Language students to perform Thursday
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on April 25, 2007 1:45 PM
Students in two Wayne County Public Schools' programs will be featured in showcase events open to the public, both on Thursday.
The Second Language/ESL Performance Competition will be held in the Goldsboro High School auditorium from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. with 29 schools expected to participate. Students will be judged on four categories: poetry recitation, musical presentation, dramatic skit and native dance.
Wayne County is the only eastern North Carolina school district that regularly holds such a competition, which started more than a decade ago. More than 500 students in all grades will display their mastery in Spanish, French and English languages and cultures.
The competition promotes and enhances the district's second-language program, said Hope Meyerhoeffer, director of the Second-Language and English-as-a-Second-Language programs.
"Many of the students started working to prepare for this event in November and December. Audience members will be amazed at the language proficiency of the students participating," she said.
The annual Academically/Intellectually Gifted Program EXPO will take place Thursday afternoon from 5-7 p.m. in the executive boardroom of the school system's administrative offices on Royall Avenue.
Projects displayed will highlight examples of advanced thinking skills and acceleration used at schools across the county.
With an estimated 1,000 students categorized as academically-intellectually gifted in grades 4 through 12, the AIG program is designed to nurture those gifts, said Jane Walston, AIG coordinator for the district.
"We expect every child to reach beyond his or her present knowledge, understanding and capabilities," she said. "The AIG program tries to tailor instruction so that it best addresses the identified students' demonstrated needs and interests."