Contributed
The Bladen County Board of Education has shared the highlights from the recent Board of Education meeting with a special thank you to our students from Clarkton School of Discovery—Kemar Monroe, Jana Gore, and Kelsey Pridgen—who led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Spotlights & Recognitions
Jerod Smith was recognized for his success in the Soil & Water Contest. Jerod placed 1st in the 9th grade essay contest.
The Board Of Education recognized the Elizabethtown Primary Battle of the Books Team for 1st place in the BCS Elementary BOB Competition and the Tar Heel School Battle of the Books Team for earning 1st place in the BCS Middle School BOB Competition.
Elizabethtown Primary Battle of the Books Team:
Delmar Bartolo
Jay’Cion Bonds
Nora Bridgers
Kimora Heckstall
Quarn Lewis-Gary
Ava Montgomery
Jesus Rebollar Ventura
Delilah Rogers
Maxton Starnes
Joshua Williams
Gavin Wu
Ariel Zambrano
Coach Caren Long
Tar Heel School BOB Team:
Jayden Bethea
Javier Cabrera Mendez
Madison Eldridge
Jonathan Marroquin
Nayely Mejia
Nicholas Musselwhite
Peyton Nichols
Alitzel Ortiz Rojas
Acelin Perez Vasquez
Allyzon Sandoval Cruz
Jazlyn Sandoval Ortiz
Coach Leigh Cromartie
Congratulations to the East Bladen High School Band for earning a Superior Rating at the NCBA MPA for the third year in a row!
Jonathan Adams
Janice Alvarez-Nunez
Cabria Baldwin
Quadir Brown
Ta’Moni Brown
Tmyah Brown
Juandiego Burga-Cupen
Kayelynn Chambers
Justin Garrett
Jalen Graham
Braylan Johnson
Jeremiah Kilpatrick
Jaden Lewis-Gary
Kameron Merritt
Darlyn Montejo Alvarado
Jeremiah Morton
Jamiya Peterson
Arryhanna Pinckney
Hailey Robinson
Serenity Russ
Luna Salgado-Vazquez
Macurey Sheppard
Sana’a Singletary
Paul Smith
Grady Starling
Ruby Stephens
Allysa Stringfield
Rosario Vasquez Salinas
Gabrielle Williams
Niyah Wooten
Aaliyah Wright
Director Brenda Flowers
Bladen Early College High School was recognized for their success at the North Carolina Senior Beta Convention:
Josey Pait—4th Place, 10th Grade Agriscience
Maliah McClendon—4th Place, Hand Drawn Anime Division 1
Awnnica Ringer—4th Place, Onsite Painting Division 1
A’Marra Washington—4th Place, 11th Grade Psychology
Talon Bailey—1st Place, Sculpture Division 1
Kevin Aguilar Saraoz—5th Place, 11th Grade Spanish
Joshua Knuth—1st Place, Woodworking Division 2
Hollie Meehan—Club Sponsor
Additionally, at the State Beta Convention students from the Early College earned…
2nd Place—Performing Arts Senior, Solo, Duo, Trio—Vocalist
4th Place—Performing Arts, Small Group
3rd Place—Show Choir
The BOE recognized Elizabethtown Primary students, Kannon Ripley, Mai Nguyen, Issac Espinoza, Evelyn Salgado, Isaiah Bizzel, David Josue Valenzuela Ayala, Keyree Thompson, Jared Media-Leal, Carter Davis, Maite Lopez-Segura, and Sponsor Caren Long, for their success presenting at the NC Ties Student Showcase. Students worked together to build shadowbox habitats and then build code animals to move within them!
Two Envirothon Teams—Team Ignite and the Backyardigans—were recognized for their success at the regional Envirothon. Both teams will compete at the state competition.
Team Ignite
Jonny Lemus Basilio
Ryleigh Finley
Charles Lmarca
Axel Estrada
Nicholas Musselwhite
The Backyardigans
Hayli Cooper
Kenny Rogers
Andrew Resendiz
Destiny Wilson
Shaley McKoy
Sponsors:
Nikki Bryant
Brett Jackson
Congratulations to Abbygale Mohr, a Bladen Early College High School student who was accepted to the Governor’s School for Natural Science.
Community member Edward Smith spoke during Citizen Participation regarding plans for Plain View Primary.
The BOE approved….
•25-26 BOE Meeting Dates
•26-28 AIG Plan
25-26 Current Expense Budget Proposal to the County Commissioners
Dr. Atkinson and Mrs. Harrison are scheduled to present to the commissioners •on May 5.
Mrs. Harrison emphasized this proposal is only for local dollars
The district’s increased request would help fund:
Assistant Principal positions
Adding Teacher Assistant positions to support our second grade teams at each school (over a 5 year period)
“Invest in Bladen”, a program to help interested teacher assistants become licensed teachers
The increasing costs of employee benefits and employee raises
The district made the same request last year with no additional dollars awarded.
Board Chair’s Report:
•Thanked Assistant Principals for all of their hard work.
•Congratulated basketball teams on their success
Encouraged staff to maintain a healthy work-life balance
Reiterated that our schools have so much g•ood stuff happening—“keep it up!”
Superintendent’s Report:
•Keeping an eye on proposed legislation that would impact the school district, will continue to provide updates as available
•Elizabethtown Middle School has made strides in the right direction, however the school still struggles to retain staff, and we need highly qualified staff in the classroom there, so the district has promoted an internal vacancy with a bonus encouraging current BCS teachers with at least 3 years of classroom experience to apply
Author: staff report
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