Phoenix Academy Hosts Arts Residency

For two weeks in February, the students at Phoenix Academy experienced a daily music smorgasbord, courtesy of award-winning playwright and professional teaching artist, Anita Woodley. Woodley also received a lot of Help from Her Friends - a cast of successful local musicians who represented a variety of musical genres. They arrived each day before lunch, and students seemed to leave with more energy and bounce than when they had arrived. “She was always trying to make me smile,” said one student on his participant evaluation. “So I finally broke out in a smile.”
   
Woodley likes to speak about her goals as a teaching artist as “looking for ways to serve up plates of creativity and positivity.” During her work with the students at Phoenix, she rarely stopped smiling herself, and she sang and danced and exhorted the young people until they had little choice but to sample those plates of positivity. To say Woodley’s enthusiasm for music is infectious is an understatement.
   
A student wrote on the final evaluation, “Thank you soooo much for expanding my horizons,” and another wrote, “I found out how much I love different music.” Although many students were quiet observers and listeners during the first week of the residency, the level of participation increased steadily through the second week.
     
“I always want students to believe in themselves and have hope,” Woodley said. “And to know how to create that in themselves.” She offered lists of positive affirmations, in addition to all of the music, and she spoke each day about how to frame experiences into validating expressions. “Everyone has to have self-love. If you have that, you stop looking outside all the time, thinking about how people are treating you.”
   
The residency was sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill Community & Cultural Arts, and the choice of Woodley was a great match for the students at Phoenix. “Someone might look at a group of high school students and assume, okay, they all want rap, but then we start to look at diverse tastes,” she said. “You might find inspiration in a mandolin, but you didn’t know.”
   
Lex Parker said that he often turns on the radio when he’s stressed out. “After hearing the bluegrass they played, I realized it was kind of relaxing.”
   
During the first week, Woodley performed a medley of songs that represented some of the genres they’d been exploring, Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” Bob Marley’s “One Love” and “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holliday. She led them through activities for group songwriting and showed them how lyricists, like poets, “make a chain of words.”

The students learned about the history of foot stomping as a musical accompaniment, and Woodley encouraged them to recognize the importance of hand clapping.
   
As the list of visiting musicians grew - Vattel Cherry, Charles Pettee, Yah-I Tafari - the number of instruments also mushroomed beyond guitars and stand up bass. Students also experienced the banjo, flamenco guitar, harmonica, djembe drum and mandolin. Students noted on their final evaluations how much they appreciated learning about different instruments. As Cherry played his guitar the first day, he used his “old school style, it makes you think of cutting grass and delivering papers.”

Throughout the discussion of musical genres, Woodley and her guests shared tidbits of cultural and social history, and they often returned to questions like “How can music be used to comment on social issues and to bridge gaps?”
   
TayNov El, a guest musician who calls himself a “Conscious Rap M.C,” spoke at length about his deep roots in the African-American community of Chapel Hill-Carrboro. “I keep my grandparents’ voices in my head all the time. They went to Lincoln High, right here where we are today.” His grandfather played in a gospel group, and as his website shares, “His uncles used to spit freestyles to him when he was single digit age.”
   
When TayNov was in eighth grade at Culbreth Middle School, he cut his first hip hop album, and later went on to perform as a member of an iconic group, TyFu. He shared many of the lessons he’s learned from integrating music into every part of his life. “When you’re not at peace, not satisfied with what’s going on, music gives you the chance to speak out,” he said. “Hip hop was created out of hard times.”
   
Brenda Whiteman, CHCCS Arts Education Coordinator, said, “I think the biggest thing that the students got from the residency was the opportunity to learn about and explore a wide variety of musical styles and instruments - bluegrass, jazz, hip hop, spirituals - drums, harmonicas, percussion, mandolin, guitar, banjo.  They seemed genuinely interested and many of them learned things about themselves and their preferences.”
   
Anthony Hairston, a freshman at Phoenix, said he really enjoyed the entire experience. “It allowed me to express myself in ways not usually available in schools. To be myself.” On the last day of the residency, as Woodley invited students to engage in a rap battle, Hairston was front and center, full of confidence and energy - being himself.

Cisco Networking Academy Offers Opportunity

If you ask most parents and students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools about the Cisco Networking Academy courses for high school students, unfortunately you’ll hear, “Cisco What?” But if Jennifer Walker and her colleagues at Chapel Hill High have their way, the pathways within the Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) will soon be recognized throughout the district - and beyond. Walker is both passionate and tireless in her work with Cisco NetAcad, and to hear her talk about current and future projects is to recognize she’s barely gotten started as a mentor and teacher.
   
Within a couple years, labor analysts in the U.S. predict there’ll be over one million more tech jobs than qualified applicants to fill them. And the salary for many of these tech jobs? Often in the $80,000 to $110,000 range. It’s surprising that more high school students aren’t standing in line to enroll in these information technology (IT) pathways.
   
How are Chapel Hill High’s AOIT and Cisco Networking Academy courses laying foundations for students to join the ranks of the “quickly employed” tech workers? Students can now choose two Cisco course pathways, either CET (computer engineering technology) or NET (network engineering technology). Upon completion of the specialized courses in either pathway, students can sit for rigorous and prestigious industry certifications before graduating from high school. The district will even pay for one certification exam voucher for each student.     
     
The AOIT is housed at Chapel Hill High, but it’s open to all CHCCS high school students who can travel from their home schools to take the academy classes. The Cisco Networking Academy is an international training program accessible through universities, community colleges, and some high schools. It provides the curriculum and hands-on lab experiences for students, as well as resources to deliver and extend IT training for instructors.  From this framework, Walker provides students with an ever-growing range of activities, information about opportunities to apply skills outside the classroom, and she works with AOIT to provide internships. Cisco's IT Essentials in the Computer Engineering courses provides training in hardware, software, and troubleshooting skills, while preparing students for CompTIA A+ certification. Cisco's CCNA (Certified Cisco Network Associate) Routing and Switching curriculum is used in the Network Engineering courses, training students in the process of data transmission, network design, device configuration, and troubleshooting, while preparing students for the Cisco CCENT (Certified Cisco Entry Networking Technician) and CCNA certifications.
     
Walker teaches all of the Computer Engineering and Network Engineering courses at Chapel Hill High, and her enthusiasm about the Cisco curriculum and its enduring benefits to students is apparent in the first few minutes of conversation. She’s a true believer, based on more than fifteen years in the IT field, as well as ten years in previous instructional positions. The keyword for her is “Opportunity,” and she loves to reel off the many opportunities students can pursue to sharpen their networking and engineering skill sets.
     
Earning one or both of the “certs” by graduation is the crown jewel of Cisco NetAcad participation, but all of the students who complete one of the pathways are well-qualified to work in IT, right out of high school. In this district, as Walker notes, most students will continue to a four year university, but some NetAcad graduates pursue classes at community colleges, or take their skills into the military. “Even without the certs, by completing these courses, students can transfer their skill sets into any profession,” said Walker.
     
“Cisco Networking Academy is a very useful program that teaches you a lot about computer engineering and networking,” said Dhruv Patel, who’s currently taking both Computer Engineering 2 and Networking Engineering 1. “Paired with the lab work Ms.Walker sets up, it prepares you for the CompTIA A+ and the CCENT certifications and gives you skills for practical use, at home and on the job.”
     
Walker’s students frequently take advantage of service-learning opportunities, both in-district and in the community. “I say to them all the time, Use your skills for good.”
     
This year, she and Darren Bell, manager of the CHCCS Community Connection Program, have collaborated to create the Tiger Tech Squad with more than 35 of Walker’s students. The Squad will soon operate as a Chromebook service depot, beginning with tech support for the Career and Technical Education staff at Chapel Hill High, but they will expand that support in the future.
     
Walker encourages her students to earn service-learning hours - plus invaluable Real World experience - at events like Volunteer Night at the Kramden Institute in the Research Triangle Park. Students provide assistance to local residents through Kramden, performing tasks like desktop refurbishing and monitor testing.
     
“It’s great for these students to see their skill set has value. In three hours, you can give people something that can change their lives,” said Walker. “Students say, 'But it’s so easy to swap out a hard drive,' and I say - to you it is!”
     
Beyond the service opportunities touted by Walker, she is constantly sharing news about internships and scholarships for summer study. Her Twitter feed @LearnITWalker is a goldmine for students in search of (there’s that word again) opportunities: cybersecurity workshops, Virtual Reality instruction and UNC’s Imagine Lab are just a few of the recent links or posts shared.
     
Walker also brings in a regular slate of tech speakers from Lenovo, Cisco and other industry giants in the area, as well as creates informative field trips for students to observe and experience a range of IT professionals in action.
     
Liz Anderton is a sophomore in Computer Engineering Technology 1, and she described how fortunate she feels to have landed in the NetAcad, even as one of the few young women in Walker’s classes. “It can be a little intimidating being the only female in a class, but it’s interesting because sometimes they (her male classmates) just think differently.” Anderton said that she’s very shy and has tended to dislike group work in previous classes, but she thrives in the team-learning format of Walker’s class. “This experience has helped me be more open in general. Everyone is really encouraging, and it’s been amazing.”
     
Anderton moved to Chapel Hill from Tennessee before ninth grade. “There was never anything like this where I lived before,” she said. “Kids don’t realize how lucky they are to have these programs. And if more people sign up for NetAcad, we can grow and do even more things.”


The Cisco Networking Academy celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017. According to its website “since 2005, more than 1.6 million students who have completed advanced courses have gotten new jobs thanks to Cisco Networking Academy. In the United States, 30 percent of enrolled students are underrepresented minorities (African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian/Alaska Native), and numerous academies specifically serve military service members, veterans, and their families. Additionally, Cisco Networking Academy has made a commitment to benefit 10,000 people living with disabilities within the next five years.

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?articleId=1894689

The Reality of Money

How many adults wish they could have learned about the reality of money, before they set forth into the world (or as Millennials say, before they began adulting)?

     

With guidance and resources from the local State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU), many parents, a team of teachers and support staff, and all of the eighth graders at McDougle Middle School recently experienced a crash course in personal finance. Maybe a little scary, but judging from the students’ evaluations, the event was also extremely valuable-- and fun.

     

The Reality of Money is a community outreach program created by SECU and offered to schools (grades 8-12) as a collaborative learning experience on financial literacy. Phillips Middle School has hosted this event the past three years, but this was the first time for McDougle Middle. The entire 8th grade class, approximately 200 students, participated in groups of 65 during the three sessions throughout the day.

     

In the media center, stations with pairs of parent volunteers were set up at tables: housing, healthcare/insurance, childcare, entertainment, and credit cards among others. First they received random profiles which gave details about their occupation, education level, family situation and monthly salary. As SECU’s Erin Roache said, “They then go through the same decision making process that we, as adults, go through every day.”

    

As students figured out their profiles, they compared information, laughing and shrieking, though at some points while circulating around the media center, some of them reflected stress and frustration. “I’m out of money,” rang out from station to station. One student said, “Things cost a lot more than I thought!”

     

Besides the categories of family and personal expenses, a wildcard element called “Stuff Happens” precipitated fear and amusement among students, as assistant principal Chassity Coston roamed around the stations, handing out cards. Surprise expenditures included buying a wedding present, buying $20 on Halloween candy, breaking a tooth and deciding on a dental treatment. Some cards yielded surprise bonuses, but most produced negative impacts on budgets. Coston said that students were running away from her, once their funds began to disappear.

      

Roache from SECU said, “The goals of the activity are to teach students to live within, or below, their means, to learn that credit can affect their way of living, that furthering your education beyond high school is important to a successful future, and that learning how to manage money now will help them avoid many financial pitfalls.”

     

As Robin Gallaher, District Career Development Coordinator for CTE said, “The 8th grade students learned financial information that many adults do not apply in their own lives.”

    

Nearly three dozen parents volunteered to cover stations, some for an hour or two, others for the full school day. Sarah Morales, 8th grade counselor, said, “Volunteer recruitment is key--we started early and enlisted the PTA's help.” The school provided lunch for volunteers, and a time to debrief, before gearing up for the afternoon sessions. “The volunteers had really positive feedback about their role in the program, too!”said Morales.

     

“A hundred lectures on budgeting wouldn't have as much impact on students as the experience of having to re-think their spending as their monthly balance dwindled away to nothing,” said Mellicent Blythe, parent of 8th grader Will Blythe.  “They also saw in really concrete terms how their education level and credit score can make things so much harder or easier for them down the road. I wish I had something like it when I was in school!”

     

What were the students’ reactions to the Reality of Money? Consider some of their responses to the question about what they learned: “I should definitely get insurance,” “Having two kids is really expensive and you never want to have bad credit,” “It’s hard to make decisions about money,” and “You can’t get everything you want.” One student who clearly had encountered assistant principal Coston with her Stuff Happens cards said, “You have to prepare for the unexpected.”

     

Several students reflected on how they now understand more about their parents’ responsibilities and concerns. One wrote, “I learned how to appreciate my parents”-- another, “Money is important and my parents sacrifice a lot.”

    

Eighth grade students, parents and teachers at Phillips Middle School will reprise this event in February.

   

“SECU relishes outreach opportunities like these as they help to foster relationships within the very communities we serve daily in our operations,” said Charles Robinson, the senior financial services officer who represented the organization at McDougle last month.