PCPS educators train to teach stock markets to students, and other news

1) PCPS educators train to teach stock market to students 2) Fast feet and strong words launch new year of GEAR UP 3) R.E. Lee starts off school year with thank you to staff 4) A.P. Hill Elementary SOL high scorers earn day of fun 1) PCPS educators train to teach stock market to students These are turbulent times for […]

October 3, 2008; 3:05 PM • by brenda p

1) PCPS educators train to teach stock market to students
2) Fast feet and strong words launch new year of GEAR UP
3) R.E. Lee starts off school year with thank you to staff
4) A.P. Hill Elementary SOL high scorers earn day of fun

1) PCPS educators train to teach stock market to students

These are turbulent times for the U.S. economy and learning how it all works is part of a good education. The Petersburg City Public Schools has now trained a group of its teachers to share with
their students the basics of smart investing, in what is called The Stock Market Game.

The idea is to give students a virtual cash account to invest, put them together in team and then have them conduct live Internet trading simulations. They learn about bull and bear markets and how the prices of stocks are determined.

The Stock Market Game has the support of the Virginia Council on Economic Education and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Business. A grant awarded to VCU enabled the college to provide the game to the Petersburg City Public Schools at no cost.

With the intensity of today’s stock market, the Stock-Market Game will assist the students’ learning. This is “differentiating” at its highest level. As a competitive team, the students will be using online technology, stock-market reports using the media, predictions and judgment when buying or selling virtual stocks. They will have an opportunity to speak with consultants as they work through the process. There will be highs and lows in this competition.

“What a golden opportunity for the students to learn firsthand how the process works,” said Suzanne Vaughan, Petersburg City Public Schools’ Gifted Education Coordinator, who helped bring the program to Petersburg.

2) Fast feet and strong words launch new year of GEAR UP

Ninth grade students in the Petersburg City Public Schools didn’t merely “kick-off” the 2008-2009 GEAR UP program, they blasted it out of the auditorium.

They cheered for the yard-stomping style of VSU Steppers T.J. Hodges, Dennis Donaldson and Maurice Brown, of Phi Beta Sigma. They cheered again for Ashle’ Dance’s soulful rendition of the Mariah Carey pop favorite, “Hero.”

But they also quieted down to hear the Rev. Angel White drill them with three big “R’s” of success – recognition of their potential, resilience and reaching out; and for Linda Staylor, GEAR UP Regional Resource Manager to remind them of the purpose of the program.

“Look around you, at your classmates,” Rev. White said. “Do you think that the classmates of Martin Luther King Jr. knew that he would have his own Civil Rights legacy one day? Do you think that the classmates of Oprah Winfrey knew that she would change the talk show world? Or that the classmates of Barack Obama knew he would run for president?”

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is designed to guide secondary students from seventh grade through high school graduation, pointing them to higher education. Participants receive tutoring and mentoring and they and their parents can attend workshops to help prepare for college or technical school. Periodically, the participants visit college campuses. If the students stay with the program through graduation, they receive a scholarship.

3) R.E. Lee starts off school year with thank you to staff

Barbara Patterson, Principal of R.E. Lee Elementary School in Petersburg and Will Hobbs, Assistant Principal, recently gave out plaques of appreciation to each teacher at the school, for helping Lee make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the objectives of the No Child Left Behind Act and full accreditation in the State Standards of Learning for the second consecutive year.

“I have teachers who are very dedicated to their profession and who go the extra mile to help their students succeed,” Patterson said.

“This year, we are working more closely as a team and we feel that we will maintain full SOL accreditation and meet the AYP objectives,” she added.

4) A.P. Hill Elementary SOL high scorers earn day of fun

Dr. Phyllis Byrd, Principal of A.P. Hill Elementary School in Petersburg, and the A.P. Hill Elementary School family, were able to deliver on a promise made to all students in grades three, four and five.

The students were challenged as a means of encouragement and as an incentive, to pass all parts of their Standards of Learning Tests (SOLs) in order to participate in a field trip planned for Kings Dominion. The bus departed from A.P. Hill on August 14, bound for a fun-filled day at Kings Dominion with some very excited passengers.

The A.P. Hill family would like to thank Delta Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity for their generous support in helping us deliver what we promised.

October 3, 2008 3:05 PM 0