Semi Pictures

Thanks again to Julia Hu for letting me use the pictures she got of everyone looking so beautiful for Semi!  One of the big traditions of semi is that Dr. Jon Miller who teaches English here at NCSSM reads "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to all the students at the dance.  For those who want to share in this tradition, the reading this year was live-streamed and recorded, and can be found at this link: http://new.livestream.com/ncssmlivestream/grinch.  While you are there, take a look around the other recorded content NCSSM has shared.  There are a lot of archived school events that you might enjoy.

Gingerbread Houses

Here are some pictures of way back in December when we made gingerbread houses with graham crackers and frosting.  I am pretty sure most of the girls were only concerned about how good they would taste and not how pretty they looked.  Thanks to Julia Hu for sharing these pictures with me!

Prom!

Prom here at NCSSM is quite an experience, and the students always seem to have a great time.  We tend to do things a little differently at NCSSM prom than most high schools (who is surprised?).  Probably one of the biggest differences is that we hold prom at the Museum of Life and Science here in Durham, and though we have the traditional dancing, the students also have an opportunity to explore the exhibits at the museum.  Many people also take advantage of the butterfly house to get some beautiful pictures.

Since prom is so quickly approaching, I thought I would take some time to fill you in on all the important details.  Here goes!
Who:  All NCSSM Students
What:  Prom
When: April 20th, 9pm-1am
Where:  Museum of Life and Science, Durham, NC

Other Important Details:
-Dress is formal (tuxedo, suit and tie, or evening gown as appropriate)
-Cars are allowed on campus with parental permission under specific guidelines provided by the school
-There is a special overnight permission form for prom weekend that has to be filled out and faxed to me well in advance if your student plans to be off campus overnight after prom.
-For people who do not want to be off campus after prom, Student Life will provide an after prom lock-in in the PEC with a hot breakfast and lots of fun activities (last year there were bounce houses, inflatable slides and obstacle courses, and movies). This is the official school sanctioned after prom activity.  The school does not sanction hotel parties, and if your student wants to attend a hotel or house party after prom, you should speak directly with the parents who will be chaperoning.
-We need parent volunteers to help with set-up, chaperoning, and clean-up for prom, so keep it in mind, and I will get you more information on how to volunteer as soon as I have it.
-All students and parents will be emailed a packet of information that has every detail you could ever want to know, so please look out for that email and read the packet carefully when it arrives.

That is all the information I have right now about prom, but I will be keeping the students on hall updated regularly and will be going over detailed procedures with them for bringing cars on campus and signing out overnight as well as posting more information here on the blog as soon as I have it.  Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns.

Pedometer Challenge

On January 14th, we started the 2013 NCSSM pedometer challenge where teams are challenged to walk from NCSSM to Murphy to Manteo and back to NCSSM.  Well, not physically of course, but they are wearing pedometers to keep up with how many miles they walk and tracking their progress on a map created for the challenge.  This is part of the school's ongoing wellness initiative that challenges students to be more active and healthy, and I am so proud that 3rd Bryan has a team in the challenge.  Thanks to all those participating, and a big shout out to Claire Vallery for acting as our team captain!

Photo credit to Sue Anne Lewis

February Calendar

February is such a fun month with trimester break, miniterm, the Sadie Hawkins dance, the winter musical, the superbowl, and the NCSSM powwow.  As long as you don't pay attention to those pesky exams, everything in life is good.  Seriously, though the time leading up to exams can be stressful for students, we have a lot of fun activities on hall and campus wide this month, and I hope everyone will find something they can enjoy.

I am especially excited this month about our trip on February 10th to the Durham Shambhala Meditation Center where the director of the center will lead us in some meditation instruction.  Perfect timing for a little stress relief right in the middle of exams.

Here is a copy of the calendar.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Yearbook Purchases

3B Families,
I just wanted to be sure to remind you that you can purchase a yearbook for your student online at the following link: http://www.ncssm.edu/ecentral/yearbook-payments.  The end of the year is sneaking up fast, so don't procrastinate and forget to purchase a yearbook.  Order one now!
If you have questions about the yearbook or ordering, please contact one of the yearbook advisors, Matt Boerner (boerner@ncssm.edu) or Jonnell Carpenter (carpenter@ncssm.edu).

Study Break and Exam Dinner Sign Ups

Parents,

Now that we are into the second half of the year, we are coming up on some of the unclaimed study breaks and exam dinners.  If you have not signed up yet, or if you have already sponsored a snack but would like to sponsor another, please check out the list below and let me know which available date you would like to claim.  Thanks again to everyone who supports our weekly study breaks.  They are something the girls look forward to each week, and we couldn't have them without your help.

January 8th - Kevin and Kamilla Smith
January 15th - Elise Hoffman
January 22nd - Holly Dimig
January 29th - Ginger Woodington
February 5th - Jackson Family
2nd Tri Exam Dinner: February 7th - Collyn Gaffney
2nd Tri Exam Dinner: February 11th - Henrietta Pedzwater
March 5th - Doug and Debbie Blew
March 12th - Penny Smith
March 19th - Tracy Cornell
March 26th -
April 9th -
April 16th -
April 23rd -
April 30th - Theany Chhak
May 7th -
May 14th -
3rd Tri Exam Dinner: May 20th -
3rd Tri Exam Dinner: May 21st - Janet Gruchacz

January Calendar

The January calendar looks a little sparse after how busy our December was.  We still have a few activities in the works that didn't make it on to the calendar that we are trying to find a time for, but you can get an overview of what we have planned.  Besides a little spontaneity is good for us so adding thing in later will keep us on our toes.

Carter School Stockings

Below are some of the pictures from when we delivered stockings to the Carter School students and had Dr. Jon Miller read The Grinch to the students.  The students were very appreciative of our efforts and wrote us thank you cards for the story and the gifts we brought.  I think the big kids and the little kids had a great time.