Presidential Inauguration – before and after

David Johnson, president of the Sunny Hill National Junior Beta Club, who was dressed warmly for the cold weather farther north, left on January 16, to travel with his family to Washington, D.C., to see the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. David is a student ambassador for the People to People program. The People to People program offers educational travel opportunities to students in grades 5-12. When he returned, he spoke to the student body about his experiences at the historical event. He is the son of Dwight and Andrea Johnson.

Students create Continental Railroad replica

To help students interpret how culture has changed over time, Mrs. Denise Phillips' social studies classes at Sunny Hill School constructed their own transcontinental railroad. Children worked with a partner using milk cartons and ice cream sticks to design their rail cars and trucks. Aierial Oldham and Tyrek Evans drew and labeled the map in the background to show Promontory, Utah, where the gold and silver spikes were driven when the railroads met.

They are continuing to study hardships encountered by early settlers and viewing episodes of “Little House on the Prairie.” Many of the students are enjoying seeing the various technological advances we have today!
 

Leadership class visits schools

Haywood County Education Day, held on February 12, is in conjunction with the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Program. The leadership class began their day by viewing the Principals' Exhibition in the back corridor of the Haywood Board of Education office, followed by greetings from members of the District Senior Staff and school overviews led by each HCS principal.

The Leadership Class then visited Sunny Hill, East Side, HHS Business and Career and Tech Departments, Whiteville Technology Center Brownsville Site, and the Haywood County Academic and Justice Academy. Lastly, the class spent time in discussion with School Superintendent, Marlon King. Leadership Board member hosts fo the day were Yvette Blue, Asst. Principal, East Side and Janet Ward, Account Manager, Lasco Fittings. Leadership Board Chairman, Jo Matherne was also in attendance.

The Leadership Class is pictured here with Sunny Hill Principal and Assistant Principal Dorothy Bond and Drayton Hawkins, along with several students.
 

Sunny Hill speller tops in county

Ryan Watson, sixth-grade student at Sunny Hill, won the 2008-2009 Haywood County Spelling Bee on Friday, February 6. His winning word for the county bee was “tournament.” The six students from Sunny Hill competing in the Sunny Hill Spelling Bee were Quintavious Haley (5th grade - 3rd place), Destiny Williams (6th grade - 3rd place), Cody Williams (5th grade- 2nd place), Ryan Watson (6th grade - 2nd place), Selena Scarborough (6th grade - 1st place), and Jessica Santos (5th grade - 1st place).
 

Wendy Piercey is chosen as Sunny Hill Teacher of the Year

Wendy Piercey

Wendy Piercey’s peers at Sunny Hill Elementary School have chosen her as the Teacher of the Year. The fifth-grade reading and language arts teacher has spent her seven-year teaching career at Sunny Hill.

After attending Haywood County Schools, grades K-12, Ms. Piercey attended the University of Tennessee-Martin and earned a bachelor of science degree in human learning K-8.

“I wanted to become a teacher to pass on my love of learning and reading to other Haywood County children,” she said. “I also had many great teachers from Haywood County who inspired me (to become a teacher) from an early age.”

She is the Reading and Writing Chairperson at Sunny Hill, and has been a member of the Tennessee Education Association and the National Education Association since 2001.

Ms. Piercey is the daughter of Mike and Robbie Piercey and a member of Westside Church of Christ.
 

Students show appreciation to School Board

Sunny Hill Elementary school students and staff participated in a variety of chosen ways to show their appreciation to members of the Haywood County Board of Education during School Board Appreciation Week, January 25-31. A sign on the Sunny Hill campus showing appreciation, writing “thank-you” notes to board members, gifts, and personal phone calls from students to members of the school board were a few of the ways everyone expressed their appreciation to the board.
 

HHS cheerleaders cheer for Sunny Hill students

On February 2, Sunny Hill Elementary fifth-grade students were cheered on by the Haywood High School varsity basketball cheerleaders to making great writing scores of 4, 5, or 6 for their TCAP writing assessment on February 3. The cheerleaders delivered a message to the students to encourage them to do well on the test. Students have worked very hard this year and were striving to make a “6,” a perfect score, on the test. Some of the requirements for making a good grade on the assessment are to write a first person narrative, stay on the topic, and use correct grammar. The test is graded as a rough draft.

 

Sunny Hill taps 37 new Beta Club members

Sunny Hill welcomed 37 new students into its Junior Beta Club at an induction ceremony held on February 2. Rev. Grover Westover gave the devotional, and the Honorable Judge Lyle Reid gave the Charge to New Members. A total of 89 students now hold the distinction of being members of the Sunny Hill Junior Beta Club.

Current Beta Club members are Jamie April, Ragan Avant, Jordan Bailey, Emma Baumheckel, Alyssa Campbell, Hunter Campbell, Ebony Clark, Will Clinton, Clayton Converse, Quantez Davis, Dannon Eubanks, Preston Evans, Eliza Ford, Shelby Harris, Quaserica Holmes, Jamira Jarrett, David Johnson, Eduardo Magadan, Lauren Markowski, Carlie McCage, Blake Moore, Abbey Morris, Infinity Pickens, Samantha Pittman, Mireya Pulido, Ethan Riddle, Sara Rodriguez, Jada Shaw, Kyle Sills, Davarius Tyus, Isaiah Walker, Ryan Watson, Destiny Williams, Shay Williams, and Nathan Yoder.

New members are Brooklyn Anderson, Daniel Bradford, Tyler Burch, Whitney Campbell, Madison Carvin, Martin Chavez, Charde Cherry, Codie Cobb, Jimmie Covington, Latoya Darby, Emma Dew, Quinton Douglas, Madeline Elrod, Isiah Franklin, Teddy Frederick, Cassidy Fry, Kyreka Gayden, Jerrod Hammond, Jawuan Harris, Alearyn Haynes, Drake Hooper, Christian Hooser, Kezira Horton, Alecia Johnson, Mary Will King, Dustin Milton, Silvestre Morales, Braden Nace, Sky Navarro, Hannah Ogden, Brenden Perez-Perkins, Alex Perkins, Tina Phan, Immy Riley, Lauren Rochevot, Madison Ross, Chandler Rushing, Jessica Santos, Anne Marie Sceals, McKenzie Scott, Gracie Sills, Dylan Simmons, Christian Snipes, Diamond Snipes, Hannah Stanley, Damian Taylor, Kyshaun Taylor, Jaleel Turner, Kameron Tyus, Martravius Washington, Cody Williams, and Dasjia Wilson.

Sponsors for the club are teachers Mrs. Sandra Humphreys, Ms. Rhonda Jones, Miss Mandy Bell, Ms. Jackie Whitten, Ms. Barbara Wellington, Mr. Mike Leigh, and Ms. Kriste Voss. A reception for all Beta Club members, their families and sponsors was held in the gymnasium after the induction.
 

Sunny Hill students create projects on Ancient Greece

While studying a social studies unit on Ancient Greece, Mrs. Garrett’s students created many three-dimensional projects that included Greek clothing, pottery, architecture, tragedy and comedy masks, dolls dressed as Spartan soldiers, Greek Gods, or even King Midas. Also, students researched and wrote reports on their projects and learned new information to share with the class. The projects took them two weeks to complete and many were exceptional, according to Mrs. Garrett. Some of the students who completed these projects were Blake Moore, Tommy Pyron, Emma Baumheckel, Will Clinton, David Johnson, Alina Woods, and Idalias Flagg.

Beta Club members recycle

Sunny Hill Junior Beta Club members participate in several projects throughout the year, and one special project is recycling paper. Students collect paper that has been stored in special recycling bins and place them in large recycling bins outside the school. The students have been a part of paper recycling efforts at the school for 13 years.

Among those participating were Shay Williams, Isiah Walker, Jada Shaw, Eliza Ford, Blake Moore, Darius Tyus, Nathan Yoder, and Will Clinton.