THE PLC TIMES In This Issue

Principal’s Report

A Day at the PLC

Communities In Schools

Student Clubs

Student Services

PLC Spirit

Hoodie Project

Community Outreach

Business Class News

Congratulations to

Class of 2016

Upcoming Events

*This edition of the PLC Times was

created/edited by the yearbook staff.

A Day at the PLC

The Principal’s Report Thank you for taking the time to read the PLC Newsletter. Our school is completing another successful year and we are excited to share our many student accomplishments. We are

entering a busy 4th quarter. Our Prom is scheduled for the

end of the month at the Concord Hotel. Likewise, the staff is ensuring that our 70 seniors have completed all the neces-sary course work in order to graduate in June. Our program continues to gain momentum in the community as we look to attract students from all high schools that will benefit from our personalized environment.

We appreciate the support of Cabarrus County Schools, Communities in Schools and various businesses, groups and organizations within our county. Without this community sup-port, we would not be able to achieve our mission of helping underachieving students successfully complete high school and move on to higher education. It is a task that we enjoy and are committed to achieving.

James Williams Ed.D., Principal

The Performance Learning Center Newsletter Volume II, Issue 3 April 2016

Communities in Schools Communities in Schools (CIS) is a nonprofit organization whose

mission is to surround students with a community support, empow-

ering them to stay in school and achieve in life. As the CIS Site Co-

ordinator at the PLC I’ve worked to bring the community in to the

PLC as well as take our students out in the community with the

goal of exposing our students to a wide array of opportunities for

their post-graduation plans. My theory is: if you don’t know about it,

you can’t dream about it; so I try to expose students to a wide array

of experiences and opportunities. Through guest speakers, field

trips, tutoring, mentoring, and job shadowing experiences, PLC

students have learned how academic success can prepare them

for their future. Students have been offered the opportunity explore

career opportunities in business, journalism, veterinary science,

health sciences, visual arts, construction, manufacturing, military,

education, early child hood development, law enforcement, emer-

gency management, and cosmetology.

Students Visit Clearwater

Art Studios

Students interested in the visual arts toured Clear-

Water Artist Studios to see local professional artists

in action. We visited the studios of 8 different artists

to learn about their medium and artwork. Following

the tour we sat down with all of the artists for a panel

discussion on what it takes to become a professional

artist, how to market your art work, and how to run

your own art business.

On Friday March 4, 14 students spent their day giving back to the community by

working on a Habitat for Humanity house. Not only did this opportunity allow

students to participate in service learning, but they got hands on experience in

construction and a lesson on how building a house is all about math: measuring,

simple arithmetic, geometry, and calculus.

Spread the Word to End the

Word

Spread the word to end

the word. On April 14th

students will volunteer

their time at the Special

Olympics Spring Games.

To kick off the event, a

Special Olympics Athlete

came to the PLC to talk

about his experiences

with the “R-word” and

how we should choose to

respect others. Students

came together and

signed a pledge to end

the use of the r-word.

Rowan-Cabarrus College

Visit

Along with Ms. Brooks, a group of 20 students

took a tour of Rowan Cabarrus Community Col-

lege. We visited Cosmetology and Esthetics,

Health Sciences, Nursing, Sciences, and Biotech-

nology. Through medical simulation labs, a hands

on genetics lab, and visualization of cell growth

under a microscope students were introduced to

post graduation college and career opportunities

and left with a new appreciation of science and it’s

applicability in the real world.

Student Clubs

Leadership

Moms Support

Walking

Volleyball

Yearbook

The PLC Welcomes Officer Parker Basketball Club VS Police

Basketball Interact

S.A.V.E

Student Services Ms. Brooks, Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. Moore, and Mrs. Emery make up the

Student Services team. Together they are able to offer a variety of ser-

vices and supportive interventions to our students. Each member of our

team is dedicated to helping students overcome any barriers to their aca-

demic success. They strive to empower students to make informed deci-

sions and to take more control of problem solving in their own lives. They

also support students as they work towards their goals of high school

graduation, attending college and finding a career. Whenever students

need someone to listen, the Student Services team is there to meet their

needs.

UNCC Internship/Mentors

Spring of 2016 marks the third semester that we have been in a part-

nership with the UNC-Charlotte Department of Counseling Doctoral Pro-

gram. Each semester, we host a doctoral student doing a clinical intern-

ship at the PLC. Ms. Brooks provides supervision for the interns. Doctoral

students lead group and individual supportive counseling sessions. This

year we have been involved in a research study conducted by the Depart-

ment of Counseling that focuses on learning motivational strategies.

About 45 PLC students have been a part of the study. The partnership

has been mutually beneficial and successful, so we will continue to host

doctoral students next year. Check out their bios on our website.

Angel Tree Project

During December, the PLC Student Services Team was able to secure

around $2000 in donations from the community and the staff so that we

could sponsor 9 students and their families for Christmas. We were also

able to connect 6 other students and their families with organizations and

churches for sponsorship. Our CIS Site Coordinator, was instrumental in

organizing the effort. Several staff members helped with the shopping.

Delivery day was December 17th. There were lots of smiles and tears of

joy. Our students were happily overwhelmed with the generosity shown

to them and they graciously sent thank you notes to all of our sponsors.

CIAA Education Day

Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Bradley, and Ms. Brooks prepar-ing to distribute Angel Tree gifts.

Allure Cofield and Robert Barnes

have a successful day at the CIAA

Educational Fair-They both re-

ceived onsite college acceptance

offers!

Mrs. Emery working with one of

our seniors.

Mr. “Greg”-one of our mentors

speaking with students.

School Spirit & Panther Pride

Hoodie Project This year, with the help of local business partners, the PLC was able to provide a spirit wear hoodie for each of our students. The first step was designing the logo in which we held an art contest and combined the top two winning student designs. Then with the help of local business partners we were able to finance the project.

The hoodies were given to the students at a surprise celebration sponsored by our Leadership Club. We even had the “Grinch” and his dog help distribute them! It was a great time of fellowship and good fun among students and staff.

Special thanks to the following for their contributions:

Anonymous Donor

Florida Properties, LLC-Daryl Huffman

Game Day Sports-Chris Furr

Squeegee Tees-Laurie Levinsky

Top Gun Sports-Donnie Broome & Robin Phillips

Wells Fargo

Student Art Contest Winners: Kay-la Patrick and Hunter Blankenship

Ugly Sweater Contest Winner Jax Brooks.

.

Christmas Food Drive

Helping Those in Need

This year the PLC students have participated in a number of community ser-vice projects. As shown in the pictures on this page, our students served food at the Carr’s Feed the Hungry project at the Salvation Army, organized two com-munity blood drives, and organized Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives for several of our own families in need.

We are also the recipients of community outreach. Special thanks to Rocky Ridge Methodist Church for providing bread and doughnuts weekly to our stu-dents. Our students have access to these treats if they come to school hungry or if they need to take something home for their families to share. Also a big thank you to the following for assisting with our food drives:

Mickey & Shane Buchanan

Brian Ford

Pat Mantooth

Mr. & Mrs. Kluttz/ McGill Baptist Church

Tam Wensil/Rocky Ridge Methodist

Mr. Small working with his business students.

A Message from Mr. Small

Business Course Instructor

My goals for students are simple, to learn as much as they can about business

and themselves while earning an elective credit toward graduation.

In addition to academics (Career Management, Principles of Business, Mi-

crosoft, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship 1), there is a focus on practical

business acumen and personal responsibility. The business classes are run

similar to an actual business – to create skilled, independent workers who can

get the job done. Students are given instruction, tools to succeed, and help as

needed.

Often times, this means that students need to “figure things out on their own”.

They need to be prepared by having read the material and instructions, and

have attempted the work on their own, prior to seeking help. Often times, when

a student comes to me, they are asked if they have read the materials and in-

structions. By this simple redirection, 95% of the students are able to answer

their own questions. This is a very exciting thing to see and an important skill to

learn.

I love helping the students learn. I also love to see it when they take responsi-

bility, put in a little extra effort, and think through a problem on their own to de-

termine the correct answer. It is great to see them “light up” when they work to-

ward the answer on their own. The students feel a sense of accomplishment

that isn’t derived from being “spoon fed” the material or answers. This approach

also teaches the very valuable lesson of self-reliance. Students need to know

that people are willing to help them, but, there is an expectation that they will do

their best to help themselves first.

Student Debbie Tucker with her co-op

manager at Reed’s Jewelers.

Student Haley Wilson with her co-op

manager at Big Lots store.

Kelsey Abby

Chre’tian Archer

Kaitlyn Baker

Robert Barnes

Reagan Barrier

Diana Bibiano-Ramirez

Kennedy Blackburn

Hunter Blankenship

Alexandra Bodford

Arielle Boeko

Madeline Brown

Natalie Brawn

Thalia Calleja-Esparza

Jerel Campbell

Jennifer Cardoso Maciel

Brianna Cartner

Jazzminn Case

Allure Cofield

Bailey Cotrell

Cheyenne Cox

Jeanine Diaz

Miguelis Diaz

Taylor Emery

Elizabeth Farley

Morgen Francis

Ryan Furbay

Jessica Goldsmith

Brian Gilliland

Khalil Green

Benjamin Hill

Raymond Humphreys

Zaire Hunter

Matthew Jenkins

Khyle Kelly

Ariel King

Lily Lefler

Jacob Lewis

Deisy Labato-Lorenzo

Jonathan Love

Alexis Mashburn

Michala Mathison

Jonas McCrorie

Breena Meador

Yasmyne Medlin

Phillip Moody

Enrique Morales-Pastrana

Congratulations Class of 2016

Jennifer Pastrana-Bernal

Bannah Rankin

Jebraelan Redfearn

Sarah Roach

Dominique Roseman

Kaitlin Roz

Yaneli Salmeron-Rodriguez

Madilyn Shirley

Nichelle Simmons

Cody Simpson

Jessiah Smith

Kaylen Teague

Bobby Thompson

Tatiana Torres

Deborah Tucker

Merle Villalobos-Delcid

Imari Walls

Daniel Whitaker

Lauren White

Madison Williams

Haley Wilson

Eugene Young

Theron Zlata

Contact Us

Give us a call for more infor-

mation about our school.

The Performance Learning

Center High School

133 Stonecrest Circle SW.

Concord, NC 28027

(704) 795-7074

Visit us on the web at:

www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/plc

Upcoming Events .

Education Trip to Levine Museum

Vulcan Field Trip

Special Olympics

Art Contest Richard Hudson Office

Prom

McGill Senior Luncheon

Awards Night

Graduation

PLC’s HomeReach Program

The HomeReach program is a partnership between Cabarrus County Schools and local

homeschool families. Homeschool families have an opportunity to choose from the same

Apex Learning courses offered to PLC students and the program is coordinated by the PLC.

Eligible students must enroll in two classes per semester to be considered a student of

CCS. Homeschool families may select courses to supplement their own transcript or may

choose to meet CCS requirements for graduation and receive a CCS diploma.

The 2016 graduates of the HomeReach Program are: Austin Comer, Jeanine Diaz, Ryan

Furbay, Alexis Mashburn and Madilyn Shirley.