Junior Enrichment: Outward Bound

by Anthony Hingley (junior)

Each year, rising Teaching Fellows juniors choose an activity to do the summer preceding their junior year. They include options such as trips to Europe, working at the Special Olympics, or the one I chose, Outward Bound. The prices span a wide spectrum, and that had something to do with my decision to do an Outward Bound course. The course was described as a hiking/backpacking adventure, and it sounded like something that would challenge me. I was kind of dreading the trip to Asheville, but afterwards, looking back, I really enjoyed it and if I was given the chance, I would do it all over again.

The trip started with us arriving at the airport in Asheville, at which point we rode in a van to the place we would begin. We were provided with backpacks, sleeping bags, water bottles, and a bowl and spoon. We then took our clothes and other necessities out of our personal bags and placed them in our backpacks. We also had to divide up our meals for the week and our rock climbing gear, so by the time we put everything in there, the bags were not exactly the lightest things to carry. We started out, and the combination of following trails and bushwhacking using a map and compass led us to each of our sites for camping, where we set up tarps and layed our sleeping bags on the ground.

It was a very fun and informative trip, learning much about the wildlife in the mountains, finding out how to rock climb, and "roughing it." I would recommend it to anyone who is given the opportunity to try it, and as with many things, you get out of it what you put in, so keep an open mind no matter the situation.

Senior Orientation in Perquimans County

by Tabitha Ballance (senior)

I arrived in Perquimans Country not knowing what to expect for the next week. All I knew is that I would get the opportunity to see how the school system worked. My reason for choosing this small system was that it was close to my home. It was also much smaller than the school system I went to school in so I wanted to be able to have a comparison. After I arrived at the School Board Office which was located beside the high school, I waited for the arrival of my contact. When she arrived, she gave me a schedule for the week. It was packed with an array of things to do including visiting the schools, attending a baseball game, meetings with people working in the school board building including the superintendent, and the opportunity to observe Teaching Fellows teaching in the classroom.

The first day I was very nervous; mostly because I had no clue what I was going to be doing. From the moment I entered the School Board Building, everyone was extremely friendly. This made my nervous relax. The agenda for my first day had me visiting the high school. As soon as I saw this I thought, uh oh. I am a Birth-K Major so needless to say high school is way out of my range. The principal was extremely nice. He was actually in a meeting with the Senior Class President. He invited me to listen in. The seniors were planning a senior trip. I thought this was excellent; we didn't get the opportunity to have one my senior year. The class president told me that it had been a while since the school allowed a senior class to go. She also told me she had done a lot to prepare. After the meeting I was given a short tour and then I was put into a Teaching Fellow alum's class to observe. She was an Agriculture teacher and told me that Agriculture is very popular in the school. It was fun to “be back in high school."

Over the next few days, I visited the other schools in the county. When I visited Hertford Grammar School, I got the opportunity to go on a field trip. I thought that was a very valuable experience because you got to see the chaos first hand. My favorite part of the week was visiting the K-2 school. Every classroom in that school is equipped with a Smart Board. In fact, the county has applied for numerous grants to allow their county to be so technologically advanced. They hope in the next few years to have Smart Boards in every classroom in the county. The teachers loved teaching using the Smart Board and the students loved learning as a result of it. All of the teachers I observed at the K-2 school were hands on and energetic. My only regret was that I did not have a chance to meet with this principal. Another great thing I got to do during my week was a attending a meeting for first-year teachers. It was great to see how much support the entire county gave to teachers in their first three years.

I must honestly say that Senior Orientation was a week I was dreading. The last thing I wanted to do was spend a week of my summer in schools all day. The opportunity turned out to be a great one. If you did not attend a small school system, I would defintely recommend that you visit one for Senior Orientation. Although I am not planning on teaching in this county it was still great to see its inner workings and learn what they are doing to educate the children of their county.

ECU Marching Pirates: High School Band Day

by Jaron Cox (sophomore)

The ECU Marching Pirates is the most visible ensemble that is associated with the School of Music. ECU Band Day has been a tradition since the year 1997. Band Day gives high school students a chance to see and understand what it is like to play in a college band. This is one of the best recruiting tools that the School of Music has to try to get high school students interested in coming to ECU.

This year’s ECU Band Day took place on September 27, at the ECU vs. Houston football game. There were 24 bands in attendance at ECU Band Day 2008. Some bands had as few as 20 members and other bands had over 100 members. It was calculated that over 2,000 people involved with Band Day were in attendance at the game. This year’s musical selections were “Play That Funky Music,” “YMCA,” and ECU’s Fight Song.

Many of the high school students were on a college field for their very first time. This event helps give the students confidence and the drive to want to continue to play when they leave high school and go to college. The main purpose is to keep students interested in music and to continue to use their gifts in college, whether it be majoring or minoring in music or just playing in ensembles for the fun of it.