Cary, NC – Lots of kids study abroad, even in high school. But not many get a scholarship from the U.S. State Department to do so. Meet Kira Wegner-Clemens.

Cary Student Wins State Department Scholarship

Kira Wegner-Clemens, a high school student in Cary, has been awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship for 2012-2013.

The NSLI-Y scholarship enables Kira to study Russian in Russia for the summer. The scholarship covers all program costs for participants including domestic and international travel, tuition, cultural activities, meals and accommodations.

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly-taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs.

Promoting the Next Generation of Leaders

Launched as part of a U.S. Government initiative in 2006, NSLI-Y seeks to increase Americans’ capacity to engage with native speakers of critical languages by providing formal and informal language learning and practice and by promoting mutual understanding through educational and cultural activities.

NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities to high school students for summer and academic-year language learning in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajik), Russian, and Turkish.

The goals of the NSLI-Y program include sparking a life-long interest in foreign languages and cultures, and developing a corps of young Americans with the skills necessary to advance international dialogue in the private, academic or government sectors, building upon the foundations developed through person-to-person relationships while abroad.

According to the State Department, “through her participation in the program, Kira will be in the vanguard of international communication and will develop the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community.”

Dosvedanya Tovarich

Cary has only a tenuous connection to Russia. There’s no large emigre community here. We have no Sister City relationships with the former land of the czars.

But now we can say Dosvedanya Tovarich to Kira Wegner-Clemens, which means “see you again, friend.”

Maybe she will send us a few pictures and a story so we can all enjoy her signature accomplishment.

Cary NC – This week in our S.T.E.M. video series, we show a woman who is paralyzed controlling a robotic arm with nothing but her thoughts. Kids with an interest in science will find this video more inspiring than Futurama.

Controlling a Robot with Your Thoughts

It sounds like science fiction: controlling a robot with nothing by your thoughts. But that’s the big buzz this week, in a video that shows Cathy Hutchinson, who is paralyzed in all four limbs, controlling a robotic arm with her thoughts to get a sip of her morning coffee.

The research was done at Brown University and publish in the journal Nature.

The Science

Leigh Hochberg, Director of the BrainGate clinical study at Brown, described three components of a brain-to-robot-arm system:

1. Sensor
2. Decoder
3. Assistive Device (robot arm)

The sensor, which is implanted in the motor cortex at the top of the brain, connects through a wire to a computer. The computer “decodes” the electrical impulses of the motor cortex and sends instructions to the robot arm.

Cathy, who has been paralyzed for fifteen years, thinks about grabbing the tumbler of coffee. She literally moves the robot arm with her thoughts.

Future studies may focus on developing a wireless system and refining the complex movements of robotic hand, elbow and shoulder to be more nuanced and life-like.

Video: Paralyzed Woman Moves Robot with Her Mind

Of course, this video is more than a technology demo – it’s a profound human interest story. Cathy’s smile, getting herself a sip of coffee for the first time in 15 years, and the reaction of the scientists, speak to the deep human desire for dignity.

You can also see this video on YouTube.

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The  S.T.E.M. video series is sponsored by Citizen Websites, the website design arm of CaryCitizen.

Story by Lindsey Chester photo courtesy Davis Drive Middle School.

Cary, NC – Bullying among school kids may be a disheartening fact of life, but one Wake County School created their own program to empower students using positive reinforcement for good behavior coupled with technology. They got results, and recently won the Cary Chamber Entrepreneurial Award in Education for 2012.

Davis Drive Middle School is known for its high achieving students, but what 7th Grade Vice Principal Richard Williams and Lead Guidance counselor Phillip G. Echols saw last school year was a school with bully problems and a student body that was becoming  dysfunctional. They decided to do something about it through a new character education program they created called Stand Up.

Stand For Something

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”  Their goal is to promote character education, exemplify school spirit, and to substantially decrease bullying at Davis Middle.

In their own words: After a challenging year of increased suspensions, staff burnout, and student distress the pair decided there was a need  to create an effective reminder of why we all enter the school building every morning.  We needed to be reminded that respect is a two-way street and that we are all in this together.  Stand-Up has evolved into our very own display of admiration for our Davis Drive community.

Using Technology

To promote the program, video footage from a wide range of school events (i.e. pep rallies, sporting events, guest speakers, performing arts, and hallway transition), is edited, set to music, and produced into a 2-minute clip that plays every Wednesday during homeroom. The monthly character trait message is emphasized in these weekly videos, but also reinforced with posters, fliers, bulletin boards, guest speakers, and classroom guidance lessons.

The result: Stand-Up has improved school climate, as well as the working environment for staff.

Stand Up Videos

These videos were shown as part of the Stand Up program last fall. Please watch and share with your friends and family.

• Stand Up week 10 – Anti-Bullying
• Stand Up Week 9

You can also visit the DDMS Stand Up Channel on Vimeo. How cool is that?

Highlights the Positive

The program highlights monthly positive character traits and makes use of video taken of students “caught in the act” of displaying positive behavior. Rewards that include rubber wrist bands are handed out to students who exhibit positive behavior and these bands became status symbols within the student body.

Examples include “Words Hurt” during Anti-Bullying month and “Stop and Think” for Good Judgment.  Each month has its own wristband which displays the color, as well as the slogan or character trait of the month.  Wristbands are not given frivolously, but they are earned through teacher recommendation, displaying the character trait, or by participating in the weekly Stand-Up video.

Counselor Echols told CaryCitizen:

Our nation is faced with a bullying epidemic and our community needs daily reminders that kindness, courage, and respect for others is the path to making things better.  We are using technology and social media to connect our community, promote positivity, and to raise awareness.  As we move forward in the 21th century, we are excited to see what the future holds for our motivating initiative, Stand-Up.

Wouldn’t you like to see this  initiative  at your school? Or perhaps rolled out to all of Wake County and beyond? Email Echols or Williams, or better yet, the Board of Education.

This program speaks to kids on their level as no amount of preaching ever will.

Congratulations Davis Drive Middle on the well-earned award.

Photo by Brooke Meyer.

Cary, NC – One of our favorite community programs is Read & Feed. It’s an all-volunteer, no-cost program to help economically disadvantaged kids. Now is their Capital Campaign. Find out how you can make a contribution to this excellent organization.

About Read & Feed

Read & Feed began as a personal effort by Jan Elmo to help children at Northwoods Elementary learn to read. More from Read & Feed:

One of her students spoke broken English and hid beneath his desk to avoid Jan and the books she wanted to share with him. It broke her heart. She thought all children should love to read.

Jan set out to find a way to help Wake County students who lacked the resources to become passionate and confident readers. She traveled the country studying other reading programs and decided that the best way to tackle this challenge was to employ a mobile classroom stocked with books, food, and volunteers and bring the program directly to the neighborhoods where disadvantaged students live.

Jan invested her own money to buy an RV and the beginning supplies. She rallied the support of the Northwoods Elementary principal and recruited some volunteer tutors. Read and Feed was born.

This year, Read and Feed will operate 31 sites, serving about 750 children in 2012. The goal is to serve 1,000 students per year by 2015.

Climb Aboard the Read & Feed RV

Read & Feed visits each neighborhood once a week for 12 weeks (a semester). Children attend an hour-long session that includes dinner.

After they eat, the children spend time reading with their tutors. They practice reading aloud. They talk about the main idea of the story; its characters and setting. Sometimes they complete book reports or worksheets that help them improve their reading comprehension.

Before they go home, each child selects three books that he can take home to add to his personal library-before Read and Feed many children have no books at all in their homes. By the end of the program, each child has at least 36 books in his or her home library.

Read & Feed 2012 Capital Campaign

The program is absolutely free to the children who participate. In fact, Read & Feed often has other neighborhood children hanging outside the RV hoping for an opportunity to come on board.

Read and Feed is a 501-c3 organization and all gifts are fully tax deductible. Pledges range from $10 to more than $10,000 and every gift helps a child become a strong reader.

Donate Now: Read & Feed 2012 Capital Campaign

Every donation helps.

Cary, NC – Nine year-old Connor Bernstein had always liked science. After years of buying frustrating or incomplete science kits with his allowance, he decided to create his own. The seeds for Kits For Kids were planted. Meet Connor and hear his impressive story at Cary Innovation Center on Wednesday, May 16.

Sold Out in 1 Day

While Connor was a Chapel Hill 4th grader, he started creating experiments from science fair books in his kitchen. He would share them as kits with his buddies. His Mom thought he could sell them.  In 2004 they signed up for a booth at one Chapel Hill street festival and they began assembling kits in their living room. Priced at $6, they sold out  in one day.

At the fair, teachers and parents were very interested in his product and asked him for tips. He realized there was a great need for his product. He continued making kits at home and selling them at events. In 2006 he created his own website teaching himself html in the process.

Grad School at 13

A friend’s father from the Business School at UNC-CH suggested he enroll in a class titled “Launch The Venture” in 2008. A graduate school course, mind you, which he began as a 13 year old. In the course he was matched up with a team of students working on their MBAs and accounting degrees.

Connor says during the first quarter they worked on the feasibility of his idea conducting research and surveys. At the end of that quarter he presented to a panel of investors and business executives. Half the class washed out at this point, but Kits For Kids was given the thumbs up to proceed to the 2nd quarter. During that semester the team worked on marketing and implementing their idea. And by the 3rd and final quarter the team worked up a  financial plan to see if make numbers worked for the actual business.

Within the year he had hired a marketing firm (later fired and hired a new one) and a manufacturer in Durham. No more packaging in the living room! The marketing firm helped him polish his image and get the word out. They rebranded the logo and redesigned the packaging. They also developed the e-commerce site.

Even A Child Can Do It

His product is sold all over the world to classrooms, camps and individuals. They are affordable and all-inclusive. That was his main beef with kits he bought when he was younger. He was always frustrated that he would buy an “experiment in a box” but not all the components were included and it would frustrate his mom and himself that they didn’t have everything they needed, or that the directions were too complicated to be completed by a child.

His newest products are Activity packs that accommodate 25 packs in one kit – and everything is included these are great for classrooms, scout troops or camps.

Connor’s latest challenge is finding the time to create new experiments to include in new kits. His most popular kits are Crystal Explosion and Polymer Power. They are priced affordably no breaking the piggy bank or teacher budget. He wants to bring science outreach to rural areas and under served inner city areas too.

Meet Connor at IdeaSlam

Do you think you have the germ of an idea? Connor is the guest speaker at the next IdeaSlam at the Cary Innovation Center on Wednesday May 16 at 6:30pm. Connor will start off the evening speaking about how he got his start. Then its your turn to talk about your ideas and hear others vet theirs. Maybe a new business will be born? That’s what entrepreneurship and the Cary Innovation Center are all about.

Have Your Own Business Idea?

At IdeaSlam, folks with ideas for business ventures will have the chance to vet their dreams in a room with other business venture seekers and mentors. It is the first step on the journey toward creating your business. Your idea will be critiqued in a friendly environment.

From there you may wish to pursue your quest and develop a business plan, or receive further mentoring. These options are be available through the Cary Innovation Center.

More Info about the Event

IdeaSlam
Connor Bernstein, guest speaker
Wed May 16, 2012
6:30-7:30 PM

Cary Innovation Center
201 W Chatham Street
2nd Floor conference room
Downtown Cary, NC

Register now

Photo of Farmington Woods Elementary in Cary by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), the largest school system in the state of North Carolina, has ranked among the best in the country. They are looking for your input on their magnet school program now through June 1.

Magnet Options Abound in Wake

WCPSS has 31 magnet schools; 14 were honored this year with merit awards from Magnet Schools of America (MSA). In 2011, Farmington Woods Elementary in Cary was named the top magnet elementary school in the nation by MSA. Many magnet programs receive grant support from the U.S. Department of Education’s Magnet Schools Assistance Program.

Take The Survey

Parents and citizens are encouraged to offer their thoughts in an online survey on the purpose for magnet schools and the types of magnet programs they would like to see in the Wake County Public School System.

The eight-question survey is available online now through June 1, 2012.

The questionnaire is part of a periodic review WCPSS conducts to evaluate its services. The survey, which is available in English and Spanish, is part of a large-scale effort to gather community input. WCPSS also is hosting focus groups and analyzing school-by-school data. School system staff will use all of the information to make recommendations to the Wake County Board of Education later this year. (Magnet Review Timeline)

Survey participants will be asked for their opinions on how magnet programs should be used, as well as their level of interest in magnet programs such as the International Baccalaureate program, Creative Arts and Sciences, and the Montessori model, or suggest new magnet programs.

First Year of Assignment By Choice

Wake is currently testing a new assignment process which closed on April 12. For years parents in the county complained of being redistricted to accommodate growth and diversity. The school year starting Fall 2012 will be the first to test a new choice based system. This year not only can parents choose magnets, but also first and second choices for high achievement and proximity.

Magnets Offer Exclusive Elective Programs

Magnet schools offer specialized academic programs in order to attract applicants from around Wake County. The WCPSS magnet program strives to diversify schools to reduce high concentrations of poverty, as well as to maximize the use of school capacity and to provide broader educational opportunities.

New to the system this year are several schools that will be transformed to focus on STEM learning. The Board of Education was concerned when these school sites appeared to be under-enrolled. These new programs should ensure that parents will choose them despite location or history. The four new schools will join the STEM Collaborative Network: Lincoln Heights Elementary, Weatherstone Elementary, East Cary Middle, and North Garner Middle. These STEM schools will provide an integrated, cross-curricular approach to learning that explores connections among science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Take the WCPSS Magnet School Survey

Take the quick and easy WCPSS Magnet School Survey now.

Cary, NC –  The latest in our S.T.E.M. video series concerns Fibonacci Numbers, also known as the Golden Ratio. It is a sequence of numbers that influence mathematics, science, engineering, art and religion. This video also has the virtue of being beautiful to watch.

Fibonacci Sequence

Leornardo of Pisa (1170-1250), also known as Fibonacci, was one of the most talented mathematicians of the Middle Ages.

His book, Liber Abaci, introduced two startling concepts to mainstream intellectual thought in Europe: Arabic numbers (0-9) to replace Roman numerals and the Golden Ratio, later called the Fibonacci Sequence.

Both Arabic numbers and the Fibonacci Sequence began in India, traveling across Persia (modern day Iran) to the Middle East and North Africa.

Fibonacci numbers seem at first glance to be amazingly simple: start from 1, add the number to what came before and move on. It looks like this:

0+1=1
1+1=2
2+1=3
3+2=5
5+3=8
8+5=13
13+8=21
21+13=34
34+21=55

What is incredible about the Fibonacci Sequence is that this pattern of numbers is mirrored everywhere in nature: flowers, insects, snails. Expressed as a ratio, it is 1.618, also known as the Golden Mean or Ratio. Ancient Greek mathematicians including Pythagoras and Euclid explored the Golden Mean.

Renaissance artists, keen on understanding a wide variety of educational disciplines, latched onto the Fibonacci Sequence in works like Leornardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man a study of human proportions.

According to Wikipedia:

[Modern] applications include computer algorithms such as the Fibonacci search technique and the Fibonacci heap data structure, and graphs called Fibonacci cubes used for interconnecting parallel and distributed systems.

They also appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, Phyllotaxis (the arrangement of leaves on a stem), the fruit spouts of a pineapple, the flowering of artichoke, an uncurling fern and the arrangement of a pine cone.

Today, the Fibonacci Sequence has importance in science, engineering, math, technology and even advertising. We use Fibonacci spirals to tight up graphic design for everything from brochures to business cards and banner ads. Yes, we use math to help improve the click-through rate and effectiveness of advertising design.

In some quarters, the Fibonacci Sequence is seen as proof of divine guidance in the development of the cosmos.

Video: The Fibonacci Sequence

This beautiful video by director Cristobal Vila illustrates the Fibonacci Sequence. Music is by Wim Mertens. You can also see the video on YouTube.

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S.T.E.M. video series is sponsored by Citizen Websites, the website design arm of CaryCitizen.

Story by staff reports. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – This week, Panther Creek and Green Hope high schools won an appeal to stay in their current Tri-9 4A Athletic conference in Wake County Public Schools.

Tri-9 Realignment Nixed

A planned realignment for 2013-17 by the N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) would have moved Panther Creek and Green Hope to a the Pac-6, a conference based mostly in Durham County, and would have had teams traveling outside Wake County for almost all away games.

NCHSAA Listens

Dozens of supporters from both schools visited a hearing of the NCHSAA Board of Directors in support of the appeal. School and district leaders wanted to continue the history, traditions and friendly rivalries of the Tri-9 4A Conference, which comprises eight WCPSS high schools and one school from Lee County.

“I was proud to see, this morning, the entire Tri-9 represented in support of their conference partners, Green Hope and Panther Creek,” said Superintendent Tony Tata. “We appreciate the NCHSAA listening to our concerns, and are very satisfied with the outcome that ultimately benefits our student-athletes.”

The NCHSAA realignment process began in November 2011, and would have shuffled Panther Creek and Green Hope to the PAC Six Conference to fill a slot vacated by East Chapel Hill High School. WCPSS principals, athletic directors and other leaders did extensive research and appealed to the NCHSAA board several times.

East Chapel Hill Stays 4A

Although both schools had generated petitions and huge student and parent support in their protest to remain in their Tri 9 conference, ultimately it was the numbers that determined where these schools were placed.

When East Chapel Hill High recently reported that their enrollment had inched above 1441, they were re-classified as 4A, instead of sizing down to 3A.

In the current Tri-9 conference Lee County High has also been re-classified to 3A and will leave the Tri-9 where it has competed for many years.

Leaders at Panther Creek and Green Hope were pleased by public support of their efforts, and by the outcome of the appeal.

“The sense of community we had alluded to all along was evident today, as every school in the Tri-9 showed up and stood up on our behalf,” said Green Hope Principal James Hedrick. “I think the big thing is that we feel that sense of community and the sense of rivalry will stay intact.”

Story and photos by Lindsey Chester.

Cary, NC – The children at Bright Horizons at the Clubhouse in Cary have been busy for the past year building a Greenhouse made out of 1700 recycled 2-liter bottles. The children will use the greenhouse to grow food to give back to their community as part of the Grow & Share program.

I visited the playground where the green house sits in the Bright Horizons shady back yard the day the house was completed.

Director Robin Sarine explained that to build idea evolved after a Bright Horizons employee came back from years in the UK.  There, a Bright Horizons school had built a similar greenhouse. Her enthusiasm for the project located in Southam Warwickshire, England got folks in Cary excited to tackle something like it.

What Can You Do With a 2 Liter Bottle?

Robin said when they received the plans she began doing some research on the internet. She wanted to show the kids visual images of what could be created from recycled 2 liter soda bottles. Everyone began collecting bottles last March. Families enlisted their employers, their churches and neighborhoods to collect the necessary amount of bottles and the center began to store bags brimming with bottles in their back yard.

April 14th a construction group came in to create the structural frame from 2 x 4′s. Adults cut off the bottoms of all the bottles, and then on Monday April 16th the kids began to add the bottles to bamboo poles. These were then screwed to the frames. Assembly involved all the center’s children from as young as 2 to as old as 14.

Sustainable Inside and Out

Next step will be receiving the seeds and plants to grow inside their greenhouse, which Robin assured me will be self-sustaining. Grow and Share provides the seeds and plants for the project, and Bright Horizons can pick a worthy recipient, be that a food pantry or a family in need they know of right here in the community.

The house design is open so that rain will flow into the house though the roof and sides. The floor will be gravel for adequate drainage. The design should act like a life-size terrarium recycling moisture inside to eliminate most watering. Robin believes peppers and tomatoes will be some of the first plants added.

The timing of the project also coincides with Earth Day and ties in with the schools curriclum units called “Garden Work” and “Towards a Better World”. Kids learn about plants and gardening, but more importantly how they can help others. The Grow And Share Program provides the plant materials, but lets the organizations they partner with chose who receives their harvest.

The official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is Friday, April 27 at 4:30 to see the final product. Maybe this will be the first of many such projects?

Story and photo by Joan Conwell.

Cary, NC – When she was at Martin Middle School, Cary native Leslie Willis discovered a love of travel through her grandmother, whose photo books, adventure stories, and spur of the moment trips captivated her. A decade later, she has been awarded a 2013 Fulbright grant to teach English in Malaysia.

The University of North Carolina graduating senior has traveled to Egypt on a People-to-People exchange, volunteered in an orphanage in Ghana, taught health and sanitation to young girls in Uganda, and educated American school children about the world beyond our borders.

Fulbright Award

It was while studying at the UNC library several weeks ago that Ms. Willis received email notification that she had been accepted into the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Program. When asked about her response to winning one of the world’s most prestigious grants—Fulbright alumni include 43 Nobel Laureates and 78 Pulitzer Prize winners—she said, “I can’t believe it’s me. I sent a frantic email to my family with tons of exclamation points.”

10 Months of Teaching

Willis leaves in January 2013 for ten months of teaching English somewhere outside of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. She knows French and Spanish, has studied Swahili and picked up a smattering of local languages wherever she travels, so we can expect that she will return from her assistantship familiar with Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin, the three official languages of Malaysia.

Teen Council Led To Leadership

Her leadership qualities and her interest in diverse cultures were evident early in life. Willis spent six years during middle and high school serving on the Cary Teen Council. She represented the council on the Town of Cary’s Sister City Commission for two years. Cary Sister Cities promotes cooperative exchange between Cary and international cities worldwide, and is part of a larger global community working towards peace. Willis traveled on a youth exchange to Cary’s sister county—County Meath in Ireland—and remembers the excitement and satisfaction of community building with dignitaries there and later taking those same Irish officials on a tour of local cultural sites when they visited Cary.

Ed Yerha, who served on the Sister Cities Commission at the same time as Willis said, “It was clear to us all that Leslie was destined to go places….literally and figuratively!  We couldn’t be more proud.”

Forging Connections

Observing extreme poverty during her later exchange trips and forging connections with the local people she meets have helped shape Willis’ view of the world.

Leslie says:

“From our perspective as a western society we think, ‘oh, poverty, how can they be happy, they have nothing.’ But then you go and think: ‘but they have so much more than we do in terms of community, in terms of compassion, in terms of love and understanding.’”

It is that sense of community and understanding that she hopes to bring back to American middle school classrooms when she returns from Malaysia.

Although Willis knows she wants to share her knowledge and passion for culture and development with young teenagers still forging their identities—she isn’t ready to pin down exactly where or how she sees her future career unfolding.

“I want to go everywhere,” she said. “The problem is narrowing it down.”