• Upper School Academic Awards - May 15
• Upper School Athletic Awards - May 20
• Middle School Academic Awards - May 23
• Middle School Athletic Awards - May 27

LilyGrace Wolfe is one of eight area students from High Point private and public schools whose works were selected for the exhibit. She has seven pieces on display. The exhibition is open through June 28. Sponsored by Starnes Art Company, each participant receives a $25 gift certificate for art supplies.

At the state competition, the Freaks of Nature 1 team, comprised of ninth-grader Dalya DuMarieh, 10th-grader Taylor Christiansen, 11th-graders Chris Ball and Kim Bazel, and 12th-grader Sarai Pegram, placed ninth out of 56 teams. The Freaks of Nature 2, with ninth-graders Richie Sater, Trey Shoaf and Justin Stancevic-Bedosky placed 34th.

"We are very proud of both teams," said team advisor and upper school science teacher Jane Bowie.

Junior Christiana Conrad, and seniors Sarai Pegram and Charlotte Pennington are the club's newest members. Seniors James Abbott and Cameron Fitzpatrick, and juniors Corley Gibbs and Justin Grzyb, are already members of the Westchester chapter of Tri-M.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society is an international program dedicated to the recognition of exceptional music students in grades 6-12 that meet the music, academic, leadership, and character criteria required of every Tri-M member.

Tenth-graders Ashley Acuff, Taylor Christiansen, Sara Couch, Elizabeth Coughlin, Will Holland, Caroline Owings, Abbey Pfister, Amy Rowley, Ashley Saurel, Courtney Shannon, Ansley Smith and Sloan Tucker; and eleventh-graders April Bryant, Maddie Goldman, Parker Hendrix, Sam Kirby, Molly McKenna, Alex Payan and Aaron Ricketson.

The Freaks of Nature orange team, comprised of eighth-graders Sara Jacubowitz, Sara Katherine Kirkpatrick and Kristen McDowell, and seventh-graders Avery Goho and Olivia Greeson, came in 3rd out of 26 teams. The Freaks of Nature blue team, with seventh-graders Thomas Freeman, Thomas Freund, Bailey Gilliam, and Christian James, and sixth-grader Mary Kate Farris, placed 5th. Both of these teams advance to the state competition at Cedarock Park in Burlington April 25-26.

"We are very proud of both teams," said middle school science teacher Evelyn Johnson.

Christiana Conrad and Zack Koontz, both 11th-graders, will attend Governor's School East at Meredith College in Raleigh this summer. Conrad was selected for choral music and Koontz for social science.

The Governor's School of North Carolina is a six-week summer residential program for intellectually gifted high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses.

The team has advanced to the state finals and will compete April 5 at East Carolina University. The seven team members are: sixth-graders Tommy Frungillo and Julia Sagerdahl, and seventh-grader Sam Gibson, all of Westchester Country Day School; and sixth-grader Taylor Fielding, and seventh-graders Cara Farlow, Savanna Varga and Brendan Whittaker from Jamestown Middle School.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.

Westchester Country Day School will be the host of an area level competition of Battle of the Books on Thursday, March 13 at Rich Fork Baptist Church.

Participants from Westchester include eighth-graders: Sara Katherine Kirkpatrick and Kristen McDowell; seventh-graders: Thomas Freeman, Sam Gibson and Christian James; and sixth-graders: Laieke Abebe, Jonathan Buechner, Laura Bunch, Nadia Carlson, Hunter Heinbach, George Lindner, Jonathan Perry, Rishab Revankar and Catherine York. Their coach is Westchester's media specialist, Debi Jones, with parent coach Gay James.

Fourteen Westchester Country Day School students will travel to Monroe this Saturday to compete in the Carolina Sport Stacking Championship at Parkwood High School.

See our cup stackers on TV:

• News 14
• digtriad.com

Westchester Country Day School Middle School students competed in the Guilford County Middle School Math Day Feb. 2 at Kernodle Middle School in Greensboro.

Seventh-grader Claire Councill placed eighth in the seventh-grade category; Cooper Blazek placed 16th for seventh-grade; and sixth-grader Rishab Revankar placed 11th in his grade.

"I don't profess to know sign language, but I'll look up words before class and teach the students their vocabulary in both American Sign Language and Spanish," said Schmidt, who has a grandmother who is hearing impaired. "It really keeps them interested and engaged and allows me to see where they are without embarrassing them by calling on them individually."

Schmidt started small, showing her sixth- and seventh-grade students the signs for yes and no, and male and female. They responded so well she has expanded to prepositions. Schmidt says the reinforcement of learning the sign along with the Spanish word is working, evidenced by the speed with which her students have learned their vocabulary.

"It's really interesting," she said. "Sometimes if they forget a word I can show them the sign and the word comes. It's true kinesthetic learning and is one more way to hit on the different learning styles of students."

Schmidt noted that it's an added bonus her students are now actually learning a third language - American Sign Language. Plus, the lesson reaches beyond the walls of Schmidt's room; the students are studying "Miracle Worker," a book about Helen Keller and her tutor, Anne Sullivan, in their English class. Teacher Evelyn Jenkins has required them to learn the alphabet in sign language for that class.

"Learning about people with disabilities and teaching different means of communication reinforces our mission to promote diversity and respect," said Schmidt. "I plan to continue learning sign language myself and pass that knowledge along to my students."

Student Bo Henley met Scott Towery, co-owner of Custom Crafters of High Point, when Towery was renovating the Henley house a few months ago. One day Towery dropped his hammer and shortly after was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.

Each Friday at Westchester, students are asked to share concerns and Bo mentioned his family friend's ailment. The class took a vote and decided to raise money for the Towery family to help offset the cost of mounting medical bills. There was one caveat - the students could not just ask for money from their parents. The money either had to come from their personal piggy banks or the old-fashion way - earning it.

"We had students doing odd jobs and chores around the house to earn their money," said Janie Shoemaker, fifth-grade teacher. "I'm so proud of them for taking this on and showing such concern for Mr. Towery and his family."

Shoemaker noted that the fifth-graders are involved in a variety of different service projects during the year, including visiting residents of the Emmanuel Lutheran Center each month.

See our fifth-graders on TV.

The students are: sixth-graders Gabby Davis and Emily Delmestri of High Point, Andrew Foreman of Winston-Salem, George Heath of Jamestown, Laurin Hunnicutt of Thomasville, and Erica Sawyer, Catherine York and Phillip Young of High Point; seventh-graders Claire Councill and Mary Marshall Fariss of High Point, and Savannah Wellington of Asheboro; and eighth-graders Ben Bruggeworth of Greensboro and Nicole Harrah of High Point .

Approximately 21 lower school students have enrolled in the 10-week course, which is held Friday afternoons from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m.

Taught by Julia Zhu, an instructor from the Greensboro Chinese Language School, the class is learning simple dialogue, numbers, colors and basic beginner speaking skills.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to be exposed to a different language and culture," said Pat Sams, head of lower school. "We also have had several parents enroll and participate!"

The play, written by Jonathan Troy, surrounds the ailing and irritable Minerva Osterman, who writes her will and asks her family to come for the reading. Murderous mayhem ensues.

Cast members include: Sarai Pegram as Stephanie Osterman; Lisa Evans as Nora, The Housekeeper; Kathryn Frye as Minerva Osterman; Rachael Farlow as Mary Hamilton; Chris Lewis as Keith Latimer; Kara Copeland as Belle Hamilton; Ryan Jones as Pete Martinelli; Justin Grzyb as Dr. Adler; and Zack Koontz as The Man. Stage manager is Cambridge Cunningham.

Fitzpatrick, a 12th-grader, sang for the third time in the NC High School Honors Chorus, and Eggleston, a seventh-grader, sang with the Middle School Honors Chorus. Both choirs performed at the NC Music Educator's Conference in Winston-Salem this past November.