We all know that Charleston County School District started back to school last week, and CPN is in the mix with lots of plans for the 2011-2012 school year!
On August 2, CCSD Innovation Zone Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Jim Winbush, hosted a CPN Kick-off Meeting in North Charleston for all teachers at the four CPN elementary schools. Over 130 teachers were in attendance, and had the opportunity to learn more about the Charleston Promise Neighborhood, participate in breakout sessions, and provide input on two of the CPN Year 1 initiatives: creating a college bound culture in the schools, and recognizing/rewarding teachers.
Attendees also heard from an inspiring educator, Dr. Adolph Brown, III, who stressed the importance of purposeful engagement and building a relationship with each student. He also discussed the importance of believing that each student has the ability to succeed in college.
A College Bound Steering Committee was formed from teachers who attended the kick-off meeting and expressed interest in our College Bound Culture initiative. This group will advise CPN as we work in partnership to infuse a college bound culture in every aspect of the learning environment and increase student’s “CQ.” CPN’ers Vicky Ingalls and Vicky Triponey are also working with a creative group of CPN elementary school teachers, media specialists, and guidance counselors to provide content for College Bound activity kits (CQ PrepBooks). These simple and fun activities will offer CPN elementary school students weekly opportunities to work with a volunteer or family member to think about their future and to envision themselves going to college.
Looking forward to September, Vicky Ingalls and Amanda Coté have been busy meeting with elementary school representatives to prepare for the CPN Trident United Way Day of Caring project: A Day of Screenings and Wellness. At each of the elementary schools, the students who are normally screened by the school nurses throughout the year for vision, hearing, BMI, and dental will be screened by volunteers in the first month of school! Over 300 volunteers will help screen over 950 students. Volunteers will also help the school nurses organize their offices and files so they will have everything in place when a sick child comes to their office! A big thank you to all volunteers who have signed up for the projects, to the principals, to the school liaisons, school nurses, and the CCSD nurse liaisons who are making this day possible!
We’re looking forward to a great school year!
Amanda Coté
Operations Manager
