Interview with Morehead-Cain Scholar: Fields

An Interview with Fields Pierce, CFA’s recently-named Morehead-Cain Scholar

What does it take to become a University of North Carolina Morehead-Cain Scholar?  “It takes passion in any given field and an attitude that never accepts mediocrity,” says Fields Pierce who was just awarded a Morehead-Cain Scholarship.  As a member of the Cape Fear Academy’s student body since kindergarten, our school is exceedingly  proud of this recognition for one of our students.

The Morehead-Cain Scholarship is given to 56 students annually; it pays for their UNC tuition and summer enrichment programs for all four years along with all their incidental education costs.  Fields Pierce was one of two students nominated for the scholarship from CFA; 4,500 applicants from around the world were considered  for this prestigious award.

Fields certainly proved to the board that he was worthy.  Throughout his Upper School years here, he has been passionate in the goals he had set forth to achieve.  His achievements have embodied leadership and hard work, as well as have demonstrated that he is capable of anything that he tries to achieve.

As a freshmen, Fields was chosen as Class President and has participated in many different clubs.  He continued to be a student leader for the next two years and was elected Student Government Association President at Cape Fear Academy as a rising senior.  Fields is in National Honor Society and BETA Club and participates on  the Debate Team.  He is president of one of the school’s political clubs and the Youth and Government Club.  He is in on the Varsity basketball team and soccer team and, in the summer, is on swim team.

As an active participant of Youth and Government for four years, Fields has held the positions of Delegation President, Speaker of the House, and, most impressively, Governor of the North Carolina Youth Legislature.  He has been nominated to and has attended many summer programs which have broadened his horizons and his participation in the things that interest him.  He has attended the Conference on National Affairs (CONA), has been a page for the North Carolina General Assembly, and has participated in many mission trips.  He has also interned with a local political party and campaigned for national and regional political candidates. In addition to all of this, he has been on either the Headmasters List or Honor Roll every semester while challenging himself by taking many AP and Honors classes.

Fields Pierce has demonstrated a moral force of character, scholarship, physical vigor, leadership and much more during his four years at Cape Fear Academy, and we are all so proud of him for being chosen for this very special recognition!

The Communications Game Plan: Teaming Up in Middle School

Any school administrator will tell you that s/he must regularly listen to concerns from parents, teachers, and students and then respond.  It is a challenging part of what we do but can also be very rewarding when problems are collectively solved.

In a recent discussion with some colleagues, these are a few steps we agreed would make this process most efficient and should, thus, be communicated within our community:

1.  Problem solving works best if we address concerns to the person with whom we have the problem.  It can be counterproductive to “go over someone’s head.”  Respectful, direct communication is the most efficient path in most cases.  Each Middle School teacher is responsive and wants to help.  Please give them the opportunity to do so!

2.  When concerns are brought forth about global issues, i.e. group behavior, it is often difficult to respond without breaching confidentiality.  This pertains mostly to discipline issues and personnel concerns.  Once the problems have been addressed, communication back to the source of the concern usually has to be limited to “it has been addressed.”  In other words, I cannot tell you if a teacher or student received disciplinary action; that is confidential.

3.  If you raise a concern, please expect that I will ask you to be specific in naming the parties involved.  It is rarely possible to solve problems with vague information.

4.  Live conversations work better than emails – unless it is a very simple matter.  It is important that all parties share in the give-and-take which is difficult to do in emails.

5.  After you have communicated a concern, we will agree to some action points and a plan to communicate again soon, once those action points have been completed.

Children during the middle school years present all kinds of challenges.  As they do what is developmentally normal, they give us opportunities to rejoice in their emerging independence –  and to worry about so much that seems out of our control.  Let’s rely on and trust one another to help them through this interesting stage of life!

Jay Kranchalk

Middle School Director

A Cape Fear Academy Graduate Looks Back

I remember the first day of ninth grade.  I was incredibly scared to attend the school.  I was worried that no one would accept me, that there would be a big divide between me and the other students due to my race and economic status.  However, the opposite happened through the incredible dedication of the teaching staff and the accepting/tolerant nature of the student body.

I was able to truly grow at the school both academically and in regards to leadership roles.  For example, I was incredibly shy.  But Ms. Bryan in particular took me under her wing.  Her belief in my abilities and the fact that she supported me so much in whatever I did gave me the confidence I needed to seek leadership positions in SGA and Youth and Government.

Attending CFA gave me opportunities I would otherwise not have had.  Mrs. Holsten helped me gain a scholarship to travel to Cambridge, UK for free. Mrs. Bowen challenged me in every class I had with her, increasing my interest in government and politics that ultimately led to my decision of earning a degree in Political Science.  Mrs. Scuteri was such an excellent Spanish teacher that even today I am able to have basic conversations with my Hispanic clients.  I was able to meet people in the community and have access to resources that most people do not know about.

Lastly the academic rigor of the program prepared me well for Wake Forest University (or “Work Forest” as students call it).  Although other students struggled with the course load and difficulty of classes, I was able to adequately handle these demands.  In graduate school, several students are frustrated by our courses and the work they require.  I am prepared because of Wake Forest–and I truly believe I would not have had the academics required for WFU if it had not been for CFA.

I recently saw several upper class students at the North Carolina Youth and Government Conference (which I now attend as an advisor).  Their abilities in debate, their knowledge of current affairs, and their maturity was admired by the entire conference.  I am truly thankful for the experiences I had at CFA and am proud to call myself a Hurricane!
Renee Walker – CFA Class of 2004

It’s okay to put some emphasis on play!

A parent of a two-year old called me recently to ask me my opinion on the best preschool in the area for academic preparation. Having heard this question a few times before, I listened to her tell me how she works with her son on his alphabet and numbers and how she wanted a school that would continue to develop these skills because her family puts great emphasis on education. She was concerned that her present school was “too much about playing and not enough about academics.”

I sensed her worry and understood how important it was to her that her son begin now in the development of his foundation for future academic success. She felt quite certain, I am sure, that not taking action toward a strong academic program, even at this young age, would be an unacceptable lack of proper parenting. Modern parenting is stressful, competitive, and easily perceived to be full of potholes that must be avoided. Parents of young children have every reason to be anxious as the 24-hour news media is full of stories about horrible things that could happen to their children (vaccinations causing autism, epidemic flu, predators/sex offenders/kidnappers, etc.) It makes sense that these parents want to control at least some part of their children’s lives with the hope they will step over as many of the potholes as they can. Providing the best possible education seems to be a reasonable way to give their child the best advantages for a successful life.

Having heard her concern, I began to try to help her see a different view. In over 30 years in early childhood and secondary education, I have had the privilege of watching many children grow up and have children of their own. I have watched children learn and develop in a curriculum that encourages learning through play and have seen the end product – students with broad understandings and higher order thinking skills. The vertical acquisition of skills, moving from one lesson mastered to the next, must be tempered by the horizontal learning that comes from exploring in an unstructured manner.

The experts agree, as noted in the following excerpt from The Association for Childhood Education International (http://www.acei.org/playpaper.htm):
“…findings from the recent explosion of research on the brain and learning also delineate the importance of play (Jensen, 2000, 2001; Shore, 1997). We know that active brains make permanent neurological connections critical to learning; inactive brains do not make the necessary permanent neurological connections. Research on the brain demonstrates that play is a scaffold for development, a vehicle for increasing neural structures, and a means by which all children practice skills they will need in later life. This research raises new questions for those who view play as a trivial, simple, frivolous, unimportant, and purposeless behavior (Christie, 2001; Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2001; Shore, 1997) and challenges them to recognize play for what it is–a serious behavior that has a powerful influence on learning.”

Sometimes it is easier to understand with a mental picture. Think of a tree that quickly grows tall (vertically). Had it been able to develop a more defined root structure (horizontally), it would ultimately be stronger. Children are just like this and a variety of experiential growth opportunities is the fertilizer that helps this along.

Susan Mixon Harrell, Director of Admission (Twitter: @CFAsusan)

A Student View of The Model United Nations

In the beginning of the school year I joined a student club at Cape Fear Academy called Model United Nations. I wasn’t really sure what was involved or what they did, but after I joined, they announced that this year for the conference we would get to go to Russia! I had no idea it would be one of the best experiences of my life!

Russia is truly beautiful country and I know I will go back there later in my life. I was able to visit the Red Square in Moscow where I saw St. Basil’s Cathedral. I was awed and I still am when looking at my pictures from there, as well as from St. Petersburg. Even though the conference was the main reason we went to Russia, the people I met there were the true magic of it all.

While participating in the conference I ended up learning a lot about world issues and how countries work on solving these crises in the United Nations. It was really fascinating to engage in the debates and try to get your country’s voice heard while also compromising with other nations. Although the conference taught me a lot, it was all the different people there who really opened my eyes. There were people from Russia, Bahrain, Italy, Cameroon, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, the USA, Zambia, Turkey, Portugal, Oman and many other countries. Being able to interact with these kids from all different cultures really gave a new perspective on the life. I realized how even in some of these countries life may be totally different, these kids are still that – kids – and we were all able to get along really quickly. It allowed me to realize how in life you just need to be open to new things and go for them. This experience was one of the best of my sixteen years!

-Val Amoroso

CFA launches new social media class.

Val Amoroso – This year I was lucky enough to be offered to take a class on inbound marketing and social media that was only open to two students.  The class, which we call SMIM for short, has taught me an enormous amount about marketing and technology.  When we started off this year we read a book called the Tipping Point which has made me look at everything in a whole new way. The concept of a “Tipping Point” is when a trend/idea/ etc. starts to be spread at what seems like an unstoppable rate and becomes an epidemic. Ever since reading this book I go through my day seeing certain things and thinking “Oh that tipped” or “This is tipping.”   After learning about the tipping point we started talking more about marketing. I never realized how thought out marketing on social media was. I thought you would just put everything on a website, on Facebook or Twitter, but you really have to strategize and plan everything out.  Adding onto that we learned about branding ourselves which was really fascinating. When asked to brand yourself it becomes very difficult. You have to be able to think of what makes you unique and different and an asset to whomever you are gearing yourself towards. That was a really cool lesson though because it did make me think a lot about how people perceive you and how you want to be perceived.  It’s amazing to be able to learn about this and have a class on it because this is the future of marketing.

Eddie Offerman – Cape Fear Academy introduced a new class option for students this year called social media/inbound marketing or SMIM for short. I found out Cape Fear Academy is one of the only schools in the nation that offers any kind of class like this one.  I have learned that using social media as a means for marketing is not as easy as I thought. Being able to use a website like Facebook and being able it for marketing is like being able to use a car and being able to use a car for cooking.  If I was to just throw a turkey under my hood and wait for it to get hot, it probably wouldn’t come out tasting very good, if edible at all. This same concept applies to marketing using social media.  If I wanted to market Cape Fear Academy on Facebook, for example, I could slap together a fan page, maybe take a couple pictures, and be done. Chances are, my fan page would be relatively uninteresting and boring. However, now I could make a fan page that engages prospective clients and serves its purpose as a marketing tool for the school. This is essentially was the SMIM class has given me so far, knowledge on how to use social media as a means for marketing BEFORE I actually do any marketing.

Welcome to Cape Fear Academy’s Blog.  We look forward to sharing news, information, and ideas on this blog.