Our Future, Our Commitment, Our Students

Principal Profile

Learn more about Terrell

Lane Middle School Principal

Novella Brown. Page 2

A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

F I R S T T H U R S D A Y V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4

Franklin County Schools

Elite Standing Kindergarten

Registration Tips Entrance Age

Requirement Altered Kindergarten registration be-

gan April 2nd, and you may have noticed a few statewide changes.

The biggest change in state law this year is the date in which children become eligible to attend kindergarten. Chil-dren must be five on or before August 31st to attend. There are provisions to attend at an earlier age, and that informa-tion can be obtained through the FCS website at www.fcschools.net.

Parents must bring two proofs of residence in order to register. This items must be a current electrical bill as well as a copy of the deed or lease.

A complete list of registration dates is available on the FCS website a well. While encour-aged, you do not have to regis-tered at the school you believe your child will attend.

Bunn High School students Reighlah Collins and Graham Lewis are excited about attending NC Governor’s School this coming summer.

A ny edge a student can gain makes them that much more competitive to get

accepted into college or earn a scholarship.

It’s safe to say Reighlah Collins and Graham Lewis have earned a substantial edge. The Bunn High Juniors were selected to attend North Carolina Governor’s School this coming summer.

Lewis will attend the Eastern session for the social science cur-riculum, while Collins will head to Western session to focus on

mathematics. Governor’s School is a six-week

event in which students take rigor-ous courses through university in-structors and live on college cam-puses.

“I’m hoping to get a broader view and get other people’s opinions,” Lewis said. “This is going to be a great experience.”

Lewis is currently thinking of pur-suing a career as a lawyer and hopes to start earn his under-

SEE BUNN PAGE 13

Bunn High School Juniors Selected

For 2009 NC Governor’s School

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It’s Meant To Be

During her freshman year at Riverside Union School, Terrell Lane Middle School Principal Novella Brown real-ized that she was meant to be a teacher.

She attributes the revela-tion to her teacher Katie Lou Keck.

From her freshman year onward, Brown’s focus was

to become an English teacher simply because she loved to work with others and she had a natural admiration for reading and writing.

“Katie Lou Keck was a great teacher and really brought things to life,” Brown said. “She has been a major influence in my life.”

After graduating from Riv-

erside Union in 1967, the fi-nal year before mandated integration, the TLMS Princi-pal pursued a teaching de-gree at St. Augustine’s Col-lege in Raleigh. Four years later, she earned her certifi-cate.

Rather than immediately jumping into the classroom,

Through 34 years of education, TLMS Principal Novella Brown remains enthusiastic.

Terrell Lane Middle Principal Novella Brown

SEE TLMS PAGE 10

BEST OF THE CLASS Page 3 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

School Level Teachers of The Year for 2009-2010

Brandy Carter

Bunn High

English

Freda Lemay

Bunn Middle

Math

Geoffrey Hawthorne

Cedar Creek Middle

Social Studies

Monica Brodie

Bunn Elementary

First Grade

Patricia Richardson

Edward Best Elementary

Second Grade

Suzanne Harris

Franklinton High

Science

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Dean Reed

Long Mill Elementary

Fifth Grade

Shonda Malone

Franklinton Elementary

Kindergarten

Judy Tart

Youngsville Elementary

First Grade

Maureen Lalino

Royal Elementary

Fourth Grade

Susan Barnes

Terrell Lane

Exceptional Children

Deborah Carlson

Louisburg Elementary

Third Grade

Dr. Janet Taylor

Louisburg High School

Science

Nicole Sheldon

Laurel Mill

Fourth Grade

Page 5 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

Spring Break Hotspot

Boston University Students Make Annual

Trek To Terrell Lane Middle School

University students were happy with the warmth in which they were welcomed to TLMS.

If you ask traditional col-lege students what they are doing for spring break, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear volunteering at a middle school.

Well, if you happened to ask 1 of 13 Boston University students that question, that’s exactly what you would have received for an answer.

The Alternative Spring Break tradition continued this

past March as 13 Boston University students drove down to volunteer their many services at Terrell Lane Mid-dle School.

Terrell Lane continues to be one of the top draws for students wishing to take part in the program. The volun-teers spent the entire week tutoring, helping with after-school activities and leaving a mark with a traditional mu-

ral that each group has left at TLMS.

This year’s group painted a picture of the Boston skyline, complete with an image of the famous Fenway Park – home of the Boston Red Sox.

Chaperone Katie Cosner was very pleased with the trip.

“This is a very friendly place,” Cosner said. “The

SEE BOSTON PAGE 8

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A Little Mermaid Production to Remember

Franklinton Elementary

Drama students put to-

gether a well-run presen-

tation of The Little Mer-

maid during the final

weekend in March. FES

drama teacher Tasha Hat-

ten is proud of the hard

work her students have

put forth since November.

The highly attended event

was held at Franklinton

High School Auditorium.

Page 7 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

Armed With Dictionaries

Franklin County Library Director Holt Kornegay completed the annual diction-

ary giveaway to all FCS third graders. This annual event brings quite a bit of

smiles to students and staff. This event is made possible through the efforts

of United Way, Louisburg Rotary, Franklin County Library and Franklin County

Schools. Each third-grader receives a dictionary and quick lesson on how to

properly use it. Students are encouraged to use the dictionaries in order to

expand their vocabulary and spelling ability. FCS Superintendent Dr. Bert

L’Homme was present for the Franklinton Elementary presentation and took

part by helping students search for key words.

Page 8 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

staff was extremely welcoming, and they did a great job of orga-nizing us and putting us to good use.”

Cosner, who is working on her Masters of social work and public health, was impressed with the resiliency displayed by TLMS stu-dents.

“It’s seems like a lot of the kids have gone through a lot, but they overwhelmingly seemed to deal with it very well. They had very compelling stories. I believe we made an impact. I think just our presence helps – they get a sense

as to what it is like to live some-where else.

“I think we instill hope in them because they realize people care. They are extremely busy with sports, church, dance, band and other stuff. It’s impressive. We try to make an impact and get them to realize that education is the foundation for so much. This is where the base knowledge starts.”

Cosner, who also helped out with the cheerleading squad after school, shares similar ideals of the many other talented volunteers.

This diverse group represents many parts of the globe – from Greece to Korea, thus offering a different perspective on life to the students.

“This has gone on for several

years – and it is one of the best projects we have,” TLMS Principal Novella Brown said. “This is spe-cial – during this week, the stu-dents learn a lot, and we have fewer discipline referrals. They really make a difference.”

In addition to spending extensive time at Terrell Lane, students helped out at the Franklin County Boys and Girls Club in Louisburg.

Franklin County Board of Educa-tion Chair Paige Sayles hosted all of the students for the week and looks forward to having them back again in the future.

- Nathan Moreschi

BOSTON Continued from page 5

Boston University students

pose in front their nearly fin-

ished mural of the Boston sky-

line. Visiting TLMS this year for

spring break were (front row)

Jiffy Phan, Julie Noceka, Chris-

tina Lindberg, Sherry Sun, Mi-

chelle Perez and Jordan Wentz.

In the back row are James

Minto, Meghan Ross, Katie

Cosner, Val Cekovsky, Jessica

Ko, David Zak and Lambis Pa-

higiannakis.

Page 9 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

The local Council of the Knights of Columbus, an international fraternal organization, conducted their an-nual Operation Lamb fundraiser the weekend of Thanksgiving. A check for $1,108.35 was presented to Ms. Shirley Coltrane, an Exceptional Chil-dren’s teacher at Long Mill Elemen-tary School. The grant will be used for school supplies and equipment. Pictured from left to right are Long Mill Assistant Principal Carleen Jones, Long Mill Principal Kim Ferrell, FCS Executive Director of Student Support Services Wendy Vavrousek, Shirley Coltrane, Knights of Columbus’ Jay Illingworth, FCS Exceptional Programs Teacher Karen Cooke and FCS Superinten-dent Dr. Bert L’Homme.

Knights of Columbus Donate to Long Mill

YES Happenings

Retired YES Librarian, Jean Brooks, visits Youngsville Elemen-tary second graders during Agriculture Week, and she was "Gritch the Witch" while reading "Piggie Pie" by Margie Palatini.

Third-grade students in Connie Tharrington’s

class at Youngsville Elementary School had

a great deal of fun while constructing mod-

els of robots.

Page 10 F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9

she took a job with a local bank. The passion to teach proved too deep to continue a career in banking, and a year later she was teaching freshman English at Youngsville High School un-der the direction of the late Clay Batchelor. After a year in Youngsville, she landed a spot at Bunn High under the direc-tion of Johnny Alford followed by four years as an English teacher and coach at Louisburg High.

Brown was seriously consid-ering earning a Masters in Eng-lish while at LHS, but mentor and Principal Thomas Riggan convinced her to reach for a de-gree in school administration.

“I feel very fortunate that I got to work with so many great principals over the years,” Brown said. “They were very supportive and taught me a whole lot.”

After finishing her Masters of Administration in 1987, Brown went two more years at LHS before becoming an assistant principal at Gold Sand Middle School. She spent three years as an AP and was named in-terim AP for one year.

Terrell Lane Middle opened in the fall of 1990, and Brown came with it.

Batchelor passed away unex-pectedly in 1996 while Principal of TLMS. Former FCS Superin-

tendent Dr. Carl Harris ap-pointed Brown the new TLMS Principal.

Thirteen years later, Brown is still going strong. TLMS has earned high growth each of the past two years.

“We have a very diverse cam-pus, and we have many sub-groups,” Brown said. “Our teachers work very well with the students. We have a very hard-working, dedicated staff.”

Brown is thankful for the help of her leadership team, which includes AP Dr. John Cubbage,

AP Valerie Kearson, Curriculum Resource Teacher Fannie Perry, Gail Floyd, Kim Kemp and Pat Jones.

“I could not ask for a better team. They are tremendous. We’ve worked very hard to change the image of the school. To me, this is the best school in the county. We deal with situa-tions very carefully. We try to access each situation and fig-ure things out so we can make the best decision.”

Brown said she is very careful to make important decisions and makes sure that she is calm when doing so.

“We have a lot of support from central office and that really means a lot,” Brown said. “If a parent calls Dr. L’Homme (FCS Superintendent) before contact-ing me, he asks them to call me first. I really appreciate that, and I can usually fix the prob-lem.

“I like to do as much as possi-ble from here. I make sure we communicate well. If something needs to be taken care of, we take care of it in an organized way. We put safety first; if the school isn’t safe, learning can-not take place. We monitor our students from the time they get here to the time they leave.”

Brown’s philosophy appears to be paying off. TLMS has a very low turnover rate.

Thirty-four years in education has produced a lot of memo-

TLMS Continued from page 2

Regular interaction with students is still

a trademark of Brown’s leadership.

SEE TLMS PAGE 13

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Technically Speaking Long Mill Elementary School Principal Kim Ferrell (right) welcomes Granville County Schools to a classroom for a technology demonstration. Teachers, administrators, and technology facilitators from Granville County visited Long Mill on Tuesday, Feb-ruary 24th. It was a great day of collabora-tion as Long Mill teachers got to show off all they are doing to ensure that technology is an integral part of instruction.

LOMES Dr. Seuss Day Long Mill Elementary students recently participated in Dr. Seuss Day, as did many other students throughout the county. Above, students follow foot-prints as they search for clues. At right, a student takes a sock off her hand during a relay race.

F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9 Page 12

Read Across America Tradition Continues For

Franklinton High School Students

Read Across America Day was a huge success at Franklinton Elemen-tary School again this year. For the fourth consecutive year, Franklinton High School students eagerly jumped at the opportunity to share their love of reading with students at FES.

Recently, high school students visited classrooms where they read and dramatized stories written by Dr. Seuss, while Mrs. Patricia Sasser, a retired AIG teacher made rounds to class-rooms dressed as the Cat in the Hat.

Mrs. Doris Davis-Williams, media spe-cialist at Franklinton High School, coor-dinated the event with help from Mrs. Candis Tilley, English Teacher at Franklinton High School, Ms. Amy Leo-nard, media specialist at Franklinton Elementary School, and Mrs. Sasser.

Read Across America is a national celebration sponsored by the National Education Association and promoted by the Franklin County Association of Edu-cators to encourages activities to keep students reading 365 days a year.

Franklinton High School students continue to show a love for helping students read by par-

ticipating in the annual Read Across America Day. This year, FHS students ventured to Frank-

linton Elementary.

F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9 Page 13

ries, and it also brings the question of retirement each year.

“People ask me if I’m go-ing to retire, but I still love it,” Brown said. “Every time I mention retiring, it seems like a parent comes to me and asks me to stay at least until his/her child as out of the school. Terrell Lane is where I’m meant to be. I love it.”

So Brown continues to guide her school and achievement continues to increase.

“Being able to empower others has kept me going,” Brown said. “I enjoy working with teachers and parents. I think I have good people skills. I’m one of five girls, and I’m usually the mediator in the family. I’ve learned how to count to 10 before I react.”

Brown’s son Walter caught the teaching bug as well. He’s now in his 11th year as a teacher at Edward Best Elementary.

While retirement may be on the horizon, don’t look for the TLMS skipper to slow down. She spends a lot of her time with her three grandchildren, playing cards with friends and family, reading and cooking for large activities.

- Nathan Moreschi

TLMS Continued from page 10

graduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Collins has her eyes on a lofty goal as well.

“I want to learn more about other people with the same inter-ests as me, as well as other inter-ests,” Collins said. “I think this will be a big help for college.”

Collins, who enjoys math, has

her sights on a career as an ar-chitect. While not 100 percent sure, she’s leaning towards at-tending N.C. State University.

Both Lewis and Collins are quite active outside of the class-room. Both are members of the BHS Beta Club and both partici-pate in athletic activities.

Collins loves to dance, while you can find Lewis teeing it up for the Bunn High golf team or even running in the fall for the cross country squad.

- Nathan Moreschi

BUNN Continued from page 1

Louisburg High School held a pre-concert tune-up in March for the pub-lic. The well-run event was free, and the sooth-ing sounds brought smiles to the crowd. The Warriors will host their annual spring concert May 29th at 7:30 in the LHS auditorium.

Signs of Spring

F C S F I R S T T H U R S D A Y A P R I L , 2 0 0 9 Page 14

Franklinton Elementary students were treated to a snapshot of the new Blackbeard exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History. Blackbeard vis-ited the school and gave a brief history lesson in the middle of March.

Blackbeard Visits FES Win $10K

Through FHS

Athletics The Franklinton High School

Booster Club is holding their 1st annual Red Ram reverse raffle with a grand prize of $10,000 cash.

Only 300 tickets will be sold. The tickets cost $100.00 each. (You may split with a friend.)

The price includes two dinner tickets for day of drawing. The drawing will be held Saturday, May 16, at FHS Gym. Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. with the raf-fle starting at 7:00 p.m.

All net proceeds benefit FHS athletic programs. There will be other drawings for prizes with the second biggest being a 42 inch HDTV. If you would like to purchase a ticket or help, please contact Maggie Halford at 413-7252 or e-mail at fhsbooster-club@gmail.com.

High School

Graduation

High school graduation is set for June 13th at Louisburg College. Frank-linton High takes stage at 10 a.m., followed by Louis-burg High at 2 p.m., and Bunn High at 6 p.m.

Relay For Life

Come join Franklin County in the fight against cancer at the annual

Franklin County Relay For Life Relay walk at Bunn High School on May

1st and 2nd. This is a huge event with plenty of laughs and food.