School News

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Yancey County Schools Web Page, click here             

Preschool trip to apple orchard, click here

Mountain Heritage FFA Dairy Team State Champions!!,

I just found out that our Sr. Dairy Evaluation Team finished 1st in the State earlier today. The NC FFA State Dairy Evaluation Contest was held at Rowan County Fairgrounds in Salisbury, NC on Thursday, November 19th. Senior Division contestants evaluated and placed 6 classes of Dairy Cows, presented oral reasons to a judge on 2 of the 6 classes they evaulated, completed a 25 question knowledge test on the Dairy Industry, and completed 2 team sire selection activities.
The Dairy Contest is one of the most competitive in the State. There were 51 Senior Divison Teams with 182 individual Senior Divison Contestants. Individual Results for Mountain Heritage are as follows: Ashey Shaw(12th grade) 2nd, Lauren Evoy (10th) 4th, Matt Renfro (12th) 6th, Brittany Gortney (11th) 22nd. Noteable results: Senior, Ashley Shaw had the higest oral reasons score in the contest by far with scores of 44 and 41 out of 50 resulting in a total score of 85. The next highest scorer in oral reasons had a score of 73, then 72 and 67. Senior, Matt Renfro had the 2nd highest placing rank with a score of 278 with the next highest score totaling only 273. Lauren Evoy finished as the 3rd highest oral reasons rank with a score of a 72 and the 4th high individual overall, as a Sophmore, which is unheard of. Lauren Evoy has finished on 1st (as an individual or team member) in the State in both of the only 2 contest she has competed in so far (again, unheard of)
For their efforts members of the team will recieve: a full expense paid trip to compete in the National FFA Dairy Evaluation Contest at the 83rd National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN in October 2010; 1st place plaques and pins; and State Dairy Evaluation Jackets.
This outstanding finish continues the tradition of Mountain Heritage FFA excellence in contest from last years contest in which Mountain Heritage had a 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st place finishing team or individuals in State Contests.
Additionally, in the Junior Event, which had 45 teams and 142 individuals, 1st time Mountain Heritage Judgers: Kate Hunter, Kaitie Bigelow and Whitney Bowers finished 27th.
Many thanks to the faculty, staff and administration of Mountain Heritage for their support of the Ag Ed Program and FFA members.

--Chad Ayers

YANCEY COUNTY SCHOOLS AWARDED FUNDING FOR ‘READY SCHOOLS’ INITIATIVE


A $5,000 grant was awarded to Yancey County Schools to continue its
Ready Schools initiative. Addressing key issues in transition between
pre-school and kindergarten, Ready Schools shares focus of readying
children for school with readying schools for children. Organized in
2007, Burnsville Elementary, Bee Log, and South Toe were the original
schools participating in the Ready Schools task force with Micaville
Elementary coming on board this year. Utilizing community collaboration,
the grant award is a conduit for effective communication between the
child care facilities in the county and the public school system. After
assessments have taken place, this incentive grant will provide
classroom materials and curriculum support for teachers in Kindergarten
classes.

“We know that much of the educational achievement gaps already exist
upon kindergarten entry,” said Jennifer Simpson, Executive Director of
the Mitchell-Yancey Partnership for Children. “The larger the gap at
entry, the harder it is to close which makes it so vital that the entire
community address this issue, not just one or two organizations.”

Superintendent Dr. Tom Little echoed a similar opinion: “Students learn
best in environments that support academic excellence and encourage
partnerships among faculty, staff, and community members. As research
has shown early intervention is important in keeping students in school,
supporting the local Ready Schools’ efforts is key in getting students
on the same page on their very first day.”
 

Middle School Health Center Raffle

     The dedicated and hard working staff of Yancey County’s Middle School Health Centers have really stepped up to offer families the convenience of quality health care located right inside their child’s school.   In the past, a call from a sick child at school meant leaving work, picking up the child, a visit to the doctor, and then a trip to drop off prescription and a long wait for it to be filled.   Now, thanks to the Middle School Health Centers, all that can be done at school by highly qualified staff. They can even call in your prescriptions so they are ready to pick up when you get there. In these tough times, who isn’t looking for ways to save a buck? 

     Guess what that buck you save can do?  Thanks to more hard work and donations from middle school teachers, Health Center Board Members, and businesses in Yancey County you can purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of several fantastic gift baskets for just a buck!  But if you want a real deal you can get six tickets for just 5 bucks!  You could win one of the following baskets 

1. The Dolly Wood Basket:

Two passes to Dolly Wood, gas card, Ingles card, "bank card" to be exchanged for some extra travel funds and a gift certificate to Pig Tails to give yourself a “pretty start” for the trip.

2. The Burnsville Basket:

Four movie passes, popcorn, drinks, gift certificates for Appalachian Java and Garden Deli and gift certificates for skin products and beauty treatments from Jill’s Hairport

3. The Goody Basket:

Dessert of your choice for 4 prepared by Janna, Swedish holiday cookies, tea pot, cups, teas, jams, and honey. 

These baskets will be available for "inspection" at the middle school basketball games where raffle tickets can be purchased.  Of course you could drop by school to get your ticket if you can’t make it to the games to support our talented middle school teams.  Drawings will be held on Dec. 17^th on WKYK!  Good Luck with your buck!

                             White Christmas Food Drive

Cane River Middle School is holding a White Christmas Food Drive from November 9 through December 11. All non-perishable donations will be greatly appreciated. Please bring or send your donations to Cane River Middle School or contact Ms. Miranda Wheeler at (828)682-2202 for more information.

Yancey County Schools was recently awarded a $40,000 grant for books

YANCEY COUNTY SCHOOLS AWARDED $40,000 FEDERAL GRANT TO BOOST STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WITH MORE BOOKS

The State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of
Cultural Resources, has awarded Yancey County Schools four separate
$10,000 grants to help strengthen its librarys’ book collections.
Mountain Heritage, East Yancey, Cane River, and Burnsville Elementary
were the awarded schools; only libraries with full time media
coordinators were eligible to apply. The single-year grants are to
purchase books in order to support reading, reading readiness, and
student achievement. These grants are one means to focus the attention
of teachers, principals, and parents on the need to maintain strong
print collections in school libraries.

“Research in North Carolina and other states shows a link between levels
of spending on the school library’s book collection and student
achievement,” said Dr. Tom Little, superintendent of Yancey County
Schools. “The library is one of the best places to start when it comes
to academic success.”
 

                      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.