Wesley King of Troop 19 is an Eagle Scout.

Davidson Day’s Wesley King turned his lunchtime musings into a record-setting Eagle Scout award.  Find out about his recent honor, and also learn of more fundraisers for victims of the Haiti earthquake, a seminar on college planning and our calendar of school events.

Also, good luck this weekend to the Davidson IB Middle Future Cities team, which will be heading to Washington, D.C. to compete at the national level!

AN EAGLE AWARD FOR A DAVIDSON DAY SENIOR

Wesley King was in the Davidson Day lunchroom one day last year admiring the weather when he hit upon an Eagle Scout project.

“It was a nice day outside and I thought it would be a good idea if I could build enough picnic tables for the entire class to eat outside,” said the senior.

Wesley’s dream will soon become a reality.  He organized the construction of eight large picnic tables for the school, a project that earned him an Eagle, the highest award in Scouting.

Wesley King takes a seat at one of the eight benches he built for his Eagle award.

Wesley is a member of Troop 19 in Huntersville and officially received his award on New Year’s Day.  The Mecklenburg Council of the Boy Scouts confirmed for DavidsonNews that Wesley was the first Boy Scout to receive an Eagle for 2010.

He may be the first for the year, but he is not the first in his family to get an Eagle.  He follows in the footsteps of both his father, Kevin King, and his brother, Nicholas.

Wesley’s picnic tables are each eight-feet long and he said the hardest part of the project was figuring out how to get them from his garage to Davidson Day.

“They’re very, very heavy,” he said, adding that it took two borrowed vehicles and a crew of friends to put the benches in place.

Now Wesley keeps an eye out on his project every time he walks into the Davidson Day entrance, noticing little flaws (he thinks one is not quite level) and appreciating the ways students are already using them.

“I hope they last a long time,” he said.

HAITI FUNDRAISERS CONTINUE AT AREA SCHOOLS

January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti continues to touch the hearts of local students.  The latest fundraisers for Haiti that we have heard of include:

At Woodlawn, in continuation of the Hearts for Haiti campaign, Woodlawn upper school students will be participating in a winter dance-a-thon on Friday, Feb. 19, from 7 – 11 pm.  Students will be circulating pledge forms and collecting donations prior to the event. All proceeds will go directly to Partners In Health for medical relief efforts in Haiti. For more information, email Beth Helfrich at bhelfrich@woodlawnschool.org.

Cannon School are hosting a goods drive through March, collecting items such as powdered baby formula, peanut butter, socks, and new shoes. These items will be transported directly to Haiti for distribution to people in need by Lifeline Christian Mission, which has a relief compound located in Grand Goave, Haiti, approximately 10 miles west of the earthquake epicenter.  Middle School students will join with the Charlotte Checkers hockey team to sell tickets to the March 11 Checkers game, with half of the proceeds given to the American Red Cross. Students who sell the most tickets will get to ride the Zamboni machine.

FREE CLASS ON COLLEGE PLANNING IS FEB. 20

Ryan Clark

Charlotte-based college financial planner Ryan Clark will be holding a free class on how to afford college. The class, designed for the parents of high school juniors, will be held Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Davidson Public Library, from 10:30 a.m. until noon.

Topics will include how to decide what colleges to apply to, what to find out before applying, why procrastination can cost you money, and more.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling 704-323-8349, or by clicking on the Mr. Clark’s website, www.clarkcollegefunding.com.

KEEPING UP WITH SCHOOL NEWS

DavidsonNews.net has been bursting with school news of late and we want to make sure you don’t miss anything.  Check out the following links to previous coverage:

• 

  Photo by Sayre Weir, a Woodlawn School junior.

  This year at the regional  Scholastic Art & Writing Awards two Woodlawn upper school students received gold keys for their artwork. Both Mallorie Ables and Sayre Weir (who lives in Davidson) won gold keys in the Digital Photograph category. Additionally, one middle school student, 8th grader Stephan Snyder (also of Davidson) received a gold key.  He created a stop-motion film for “Sense of Place in America”, an American History and Visual Arts interdisciplinary project. He created his film based on visuals and information he gathered from a series of field trips to Old Salem, Main Street Mooresville, and Charlotte.  All 3 pieces are now being judged on the national level in New York.  The artwork, meanwhile, will be on display at Spirit Square in Charlotte through March 27. There will also be a Gold Key Ceremony on Feb. 21 at Spirit Square. Click on: “What’s that in the Window” to see Mallories’ photo; “Girl, shadow, door” to see Sayre’s; and “Change over time” to see Stephan’s video.

• The Davidson Elementary Math Fair was held Wednesday and resulted in a veritable math mecca of projects.  See “Mathmania at Davidson Elementary” to find out more about all the interesting ways 3rd-5th graders were able to relate math to their world.
  

  McKinney mosquitoes.

• A cast of 27 from the McKinney Academy Performing Arts group performed the African-American folk tale, “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears,” Monday at venues in Huntersville.  See our post “McKinney kids perform for Black History Month.”

• SPORTS SCORES

• Tuesday, Feb. 16, basketball at United Faith in south Charlotte.  Boys game: United Faith 80, Davidson Day 55; girls game: United Faith 54, Davidson Day 33.
• Monday, Feb. 8, home game for Bailey Middle hosting J. M. Alexander.  Both the girls and the boys Bailey teams won, though scores are not yet available.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

• FRIDAY, FEB. 12 – No classes will be held at Woodlawn School or at Cannon School to allow time for a teacher in-service day.
  

  The Future Cities team from Davidson IB heads to nationals this weekend.

• FEB. 13-17 – Davidson IB Middle’s state champ Future Cities team will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Finals. Click here to see our coverage of the team’s win last week. (And you can also find a video of the team in action on our home page.)
• MONDAY, FEB. 15 – President’s Day is a holiday for some schools (including Woodlawn, Community School of Davidson, Cannon School and Davidson Day) but not for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, who will use the day as a makeup for the Feb. 1 snow day. McKinney Academy will not have class, but will use the day as a teacher workday.
• WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17 – Woodlawn School will hold a K-12 Admissions Open House, starting at 6 p.m. in the school’s Red Barn.  For directions and more information, visit the school website, www.woodlawnschool.org.
• THURSDAY, FEB. 18 – Open house, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., for families of prospective students at McKinney Academy. Parents can also call 704-895-9664 to schedule a tour.
• SATURDAY, FEB. 20 – Davidson Day will hold an Admissions Open House for prospective families, starting at 10 a.m.  (Note that this event was rescheduled from Feb. 6 due to wintry weather.)
• SATURDAY, FEB. 20 - 10:30 – noon, Davidson Public Library. Charlotte-based college financial planner Ryan Clark will be holding a free class on how to afford college. See above for more info.
• FRIDAY, FEB. 26 – 11 a.m.  The Performing Arts group at McKinney Academy will perform the African-American folk tale, “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.”  See our post, “McKinney kids perform for Black History Month” for more information.
• SATURDAY, FEB. 27 - Open house, 1-3 p.m., for families of prospective students in grades 5-12 at Cannon School. Register at the school’s website, www.cannonschool.org.

Have school news you want to share?

Send calendar items and press releases about local school news to us at: lauriedennis@bellsouth.net