Celebrating the life
of Coach Fritz
By Bryson B
On Monday, March 18, the Macon Middle School baseball team hosted a pre-game ceremony celebrating the life of
Matt Fritz. On October 1, 2012, Matt lost his battle with
cancer. Matt was a well-respected teacher, father, husband,
coach, and friend to many in Macon County. He touched
the lives of all who knew him.
Matt left behind his loving wife, Teresa and two sons,
Chanz and Zak. They were the honorary guests on the 18th
and threw out the first pitch. The Macon Middle School
baseball coaches and players decided to dedicate this season
to Matt and his family.
“I had the privilege of playing Middle School baseball for
Coach Fritz last year. He was always so encouraging and really
cared about his players. He truly loved baseball! It’s not the
same without him on the field, but we are playing for him!”
Hawks March Madness
By Kayla P
On March 9 2013, Nantahala School hosted its first annual
Alumni Basketball Game against the Andrews Wildcats. Nantahala
won two out of the three games. Next year, Andrews will host Nantahala for the Alumni Games. The following week Nantahala held
its annual Spring Festival. The festival included a hot dog dinner,
talent show, and various games in individual classrooms. Some of
the money was used to sponsor the Jr/Sr class trip to Washington,
DC. Topping things off, we had our spring break during the last
week of March.
WE ARE RECYCLING! Our Kindergarten classes at Cartoogechaye recycled cans from the cafeteria and made adorable Easter buckets for Easter. We also recycled
magazines
and put them through the shredder to make our own Easter grass for the buckets. Then we had a wonderful egg hunt to fill them!
Our Kindergarten classes at Cartoogechaye recycled cans from the cafeteria, and made adorable Easter buckets for Easter. We also recycled magazines and put them through the shredder to make our own Easter grass for the buckets. Then we had a wonderful egg hunt to fill them! Wearable Art
By Veronica
Highlands School art teacher, Mrs. Faust, entered her Art 1, 2, and 4
students in the yearly Vans Competition. Vans are a widely known brand
of shoes that are manufactured in the United States. The Art class is going
up against 1,500 other schools across the nation. Each school is given
time from February 11 until April 5 to create designs for the Vans shoes
based on themes. If one of our designs is chosen by the judges, we take
a trip to New York for a final decision on the winning design which will
then be manufactured.
We were first given the regulations of the contest and then got together
as a class to brainstorm ideas for the themes of the design. The themes
for this contest were local flavor, board sports, art, and music. After
we brainstormed ideas, the whole class divided into groups for each
theme. Over the course of two weeks, we experimented with analogous,
complimentary colors, and created different designs for the shoes on
templates we had printed from their webiste.
The students created many unique designs but it all had to come down
to one for each group so we came together as a class to vote on the best
design for each theme. Once the designs were chosen, the groups brought
them to life on the actual shoes. The students managed to get the designs
on the shoes as accurate and perfect as possible. The completed shoe
pictures have now been sent off with the hopes of one of our designs
being chosen by the judges during the initial judging before the public
voting phase. Keep your fingers crossed!
Save Physical Education
Mrs. O’Donoghue worked with
Mrs. Neitz’s class on an Obesity
Prevention Journal. The journal
was linked to the five obesity preventions that our PE teachers help
us learn about. Our classes learned
that the Obesity Prevention Behaviors are Be Active Every day
(60 min or more), Eat Vegetables
& Fruit Every Day (5-9 servings),
Sleep Well Every Night (8-11
hours), Limit TV & Computer
Use (1hr or less a day), and Limit
Soda and Sugary Drinks.
Mrs. O’Donoghue told us that
she went to an advocacy training called “Be Our Voice-Obesity
Awareness Workshop”. At this
workshop they challenged her to
take opportunities to advocate
By Sara O
for our children, such as contacting decision makers to get policy
changes in schools. Ms. Greb, our
teacher’s intern, went to “Speak
Out Day” in Washington, DC.
This event is where people can
go to support physical education
in schools. The students are very
lucky in this county to get Physical Education every day, because
as you probably know PE is being cut in many schools. So, Mrs.
Neitz’s class has been writing letters
to Mark Meadows, our Congressman, to get the word out to SAVE
our PE in Macon County Schools!
My letter to Mark Meadows
said:
Dear Congressman Meadows,
My name is Sara and P. E. is
important to me because I need one
hour of exercise daily. In PE, we have
fun games like sharks and minnows.
PE helps me in school, too, because
when I get to school I want to run
and jump and then after PE, I am
calm and can do my math. Please
don’t take away PE.
Sincerely,
Sarah O.
Another letter written to our
Congressman stated:
Dear Congressman Meadows,
My name is Mercedes and I just
wanted to tell you PE is important
because if we didn’t have PE we
would have too much energy. We are
doing Jump Rope for Heart in PE It
is very fun. We play a lot of games
Macon Early College Civil War Expo
In March, Mrs. Reynolds’ and Mr.
Long’s History classes participated in the
3rd Annual MEC Civil War Expo. Students presented their research on their
chosen Civil War topics, and created artifacts and display boards to demonstrate
what they learned in their research. The
topics studied, varied from a range of subjects, such as battles, people, and events
during the course of the Civil War. Many
community members, faculty, and students attended the event; a great time was
had by all. A special thanks to Dr. Chris
Baldwin, Mr. Ron Haven, SCC Faculty,
Macon County Historical Society members, and parents for attending the Civil
War Expo.
By Noah M
like Hornet Island and Sharks and
Minnows. Those are my very favorite. We really like PE! The other reason I like PE is because we love the
PE teachers. Thank you for taking
the time to read our letters.
Sincerely,
Mercedes
Please help SAVE our P.E. by
writing your own letter too!!
Congressman Mark Meadows
1546 Longworth House
Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3311
Editor’s Note: There are no current discussions about limiting PE in
Macon County Schools.
Ralph the Therapy Dog
By Allen, Brandon, and Leah
Annie Get Your Gun
April 18 - 21
Ralph is a three year old Golden Doodle. This friendly pooch is training to be a therapy dog, and he visits Mountain View Intermediate to
practice his skills. A therapy dog is a dog that helps people grow mentally
and physically by coming to visit them at hospitals, homes, schools, and
hospices. Ralph helps people by playing with them, letting them pet him,
and being a good listener. He listens to MVI students when they read to
him. Therapy dogs must be well-tempered, friendly, and patient.
Mrs. Barnard’s students came to visit Ralph in the media center while
we were there. Ralph soothed the first child very well. Normally, the student wouldn’t have really played with dogs, but Ralph made him feel
comfortable and calm. Then the student laid down with Ralph and
rubbed Ralph’s ears.
Another student had played with Ralph before. He likes to play with
Ralph’s fluffy ears. He said “Ralph likes to play football.” He liked to sit
with Ralph and read his book. Ralph was very patient and looked like he
was really listening.
Ralph once visited a child in the hospital who wouldn’t ever leave his
bed. Ralph came in and met the child, then turned around and went out
in the hallway. The little boy followed him, leaving his room, which was
a surprise to everyone!
Ralph seemed to like all the students he met at MVI, including us! His
biggest job is to calm and soothe the students and he seems to be really
good at that!
Born to Hand Jive!
Sponsored by Kurti Orthodontics
Mike Snider String Band
May 11
Herman’s Hermits
starring Peter Noone
May 4
May 18
Sponsored By:
Georgia Symphony Orchestra
May 25
June 14
Mark Lowry & Stan Whitmire
Unplugged & Unplanned
June 1
Cinderella: A Magical Musical
June 27-30
By Taylor, Tori, and Drew
All of the second grade students at Iotla Valley set reading goals and
started reading lots of books. We read books like: US Marines, Arthur
Chapter books, and Little Miss books. Our reward for getting to our
goal was to go to the Sock Hop! We all dressed up like the 50s. Some
of the things we wore were: leather jackets, poodle skirts, rolled up jeans,
button shirts, and scarfs. We danced the Twist, did the Hand Jive, and
played games like musical records. We also got Coke and Rootbeer floats
in cool cups with straws. Reading helps you learn and have fun, too!
1028 Georgia Rd • Franklin, NC • 828.524.1598
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