The annual event was full of smiles, fun, excitement, goodies for the Honorees and celebration for all as we recognized this year’s Volunteer Honorees.   The WCPTA would like to thank Superintendent Dr. James  Merrill, Area Superintendents Lloyd Gardner, Rose Anne Gonzalez and Clinton Robinson, Board of Education Representatives Christine Kushner, Bill Fletcher and Monkia Johnson-Hostler, and the many guests that attended the celebration.  Thank you to Chick-fil-A at Crossroads Plaza Cary, GoPlaySave and Communities in Schools Wake County for sponsoring the event and the WCPSS Staff Development Office for the venue.

For more information and photos, including the Honoree Photo Op area shots, can be found on our Night of Stars page.  Photos are courtesy of Shako Oteka, photographer with CIS Wake.

Several local PTA units received honors over the weekend in Winston-Salem at the 2014 North Carolina PTA Education Conference.  Congratulations on your recognition!

Centennial Campus Middle School PTSA – 2 awards:
Outstanding Student Service Award for their “Safe Haven Eighth Grade Class Program”
Achievement Award – Distinguished Local Unit 2013-14

Durant Road Elementary School PTA:
Achievement Award – Distinguished Local Unit 2013-14

Highcroft Drive Elementary School PTA – 2 awards:
Gwin Hughes Healthful Living Award for their “March into Good Choices Program”
Achievement Award – Distinguished Local Unit 2013-14

Olive Chapel Elementary School PTA – 2 awards:
Ruby Acorn Award (awarded to any NC PTA unit who has 100% of their full time school staff as a PTA member of their unit)
Achievement Award – Distinguished Local Unit 2013-14

Wake County PTA Council:

• Achievement Award – Distinguished Council 2013-14
• Announced as a recipient of a $10,000 Smart from the Start: Community Outreach Grant from the National PTA

The Wake County PTA Council would like to thank the over 200 guests who came out to participate in the 2014 WCPTA Food Education Fun Night.  The event was filled with healthy foods, education classes and materials for all ages, music, art, face painting,           exciting vendors, and a ton of smiling faces!

Thank you to the following event sponsors and vendors for helping to make the event a wonderful success:

Whole Foods Market
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
Fit and Able Productions
Poe Health Center
Camp MusArt
Apex Farmers Market
The Produce Box
WCPSS Staff Development Office

Congratulations to the following National Reflections Winners from Wake County!

Caleb Rossie from Middle Creek High School in Apex won a National Reflections Award of Excellence for his Film piece titled  Reach for the Stars.

Annabel Bloom from Ligon GT Magnet Middle School in Raleigh won a National Reflections Award of Merit for her Dance piece titled  Wings of Hope.

We are very proud of you and of all our Wake County PTA Council Reflections Program Participants!

updated on 5-9-14—THE APPLICATION LINK IS NOW CLOSED

The Night of Stars Honoree Form deadline is this Thursday, May 8, 2014.

The WCPTA Night of Stars and President’s Dinner will be May, 29, 2014 beginning at 6:00pm at the WCPSS Crossroads II.  Guests will enjoy dinner and desert before the awards presentation.

Please follow all instructions on the honoree form and Survey Monkey links.  Please nominate only one Honoree per school.

Honoree Form Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/ s/2014nightofstars-FORM

Event RSVP Link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/ s/2014nightofstarsRSVP

Night of Stars Honoree Form: 2014 NOS Form

If you have any questions please email Leah Williams or Ann Rollins at:
nigh-of-stars@wakepta.org

               
Brains and Bodies Award Winners                                     Wellness Star Winners

On April 25, 2014 Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) announced the 2014 Brains and Bodies Award recipients and Wellness Star recipients - individual Wake County schools going above and beyond, to support healthy behaviors at school for both students and staff.  Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) School Board Chair Christine Kushner was invited to present the awards.

Ten schools earned the Brains and Bodies Award, and six earned the Wellness Star, with three schools winning both awards. Underwood Elementary in Raleigh won the AHA Brains and Bodies Award for overall wellness at the Gold level designation for the fourth year in a row. Brier Creek Elementary, Davis Drive Elementary, Highcroft Elementary, Hunter Elementary and Joyner Elementary earned awards at the Silver level. Bronze award winners include Brentwood Elementary, Lead Mine Elementary, Martin Middle School and Oak Grove Elementary. The AHA Brains and Bodies Award is the only school award for school health in Wake County.

Wellness Star winners are Davis Drive Elementary, Hunter Elementary, Laurel Park Elementary, Martin Middle School, Olive Chapel Elementary and Wake Forest Elementary. The Wellness Star award is new this year, and recognizes efforts to support walking and biking to school.All award winners earned a banner to display at their school. “We are so impressed with the work of all these schools to make wellness and health a priority,” Sara Merz, director of AHA. “Physically active students who eat healthy foods perform better academically, have fewer disciplinary issues, and are starting off on the right foot.”“More than 43 percent of kids aged 5 to 11 in Wake County are overweight or obese,” Merz continued. “Our Brains and Bodies Award winners are making a real difference in their schools by changing the way they do their work, creating opportunities for students to be active, and implementing the WCPSS Wellness Policy and focusing on employee and student wellness.”

AHA created the Brains and Bodies Award program four years ago to celebrate and recognize schools making an effort to incorporate wellness into the culture of the school day. The application process is also intended to be educational, providing schools with information and a wide array of resources and best practices to model.  One of the student wellness criteria is that schools provide opportunities for students to participate in daily physical activity during the school day, excluding recess and physical education.  Lead Mine Elementary, for example, includes physical activity in its morning announcements.

For more AHA information go to:        http://www.advocatesforhealthinaction.org/

AHA Contacts:
Sara Merz, smerz@wakeaha.org
Michele McKinley, mmckinley@wakeaha.org

Our 2014 Reflections Celebration was an art filled evening honoring our WCPTA Reflections Winners.  Thank you to everyone that helped to make it a success.  Thank you to our sponsors: Kimco Realty, Sweet Tomatoes of Cary, Brian Mullins Photography, and Cary Awards.

Congratulations again students, great job!