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TEN-YEAR-OLD Joshua Ball
recently won the regional
competition in the
Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee,
qualifying him for competition
in the nationals in May. On
Monday night, Joshua was
recognized for his spelling
ability by the Buchanan County
School Board at the board's
regular monthly meeting.
Elementary Supervisor Sherry
Fletcher, right, introduced
the Council Elementary fifth
grader to the board and he was
presented with a certificate
recognizing his
accomplishments. (Staff
photo/Cathy St. Clair.) |
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Youth S-p-e-l-l-s Way
to Nationals |
by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor |
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A-P-O-C-A-L-Y-P-S-E.
For Council Elementary fifth grader Joshua
Ball, the word "apocalypse" was anything but an apocalypse.
Instead, it was the word that made him a champion.
Apocalypse was the last word 10-year-old Joshua
faced in the recent Scripps Howard Spelling Bee.
For Joshua, it was a piece of cake.
Without hesitation, he rattled off the
correct spelling and claimed first place in the regional
spelling bee held at Southwest Virginia Community College.
The winning word didn’t give him any
trouble, but he admits he did sweat it out a little when one
of his earlier words in the three-and half hour competition
was "spaghetti."
It was one of his favorite foods and
perhaps that -- and the hours he spent studying -- are what
got him through it.
"I had to think for a little bit of time on
spaghetti, but I got it right," he says.
Ball is the son of Larry and Debbie Ball, of Murphy, near
Davenport.
Getting to the competition was a family endeavor
of sorts, according to Joshua’s Mom, Debbie, who says she
helped the youngster to study . . . and study . . . and
study some more.
"I probably spent about an hour to an
hour and a half each day studying," Joshua says
matter-of-factly.
As he prepares for the nationals in
May, he continues that study routine.
And while it may take away from time he
might otherwise spend in all the normal pursuits which
intrigue a 10-year-old boy, he doesn’t seem to mind it a
bit.
At school, he and some of his friends
have formed their own club. It doesn’t really have a name,
he says, but they like to play games with Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
On Monday night, however, there was
no spelling or card game and instead, young Joshua was
introduced to the Buchanan County School Board by Elementary
Supervisor Sherry Fletcher.
Standing with a trophy about half as tall
as he was, Joshua was also presented with a certificate from
the school board recognizing his accomplishment as school
board members expressed their congratulations to the young
man for bringing home the win to Buchanan County.
Fletcher noted Joshua competed not
only with other fifth graders to achieve the win, but with
students from grades five through eight in a three-county
area.
The competition drew some 108 students from
Buchanan, Tazewell and Russell counties.
And while he might only be a
fifth grader, he knows his words.
In mid-January, he was named the
winner of the spelling bee at Council Elementary which gave
him the ability to advance to the regional competition at
SVCC which was held earlier this month on March 2.
His win at the SVCC competition
qualified him to compete in the national spelling bee which
will be held in Washington D.C. in May.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale
at newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call
276-935-2123 today!
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Teacher Suggests SOL Needs Should Come First
Decision to Spend Money
Elsewhere Questioned |
by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
Admitting her comments were unlikely
to change past actions by the Buchanan County School Board, Grundy
High School Science Teacher Stephanie Smith said Monday night she
hoped that her remarks regarding funding for science needs at the
school might cause board members to look at things a little
differently in the future.
What she referred to was action by the
board in February to take some $40,322.35 earmarked for science
funding at Grundy High and allow it to be spent on band uniforms and
the robotics team instead.
She said she was supportive of the
band and had in fact been a member of the band herself when she was
in school. She added she was also supportive of the robotics
program.
"I have no problem with who got the
money, but $40,000 is a big hunk of change," Smith said.
She told board members that when she
was assigned to the Grundy school earlier this year, she had been
told that new cabinets were not going to be done in the science labs
due to concerns about asbestos which might be disturbed in the
installation process.
Instead, she said she was told in
September the money could be used for science equipment and she and
a biology and chemistry teacher were instructed to determine science
needs and to prepare purchase orders for those. Smith said the
science department did so and she held up a stack of purchase orders
about a half inch thick which she said were prepared in response to
that direction from Grundy Principal Leslie Horne.
Three days after they were submitted and approved
by Horne, the department was told the principal had learned there
was no money available afterall. In January, however, again the
principal informed them the money was in the science department and
so Smith said she redid the purchase orders, changing some of them
to reflect other needs due to a change in teachers. She completed
those and submitted them January 17 and three days later, she said,
she saw the school board had allocated the funds to robotics and
band uniforms instead.
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale
at newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call
276-935-2123 today!
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School Calendar Approved for '06-'07 |
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by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
A school calendar for the
2006-2007 school year was approved Monday during a meeting of
the Buchanan County School Board.
South Grundy School Board Member
David Thornbury made the motion to approve the calendar as
presented and Prater School Board Member Bill Crigger made the
second. The vote was unanimous.
Changes in the calendar include a Monday
start to the school year; an extra day at Thanksgiving, and a
May 24 school year end.
The calendar approved is as
follows:
• August 15-18: teacher
workdays;
• August 21: First Day of
School;
• September 4: Labor Day: No
School;
• October 27: No School:
Teacher Workday;
• November 7: Election Day: No
School;
• November 22-24: Thanksgiving
Break: No School;
• December 20-29: Christmas
Holiday: No School;
• January 2: Schools Reopen;
• January 12: End of the first
term;
• January 15: No school: Full
teacher workday;
• April 5-6: Spring Break: No
School;
• April 9: Spring Break: No
School;
• May 24: Last Day of School;
• May 25: Teacher Workday; and
• May 29-30: Teacher Workdays. |
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$24.2 Million Contract Awarded on Rt.
460 |
by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor |
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The planned Rt. 460 road reconstruction project through Grundy
moved another step closer to reality as the Commonwealth
Transportation Board awarded a $24.2 million contract for the
road.
Bizzack Inc., of Lexington, Ky.,
received the contract which is part of the overall Grundy
Flood Control project.
Bizzack was also a subcontractor on
the excavation which occurred on the redevelopment site.
The road project approved will result
in not only the reconstruction of Rt. 460, but also the razing
of the old buildings in the downtown area. Those buildings
have been boarded up for the past year, after VDOT
acquisitions were completed.
When the roadway construction
is complete, motorists will travel on a four-lane roadway with
the roadway embankment acting as a levee to protect the
remaining downtown area along Walnut, Court and Maple Streets
from future flooding.
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