2017 – 2018 News Archive

Wake School News Archive (2017-18 Academic Year)

June 2018

Fuquay-Varina HS won the 4A baseball state championship on June 2 by beating Ardrey Kell HS of Charlotte. The last time the Bengals won that title was in 2002.

Moe’s Restaurants of the Triangle area announced on June 7 and June 11 that it had presented “Hometown Hero” awards to people at three WCPSS schools: student Lydia Bjorklund of Heritage HS; Career and Technical instructor Trent  Wilson of Wakefield HS; and Coach Robby White of Cary HS. See the full story here: https://bit.ly/2ysXjS1

Incidentally, Mary Grace Bunch of Athens Drive MHS won the Moe’s essay contest, whose prize was a Moe’s-catered graduation lunch.

Holly Springs HS lost a much-loved wrestling coach, Nick Nosbisch (called “Coach Noz”), who succumbed to cancer on June 8.

On June 18, Wells Fargo announced the winners of the statewide NC Wells Fargo Cup, as well as a separate Conference Cup within each athletic conference. Statewide, Green Hope HS scored the most points to win the Wells Fargo Cup for the ninth consecutive year. It helped that they won state 4-A championships in six sports.

To win the Wells Fargo Conference Cup, a high school scores the most points–typically awarded for athletic victories and participation–within the points system of its individual conference. Each conference determines how to award points. Winners for the 2017-18 school year from Wake County are as follows: In Class 1-A, Raleigh Charter HS won in the Central Tar Heel Conference, and Franklin Academy won in the North Central Athletic Conference; in Class 4-A, Leesville Road HS won the Cap 7, Heritage HS won the Northern Athletic, Apex HS won the South Wake Athletic, and Green Hope HS won the Triangle 6 Conference.

Green Hope HS class of 2018 graduate Jordyn Adams signed a $4.1M rookie contract to play baseball for the LA Angels on June 20. The two-sport phenom had planned to play football at UNC-Chapel Hill, but his plans quickly changed when he was drafted 17th overall. More info: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article213542874.html

Wake County public school students and faculty took the lion’s share of the recognitions at the first High School OT Awards on June 23. HighSchoolOT.com is sponsored by WRAL in Raleigh. The winners were nominated by fans, who also voted for their favorites. Their accomplishments were impressive in every category. Here’s a full list of Wake’s honorees at this year’s awards ceremony:

Athlete of the Year – Male – Jordyn Adams (Green Hope HS); Coach of the Year – Female – Nicole Meyers (Southeast Raleigh MHS); Coach of the Year – Male – Reggie Lucas (Wake Forest HS); Lifetime Achievement – Bobby Guthrie (WCPSS Senior Administrator for Athletics and Driver Education, 1994 – 2013); Leadership – Female – Mary Grace Bunch (Athens Drive MHS);  Leadership – Male – Justin Rodgers (Cary HS); Courage – Lauryn Mulder (Panther Creek HS); Game of the Year – Wake Forest HS vs Mallard Creek (Football);  Baseball – Will Sandy (Leesville Road HS);  Women’s Track and Field – Morgan Smalls (Panther Creek HS); Men’s Track and Field – Randolph Ross (Garner MHS);  Men’s Lacrosse – Owen Caputo (Middle Creek HS);  Men’s Tennis – Trice Pickens (Panther Creek HS); Women’s Swimming and Diving – Brooke Zettel (Apex Friendship HS); Women’s Indoor Track and Field – Sierra Fletcher (Southeast Raleigh MHS); Men’s Indoor Track and Field – Ian Delgado (Green Hope HS); Men’s Swimming and Diving – Zach Brown (Athens Drive MHS); Cheerleading Team of the Year – Millbrook Elite Wildcats (Millbrook MHS); Best Mascot – Hercules Heritage (Heritage HS); Best Student Section – Garner Blue Crew (Garner MHS); Marching Band – Green Hope HS; Football – Ricky Person (Heritage HS); Women’s Golf -Jennifer Chang (Athens Drive MHS).

More info here: https://www.highschoolot.com/highschoolot-honors-see-the-winners-in-every-category/17649536/

May 2018

On May 1, NCPTA announced the names of NC students whose original artwork won awards at the national level of the Reflections competition, sponsored by the National PTA, and one of these winners (out of hundreds of thousands of entries) was from Wake County. In the Film category, Nina Sehgal of Apex Friendship HS won a national award in the Senior Division for her film titled “Within Reach: The Video Game.” Here’s the full list of national winners: https://www.pta.org/home/programs/reflections/Reflections-Awards-Events/national-winners

Also on May 1, NC State announced the winners of prestigious four-year Park Scholarships, and four students of public schools in Wake County were among them: Loujain Al Samara of Millbrook MHS; Shevani Mehta of Middle Creek HS; Shaily Shah of Apex HS; and Thomas Marshall Steckmann of Raleigh Charter HS.

Enloe MHS Army JROTC sent four drill teams to a national competition known as the Grand Nationals May 4-5 in Daytona Beach. The Grand Nationals pits individual drill teams against teams from all four branches of the US Military. (Only three other schools in NC sent teams to Grand Nationals this year.) One Enloe team had already won the Army JROTC National Championship: seniors Dawn Koonce and Nautica Alston. You can see a video of their routine here: https://bit.ly/2HPmsL1

On May 9, US News & World Report released their annual “Best High Schools” ratings, in which they rank public and charter high schools and award gold medals to 500 high schools. This year, 2,211 schools were given silver medals and 3,237 schools were given bronze medals. They considered 28,800 public high schools in all. Raleigh Charter HS dusted the rest of its local competition, coming in at #64 in the nation and #2 in the state. Franklin Academy, a charter school in Wake Forest, was ranked 621st national and #19 in the state, winning a silver medal. Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy was the highest-ranked WCPSS district school (972) and won a silver medal; Wake STEM Early College HS (1,742) also won silver; and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy (1,808) wasn’t far behind, also winning silver. 

Raleigh Charter was also ranked 22nd in US News‘s separate list–based on the same data–of Best Charter Schools. In addition to graduation rates and passing rates on AP and IB exams, US News looks at the strength of a school’s test scores within its state and whether “underserved students” earned higher scores on standardized tests than the state average.

For comparison, in 2017, Raleigh Charter was ranked 56th in the nation and won gold; Green Hope HS of Cary was ranked 356th and also received a gold medal. It isn’t clear why Green Hope was unranked this year. Franklin Academy was the only other gold medal winner from the area. Wake Early College of Health and Science received a bronze medal last year.

Wake County nonprofit Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) visited multiple WCPSS schools on May 10 to officially present its annual “Healthy Schools” awards. Gold medals for Brains and Bodies went to Brentwood MES, Davis Drive ES, Hunter AIG MES, Laurel Park ES, and Powell ES. Farmington Woods MES and Lead Mine ES won Brains and Bodies Silver medals. Bugg MES, Olive Chapel ES, Penny Road ES, River Bend ES, Swift Creek ES, and Weatherstone ES won Brains and Bodies Bronze medals. Sneakers and Spokes awards, which recognize schools with multiple students who walk or bike to school, went to Davis Drive ES, Hilburn Academy, Laurel Park ES, Lead Mine ES, Lincoln Heights MES, Northwoods ES, and Olive Chapel ES.

The awards recognize schools with sustainable policies that support healthy habits among both students and staff. More info here: http://www.advocatesforhealthinaction.org/2018/05/10/congratulations-to-2018-healthy-school-award-winners/

Middle Creek HS men’s lacrosse won the 4A state championship on May 15 by beating Cardinal Gibbons.

Also on May 15, the winners of scholarships from the Triangle Rising Stars (TRS) program were announced at a gala event at the Durham Performing Arts Center. TRS is a regional qualifier for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards. The winners received scholarships and expenses-paid trips to NY for the national awards competition. This year’s winners were Best Actress: Mya Ison (Enloe MHS, Ragtime); Best Actor: Sterling Jones (Broughton MHS, Beauty and the Beast); Best Ensemble: The Secret Garden, Cary HS; Best Musical: Ragtime, Enloe MHS. TRS also recognized outstanding work in costume set, and lighting design, choreography, and more; more info here: https://www.dpacnc.com/news/detail/8th

Enloe MHS men’s tennis won the 4A state championship on May 19 for the first time in school history. The team defeated Myers Park HS of Charlotte.

Raleigh Charter HS men’s tennis won the 1A state championship on May 20 by defeating Lincoln Charter HS of Denver, NC. This was the fourth year in a row for Raleigh Charter men’s tennis championships.

That same weekend, WCPSS (and especially southern Wake) dominated in track and field at the NCHSAA 4A state championships at NC A&T in Greensboro. The Panther Creek HS women’s team won for the first time in school history; Morgan Smalls was the MVP after winning three events and setting a new state record in the high jump. The Green Hope HS men’s team won the 4×800 relay, and Ian Delgado won two additional events (the 800 and 1,600). But Randolph Ross of Garner HS was the MVP.

Fuquay-Varina HS women’s soccer won the 4A state championship on May 26 by defeating Myers Park HS of Charlotte. Recap here: https://t.co/oj5zaDRyWT

April 2018

The Apex Friendship HS marching band participated in clinics and competition at Festival Disney in Orlando Apr. 2-6.

 

Several Wake schools sent color guard and percussion teams to the Atlantic Indoor Invitational (AIA) championship event April 7-8 at the Crowne Center in Fayetteville. In the Colorguard Scholastic Regional A1 Div., the Enloe Magnet HS Winter Guard placed first, while the Broughton Magnet HS Winter Guard placed second. In the Colorguard Middle School Div., Swift Creek MS edged out the Holly Springs Jr Hawks. The Sanderson HS Winter Guard placed third in the Colorguard Scholastic A3 Div. In the Colorguard Scholastic A1 Div., teams from Green Hope HS, Cary HS, and Middle Creek HS placed first, second, and fourth.

In the Percussion competition on Apr. 8, Holly Springs Percussion placed second in the Percussion Scholastic Concert A Div. Rolesville HS placed first in the Percussion Scholastic Regional A Div. In the Percussion Scholastic Open, Panther Creek Indoor Percussion bested teams from Cary HS and Green Hope HS. More info about the AIA Championships here: http://atlanticindoor.org/scores-and-recaps/

Middle Creek High School’s Digital Career Academy team won gold medals in eight different skills competition at the NC SkillsUSA Competition, April 18-20 in Greensboro. They even won gold in the Community Service competition. Their adviser, Wes Petty, was named NC SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year. Some of the MCHS team members plan to attend the national competition this June in Kentucky. In addition, Vernon Malone C&CA students won a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal; Cary HS students won a gold and a silver; and Holly Springs HS students won a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal. Full list of statewide winners here:
http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6b19e9_2d529bb11daf4b129b0fe9315e9c5b82.pdf

The NCPTA-sponsored Reflections art contest announced award winners at a special event held in Durham on April 21. Wake County students were among the top winners in the state. The following Wake students won Awards of Merit:

  • Bryson Chavis, Washington GT MES
  • Emma Kozak, Middle Creek ES
  • Hayden McNeill, Washington GT MES

In the Film Production category, Calvin Baeumler of Washington GT MES took second place for Grades K-2, while in the Senior division, Nina Sehgal of Apex Friendship HS took first place and qualified for Nationals. In the Literature category, Avelyn Batts of Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy took third place in the Middle School division. In the Music Composition category, Cameron Parr of Middle Creek ES took third place in the K-2 division; in the Grades 3-5 division, Daniel Teixeira Gavazzi of Davis Drive ES took second; and Hari Desikan of Carnage GT MMS was third for Middle School.

In the Photography category, Avni Choudepally of Cedar Fork ES won second place in K-2, while Campbell Sargent of Holly Grove MS came in second in the Middle School division. In the Visual Arts category, Gwyneth Overton of Farmington Woods ES won first place. Parker Grady of Moore Square Museums MMS came in third for Middle School, and Abbey Rose Jones of Garner MMS came in third in the Senior division.

Finally, of the five winners of the Reflections Theme Search contest, three were from WCPSS:

  • Ameen Zafiruddin, Athens Drive HS
  • Humairaa Zafiruddin, Athens Drive HS
  • Musa Zafiruddin, Washington GT MES

View the full list of state-level winners of the NCPTA Reflections art competition here: http://ncpta.org/index.php/2018-state-reflection-winners/

Apex HS DECA traveled to Atlanta for ICDC, the International Career Development Conference Apr. 20 – 25. Jackson Arnold was a top 20 finalist in the world in the Automotive Services Marketing Roleplay competition, after finishing 3rd in NC in March.  To become a top-10 finalist at the state level and qualify for the international competition, participants must display mastery of certain skills through either business exam testing and role-play business/marketing scenarios or a written business plan.

At their annual conference in Chicago Apr. 25-29, Magnet Schools of America (MSA) announced that Dr. April Guenzler, kindergarten teacher at Brooks Museums MES in Raleigh, has been named the National Magnet School Teacher of the Year. More info here: http://magnet.edu/magnet-schools-of-america-announces-first-cohort-of-nationally-certified-magnet-schools-3-2

At the same conference, MSA awarded Farmington Woods MES in Cary the Elementary Magnet School of Merit Award of Excellence, designating it the best magnet elementary school in the nation. Farmington Woods was among the first schools to earn a magnet certification from MSA last year, when they were also recognized as a School of Excellence. You can read more about that award at the link provided above.

The organization also recognized the following schools for completing the rigorous magnet certification process:

  • Carroll Leadership in Technology MMS
  • Kingswood Montessori/STEM MES
  • Ligon GT/AIG MMS
  • Wendell MMS

These schools bring the total number of certified magnet schools in the WCPSS district to 14. The MSA certification program, which started in the 2016-17 school year, evaluates each school to gauge its compliance with “the essential elements and characteristics of high-quality magnet programs.” More info here: https://bit.ly/2jjPcg5

Finally, 12 WCPSS magnet schools received the School of Excellence award from MSA for the 2017-18 school year and were recognized at the conference. More info here: https://bit.ly/2oIuA3K

On April 27, the Morehead-Cain Foundation publicly announced its Class of 2022 recipients of its prestigious merit scholarships to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. The following Wake County public school students have been selected for this honor: Olivia Riley Delborne of Enloe MHS; Michael Hosseini Marand of Panther Creek HS; Sonam Jyoti Shah of Raleigh Charter HS; and Christopher Graham Watkins of Millbrook MHS. See the full list of winners here: http://www.moreheadcain.org/news-announcement/introducing-morehead-cain-class-2022/

The Green Hope HS boys’ 4×800-meter relay team had the best time of any American team at the Penn Relays “Championship of America” event on Apr. 28 in Philadelphia. They were beaten by three teams from Jamaica. This was the second time in the past three years that they earned the top US time in this event, and their coach noted that their time was one-half second slower than the state record. Competitors from Leesville Road HS and Wakefield HS also represented WCPSS at this event.

At the second annual RoboWake Challenge on Apr. 28, the team from Carroll MMS earned first place in the Teamwork Challenge and had the top Teamwork score in the state. All three WCPSS elementary schools in Knightdale participated this year, and they all placed in the top seven among all teams, including middle-school teams.

The NC chapter of the national PTA announced in April that they have selected third-grade teacher Fran Cameron of J.Y. Joyner MES for their Teacher of the Year award for the entire state.

 Photo by JY Joyner MES.

March 2018

On March 6, WCPSS individually recognized the 26 semi-finalists for the 2018-2019 WCPSS Teacher of the Year award. The teachers were recognized for their achievements during the current school year. The full list of semi-finalists and a description of the selection process is here: goo.gl/i6oBw3  You can see highlights from the evening at this Twitter moment: https://twitter.com/i/moments/956133118922117125

March 6 was also the East Regional Odyssey of the Mind Tournament at Wake Tech. Multiple teams from Wake either won their division outright or placed high enough to advance to the state tournament (March 24 at Wingate University). Teams that placed either first or second in their division advance:

  • In Div. IA for the Triathlon Travels problem, Penny Road ES and Mills Park ES came in first and second. In Div. II for the same problem, Mills Park MS came in first.
  • In Div. I for the Emoji, Speak for Yourself problem, Highcroft Drive ES and Green Hope ES came in first and second. In Div. II Davis Drive and Mills Park came in first and second. And in Div. III, Wake Forest HS came in first.
  • In Div. I for the Classics… Mockumentary! Seriously? problem, Sycamore Creek came in first. In Div. II Mills Park and Pine Hollow placed first and second.
  • In Div. I for the Animal House problem, Mills Park ES tied a team from a private school for first, while Penny Road ES placed second. In Div. II, Mills Park came in first, while Magellan Charter came in second.
  • In Div. IA for the Stellar Hangout problem, Green Hope ES came in second. In Div. IB Cardinal Charter came in first, while Fuller ES came in second. In Div. II Mills Park MS and Davis Drive MS came in first and second.

Wake County was well represented at the NCHSAA Basketball Championships this year. Heritage High School boys basketball lost in the finals of the 4-A State Championship in Chapel Hill on March 10, to Independence HS of Charlotte. The Huskies won the Western Regional Championship for only the second time in school history. That same day, Southeast Raleigh girls basketball also lost in the finals of the 4-A State Championship, to Northwest Guilford of Greensboro. Southeast went 30-1 and won the Cap 7 4A Conference Championship. They won the Eastern Regional Championship for the fifth time in school history and the second year in a row.

The DECA team from Crossroads Flex won a Chapter of Distinction award at the NC DECA Career Development Conference in Greensboro March 8-10. DECA is a global organization that prepares students to become leaders and entrepreneurs in the areas of marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.

Over 1000 Wake County Public School elementary students participated in the annual Pieces of Gold gala performance at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium on March 7.

Multiple HOSA teams from Wake attended the State Leadership Conference March 21-24 in Greensboro. (HOSA is a leadership organization for students interested in health occupations.) The team from Wake STEM Early College High School won third place in Creative Problem Solving and in Health Education. The team from East Wake High School included two first-place winners and seven students who placed in the top 10 in their competitions. In addition, East Wake, Enloe, Holly Springs, and Wake Early College were all recognized as Gold Star HOSA chapters. Teams from Apex Friendship, Athens Dr., Garner Magnet, Green Hope HS, Heritage HS, Holly Springs, Leesville Road, and Rolesville also participated.

The Wake County Track and Field Championship meet was held at Southeast Raleigh on March 24. Winners came from all over Wake County. Twenty-one performances qualified for a “Silver” status (the MileSplit US Second Team standard), while four performances qualified for “Gold” status:

You can see the complete results here: http://nc.milesplit.com/meets/307509/results/

Also on March 24, the following Odyssey of the Mind teams came in third place or better (third-place teams can advance to Worlds if the first- or second-place team cannot attend): Highcroft Dr. ES came in third in their division for the Emoji, Speak for Yourself problem; Davis Dr. MS came in third in their division for the same problem; and Wake Forest HS came in first in their division for that problem.  Pine Hollow MS came in third in their division for the Classics… Mockumentary! Seriously? problem. Magellan Charter came in third in their division for the Animal House problem.

At the NC Theatre Conference (NCTC) Middle School Play Festival on March 24 in Southern Pines, Ligon Theatre won 12 awards, including Best Director, for their production of The Outsiders.

The 2018 North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair (NCSEF) was held at NC State March 23-24, and Wake County students represented their schools very well. One brother-and-sister team from Cary won a Grand Award and were eligible to advance to the national level: Maryam and Ibrahim Moghul of Triangle Math & Science Academy, for their project titled “Designing a Novel Self-Sustained Solar Powered Desalination Apparatus to Produce Thermoelectricity Using a Fresnel Lens and Thermoelectric Generator.” Their project also won first place in the Earth/Environmental Science-Senior Div. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) will be held in Pittsburgh May 13-19. Here’s more info about the intense competition that the Moghuls faced in attaining the chance to compete at ISEF: http://ncsciencefair.org/index.php/press/press-releases

February 2018

The Cary High Imps were crowned  4A Wrestling State Champions on Feb. 3: https://t.co/bGusFKXsgv

Multiple schools held walkouts to protest gun violence.

A student-led protest took place on Feb. 20, starting at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church.

On Feb. 25, WCPSS announced that “that protests are acceptable in the wake of the Feb. 14 Florida mass school shooting as long as [students who are participating] talk to their principal to make sure the events are held in a safe manner.” http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article202394244.html

An estimated 2,000 Green Hope High students walked out of class in solidarity with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 28.  http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article202715279.html

Local events for Black History Month are compiled here: http://wakeednews.com/2018/02/07/black-history-month-in-education/

Green Hope Falcons led Division 4A in the Wells Fargo Cup competition (best overall performance of athletic programs in NC secondary schools); Franklin Academy led in 1A: https://t.co/cwQNMKyFGF

January 2018

Wake Leads in Measure of Teacher Quality:

Class-Size Mandate:

Hundreds attend rally to urge NCGA to rethink class-size mandate:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article193374504.html

Application Period for Magnet Programs Opens:

The magnet application period starts January 10th! The #WCPSS award winning magnet program offers lots of choice for families & students. Get all the details here: https://t.co/68DS0GB5iI pic.twitter.com/NR9KEFZV69

— GreatSchoolsinWake (@Gr8SchoolsWake) January 8, 2018

Charter School Growth and School Choice In Wake County:

Cary residents push back against proposal for large charter expansion:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article193546004.html

State News, November 2017:

School-Nurse Shortage in NC Makes National Headlines:

https://www.educationdive.com/news/school-nurse-shortage-poses-risks-to-students/510869/

http://www.wral.com/wednesday-at-6-school-nurse-shortage-leaves-school-staff-caring-for-students/17098078/

 

News from the 2019-20 School Year

News from the 2017-18 School Year