Concord native named to dean's list with distinction

Caroline Craven Simpkins of Concord was named to dean’s list with distinction at Duke University for the fall semester. She was among 2,087 students who achieved that honor. There were 1,438 students named to the dean’s list, and 649 were named to the dean’s list with distinction.

Fowler joins Youth Villages North Carolina

Nichell Fowler of Charlotte recently joined Youth Villages North Carolina as a family counselor. In her new role, she will help children with emotional, behavioral and mental health issues and their families in their own homes in the Concord area.

Fowler holds a master’s degree in counseling and from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology from West Virginia State University in Charleston, W.Va.

Fowler is originally from Spartanburg, S.C., and is a graduate of Spartanburg High School.

Youth Villages North Carolina is a private nonprofit organization whose mission is to help children and families live successfully. The organization provides help to children with emotional, behavioral and mental health issues and their families.

Cannon students win Young Authors awards

Five Cannon School students have been named state winners in the N.C. Reading Association’s Young Authors writing contest, which aims to encourage young writers to put their ideas to paper with the potential of having them published as a winning entry.

Fourth-graders Stephanie Grissom (of Concord), Cali Proper (Salisbury), and Victoria Schneider (Concord), and seventh-graders Lindsey Turbyfill (University City area) and Mimi Wahid (Salisbury), wrote about treasures of North Carolina in fewer than 300 words to earn their awards. The five writers will be honored on March 17 at an award celebration at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Winning entries are published in a book, which is provided to each winner.

Cannon to host college admissions panel

Cannon School will present a panel discussion with college admissions professionals at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15, in Taylor Hall on the school’s Concord campus.

Barbara Polk from UNC Chapel Hill and Dawn Calhoun from Wake Forest University will present an overview of admission trends, the factors that make admission to college so competitive and insight on how colleges evaluate applicants. They will also share why college fit matters and how high school students can determine which kind of college meets their unique needs.

Polk is deputy director of undergraduate admissions at UNC.  She has been a member of the university’s admissions staff for more than 30 years. Calhoun, associate director of admissions, has worked in the Wake Forest admissions office for 13 years. They will also address individual questions from the audience during this 90-minute program.

The public is invited.

Four KCS teachers achieve national board certification

Four teachers from Kannapolis City Schools (KCS) recently achieved certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Certification from the NBPTS is the highest professional credential in the field of teaching.

The KCS teachers who achieved national certification this year are Jessica Walter Arnott, Diane Crawford, Holly Pore and Mike Wolford.

With these certifications, KCS now has 84 teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

National Board Certification is a voluntary process established by the NBPTS. Certification is achieved through a performance-based assessment that takes nearly a year to complete. Teachers must document their knowledge of their subject matter, provide evidence that they know how to teach their subjects effectively to students and show their ability to manage and measure student learning.

Arnott teaches fourth grade at Fred L. Wilson Elementary School. She has been teaching for 11 years, and she has spent all of those years with KCS. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UNC Charlotte, and her National Board Certification is in the field of Generalist — Early Childhood.

Crawford teaches biology, chemistry and anatomy/physiology at A.L. Brown High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in science teaching from UNC Chapel Hill, and she holds a master’s degree in chemical and life sciences from the University of Maryland. She has spent 14 years as an educator, and this is her 11th year with KCS. Crawford’s National Board Certification is in the field of Science — Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Pore teaches marketing education in A.L. Brown High School’s Alternative Learning Center. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in management and marketing from North Carolina State University, and she holds a Master’s of Education degree from UNC Charlotte in curriculum and supervision. She has eight years of teaching experience, and her National Board Certification is in the field of Career and Technical Education — Adolescence through Young Adulthood.

Wolford teaches world history at A.L. Brown High School. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in middle grades social studies from UNC Charlotte, and he earned his National Board Certification in the field of Social Studies and History — Early Adolescence.

The Kannapolis City Board of Education will honor the system’s newly board certified teachers at its February meeting and present them with certificates of recognition.