For Employees of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Volume 20, Number 2 • October 2, 2009

Superintendent

From the SuperintendentOur 2009 United Way Campaign is underway. In a year when the economy challenged families, businesses and

institutions, our school system still raised almost $360,000. Many of our students and their families depend on United Way agencies every day. Thanks to your support, the United Way is able to help them.

Our goal this year is $360,000. We all know people who have lost jobs in this economy, and the number of people who need help increases every day. I hope you’ll join me in giving to the United Way so that students receive the ad-ditional assistance they need to become successful

My leadership team will once again offer an incentive that provides an opportunity for 20 employees to win a day off from work. To be eligible, you must contribute at least $100 if you learn less than $30,000 per year; at least $200 if you earn between $30,000 and $45,000; at least $300 if you earn between $45,000 and $60,000; and at least $400 if you earn more than $60,000.

Another way to help students – especially for employees who don’t work directly with students – is through mentor-ing and tutoring. It will take time and commitment; but I can assure you the intrinsic rewards will be great. You may feel at ease working with an elementary student or you may relate well to older students. Whichever the case may be, we have just the volunteer program you are looking for. Please visit our volunteer page for more information. Your working one-on-one with a student on a weekly basis could eventually mean the difference between his/her graduating or drop-ping out of school.

I also want to remind you to look for my monthly video message, In Touch, posted on our Web site. You can view it by clicking here. Thanks for all you do and continue to do for our district.

Keep up with WS/FCS on TwitterFor short and quick updates on

the school system, try following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wsfcs. Click on the link to see what it looks like.

Twitter is a Web site that lets you send short, quick messages to the world and people who follow you – kind of like sending text messages to everyone via the Internet.

Tweets so far include a link to a neat NPR story about the crossing guard at South Fork Elementary and a great video from Virginia about how to sneeze properly.

To follow us, either bookmark www.twitter.com/wsfcs or create a Twitter account. Once you create an account, you can click on “Follow” under the WS/FCS logo on our Twitter page to stay updated.

H1N1 UpdateAs we get further into the school

year, we want to keep you updated on the H1N1 flu. Just as doctors pre-dicted, we have had known cases of H1N1 in most of our schools. Because the virus has spread throughout the community, we presume that it is present in all of our schools. We have seen absences rise across the school system, but they remain under 10 percent – still far below what would be required to close schools.

Good hygiene remains the best precaution against the H1N1 virus. Please remind your children to wash their hands frequently and cover their coughs and sneezes. If a child has a fever, cough, sore throat or other flu-like symptoms, they should stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of medicine. Continue to send children with fevers home.

We are monitoring daily atten-dance, cleaning high-touch areas and talking regularly with the Department of Public Health. We strongly recom-mend that you receive the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. You can sign up here for the seasonal flu shots that will be given at the Central Office on Oct. 6, 7, 8 and 20. (Any dependents older than 9 who are covered by the State Health Plan or Blue Cross/Blue Shield also can get a flu shot.)

We’ll also offer the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available. We’ll inform you through email and the Web site when they are available.

We can limit the spread of all types of flu by working together. We will continue to communicate with you as we have new information, and please check wsfcs.k12.nc.us for other up-dates.

Simington wins Movers & Shakers Award

Assistant Super-intendent Kenneth Simington was given a Movers & Shakers Award from Business Leader Media Sept. 22. In addition, he is featured in the Sep-tember issue of Busi-

ness Leader magazine.The Movers & Shakers Awards

honor up-and-coming leaders in the Triad Community.

Simington grew up in Winston-Sa-lem and graduated from East Forsyth High. He began working for WS/FCS as a counselor at Hanes-Lowrance in 1989 and has worked here since then, with the exception of a few years as an assistant professor at the Univer-sity of Virginia.

Simington became the assistant superintendent for student services in 2006, and he oversees guidance counselors, social workers, psycholo-gists, home-school coordinators, alter-native education, dropout-prevention programs, drug-free-school programs, education for homeless students, stu-dent assignment and student records.

New principals for Wiley and AshleyNew principals at Wiley Middle and Ashley Elementary were hired by the

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education Tuesday night.Both principals - Sean Gaillard at Wiley and Robert Ash at Ashley - have

worked for the school system for several years. Gaillard has been the assistant principal of Kernersville Middle for two years.

Prior to that, he taught English at Reynolds High for three years, and he served as the chair of the English Department for two of those years.

Before moving to North Carolina, Gaillard taught English at several high schools in Massachusetts and Maryland. He’s also taught at elementary and middle schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Gaillard earned a bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America, a master’s degree in teaching from Trinity College, and a master’s degree in school administration from North Carolina A&T University. He is replacing Ed Weiss, who became the principal of Mount Tabor High this summer.

Ash has been assistant principal at Ashley for five years. He also served as assistant principal of Page High in Greensboro for one year.

Ash taught at several schools in North Carolina and Maryland before becom-ing an assistant principal. He started as a special-education teacher at Paint Branch High in Montgomery County, Maryland, before coming to Winston-Salem and teaching eighth grade at Kennedy Learning Center. After two years at Kennedy, Ash taught for two years at Western High in Guilford County. He left Western for Page.

Ash earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in social science edu-cation from Florida State University. He also earned a certificate in educational leadership from the University of New England. He is replacing Brenda Butler, who retired on Sept. 1.

Rudel wins WFU teaching awardFourth-grade teacher Brian Rudel, shown here with members of his class at Caleb’s Creek Elementary, has won the Marcellus E. Waddill Excellence in Teaching Award from Wake Forest University. Rudel received the award Sept. 17 during Wake Forest’s opening convocation. Rudel graduated from Wake Forest in 1993 and is in his first year teaching at Caleb’s Creek. He also has taught at Gibson and Southwest elementary schools.The alumni award was established in 1994 and is given to one elementary school teacher and one secondary school teacher in recognition of exemplary teaching. It comes with a $20,000 prize.

Check BUS Stop for updated discounts

The popular savings program brought to us by the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce is going strong. Click on this link (http://bit.ly/4iQXiL) to download a Word docu-ment that includes 30 pages of dis-counts for all WS/FCS employees.

You’ll find all sorts of deals listed – everything from 10 percent or 20 per-cent discounts at various restaurants, to discounts on services like plumbing and heating, to discounts on monthly fees at fitness centers.

Reminder: Employee Handbook and Administrative Directory are online

In order to save money in a tough budget year, the Employee Handbook and Administrative Directory are both online. You can find them both by clicking on this link: wsfcs.k12.nc.us/pubs.

Inside Info is published by Winston-Salem/

Forsyth County SchoolsWinston-Salem, NC 27102-2513

Donald L. Martin, Jr., Superintendent

Remember to recycle your bottles

A new law that bans plastic bottles from landfills took effect Oct. 1. The

Want to buy a house for 50 percent off?

The Good Neighbor Next Door pro-gram allows teachers, police, firefight-ers and EMS workers to buy houses for 50 percent off in certain neighbor-hoods. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A map of the neighborhoods that qualify is available here.

For more information, please visit www.hud/gov/offices/hsg/sfh/reo/goodn/gnndabot.cfm or call Mellin Parker of the city of Winston-Salem at 734-1310.

Helpline 1-866-559-5621The Helpline is a confidential way

to report concerns about the safety, security and integrity of all our schools. You can call the Helpline to report any unethical conduct, harassment, violence or any other safety issue. It’s confidential, toll-free, and you can call 24 hours a day. You also can make re-ports online at www.integrity-helpline.com/WSFCS.jsp

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards taking applications now

Students have until Nov. 2 to apply for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, which honor volunteerism.

Each school’s winner receives the President’s Volunteer Service Award

More available onlineYou can now check and update

important employment information online.

Your contact information: Click here for the Human Resources page. From there, click on Information for Employees, then on Employees – update your contact information here. Please make sure this is updated and complete. The HR department doesn’t have emergency contacts for many people, and this would be very helpful.

You also can view all of your retirement information now. From the Human Resources page, click on Information for Employees, then on Retirement Information. There you can click the link to ORBIT, which is the online retirement system. Register as a user, and you’ll have unlimited ac-cess to detailed information about your retirement account.

World War II Veteran Lou Papicino (left) spoke to students at Old Richmond Elementary on Sept. 25. Students, led by fifth-grade teacher Kathy Joyce, raised $1,065 for the Triad Flight of Honor.

Astronaut and medical doctor Thomas Marshburn spoke to students at Hanes Magnet on Oct. 2 about the 16 days he spent in space this summer. Marshburn, shown here with footage of the shuttle flight playing behind him, grew up in Statesville and received his medical degree from Wake Forest University. Hanes students also participated in a NASA virtual class on the effects of weightlessness.

law is meant to reduce the amount of trash that winds up in the ground in landfills and to encourage recycling. Please remember to recycle your bottles.

Another new law is coming down the road: beginning Dec. 1, you can no longer text or email while driving. Though the law doesn’t go into effect for another two months, we’d all be safer if we stopped using our thumbs now.

and enters the state competition. State winners receive $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C., to be honored at an award ceremony.

More information can be found at http://spirit.prudential.com.