Arts grant recipients honored by Orange County Commissioners

The Board of County Commissioners of Orange County honored the Orange County Arts Commission’s Fall 2011 arts grant recipients with the presentation of award checks at its Tuesday, Feb. 7, regular meeting.
The fall 2011 grant recipients are:
• A.L. Stanback Middle School
• ArtsCenter
• Christ Church Preschool
• Franklin Street Arts Collective dba FRANK Gallery
• Free Spirit Freedom Institute & Gallery (fiscal agent Hillsborough Arts Council)
• Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library
• Grady A. Brown Elementary School PTA
• Hillsborough Elementary School
• Historical Foundation of Hillsborough & Orange County
• Kristi Vincent Johnson
• McDougle Elementary School PTA
• Preservation Society of Chapel Hill
• Susan Simone
• WCOM-FM
• Sean Wellington
• Women’s Voices Chorus
These awards represent $23,251 in Orange County funds awarded to nonprofit organizations and artists for arts programming during calendar year 2012.
The Orange County Arts Commission is a county agency that strengthens the arts in Orange County, which includes the townships of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough. Created in 1985 by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, the Arts Commission’s 15-member citizen advisory board meets the second Monday each month (except for July) from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Arts Commission is housed in the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, 501 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill. For more information, contact Martha Shannon at (919) 968-2011 or visit www.artsorange.org.

Pet Pals celebrates one year expanded service

No one can deny the immediate connection between humans and dogs. Wendy Stewart, school social worker at Hillsborough Elementary School and Partnership Academy, capitalized on that bond a few years ago when she first certified her pooch, Ella, as a therapy dog and began bringing her into Partnership. This spring, Wendy's program—dubbed Pet Pals—celebrated its first year using community volunteers (instead of just Wendy's dogs). About 15 volunteers visit five different Orange County schools, watching their canines help children of various ages read and practice social behavior.

For more information, see the Wednesday, June 15, edition of the News of Orange.

HES winter carnival

The Hillsborough Elementary School Dynamic Dolphins jump-rope group before their performance Saturday at the school's Winter Carnival. (Photo by Vanessa C. Shortley)

So, I went to the Hillsborough Elementary School Winter Carnival on Saturday, and I have to say, it was jumping! It looked like there was great turnout, and tons of kids having fun. I'm glad I was able to make it out this year.

For more photos, of course, see this week's News of Orange.

donorschoose.org

I was surfing around on all the schools' Web sites, when I came across a link to DonorsChoose.org on Hillsborough Elementary School's site. DonorsChoose is a site that allows teachers to post projects they need money for so people can donate money to whatever school or project they chose.

In Orange County Schools there are 12 projects across four schools — nine at New Hope and one at each of Gravelly Hill, Central and A.L. Stanback.

This is a great resource, if you're looking for your money to have a direct impact on the classroom.