March 31, 2005

Young millionaire to highlight meeting

A 20-year-old millionaire will offer tips for success during the Memphis City Schools' MAPS Spring Conference at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Center, 70 N. Bellevue, on April 9.

Participants will get information about new graduation requirements and Gateway tests, job opportunities with local businesses and learn about college life.

The free conference, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will feature Farrah Gray, author of "Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out." Gray will speak at 1 p.m.

Though the conference is free, tickets are required. They are available in the MAPS Office at 2597 Avery, Room 140, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

March 29, 2005

Rozelle Elem. book club promotes unity, literacy among community

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó Pamela Jackson, Rozelle Elementary School principal, has found a way to promote reading, involve parents and further teacher development, all with one initiative ó the Rozelle Family of Readers.

Jackson created the book club last school year as a way to encourage reading while involving parents in school life. The experience has gone over even better than she expected, she said.

ìAt Rozelle, we always use the word ëfamily,íî said Jackson, who has been principal of the school for five years. ìThis program brings us closer as a family because itís for the benefit of our children.î

The book club meets several times a year to discuss books based on understanding children and improving interaction with them. So far, the club has read ìThe Measure of Our Success,î ìRaising Cain,î ìReviving Ophelia,î ìRaising Positive Kids in a Negative World,î ìRaising Children Who Think for Themselvesî and ìEight Habits of the Heart.î
The club will finish this school year with ìThe Excellent 11: Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire and Educate Children,î by Ron Clark. This yearís final book chat will be held Saturday, April 9, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Rozelle, 993 Roland St. ìThe Excellent 11î is available at the Memphis Public Library and Information Center and at local bookstores. Rozelle has a limited number of copies available for checkout.

ìI try to choose books that have helped me as an educator and guidance counselor and as a parent to understand the adolescent mind,î Jackson said. ìThe more we read about and know what is going on with our children, the more we can do to help them behave and achieve academically.î

The program is funded by a $500 grant from the Rotary Club that allows Jackson to purchase books that parents and staff members can borrow and serve brunch at the groupís meetings. Parents and staff members are encouraged to read the book and then participate in a chat session, which Jackson holds for the staff and for the parents.

ìI want every teacher and parent to take something away from the chat,î Jackson said. ìSo all the issues we talk about are common sense issues that everyone can have an opinion on. This way, the chats arenít intimidating to someone who hasnít read the book.î

The technique has been a success with parents, Jackson said. The chats, held on Saturday mornings, are usually attended by about 20 parents, but that number has been growing thanks to parents bringing friends to share in the knowledge and brunch.

ìMany of the parents leave saying that theyíre going to share what they learned with their family members or friends, and that is rewarding,î Jackson said. ìAnd even if they havenít read the book, by the end of the discussion, many of them want to.î

Jackson holds a second session specifically to teach staff members about the techniques and ideas discussed in the books.

ìThe book chats help us as faculty members and as a community to understand our children,î Jackson said.

Although the Rozelle Family of Readers was formed last school year, the program fits perfectly into Memphis City Schools Reads, the literacy initiative started this year by Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Memphis City Schools superintendent. The goal of the initiative is for each student, faculty member, parent and community member to read two books a month, 25 a year.

ìWe really emphasize reading with the parents,î Jackson said. ìThe more they learn about what is happening inside their children, the more they can help them.î

March 29, 2005

MCS Spanish teacher selected for national Lacrosse Youth Council

Memphis, Tenn. ó A Memphis City Schools Spanish teacher and lacrosse coach has been selected to serve on the U.S. Lacrosse Youth Council.

Geoff Starron, Spanish teacher at Hickory Ridge and Ridgeway Middle Schools, was selected to serve on the U.S. Lacrosse Youth Council, the national governing body for menís and womenís lacrosse at all levels. The Youth Council represents youth programs and is primarily involved in activities and initiatives associated with fostering the growth and execution of the youth game. Starron will serve on the Education Committee as part of his responsibilities as a member of the Youth Council.

Starron founded the only two lacrosse programs in Memphis City Schools ó White Station High Schoolís team, which he started in 2001-02, and Ridgeway Middleís team, which he began this school year. Ridgeway Middle was selected as a 2004-05 U.S. Lacrosse Boys Youth Equipment Grant recipient.

Starron also serves as league secretary on the Tennessee Scholastic Lacrosse Association (TSLA) Executive Board and has been vice president of the Tennessee Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse since January 2004. TSLA is the governing body for Boysí High School Lacrosse in Tennessee. Through its regular season and playoff competition, TSLA will crown state champions in boysí high school lacrosse in two divisions on May 14. TSLA has named a state champion in boysí high school lacrosse since 1989.

Starron is a National Board Certified Teacher in world languages. In addition to his teaching experience with Memphis City Schools, Starron also taught in the Mississippi Delta and in rural Mississippi as a member of the Mississippi Teacher Corps and at the Teacherís Training College in Torun, Poland, with Harvard Universityís WorldTeach program.

His formal education includes a masterís degree in French-International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland; a diplÙme díÈtudes supÈrieures from the University of Geneva, Switzerland; a diploma from the University of Barcelona, Spain; and a masterís in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi at Oxford. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in TESOL at the University of Mississippi at Oxford and is enrolled in Officer Candidate School with the Tennessee Army National Guard. He hopes to earn his commission in August 2005.

March 28, 2005

MCS students tour Civil Rights locations with Facing History group, will talk about what they learned in special presentation

Memphis, Tenn. ó While other students caught up on homework or relaxed over spring break, one group of Memphis City Schools students took a tour through history. And now they will share what they learned.

During the week of spring break, 26 Memphis area students, including Grizzlies Academy, Ridgeway, White Station and Wooddale High students, ended a three-year journey exploring leadership, civic participation and human rights through the Facing History and Ourselves program. Their journey culminated with a study tour, funded by the Plough Foundation, of sites that played important roles in the Civil Rights Movement.
The students will talk about what they learned in a special presentation on Monday, April 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Ridgeway High School, 2009 Ridgeway.

During the weeklong tour, students visited sites where individuals and groups worked to gain civil rights for African Americans and learned how nonviolence was deployed in the face of hatred, discrimination and often, violence. The journey began in Birmingham at the 16th Street Baptist Church, where four African-American girls were killed in a 1963 bombing. The students documented their trip with an Internet journal at www.facinghistory.org/crtripstudents.

The students also visited locations in Alabama such as the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, which commemorates the historic voting rights march. In Montgomery, students explored themes of memory, legacy and participation at the Civil Rights Memorial, created by Maya Lin. The final stop was the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

ìThis was a great opportunity for students to meet actual ëfoot soldiersí of the movement and learn from their experiences as they traced their historic steps,î said Facing History Senior Program Associate Michele Philips.

The students experienced the Facing History and Ourselves program through a state-approved Facing History elective course offered at several Memphis City and Shelby County Schools. Through the program, students discuss history and its connections to their choices.

In preparation for the study tour, students examined the history of voting rights and read excerpts from John Lewisís Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement about the development of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the central role nonviolence played in the Civil Rights Movement.

March 28, 2005

Kirby Middle honors school hero for Womenís History Month, holds tribute program in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó The Kirby Middle School community is celebrating Womenís History Month by honoring one of its own heroes, Assistant Principal Betty Booker-Parks.

In line with the national theme for the month, "Women Who Change America," Kirby's Womenís History Month theme is "A Tribute to the Ascent of the Cougar Butterfly." Booker-Parks was recently inducted into the 2005 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for her performance as a Lady Tigers basketball player.

During her four years at then-Memphis State, Booker-Parks led the women's basketball team in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game as a freshman and 21.4 or more points per game by her senior year. She holds the record for steals with 360, and she had the second-best record in a single season marked in the record books. Booker-Parks is also a nominee for the Women's Sports Foundation's Wilma Rudolph Courage Award.

A tribute will be held for Booker-Parks at Kirby Middle School, 6670 East Raines Road, on Wednesday, March 30, from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. The keynote speaker for the tribute, which is open to the general public, will be former Olympic track and field medallist Margaret Wilburn.

Kirby Middle will also present a tribute to black history with ìHonoring the Legacy: Learning & Living It.î The tribute is honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and will be held Friday, April 1 from 10 a.m. to noon in the East Shelby Branch Library meeting room. W. David Madlock, associate director of the Hooks Institute for Social Change, will be the guest speaker. The presentation will also include Taylor Rogers, who participated in the 1968 sanitation workerís strike, and Hester Moore, a storyteller who will perform her drama, ì16 ëní 68.î

Students created an exhibit chronicling the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike for the presentation. They researched events surrounding the strike and created poetry and prose in response to their study. In line with this study of the Civil Rights era, several seventh graders read ìMississippi Trial, 1965,î the fictional account of events surrounding Emmett Tillís trial.

March 23, 2005

Wooddale High offers Gateway test training for parents

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó Wooddale High School will offer its studentsí parents an opportunity to learn about the Gateway Assessment Test, which students will take in April.

Wooddale High is offering Gateway Assessment Training Session for Parents on Tuesday, March 29, from 6 ñ 8 p.m. in the schoolís cafeteria. School officials will provide parents with information regarding Gateway requirements, and parents will have the opportunity to review sample test items from the Algebra I, biology and English II assessments. There will also be breakout and question-and-answer sessions.

Contact Wooddale High School at 416-2440 to register for the training session or for additional information. Wooddale High is located at 5151 Scottsdale.

March 22, 2005

MAPS Spring Conference to be held Saturday, April 9

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó Memphis City Schools parents and students will have the opportunity to learn about planning for the future with the 2005 MAPS Spring Conference.

Memphis City Schools will host the MAPS Spring Conference at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Center, 70 N. Bellevue Blvd, on Saturday, April 9. During the conference, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., participants will have the opportunity to find out about new graduation requirements and Gateway tests, pursue employment with local businesses and corporations and learn about college life.

In addition, the conference will feature guest speaker Farrah Gray, a 20-year-old millionaire and author of ìReallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out.î Gray will speak at 1 p.m. For more information on Gray, visit http://www.hcibooks.com/emailmessages/reallionaire/reallionaire.htm.

The conference is free, but tickets are required. They are available in the MAPS Office of 2597 Avery, Room 140, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

March 21, 2005

Memphis National College Fair helps students with college issues

Memphis, Tenn. ó At a time when growing numbers of students are applying to college across the country, more students and families are seeking information on college selection and financial aid. This process can be a complex and anxiety-ridden undertaking for students and parents, but there is an event coming that will help ease the process.

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) will sponsor the Memphis National College Fair on Sunday, April 3, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Mid-South Coliseum. The fair is designed to help students and parents navigate the college admission process.

Students and parents will have the opportunity to meet with admission representatives from a wide range of national and international, public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities. Attendees will learn about admission requirements, financial aid, course offerings, campus environment and other information pertinent to the college selection process. At the fair's counseling center, students and parents can meet admission experts to discuss fields of study, course preparation and other issues based on studentsí needs.

For 33 years, the National College Fair program has annually helped more than 650,000 students and families nationwide to explore their options for higher education, making it one of the most visible college recruitment tools in the country. NACAC currently sponsors fairs in 48 cities nationwide.

For more information about the Memphis National College Fair, visit the NACAC Web site at www.nacac.com/fairs.html, e-mail collegefairs@nacac.com or call 1-800-836-2222.

March 14, 2005

Elementary schools have makeover opportunity with Ford Motors

Memphis, Tenn. ó Students from elementary schools across the country, including Memphis City Schools, will have the opportunity to help their school become more eco-friendly through a contest sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

Ford Motor Company and National Geographic, with the help of television personalities Paul DiMeo and Constance Ramos of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, are calling for entries in the Radical Renovation: School Edition contest.

Teachers are encouraged to submit their students' visions of a sustainable, eco-friendly school for a chance to win $100,000 for school eco-renovations.

Ford has sponsored an environmentally-focused lesson plan developed by National Geographic that will be available to teachers nationwide. The lesson plan includes a teacher's guide, student guides and a classroom poster and is available online at www.nationalgeographic.com/gogreen/ford.

As part of the lesson plan, students will be encouraged think about their school and home life to find ways of improving the environment around them, while teachers will be provided with an entertaining, step-by-step plan to teach students about realizing potential solutions.

The deadline for entering Ford's Radical Renovation: School Edition is April 7, 2005, with one winner chosen by a panel of experts from National Geographic and Ford Motor Company. To learn more about Ford's "cool school" program or to enter the contest, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/gogreen/ford.

March 9, 2005

MCS Parent Learning Academy to hold literacy workshop

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó Memphis City Schools will present a special program for parents to learn about ìItís Time to Read,î a special literacy initiative.

The workshop will be held Wednesday, March 23, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Parental Involvement Center of the South Area Office Auditorium, 2300 Hernando Road. Parents will learn the power and importance of reading throughout the community. Refreshments will be served, and there will be an opportunity to win door prizes.

For more information on ìItís Time to Read,î visit www.itstimetoread.org.

March 1, 2005

Dr. Johnson, Memphis City Schools honored by Grizzlies for participation in Read to Achieve and other literacy efforts

By Stephanie Myers, MyersS1@mcsk12.net

Memphis, Tenn. ó For her efforts in encouraging the children of Memphis to read by participating in the Memphis Grizzliesí Read to Achieve program and initiating the Memphis City Schools Reads campaign, the superintendent of Memphis City Schools was recognized at todayís basketball game.

Dr. Carol R. Johnson was honored during halftime of todayís Memphis Grizzlies game against the Golden State Warriors and before the game in a special Read to Achieve Celebration, presented by International Paper at FedExForum.

The celebration involved more than 5,000 students from 50 schools, including the 45 Memphis City Schools that had the most participation in Read to Achieve during February. The Grizzlies Dance Team, Grizz and several players, including Shane Battier, Pau Gasol, Lorenzen Wright, Mike Miller and Dahntay Jones, congratulated the students on their reading achievements.

Wright presented a plaque to Oak Forest Elementary for its outstanding achievements in the Read to Achieve Reading Challenge, and Ross Elementary student Moneisha Moore, first grader, won a personal computer for her reading achievements.

ìWeíre happy to be here working hand-in-hand with the Grizzlies to promote literacy among the children of Memphis,î Dr. Johnson said. ìThe Read to Achieve program fits well with the MCS Reads campaign, which asks every student to read two books a month, 25 a year.î

The Memphis Grizzlies Reading Challenge is an annual five-week program designed to encourage elementary-age students to read outside of their classroom curriculum. This program is a part of the NBA and the Memphis Grizzliesí Read to Achieve initiative, which emphasizes a commitment to literacy. Hillcrest was removed from the list. In fact, this year's Mr. Hillcrest, Brandon Spivey, made a perfect score on last year's writing assessment. Principal Carolyn H. Shaw and her staff are anticipating even more success on this year's test.