from hundreds of entries across the state of North Carolina. The grant focused on increasing the language of our limited English proficient students through the use of 21st century skills. The grant totaled $1, 500.00 and will be used for technology products for our ESL program students.
The funds for the Bright Ideas grants come from WEMC members who agree to round up their light bill to the nearest whole dollar through the Operation RoundUp program. For example, if the bill is $190.91 – the bill will be rounded up 9 cents to $191.00. These pennies add up to major dollars. Partial funding also comes from the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, located in Raleigh, NC. The NCEMC consists of a family of corporations formed to support the state’s 27 electric cooperatives.
Wake Electric is a non-profit electric utility serving over 36,000 members in parts of Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Nash, Vance, and Wake counties.
Be on the look out for Ms. Blair in the News and Observer in the next couple of weeks! For now, check out the photo of Ms. Blair and me at the awards luncheon. Way to go Ms. Blair Trailblazer Teacher Extraordinaire!
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| Congratulations Ms. Blair! |
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Speaker Stacey Bess
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Keynote Speaker Stacey Bess shared her inspirational teaching story at the luncheon on Friday.
Nobody Don't Love Nobody is the story of young Stacey Bess's first teaching assignment, the only job she could find, at The School with No Name. In a small shed behind a community homeless shelter Stacey Bess taught Kindergarten through sixth grade to children with no homes and little hope, an experience that effected a profound change in the teacher as well as her students. Stacey discovered that by teaching and modeling love, self-worth, personal power, and courage she could reach children who had previously been labeled unteachable. These children have grown into living proof that Stacey's methods work. Her memoir Nobody don't love Nobody inspired the Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie "Beyond the Blackboard."
