Welcome Our New Part-Time Spanish Teacher

My name is Amy Gourley, and I am so excited to be re-joining the Joyner Spanish Team! Five years ago I taught Spanish at Joyner, and it is a delight to be back. I have long loved the Spanish language, and I find it so rewarding to share with children. I graduated from Wittenberg University with a major in Spanish and spent a year studying at a Chilean university as well. Since that time I have taught in a variety of settings including high school, elementary school, and even summer camp! A native of Pennsylvania, Raleigh has been my home for the past 10 years along with my husband, Mike. During the last five years our family has grown to include two daughters, Stella and Anna. I look forward to getting to know you and your child throughout the school year as s/he grows in her/his knowledge and love of Spanish.

Please join me in welcoming Amy to our Joyner Family! Amy will be teaching Spanish to grades Pre-K, K, 2nd and 3rd.

Welcome Our New 2nd Grade Teacher Emory Wells!!!

You can meet Emory tomorrow night at Open House!!!

Hello! My name is Emory Wells and I am a native of Raleigh, NC. I graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May, and I am very excited to return to the Raleigh area. I have had some great opportunities to work with children including teaching in a children's home in Guatemala, interning and student teaching in Greensboro, NC, and working as a camp counselor at an International Sports Camp for three summers. I look forward to getting to know the students, parents and faculty at Joyner and I'm proud to become part of the Joyner family!

Emory is a Summa Cum Laude Graduate of the UNC-Greensboro School of Education. Her Academic Excellence (3.95 GPA) is only surpassed by her love of, and commitment to, children. Emory reads, writes, and speaks Spanish!!! She is the niece of Martha Roberts, a long-time Joyner PTA family, and Emory passed up many positions to patiently wait on this opportunity to present itself. We are extremely excited to have her join our teaching family!

President Obama's Speech to School Children

Dear Parents,

I have linked important information about the President's Speech below. Included in these links are an actual copy of the speech itself (released by the Whitehouse), a link to the LIVE Speech site, and links to the classroom materials released by the US DEPT. of ED. for grades K-6.

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf (Dept. of Ed. Materials for K-6)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/ (A transcript of the Actual Speech)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/ (The Live link to the Speech - 12:00 noon Tuesday Sept. 8)

Possible Parent Spots at Worldview Symposium

Dear Parents,



We are negotiating with UNC Chapel Hill to get a few seats for parents at the Fall Symposium entitled "21st Century Skills for a Global Economy." The cost is $125 for two days (Oct. 14th and 15th) and we will probably only have four seats available for parents. I have linked the information about the Symposium below and the speakers are among the foremost experts in the World on Globalization (Peter Brews is absolutely SUPER!!!)



Yong Zhao is also a featured speaker and I have linked information for his book about education in the U.S. and China.









http://www.unc.edu/world/2009Symposium.htm


http://zhao.educ.msu.edu/ (Yong Zhao, video on this link is very compelling)

Wonderful Book Coming Sept. 8th!!!

Dear Families,

As we continue our focus on Internationalism, I want to call your attention to a new book that will hit the shelves of bookstores on Sept. 8th. Half the Sky was written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, pulitzer prize winning journalists and human rights activists. You can read the first chapter on Amazon.com

I recently sat in on the webcast for the books release and can't wait to read it myself.