Local teacher named cultural ambassador
Helen Crompton, a British international-exchange teacher at Carrboro Elementary School, has been named outstanding cultural ambassador by the Visiting International Faculty (VIF) Program.
VIF is the largest international-exchange program linking teachers and U.S. schools, sponsoring about 900 international teachers in the state. Crompton teaches fifth grade at Carrboro Elementary, where she is known for planning international and cultural activities for her class and for the entire school.
In the classroom, Crompton has established email exchanges with students in England and Northern Wales. In addition, she planned a school-wide activity in which children and faculty painted a world map on the school blacktop.
“Ms. Crompton is one of the finest educators I have ever had the pleasure to be associated with. She is a valuable asset to our school and to the Carrboro community,†said Amanda Crisp, assistant principal at Carrboro Elementary. “We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful educator on our staff who works diligently to promote cultural awareness and equity for all students.â€
Dual-language program to expand to middle schools
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education voted 5-1 last week to expand the Chinese and Spanish dual-language programs to the middle school level.
The Chinese dual-language program at Glenwood Elementary School will extend to Culbreth Middle School as the first group of students in the program advance to the middle school level. Students in the Spanish dual-language program at Carrboro Elementary School will continue with the program at McDougle Middle School.
Through the dual-language program, students are taught in both English and Chinese or Spanish starting at the kindergarten level.
The expansion is estimated to cost about $61,000.
Presidential Scholar at East
Arnav Tripathy, a senior at East Chapel Hill High School, has been announced as a 2007 Presidential Scholar. He is one of only 141 high school seniors nationwide to receive this recognition.
Tripathy was a gold medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad and was selected to the United States Physics Team. In addition, he is a member of the math team, science club, the French club and the orchestra at East Chapel Hill High.
Presidential Scholars include one young man and one young woman from each state, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, as well as 15 chosen at large and 20 scholars in the arts. Scholars are selected based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, community service, leadership and commitment to high ideals.
Tripathy will be honored in Washington D.C., June 23-27.
Nantucket to aid foundation
The Nantucket Café and Grill, located at the corner of Highway 54 and Interstate 40, will donate 10 percent of sales on May 11 to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation.
Diners should say they are participating in the foundation’s Family Night Out. Money raised will benefit the Achievers Fund, which supports tutors, enrichment courses, scholarships and school teams participating in national competitions.
Merit scholars announced
Forty students from Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools have been selected as 2007 National Merit Scholarship finalists.
Chapel Hill High finalists are Eva Archer, Anahid Behrouzi, Caroline Cook, Marieke Fenton, Laird Gallagher, Kaitlin Hamilton, Kathryn Harrawood, James Kylstra, Alicia Outing, Kelsey Salvesen, Elizabeth Wait, Samuel Ward and Bo Zhang.
East Chapel Hill finalists are Kevin Barnett, Lea Calderon-Guthe, Joanna Carmel, Michael Delong, Chen Ding, Jerry Feng, Liang Feng, Samuel Flake, Matthew Graham, Peyton Greenside, Meng Xiao He, Mary Hill, Adam Holmes, Lin Hu, Vriti Jain, James Lee, Noah Marks, Elizabeth McIntyre, Todd Morecraft, Kirsten Nielsen, Laura Paul, Varun Puvanesarajah, Alexander Safrit, Mary Scheible, Diane Taylor, Arnav Tripathy and Michelle Tsang.
High school students are eligible for the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT within a specific timeframe during high school. Of more than 1.3 million entrants, about 15,000 qualify as finalists.