Parent Teacher Magazine Cabarrus County Schools March/April 2019 | Page 5

CCS Announces Teacher Assistant of the Year Congratulations to Sandra Hajney, Teacher Assistant at W.M. Irvin Elementary School, who has been named the Cabarrus County Schools 2018-2019 Teacher Assistant of the Year! Superintendent Chris Lowder and Assistant Superintendent Glenda Jones surprised Hajney with the announcement on January 11th at the school. Hajney has served as a teacher assistant in Cabarrus County Schools since 2007. Hajney began her career as a registered nurse in New York. After relocating to North Carolina, Hajney decided she wanted to work directly with children. Hajney worked in a daycare while earning an Early Childhood Associate Certificate in 2003. In her current role, Hajney works with students from kindergarten through fourth grade. Hajney enjoys making children smile. She feels she makes the greatest impact while helping students during reading intervention. According to Principal Tonya Williams, “Mrs. Hajney is such a valuable staff member at Irvin Elementary. She is quick to support the various needs of our students and staff. Daily you can find Mrs. Hajney giving hugs, high fives and words of encouragement to students throughout the building. We are so grateful to have Mrs. Hajney at Irvin Elementary.” Central Cabarrus CTE Program hosts Inaugural CTSO Student Leadership Summit The Central Cabarrus High CTE Program hosted an inaugural CTSO Student Leadership Summit on Tuesday, February 19th at the new home of Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas in Charlotte. The theme of this year’s summit was “Exploring Peer Student Leadership, Community Engagement and Civic Responsibility for our Career and Technical Student Organizations”. Feeder Zone CTE Coordinator Brian Elliott said, “The purpose of this summit was to allow student leaders build soft skills and participate in networking opportunities necessary for them to compete in the evolving 21st Century Workforce”. Student delegates participated in five interactive sessions ending in an awards luncheon with Keynote Speaker McKenzie Worley, Former National Officer of FBLA-PBL and Capstones Facilitator at Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas. CCS to Participate in NAF Future Ready Labs Cabarrus County Schools has been selected as one of the four teams to participate in locally-sponsored NAF Future Ready Labs! NAF Future Ready Labs are a collaboration between National Academy Foundation (NAF), business partners, and academy and district representatives to offer students an internship experience with an innovative and comprehensive structure. This program provides high school students an opportunity to put their education into practice in a unique work environment with support from local business partners. In the new iteration of this program, local businesses will partner with advisory boards to develop a strong local talent pipeline. This year, NAF will be piloting its Future Ready Lab tools, resources, and supports with a select group of participants across the country. These four teams were selected through a rigorous application process to identify strong goal-oriented school districts and advisory board teams to plan and implement meaningful internship programs for their communities’ high school students. “We are excited to offer this unique opportunity that will benefit students, as well as local businesses and the communities they serve,” said Brooke Rice, Senior Director of Future Ready Labs at NAF. “Businesses will see their return on investment immediately while actively shaping their future workforce.” To volunteer or provide funding resources to help expose more high school students to work-based learning opportunities, please contact Kristi Parlier at Jay M. Robinson High School. Parent Teacher Magazine • March/April 2019 • 3