Davidson-area schools had three representatives in last month’s North Learning Community spelling bee, including fourth-grader Halynna Snyder (at right), whose spelling success was noted prominently on the Davidson Elementary School signboard.  Find out which among the three won the event and will represent the entire north community at Friday’s CMS bee.

School news this week also includes mention of top scholars at Cannon School and a recent fund-raiser at Davidson Day, plus calendar items about Girls on Track, family night at Bailey Middle, open house times for Northwest School of the Arts, and a Davidson Day golf tourney.

SPELLING SENSATIONS

It was a morsel and Louise Pilsbury got it.

“Morsel” was the winning word at the North Learning Community spelling bee, held last month at Barnette Elementary in Huntersville. After eight rounds of spelling, Ms. Pilsbury spelled m-o-r-s-e-l and won the competition.  The eighth-grader at Davidson IB Middle will now advance to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools district-wide bee, which will be held Friday in Charlotte.

Louise Pilsbury

The daughter of Ruth and Adam Pilsbury of Huntersville, Louise has never won a spelling bee before, but this year proved a good one for her family.  One of her twin brothers, Samuel, also made it to the IB school finals, representing the sixth grade.  Louise attributes her success to reading widely and notes that her mom is “a pretty good speller.”

Louise was one of three from Davidson schools at the North Learning Community Bee, a competition among 20 students from north Mecklenburg public schools. The youngest Davidsonian was Halynna Snyder, a fourth grader, who represented Davidson Elementary School.  The daughter of Motria and Greg Snyder of Davidson, Halynna won her school-wide bee on the word “vibrant.”  At the north district bee, she made it to the third round of competition and finished in seventh place overall.

Representing Bailey Middle, the home middle school for Davidson residents, was Sandra Arroyo-Becker, an eighth-grader from Cornelius.

TOP SCHOLARS AT CANNON

Francisca Gilmore of Davidson is one of three Cannon School seniors chosen as semifinalists for the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship.  They are among nearly 1,700 applicants and only 260 North Carolina semifinalists. The Morehead-Cain Scholars Program is a unique, life-changing educational opportunity that combines a four-year undergraduate merit scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a lifelong challenge to make a difference in the world.  The program provides four summers of global travel and experiential learning and personal mentoring by experienced staff advisers and accomplished Morehead alumni.

Cannon also reports that three of the nine Cannon School seniors named Commended Students in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship program are from Davidson.   Those three are Austin Dollar, Zoë Moore and Justin Ringuette. The title recognizes the student for their academic promise. Each student placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2009 competition by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Cannon is a private prep school located in Concord.

Top (from left): Jake Buechler, Nell Buechler; bottom row (l-r): Claire Cover, Claire Oosterhouse, and Shannon Kiernan. (Photo by Paul Cotter)

DAVIDSON DAY STUDENTS RAISE MONEY FOR DAY CARE

Davidson Day School students donated more than 300 stuffed animals for a fund-raiser that benefited the Davidson-Cornelius Day Care.  The stuffed animals were sold at Davidson Day’s booth for Christmas in Davidson, held Dec. 4-6.  Sales brought in nearly $500, which will be used to buy kitchen equipment for the daycare.

Mark Your Calendar!

• Monday, Jan. 12 – Registration opens for  the Girls on Track program, which will be held at Bailey Middle School this spring.  The group will meet Tuesdays and Thursday mornings form 7-8 a.m. starting the week of Feb. 9, and ending with the Girls on the Run 5K race May 9.  Registration closes on Jan. 27.
• Monday, Jan. 12 – Family Night for Bailey Middle students will feature the band RollNThunder (which includes two band members who attend Bailey) playing at Midtown Sundries of Lake Norman starting at 6 p.m. A portion of all sales that night will go toward the Bailey PTA.
• Thursday, Jan. 15 – Open house at Cannon School for families considering enrollment in the 2009-2010 school year.  The open house will begin at 7 p.m. and include tours and a talk by the Head of School and other administrators.
• Tuesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 22 – First of several informational open houses for the Northwest School of the Arts, a free public school in Charlotte that specializes in dance, music, theater and visual arts for 6th-12th grade students.  The open houses will feature  tours of the facility and discussion time with staff.
• Monday, April 20 – The 2009 Annual Davidson Day School Golf Tournament will be held on at the River Run Golf Club in Davidson.  This will be the main fundraiser for the Patriots Club 2008-09 year.

Send calendar items and press releases about local school news to us at lauriedennis@bellsouth.net . Don’t forget to include a contact phone number, in case we have questions.