Communities In Schools of North Carolina

Linda Harrill, President of Communities In Schools of North Carolina, was recently shown on News 14 in Raleigh.

http://news14.com/content/headlines/597903/group-calls-on-public-for-dropout-help/Default.aspx

Power of One: East Carolina Challenge and Adventures Program

 

Communities In Schools of Pitt County’s Power of One mentoring program participated in the East Carolina Challenge and Adventures program through monies received from the Pitt County Health Education Foundation. 

Girl Power Challenge Course

 

On Saturday, May 24th, Girl Power groups from Grifton and Pactolus participated in the Challenge Course at East Carolina University. The girls worked well as a team and cannot wait for the opportunity to go again. We would like to say thank you to our facilitators for the day, Rebecca and Jamie.

On Thursday, June 19th, the Boys & Girls Club Girl Power group also participated in the Challenge Course at ECU.  We would like to say thank you to our facilitator for that day, Mel.

Girl Power Day @ ECU

On March 20, 2008 the Girl Power groups, from each of the six Pitt County Schools, and our newest group from the Boys & Girls Club will be attending East Carolina University.  The girls will be given an opportunity to see the college and all that it has to offer them.  They will be given a tour and a chance to experience the college for a day.

Girl Power @ Boys & Girls Club

Communities In Schools of Pitt County in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Pitt County will begin a new Girl Power group this week.  The group will be made up of girls who attend the Boys & Girls Club and will be held on Wednesday afternoons.

Reality Store @ CM Eppes

On April 18th, Communities In Schools of Pitt County hosted a Reality Store at CM Eppes Middle School.  We would like to say thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make this event a success.

Power of One: Thank You Pitt County Health Education Foundation

Thank you to Pitt County Health Education foundation for providing monies that sponsored the Bladez On Ice, Power of One group activity. 

Miss North Carolina

 

Miss North Carolina speaks to girl groups at schoolBy Josh Humphries
The Daily Reflector

Friday, February 22, 2008

Pitt County’s Girl Power groups got a visit Thursday from one of the state’s best examples of hard work and perseverance.

Miss North Carolina Jessica Jacobs visited with the groups at Wellcome Middle School.

“The two things that make us — as young ladies — as powerful as we can be is education and the ability to serve others,” she said.“That is what Miss North Carolina and Girl Power is all about.”Girl Power, a mentoring program launched by the U.S. Department of Human Services in 1996, is directed locally by Mallory Gravatt of Pitt County Communities in Schools. Groups at six middle schools meet after school once a week to learn, study and participate in community service. Wellcome’s program, which hosted Thursday’s visit, is the largest of the group.Jessika Bowden, a seventh-grader at A.G. Cox Middle School, was very excited to meet Miss North Carolina during her visit.“She is nice,” Bowden said. “She just seems down to earth.”The room of about 75 girls broke into loud applause when Jacobs entered. The girls listened as she spoke to them about her “Read to Me” literacy program, the community service part of her run for Miss North Carolina and Miss America, where she finished as fourth runner up.They asked her questions on topics ranging from fingernail polish and shoes to graduate school and riding in limousines.Jacobs attends graduate school at N.C. State, where she is also a public speaking instructor. She took the year off to serve as Miss North Carolina, compete in the Miss America pageant and travel across the state to festivals and speaking engagements.She said her favorite part of being Miss North Carolina is visiting schools.“It is really a blessing for me,” she said. “Especially the questions and answer. You learn so much about young people from just talking to them. They have so much energy and you pick it up.No matter how far I travel, it is worth it when I get to a school and meet a new group of kids.”Jacobs travels constantly. She will travel to Lee County, Buncombe County and Transylvania County this week alone.“You only get to be Miss North Carolina for a year, so you pack it in,” she said.After the local event, the girls huddled around Jacobs for nearly 30 minutes for autographs and photos.Each group performed a skit or a cheer for Miss North Carolina during the program. The girls from E.B. Aycock included a step routine, and the girls from A.G. Cox read a poem about the importance of Girl Power.“It shows us self-respect,” Bowden said. “It teaches about how to grow in life.”Bowden said the girls at Cox visit nursing homes, send packages to soldiers and meet weekly to talk about their lives.Jacobs said the Miss America pageants have evolved from the old days where the focus was mainly on appearance. Miss America is the largest provider of scholarships to women in the world, she said.Scholarships were her motivation for entering pageants in the first place. She entered 10 local or regional pageants before winning.This, she told the girls, is a lesson in perseverance.“I am looking forward to all the great things you will do,” she said  Nevin DaryaniResearch and Evaluation SpecialistCISNC 

Reality Store: Photo Update

Communities In Schools of Pitt County held a “Reality Store” at CM Eppes Middle School in March. Seventh and Eighth grade students attended this day long event held in the school media center. Over sixty community volunteers from Oakmont Baptist Church, The Communities In School Board of Directors and an ECU Fraternity spent the day teaching students about finances in the real world. Each student was given a check register, provided by Wachovia Bank, with a description of the job they held, the amount of money they earned, and their family situation. The students then went to stations to purchase homes, insurance, medical services, groceries, utilities, automobiles and child care. A trip to the bank was a part of the learning experience. Student comments were, “Wow, I am going to have to sell my SUV and get a cheaper car”. and “I have spent all my money and don’t have any food”. Several students wrote on their evaluation that they learned a lot and the most important thing they learned was to stay in school and get a good education so that they can get a good job and afford the things they need. Communities In Schools hopes to have the Reality Store in all of Pitt County’s Middle Schools next year.