Students will be able to meet and talk with adults about 70 future career possibilities.

Immediately following the Career Fair, an Employment Fair will begin for jobseekers and companies with openings. This event also will be in the armory.

For more information about either program, contact Joan Sherif of the Northwest Regional Library at (336) 835-4894 or jsherif@nwrl.org.

John S. Clark Company presented the first $5,000 to the Surry Community College Foundation, which will benefit 10 students attending Surry Community College in Dobson. In coming weeks, the company will also present $5,000 checks at Forsyth Technical Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, Brunswick Community College and Cape Fear Community College.

Each school may award 10 scholarships, half of them to students selected from among the “non-traditional student” category; that is, adult students returning to school due to job loss or downsizing. All scholarship candidates must be full-time students majoring in a curriculum related to the construction industry; be residents of the college’s home county or an adjacent county; be able to demonstrate financial need; and fulfill several other criteria. Administrators at each college will handle the selection process and propose potential scholarship winners to John S. Clark Company.

“With the successes that John S. Clark has enjoyed over the decades, we are fortunate to be in a position to help one of our most valuable assets, our community-college students,” said Richard Vaughn, John S. Clark’s chief executive officer. “The scholarship program represents a continuum in our history of support to communities that sustain us and enrich our lives. And it is equally satisfying that the scholarships will contribute to helping displaced workers prepare for re-entry into the job market.”

John S. Clark Company is one of the oldest and largest general building contractors in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad and in the Southeast, and a leading provider of in-house design-build services. Founded in 1958, the company has its headquarters in Mount Airy and full-service offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Wilmington.

The two companies analyzed academic and enrollment information from more than 18,000 public high schools to find the very best in the United States. The top six North Carolina high schools, all silver-award winners, are Elkin, Murphy High in Cherokee County, Salisbury High, Statesville High, A.C. Reynolds High in Asheville and Terry Sanford High in Fayetteville.

Elkin is one of the smallest school districts in the state.

Elkin Superintendent Barry Shephard told the Elkin Tribune, “(The award) not only speaks to the fact that we are strong academically,” Shephard said, “but that we graduate students and take care of our students, and it recognizes that Elkin High School is a safe place to go to school. I think it’s an honor for the high school to be given that award, and I congratulate the principal and the staff.”

Principal Mark Byrd, who also served as vice principal at Elkin for two years, said he feels the award is a testament to the effort both students and staff put into doing a good job: “I think it speaks volumes for the type of students we have and the work that the students do and the work that the staff does to help prepare the students.”

“Across the board — (in) the entire district — … nobody has been complacent,” Byrd said. “Especially the teachers. They are always looking for ways to improve the kids. And I’d have to say the improved facilities have meant a lot. I think it is awesome that a school the size of Elkin is mentioned. I just think that speaks volumes. As a parent, it would really make me feel good about the school my child was at and the education my child was getting.”

Among the six North Carolina high schools on the U.S. News & World Report’s list, Elkin had a 1.12 rating in poverty-adjusted performance, meaning its poorer students performed above the statistical average for economically deprived students in North Carolina high schools. Elkin High School rated 25.3 on the college readiness index, a measure of the degree to which students master college-level material, and only Terry Sanford High School’s students in Fayetteville scored higher.

The annual reports provide information about school enrollment (by gender and race or ethnic background), students’ performance on standardized tests, teachers’ qualifications, safety and security, sources of funding, access to computers and the internet, parental involvement, graduation rates and other aspects of education.

There are three public school districts (also known as local education agencies or LEA’s) in Surry County. They are the Surry County Schools, Elkin City Schools and Mount Airy City Schools. The NCDPI website also as the annual report card for the county’s only charter school, Millennium Charter Academy.

She is presently vice president for human resources at Fayetteville Technical Community College. Friedman has been in the Community College System since 1980, having also worked at Sampson Community College.

She succeeds retiring president Dr. Frank Sells.

Friedman will assume her new position Jan. 1, 2008.

The “Surry Cellars” wines were poured at wine festivals for the first time this year. The viticulture program this fall will market seven 2006 wines to retail outlets including local supermarkets. Developing and running the marketing campaign will be part of the students’ course work.

Growing grapes, making wine and selling it are all essential components of the viticulture degree program that has about 70 students taking classes either on campus or online.

Gill Giese, who heads up the viticulture component of the program, told the Surry Messenger that having to put a wine on the market forces students to focus hard on their studies and better prepare for entry into the industry. “There’s a lot more on the line when the public starts buying and consuming your product,” he said. “Students have to commit to making the sale.”

The Small Business Center provides free or low-cost services to both potential and existing businesses. Consultation with SBC Director Dennis Lowe on business-related issues is available Monday through Friday by phone, (336) 386-3309, or in the Small Business Center office, room 134 in the J Building. Literature is also available regarding business concerns such as business plans, cash flow/record keeping, marketing, and sources of funding. Referrals can be made to cooperating agencies such as the North Carolina Business and Technology Development Center, the Microenterprise Loan Program, and the Surry JobLink Center.

Training and educational opportunities are also arranged by the Small Business Center. Examples include how to start a small business, bookkeeping and tax education classes, workshops on marketing, microcomputer classes, and management seminars. Many of these classes/seminars are listed regularly on a Surry Community College web page. It includes a link for online registration.

Here is the schedule for upcoming programs.

Selection will focus on financially needy students’ work ethic and character, Ed Shelton said.

“We feel like a lot of young folks today, especially the ones who don’t have the best grades but study hard, need help,” Shelton told the Winston-Salem Journal. “They’re the ones that we really want this program to concentrate on.”

The Shelton Foundation Inc. Scholarship Program is intended to get students started in a community-college program and for them to go on to attend a four-year college or university.

Scholarships will be available beginning in fall 2008 for students attending high schools in Surry and Stokes counties.

The Sheltons said they hope the program eventually will provide 500 students with scholarships.

Surry Community College is adding classroom space and courses to accommodate the influx of displaced workers seeking training this fall. See story here.

Schools that met the goals in the Surry County Schools system are Cedar Ridge Elementary, Copeland Elementary, Dobson Elementary, East Surry High, Flat Rock Elementary, Franklin Elementary, Mountain Park Elementary, Meadowview Middle, Pilot Mountain Middle, Shoals Elementary, and White Plains Elementary, according to a news release from Jennifer Scott, director of professional development and communications. “The Surry Early College High School of Design is not included in the calculations for 2006-2007 at this time,” she added, “because they are a special status school as they did not have a 10th grade.”

Elkin Middle School and Elkin High School both met their goals. Elkin Elementary achieved 17 of 19 target goals, according to the preliminary report.

The Mount Airy City Schools made a 180-degree turnaround from 2005-06 when none of the four schools — Tharrington and Jones elementaries, Jones, Mount Airy Middle School and Mount Airy High School — reached all of their AYP target goals, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

“There’s just been a really strong focus on the data,” Judy Walker, the Mount Airy school system’s director of accountability, told the newspaper. She said the school system used curriculum maps and organization and planning charts to guide student instruction and record progress.

“We’re extremely pleased with our preliminary results,” Walker said. “We’re going to continue to focus on using the data to make decisions.”

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Scott writes, each school must show progress toward goals set by the state. In North Carolina, these goals include the percentage of students performing at grade level or better as measured by the state’s testing program. North Carolina’s goal is for 100 percent of all students to be proficient by 2013-14.

In 2006-2007, the state’s goals for grades 3-8 are 76.7 percent proficient in reading and 65.8 percent proficient in mathematics. For grade 10, the goals are 35.4 percent proficient in reading and 70.8 percent in mathematics.

Other AYP goals include elementary and middle school (grades 3-8) attendance rates and high school graduation rates.

“Adequate Yearly Progress is a goal for each school overall,” Scott writes, “but also for each subgroup of students in the school. For example, if a child’s school has four subgroups of students numbering at least 40 each, each of these four groups must reach the Adequate Yearly Progress goal in order for the school to be considered successful under the federal law. In addition to the School as a Whole, possible subgroups that a particular school could have are: White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial, Limited English Proficient, Students with Disabilities, and Economically Disadvantaged Students.”