School News

MHHS Guidance Department Website click here.
Mountain Heritage High School website, click here

Yancey County Schools Web Page, click here             

Preschool trip to apple orchard, click here

                               Fall School Clean Up Day

This Saturday, November 7th, Mountain Heritage High School will be having a Fall School Clean Up Day. We are looking students and/or parents to volunteer with the clean up. Some of the clean up activities include: bushes trimmed, leaves raked, stairwells pressure washed, windows on breezeway cleaned, painting in the gym, and lines painted in the parking areas, plus many more. FFA members will receive 15 FFA Points for each hour they and/or members of their family help clean up. Also students can use these hours to count toward community service, which looks great on scholarship, job and college applications. These hours can also be used for hours on students SAE projects. If you and/or your student plan to participate in the clean up day please let me know. Thanks!

Christmas Festival

Mountain Heritage FFA and Mountain Heritage FCCLA will hold a Christmas Festival at Burnsville Elementary  Saturday, November 14th from 10:00am until 3:00pm in the gym and cafeteria areas. The festival will be a great way to kickoff the Holiday Season for the whole family. There will be prizes, fun and games, races, ornament making, tree trimming, holiday food, hot chocolate and much much more. Hotdogs, chips, drinks and cupcakes will be served for $1 apiece. Kids can have their pictures made with Christmas Characters and maybe even Santa. Admission is free. Everyone is invited to come and attend this exciting event. Kid of ALL ages welcome.

Mountain Heritage High School
Class of 1989
20 year Reunion
Saturday, November 14, 2009
2-5pm
Town Center, Burnsville
 

Staff trains on new equipment.

Competitive stimulus grants through USDA totaling $23,861 upgrade
schools' cafeteria equipment

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, four grants
totaling $23,861 were awarded to Yancey County Schools to upgrade
several schools’ cafeterias. Bald Creek Elementary, South Toe
Elementary, and Micaville Elementary received $6,174 each to purchase
brand new steamers and East Yancey Middle School received $5,338 to
purchase a new refrigerator. Schools which had a 50% or higher
participation in the federal free and reduce lunch program were eligible
to apply. Eight of the county’s nine schools had an application
submitted on their behalf for varying pieces of equipment and four were
awarded. Per the requirements of the lunchroom assistance grant, the
pieces purchased needed to improve the quality of meals served, enhance
the safety of meals, facilitate implementation of future nutritional
standards, and boost the energy efficiency of the cafeteria.
Additionally, all pieces purchased using grant funds needed to be
procured from American-based companies.

“This new equipment is helping to improve the nutritional content and
the overall quality of the meals served to students in these schools,”
said Lynne Deyton, Child Nutrition Director. “The ARRA grants offered a
great opportunity for our schools to purchase new equipment and the
cafeteria staff members are delighted their schools were chosen to
receive the grants.”

Annual Citrus Sale

The Mountain Heritage High School SkillsUSA Club is currently taking orders for their annual citrus sale. Boxes of 4/5 of a bushel. Half boxes can be ordered. Take half the price.
navel $24
tangelo $22
pink Grapefruit $22
juice orange $22

Orders can be placed by calling the high school or mailing the order along with payment to Mountain Heritage High School PO Drawer 70 Burnsville NC 28714 ATTN: Kim Higgins.


                        Class of '89 Twenty Year Reunion

Mountain Heritage High School Class of '89 Twenty Year Reunion will be held Saturday November 14 at the Town Center in Burnsville from 2-5pm. Cost is $25 per person.

                  EYMS Students Celebrate Reaching Goals

On Friday September 25, East Yancey Middle School students were rewarded for meeting behavior, academic, and fundraising goals. EYMS students have displayed excellent behavior since the school year began. The students are working hard and demonstrating positive leadership characteristics. Students have also shown the willingness to gain academic knowledge and increase application of skills. Their efforts are commendable.
The celebration included the first Fantastic Friday and dance for the school year. During Fantastic Friday students were entertained by various activities. The main event included Mr. Tipton, Mr. Huskins, and Coach Shehan getting their heads shaved. Bryan Presnell of Edwards’ Custom Cuts generously donated his time to perform the haircuts. Later that evening, the first dance of the year centered on the school’s Positive Behavior Support (PBS) goals, which encourage students to be Prompt, Prepared and Polite. East Yancey’s PBS motto is “Panthers Respect Others While Learning
(PROWL)”. EYMS students, faculty and staff would like to thank Bryan Presnell for his participation during this memorable day. Also, thanks to all of the faculty and staff who took part in the celebration by being good natured victims of several jokes and stunts for the students’ entertainment.
 

Cane River 8th Grade Potters Last fall, eighth graders from Cane River Middle School began an endeavor with a simple idea of helping their neighbor, the Yancey Humane Society. This idea grew into a co-curricular unit on pottery that included chemistry, civics, business plans, and more. Not only did students learn about pottery, but they also learned how to give back to their community. Those students invested their own money and created pet bowls which they sold to benefit the humane society. The endeavor was a success! “I really enjoyed making pottery. It was a unique field trip that I liked a lot,” stated Bayley Elkins who participated last fall. This same enthusiasm for the project has carried over into the new school year. People in the community are asking if the students will once again do this project. The answer is yes! The Philanthropic Pottery project has begun and this year has grown to include the local United Way. To begin the project, students contributed $10 of their money for pottery materials. According to eighth grade student Tyler Hall, “It was worth it!” Phase one of the project included demonstrations by local artists Jann Welch and Kari Hopkins as well as learning

the techniques, chemistry and history of pottery. Students also toured the Energyxchange to see how up and coming artists are utilizing alternative energy to hone their craft. Finally, students created their pottery at Art Centered in Bakersville, NC. Phase two of the project will happen on October 28, 2009, when students will return to Art Centered to glaze their pieces. The eighth grade students are very excited about this project and agree with Amy Ponder, a Cane River Middle School eighth grader, when she said “The project has been very informative and fun and the idea of donating the proceeds is very thoughtful.” Another student, Chance Shepherd, said, “The reason I like it is there is something for all my classes and I would like to make more pottery.” The pottery should be available to purchase around the middle of November. Some pieces will be displayed in local businesses, so be on the lookout for their creations and information where you can purchase a piece of their one-of-a-kind pottery.

                      Christmas Tree & Wreath Sale
The FFA is also planning to sale Christmas Trees and Wreaths from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Here are the plans were working on: The site for the sale will be on Roger Youngs Christmas Tree Farm, which is located on the south side of Hwy 19, close to Micaville. The FFA plans to be on site every Saturday and Sunday afternoon with drinks, hotdogs & hamburgers on hand. We also plan on some weekends to have fun games, crafts & Santa Clause for kids, and horse drawn hay rides through the field to choose your tree. You will be able to pick your tree, you can cut it or we can cut it for you. Your tree will also be bailed and loaded into your vehicle or trailer. Also you have the opportunity of going by the site at any time and tagging your tree and coming back later to pick it up. We will have ribbon that you use to tag the tree. Just be sure to write on the ribbon that the tree was sold through FFA. Also wreaths will be available for purchase on site during weekends and at the high school throughout the week. The cost of the trees is $4.25/ft.

Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust awards $124,000 for Teen Health Connection at Mountain Heritage

 The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has funded a joint effort between Yancey County Schools and the Toe River Health District to increase health service opportunities to Yancey County teens. The $124,000 two-year grant makes available behavioral health counseling during school hours at Mountain Heritage High School and health care and nutrition services during special evening hours at Yancey County Health Department. The Teen Health Connection has been established to link the quality health care and behavioral health services students have received in the East Yancey and Cane River Middle School Student Health Centers for the past 15 years to students at the high school. The primary purpose of the grant is to provide access to care for students who would not be getting health care otherwise. Teens who already receive regular medical care will be encouraged to continue to see their established health care provider. As in the Middle School Student Health Centers, services will be billed for those with insurance. Students uninsured or underinsured are eligible to receive services regardless of ability to pay through this grant award.

                                 Playground Ribbon Cutting
On a sunny morning on the Bald Creek Elementary playground, school
administrators, generous donors, parents, and area business leaders alike accepted applause as the ribbon trickled onto the freshly laid gravel of Bald Creek's new playground. The appreciation event was the culmination of two years’ worth of fundraising and tiring work starting with the recent Bald Creek gym refurbishing and continuing with the playground unveiling. The fundraising for the initiative was launched by a single yard sale. In December of 2008, the school was awarded a $10,000 grant by Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas. The grant spring-boarded the playground phase of the project and mobilized troops to raise the rest of the funds and work together to see the project come to fruition. In addition to the McDonald’s grant, Bald Creek received monetary support from the Walmart Foundation and Autrey Tree and Landscaping and in-kind support from BRP, Lowe’s, French Broad Electric, Summit Building Supply, Fox Brothers, Yancey Stone, Southern Concrete Materials, Ron and Jon Chandler, Bobby Mathis, Blandon Silvers, Scotty McLean, Brad Hull, Darlene Jones, Wayne Edwards, Teresa Emory, Joyce McIntosh, Harley and Greg Fox, Shannon Honeycutt, Joe and Retha England, Anthony Styles, Jessie McIntosh Teresa Fox, Dawn Peterson, Patti McLean, faculty at Bald Creek and especially the PTO. The Old Timey Fall Festival scheduled for September 25th at Bald Creek Elementary has been changed to November 7th!