For coverage information contact Tiffany Woods, Director of Public Relations for Roanoke City Public Schools, at tdwoods@rcps.info or 540.853.2905.

DETAILS: Hundreds of RAMS elementary students will surprise their beloved arts teacher Jennifer Shamy, with congratulatory cards for qualifying as one of three semi-finalists in the distinguished McGlothlin Awards competition. During the surprise assembly Shamy will be crowned, handed roses and escorted on stage where she will receive a tribute from each grade level.

In 2011-2012, two prizes of $25,000 each will be available from the McGlothlin Foundation to award a Kindergarten–Grade 5 public school teacher and a Middle/High School public school teacher who each excel in their fields. This award is intended to recognize innovative full-time classroom teachers with at least five years of experience from core curriculum areas (includes foreign language, art and music) who have not previously won major awards in education.

A requirement of the awards is: $10,000.00 is to be used, within a year, for international travel to broaden the thinking and experience of the winning teachers, further enhancing their excellence as professional educators.

DETAILS: The Greater Raleigh Court Civic League along with Superintendent Rita Bishop will make a surprise check presentation to a Fishburn Park Elementary teacher. The GRCCL launched a pilot classroom grant program for elementary teachers to help fund creative and educational classroom activities. The grant application was open to Greater Raleigh Court area elementary teachers from Wasena, Highland Park, Virginia Heights, Grandin Court and Fishburn Park. The pilot grant program is an opportunity to help teachers pursue and fund creative classroom initiatives in difficult financial times without having to reach into their own pockets.

DETAILS: Foundation for Roanoke Valley has provided a $7,350 grant to Garden City Elementary for the school’s Pack a Snack Program. The program provides snacks and hygiene items to students in grades PK-5 who are in need of supplemental nutrition and care over the weekend. The program is sponsored by the Garden City Elementary Communities in Action (CIA) group, which includes members from the school, PTA, local churches and the Lions Club. The grant was written by Garden City guidance counselor Amy Fiddler.

DETAILS: Nineteen Hollins University students will be visiting eighth-grade students at James Breckinridge Middle School for the next two weeks to assist with their printmaking class. The college students will guide the students through the entire art process: from designing, to linoleum cutting, to printing. When the projects are completed, the artwork will be put on permanent display at the Williamson Road Library.

DETAILS: Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program recently awarded $4,900 to Fallon Park Elementary School to fund its garden and greenhouse project. The grant program is in its sixth year and financially supports schools that demonstrate need for improvement projects that can be completed within a year. The school’s grant was written by third-grade teacher Leigh Anne Brewster.

DETAILS: Fishburn Park Elementary is joining forces with Roanoke Cement, AEP and Trane to educate students on conserving energy. On Thursday, January 26, the elementary students will participate in an interactive school-wide assembly promoting energy-saving tips. The children will then be encouraged to use their new knowledge at home to help reduce their family’s monthly power bill. Students will learn how to interpret their power bills to compare their savings, and prizes will be given to the families with the biggest savings. The campaign is part of Fishburn Park’s Focus for Environmental Science initiative.

DETAILS: On January 27-28 and February 3-4, William Fleming High School students in the Colonel’s Theatre Company will present their next comedy romp, I’m Not Rappaport.

The Tony-award-winning play—set in a secluded spot in New York’s Central Park—follows two men in their 80s as they doggedly fight off all attempts to put them “out to pasture.” The pair includes Nat, a lifelong Jewish radical determined to fight injustice (real or imagined), and Midge, a black apartment super who spends his days in the park hiding from tenants trying to force him into retirement. The “odd couple” forms an unlikely friendship that will warm your heart. Combined with a zany cast of characters, this is an evening of laughter you won’t want to miss!

All performances will be at 7:30 PM in William Fleming’s Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. For ticket information, call 362-0139 or 853-6241.

DETAILS: At this year’s VHSL District One-Act Play Festival, the PH Players will perform an original play called “The Sound and the Fury,” a modern presidential campaign loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Like the original story, a successful and popular soldier (General Macbeth) is promised a position of power by three witches (three political pundits) but is reluctant until his ambitious wife convinces him that only through his presidency can he fulfill his—or her—destiny. The festival will take place in the Patrick Henry auditorium and will begin at 4 PM. Later this year, the PH Players will perform West Side Story as their spring musical.

EVENT: Patrick Henry High School Student Uses Bezos Scholar Experience to Organize Music Festival Fundraiser to Support School Music Programs

DETAILS: Patrick Henry senior Locher Grove is using his summer experience in the Bezos Scholars Program to organize a Roanoke festival to benefit music education programs in RCPS elementary schools. Grove hopes that the Noteworthy Music Festival will inspire community members to donate used instruments for classroom use and generate funds to purchase take-home instruments for students. The festival will take place March 9-10 in the Patrick Henry High School auditorium and will include music, food, art, and a silent auction.

Grove, a Bezos scholar attended the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado along with 11 other students from around the nation. The program is a journey that begins in Aspen each summer and continues throughout the following school year as scholars return home with inspiration, tools and resources to launch their own big ideas.

Subject:	Weekly Media Tips January 23, 2012
Date to send:	1/23/2012 at 3:00 PM