In our Schools – Avery County students get some major Air

December 5, 2011 By Rob

Early in the school year it was announced that students and teachers at one Avery County elementary school were all getting iPads for education use. That program was soon expanded, and now comes similar news for the county’s lone high school. Last week, all students and teachers at Avery County High School were invited to pickup a brand new Mac Book Air computer.

Eventually they’ll also be offered in the middle schools.

apple macbook air in Avery CountyIt all began back in August when students at Banner Elk Elementary were each assigned an I-Pad for the school year. The money for the experiment was available when the new school was built under budget.

The program worked so well it was expanded with I-Pads at other elementary schools and now the Mac Books for middle and High School Students.

Superintendant David Burleson said it will give Avery County School Students an edge when it comes to competing in the real world with students educated elsewhere.

“It will also attract the attention of business and Industry,” he said.

Burleson and others hope companies will see what is happening in Avery County and possibly consider moving their and bringing in new jobs.

“They will see that by the time our students get out of the school they already have the skills for the 21st century.”

High Country education – thinking different!

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: avery county, avery county high school, boone nc real esttae, kids, schools

In our schools: Spending Thanksgiving marching in Charlotte

November 27, 2011 By Rob

Ashe County High Marching BandThe Ashe County marching band was among the many entrants in the 2011 Carolinas’ Carrousel Parade, which goes through Charlotte. The event was broadcast live on WBTV Thanksgiving afternoon. It featured more than 110 entrants, including 13 marching bands, and is described as one of the largest get-togethers in the Carolinas. It is also considered by some one of the best Thanksgiving parades in the country. It was a great showcase of High County high school talent!

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: ashe county high school, boone nc real estate, music, parade, thanksgiving

In the schools: Watauga Pacers

November 1, 2011 By Rob

Watauga High PacersThe Watauga Pacers are a dedicated dance team active within Watauga High School in Boone. The group recently performed at halftime of a football game, performing a few routines including one called Bieber Fever. The team also welcomed onto the field some younger dancers who completed a dance clinic that week. For when you’re that good, you have to share the talent. The youngest group of future Pacers also went with a strong dose of Beiber.

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: boone nc real estate, dance, kids, watauga high pacers, watauga high school

In Our Schools: High school rivals beat each other up .. and down

September 6, 2011 By Rob

Watauga and Avery high school drumsWatauga and Avery County high schools have a special rivalry. The two mountain schools are separated by about 20 miles and years of friendly ridicule. They aren’t in the same athletic conference, but play each other regularly each year in a number of sports. The annual football game is known as the Battle for the Bucket, with the winner retaining rights to a “golden” bucket until the next game.

The rivalry has moved past involving a ball and now includes a drum. For the past few years the schools have enjoyed a Drum Off, featuring a showdown between the percussion sections of each school’s band. This year the competition was held within the Avery school gymnasium. Enjoy some young High County rhythm!

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: avery county high school, boone nc real estate, music, watauga high school

In Our Schools – Textbook example of the new textbook

August 15, 2011 By Rob

Last year, Watauga High School took the novel yet increasingly common step of providing laptaps for all of its students and teachers. Roughly 1,550 were distributed. The trend has now been picked up in neighboring Avery County, but on a smaller scale.

When school opened last Wednesday, some students and teachers at Banner Elk Elementary School received an iPad. The school has a new building this year. Construction came in under budget, freeing up money to “Think Different.”

iPadThe result is a mac-book and iPad for every teacher and an iPad will be assigned to every student. 161 children are enrolled at the school.

The school system’s technology team was busy Wednesday setting up each individual tablet and then passing them out classroom by classroom. …

School officials said having the advanced technology available for all the students all the time will only enhance the learning experience at the school. …

Only students at Banner Elk Elementary have the iPads so far but officials want to expand the program into all the Avery County schools.

This is High Country education! On the cutting edge of technology!

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: avery county high school, banner elk, boone nc real estate, watauga high school

Live the Dream STAT: Schools no longer out for summer

August 10, 2011 By Rob

 
62 – Length, in days, of the 2011 summer vacation for students in Watauga County. The last day of school was June 8. The new school year starts today, August 10, exactly 9 weeks later.

It’s so easy to envy Phineas and Ferb. They have 104 days of summer vacation, before school comes along just to end it! The annual problem of the mountain generation, is having much less time to spend it!

Thanks to proactive scheduling forced by expected snow days, the schools of the High Country are among the first in the state to start class. And, thanks to recent years when the actual days lost outnumbered the expected, the year has lasted been spread further.

All nine schools in Watauga County open today. Also opening doors are the eight schools in Avery County, where students enjoyed a slightly longer vacation ….. by six days. (The 2010-11 year ended June 2). Ashe County students enjoyed the second longest break of the High Country, but saw it ended soonest. They were in class yesterday. To mark the occasion, here’s the Ashe County High School Choir singing, appropriately, “I’ll Be There.”

Filed Under: In the Schools, Stats Tagged With: boone nc real estate, kids, schools, watauga county

Our Schools: Some spring jazz from Watauga High

June 1, 2011 By Rob

Watauga High jazz bandWatauga High School in Boone has many musical bands, including concert, marching, orchestra and jazz. Each performs throughout the school year. Recently the jazz band held its spring concert. Among the selections was “God Bless This Child.” If you enjoy that, you may like this 2009 performance of a Chicago classic.

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: boone nc real estate, kids, music, schools, watauga high school

Our Schools: A top notch dance team

May 10, 2011 By Rob

A glimpse at a great program in a High Country school

Watauga High School PacersFeel the rhythm. Swing to the beat. Get into the groove. Move those feet!

The Watauga High School Pacers live by those words. The young female dance team is a regular at many events both at school and in the community. The squad is a fall and winter sport, and a regular feature at Watauga High home football games, as well as select basketball games. They also appear in the Boone Christmas parade and put on a Pacer Dance Show.

The team is comprised of 9th through 12th graders, all of whom most compete in tryouts as well as gather three letters of recommendations by teachers to become a Pacer. They practice often, and show a lot of dedication. And it pays off. This is a great dance team, as evidenced by their performance at the recent Shooting Stars talent show.

There’s a live crowd, and it sounds excited! So you may wanna turn the volume down. Waaaaahhhhhhhh Oooooooooo!

Filed Under: In the Schools Tagged With: boone nc real estate, dance, pacers, watauga county, watauga high school
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