Kindergartners at Davidson Day make sunflowers for Harrison Nichols Day. (Photo by Chris McKay)

It’s not quite the season for sunflowers yet, but because they were the favorite flower of Harrison Nichols, students at Davidson Day made sure the bright yellow flowers were blooming on campus in time for Harrison Nichols Day, celebrated this year on March 22.  The annual event honors the courageous battle with cancer by a former Davidson Day student.

We have news about that, plus a number of upcoming school events, including a leadership seminar at Cannon, “Living History Day” at Woodlawn, a college admissions workshop at Lake Norman High, a lecture on picky eaters at McKinney Academy, and the dates of upcoming golf tournament fundraisers (see the calendar listings below).

In addition, we have news of Stephen Curry reading with Bailey Middle students, French lessons at Davidson IB that sent students out to try their skills on Main Street, and yoga classes at Woodlawn.

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Miss U (Hallie Smith) wed Mr. Q (Nicholas Cardaropoli) at a ceremony at McKinney Academy Friday.

Wedding bells were ringing at McKinney Academy Friday, but not for your usual kind of ceremony.  The school’s kindergartners learned an important lesson in spelling by celebrating the marriage of Q to U.

We have a feature on that plus news of Sawyer Bowman‘s latest honor in documentary film work and the hiring of Josh Wagner as the new soccer coach at Davidson Day.  We also have a report on Artfest at Davidson Elementary, which featured silent auctions and a gallery of student work, plus prizes for top artists. Read the full story

A special Thanksgiving meal for the staff at Community School of Davidson.

Parent volunteers at Community School of Davidson used the Thanksgiving holiday as a chance to offer a special “thanks” to their teachers, serving up a full holiday meal during a “Thanks for Giving” luncheon (see photo at left).

The charter school does not have a separate cafeteria, so teachers usually eat with their students in their classrooms.  The Nov. 18 luncheon transformed the gym into a dining room, with elegant place settings and a buffet line.

“This gives the teachers some time together,” said parent volunteer Eileen Simon.

School Notes this week includes news of state chorus honors for two Cannon students, Joanna Copio and Stephen Metz, plus an update on the charity golf tournament organized by two Woodlawn students, Scott Murr and Darius Knott, and news of a special plaque for Gethsemane Baptist from Davidson’s newest football team.  We have the honor roll from Davidson IB Middle, and calendar listings of events at “Christmas in Davidson” and more. Read the full story

An event at Beaver Dam Park brought together (l-r) Steve Fraher, Armin Desch, Leland Park and David Buck.

This past weekend was busy with lots of outdoor activities and perfect balmy temperatures. We will remember these days fondly when the cold winds of January howl around our rooftops!

Around Davidson has news today of numerous events which involved young and old in our community including Davidson Day students singing at The Pines and Cynthia Lawing and Harriette Line Thompson playing pianos through a power outage. 

Armin Desch cut a ribbon at Beaver Dam Park, the Davidson Public Library showed off its renovated bathrooms and Cristina Shaul of the DavidsonNews.net staff had a BIG birthday.  There is also a reminder about St. Alban’s Third Annual Fall Fair this Saturday morning.

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There’s nothing amateur about the kids in School Notes this week – in fact, they seem poised to make national headlines as old pros.  We bring you news of a Davidson Elementary fifth-grader-turned-national-reporter, Julia Desmond, who has just joined the Scholastic Kids Press Corps; and also Davidson Day second grade speed racer Caleb Tate who is burning up go-kart tracks across the country.

All that, plus the background on the Davidson College senior, Billy Powers, who is behind Sunday’s charity concert to benefit children with special needs, and a calendar of upcoming school events. Read the full story

Three students at Davidson Elementary - (from left:) Mayella Strodel, Kylie Skovira and Merritt Strodel - had a good idea that turned into a wildly successful book drive.

The good ideas of our local kids provide the focus of this week’s School Notes.  At Davidson Elementary, a surplus of books on the shelves led three readers to launch a book drive that surprised everyone by collecting over 5,000 volumes. Meanwhile, at Woodlawn School, friends Scott Murr and Darius Knott have paired up to organize a charity golf tournament that will result in scholarships for kids to attend the popular Davidson College lake campus summer camps.  The scholarships will be given in the name of Scott’s father, G. Michael Murr, who died of cancer when Scott was five and who loved boating on the lake.

Also in the news this week is a “Midnight Madness” hoops night being hosted by Davidson Day, and a full calendar of upcoming school events, including the Nov. 15 charity concert at Davidson College that will benefit PTA-Too, a program for special needs children at Davidson Elementary. Read the full story

The latest issue of the Lake Norman Magazine is chock full of Davidson neighbors: 43-year-old sprinter Maryline Roux of River Run, who it turns out is a world record holder; Davidson Day headmaster Bonnie Cotter, whom the magazine describes as a “Rebel with a Cause”; and David Boraks, editor of DavidsonNews.net, who shares a favorite dish from Asia. Links below … Read the full story