INDIVIDUAL CROWNS

1/27/2013 12:50:00 AM INDIVIDUAL CROWNS Abbeville, Ninety Six wrestlers outmatch competition

By JORDAN ANDERS NINETY SIX - After being named the Region 2-AA individual champion in the 170-pound weight class Saturday without facing a single opponent, Brandon Pruitt was a little disappointed he didn't get to get on the mat and taste a little competition. Of course, that doesn't mean he's giving that accomplishment back. "I mean, it's cool to win it like this, but I would have liked to have wrestled at least one match because I was ready to wrestle today," the Ninety Six High School sophomore said. "It kind of feels a little bit cheap, but I'm glad I won." Pruitt was one of six Wildcat wrestlers who earned region championships in Saturday's tournament, which featured a slew of scratches for wrestlers who didn't make weight. That was the reason Pruitt faced no competition, nor did Abbeville's Ben Glace, who took the 195-pound region title uncontested. Pruitt was joined by Ninety Six teammates Brycen Fleming (120 pounds), Brandon Cheatham (152), Eddie Emery (160), Bradley Weaghington (182), and Kederick Williams (185) in capturing region crowns. "I feel pretty good because both of my matches were less than 30 seconds," Weaghington said. SEE MORE IN TODAY'S INDEX-JOURNAL.

District/School App for your phone/tablet

News Release

Contacts:        

Greenwood School District 52

Dr. Mark Petersen, Superintendent

mark@greenwood52.org

For School Connect:

Rich Stoebe 952 830-3250

richard.stoebe@jostens.com

(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

Greenwood 52  Goes Mobile with School Connect™ Communications App

Free app makes Greenwood 52 information accessible through mobile devices

Ninety Six, January 14, 2013 – Greenwood 52 has  announced the release of a new, districtwide mobile communications application from School Connect, a leading developer of mobile applications for K-12 school systems and institutions.  Brought to the district by Jostens, the free mobile app is available for Apple and Android mobile devices and keeps the entire school community connected to the district’s information they need in one convenient location on users’ mobile devices.

Understanding the busy schedules of parents, students, and patrons, the district’s official mobile app from School Connect enables smartphone and tablet users to keep track of important district information and receive notices from the district, faculty, and staff, all in real-time via push and email messaging. The mobile app enhances student/community engagement by providing users with access to information like school activities, grade books, notes from teachers, athletic schedules and scores, lunch menus, and school calendars when and where they choose to view.

“Greenwood 52 district’s official mobile app empowers anyone in the community to stay connected with the information they want and need right on their mobile devices,” said Dr. Petersen. “The release of this app for the district is an example of our commitment to provide our community members all of the district’s information conveniently and easily, while making it more accessible than ever. We are excited about how our school’s app will lead to a stronger, more connected school community.” 

The School Connect mobile app is a secure and flexible communication platform that allows the district to easily manage, control and deliver content that enhances the school-to-community communications process. Features for district’s official mobile app include:

·         Push and email messaging from both the district and school site levels

●       GPS mapping and navigation

●       School calendars

●       Online grade book access

●       Tap screens for email and phone for district staff and board of trustee members

●       Multiple language options, including Spanish

●       Lunch menus, athletic information, and much more

The communication service was brought to the district at no cost through a partnership between School Connect and Jostens, a leading provider of products, programs and services that help people tell their stories, celebrate important traditions and recognize achievement. School Connect and Jostens understand the importance of keeping the school community connected and are providing app development and hosting services to the school district for free with no download charges for mobile users. The district app is financially supported by school-friendly and approved sponsors.

“School Connect is excited to be working with thedistrict to help reach the district’s goals for effective and accessible communications throughout the entire school community,” said Dr. Nick Migliorino, founder and president, School Connect, and former educator. “People are busier than ever and rely on their mobile devices to be connected to what matters most. School Connect allows schools and community members to stay connected through a free and robust mobile platform that will continue to evolve based on their needs.”

The Greenwood 52  School Connect app is now available to download and use for free for Apple and Android users.

About School Connect

School Connect provides communication services to school districts through Apple and Android apps distributed by Jostens at no cost to districts or users. School Connect is a part of Jostens, a leading provider of products, programs and services that help people tell their stories, celebrate important traditions and recognize achievement. 

Three-Minute Video Explaining the Common Core State Standards

This three-minute video explains how the Common Core State Standards will help students achieve at high levels and help them learn what they need to know to get to graduation and beyond.




http://vimeo.com/51933492

Sargent's K5 Class Sings Wonderful Carols

On Tuesday, December 18, Mrs. Sargent's class sang carols for the Petersens

Superintendent Reads to Mrs. Brown's class

On Tuesday, December 18, Dr. Mark Petersen was invited to share a book and read to the children of Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brown. A grand time was had by all.

Edgewood Middle Holds Christmas Concert

Edgewood Middle held their annual  Christmas Concert on the evening on Monday, December 10, 2012 in the school's gymnasium. Good job, students and to Mr. Bagwell, as well!

Clemson Teams With Upstate Schools To Promote Leadership Development

By Tierney Gallagher

Leadership 2.0 is a two-year professional development program for mid-career principals focused on leadership capacity development at the school level. It seeks to advance administrators’ effectiveness by providing them with the skills needed to seek out and solve problems. It is geared toward those seeking to reach the next level of their leadership capacity in their careers and in their schools.

Launched in May, the Leadership 2.0 and 3.0 programs are part of a leadership development initiative emerging from the collaboration of Clemson University’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education and school districts of the Western Piedmont Education Consortium (WPEC).

The program takes a new approach to school improvement by providing coursework and collaborative pairings of school leaders. Its purpose is to increase leadership capacity for next generation schools and cultivate improved teaching and meaningful learning.

What is Leadership 2.0/3.0?
Leadership 2.0 is a two-year professional development program for mid-career principals focused on leadership capacity development at the school level. It seeks to advance administrators’ effectiveness by providing them with the skills needed to seek out and solve problems. It is geared toward those seeking to reach the next level of their leadership capacity in their careers and in their schools.

Leadership 3.0 is a one-year program for senior leaders and more experienced administrators that provides leadership capacity development focused on coaching and serving as mentors to future leaders. It provides them with the skill set for developing leadership capacity of mid-career educators and school stakeholders as coaches at the building level.

Participants serve the 10 districts involved and are individuals who have demonstrated strong leadership potential, as identified by district superintendents. Each program is a combination of in-person, on-campus, in-district and online work. Learning venues include on-site mentoring meetings and planning sessions, traditional face-to-face seminars, and virtual learning communities, social networks, simulations and case studies.

Leadership 2.0 and 3.0 help to provide learning opportunities in regards to school performance and community audits, and capacity development in coaching and distributed school leadership. In addition to these goals, the programs incorporate a variety of benefits that affect a broad range of people. These include increased learning for students, certification and graduate credits for participants, school-based capacity building for school leadership teams, and better relationships, higher engagement and more student success for school community stakeholders. Both programs offer participants Clemson certification and can be used for credit toward an educational specialist degree.

One of the distinct qualities of the program is the high level of collaboration. Leadership 2.0/3.0 brings together Clemson and 10 school districts in South Carolina, including Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood 50, Greenwood 51, Greenwood 52, Laurens 55, Laurens 56, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda school districts.

Who is part of it?
One of the distinct qualities of the program is the high level of collaboration. Leadership 2.0/3.0 brings together Clemson and 10 school districts in South Carolina, including Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood 50, Greenwood 51, Greenwood 52, Laurens 55, Laurens 56, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda school districts. These districts are all part of the WPEC, a long-time partner with Clemson’s aspiring school leaders programs.

Leading the program are Dr. Janie Lindle, professor of educational leadership, and Dr. Robert Knoeppel, professor of educational leadership and chair of the faculty of Leadership, Counselor Education, Human and Organizational Development at Clemson. Also highly involved are Dr. Hans Klar, professor of educational leadership, Kenyae Reese and Matthew Della Sala, doctoral students in educational leadership.

A new approach
According to Lindle, the program is unique because it brings a new focus to educational leadership development. While other programs focus on preparing new, pre-service principals, generally teachers seeking to become principals, Leadership 2.0/3.0 helps principals who are mid career to pass the plateau they often encounter. “We’re trying to keep these folks from being good at only one thing; to try something else, something different and all to keep improving,” Lindle said.

Instead of helping to prepare leaders, the program focuses on making advancements, preventing dips or declines, promoting steady upward progress and improving leadership strategies.

One of the major benefits resulting from this approach is participants’ ability to interact and learn from other experienced professionals through networking. “The program offers us a chance to network with other school administrators in a small setting,” said Brenda Romines, principal at Bell Street Middle School in Laurens County School District 56. “We are given the opportunity to focus on real things that are vital and happening in our schools currently. It offers an opportunity to reflect on our practice in many ways.”

Learning for leaders, and children
While the program is for educational leaders, its impact ultimately reaches children through improving student learning. Knoeppel points out that this is the most important part. “This is the paramount goal of educational preparation and service to the state; we’re creating different conditions for kids and great opportunities for them,” he said.

By improving the leadership capacity of school administrators, the program in turn affects actual learning. “People care about kids but not about the people taking care of kids,” Lindle said. “People should also care about the people taking care of kids. There is a big difference between keeping school and actually teaching. There’s got to be more than that.”

By connecting with 10 different districts and hopefully expanding to more in the future, the program is designed to reach out to those not only around Clemson, but also throughout South Carolina.

Reaching out through relationships
Leadership 2.0/3.0 offers unique opportunities by encouraging cooperation across district lines and throughout the state. By connecting with 10 different districts and hopefully expanding to more in the future, the program is designed to reach out to those not only around Clemson, but also throughout South Carolina. “In terms of the land grant model, there are many programs that go border to border in this state,” Lindle said. “However, education is not thought of this way. This is Clemson dealing with the entire state and school districts across the state.”

Despite its focus on extending these efforts statewide, Leadership 2.0/3.0 still makes a distinct impact on people and their communities. “Education is a relationship business where people learn, grow and change. We make a difference at Clemson because we have these relationships with schools, districts, and educators across the state; we’ve invested a lot of time in the field,” said Knoeppel. “Through capacity building, sustaining and improving, Clemson is investing in the schools by taking its resources and investing back into the public.”

Coming back to campus
While the program helps those in the outside community grow, it contributes something special to the University as well. Leadership 2.0/3.0 also provides Clemson the opportunity to learn and give back to its own students.

“The program creates an avenue for us to communicate with districts and learn about the field, and at the same time rethink our own preparation program for training leaders for the field so we can revise what we are doing,” said Knoeppel. “If we didn’t have that relationship, this dialogue wouldn’t happen and we wouldn’t get the indirect result of improved principal preparation.”

Also, because the program is one of a kind, it helps Clemson to differentiate itself from other schools with training and specialization programs in education.

Future goals
According to Lindle, the overarching goal of Leadership 2.0/3.0 is that schools in the districts involved will have leaders for continuous improvement now and in the future. Knoeppel explains that by preparing participants to be mentors for later, the program is consistently building resources for improving leadership capacity and can have a greater impact as time goes on. As the program progresses, they hope it is able to expand and provide these opportunities to districts in other parts of the state as well.