Movers and shakers

Congratulations to the talented students selected as semifinalists in the nation's premier science contest for students in grades 5-8! Last spring, tens of thousands of students in grades 5-8 from around the country competed in Science Service-affiliated science fairs. Winners at those fairs were then nominated to enter their projects in the 2006 Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC). From this outstanding pool of 1,900 students, DCYSC judges selected 400 semifinalists based on the scientific merit of their work and their ability to communicate the science of their projects. Three of the students chosen (out of seven from South Carolina) were 8th grade students from Susan Yelton 's science class in The Learning Collaborative magnet program (TLC) at Dent Middle School. The students are Soorya Avali (Water Pollution in Relation to Urban Sprawl), Caroline Beebe (Stretch 'n Snap), and Kristen McLaurin (Measuring Memory).

Gwendolyn Clarke , a 2006 graduate of Dreher High School, won a silver medal in a national culinary arts competition in Nashville, Tenn. this summer. Clarke sharpened her cooking skills as a culinary arts student at Richland One's Heyward Career and Technology Center. Clarke is currently attending Midlands Tech and plans to transfer to Johnson and Wales next year.

Pearson Prentice Hall's Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts: An Integration Resource for Classroom Teachers, Third Edition , by Claudia E. Cornett, describes why arts integration should be an important element of all schools' curriculum, and how it can be implemented. Hand Middle School is featured in this edition.

A.C. Flora High School students who have been designated as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition are Josie Bailey , Amy Betenbaugh , Sydney Kornegay , Jim Manning, and Lauren McFadden.