Prompt #6: Write a story about a memorable experience that occurred (outside of the classroom), or a memorable person that you met, within the first few weeks of your move to the NC School of Science and Math.
Deadline: June 16th
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Details: When you moved to NCSSM you met people from all over the state of North Carolina; and you started living in a boarding school (probably for the first time). Write a story about the people you met or the things that you did in the first few weeks of your stay. (Don't write about your academic experiences yet. That will be the subject of an upcoming prompt.) Maybe you met someone from a place that you never heard of. Maybe you were exposed to people from different cultures for the first time. Maybe you noticed a big change in your daily routine. Think of something or someone memorable and unique, and create a story to share that experience.
Background:
Schedule of Activities at NCSSM, listed in the 1980 school calendar for September and October
9/7/1980 (Sun) - Opening Day at NCSSM:
10:00 am - Dorms open. Students arrive by 3 pm
12:00 noon, 3:00 pm - Parents’ Orientation Meetings
7:30 pm - RA Floor Meeting.
8:30 pm - Dance.
10/6/1980 - 10/11/1980 Dedication Week
10/11/1980 - Dedication Day Ceremony
[Taken from the Calendar of the 1980-81 Student Handbook. NCSSM Digital Collections.]
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Report to the Board of Trustees - October 1980
About a month after the students moved in, the school's director, Charles Eilber, wrote this frank description of all the last minute arrangements that had to be made to accommodate the new arrivals. It gives one a good idea of the difficulties encountered, even after at least a year of planning and preparation.
Even though he credits the Durham City Schools for feeding the students for the first week; he doesn't quite acknowledge the scope of the effort that it must have taken (or the behind the scenes drama that must have occurred) to send 149 eleventh graders walking two and a half blocks down 9th Street, to have their meals at E K Poe elementary school; probably an indelible memory for each of those students.
Unfortunately the description of the orientation activities (including the Tour of Durham that took place during the first week), which was originally enclosed with the report sent to the Board of Trustees, is not included with the report in the NCSSM digital collection, and may be lost to history.
"This report signals the culmination of the efforts of many persons over the last three years - we have a school open and functioning. One hundred forty-nine fine young people are being taught and guided by a staff whose dedication to our students and commitment to the success of the School is of the highest order.
I wish you could have witnessed some of the events of the past few weeks to get a sense of the coming together of the people who share the goal of creating this school as a living/learning community. Faculty, administrators, and staff were here over the entire opening weekend to greet the students and their parents, help them move in, and - before their arrival - even to move furniture, sweep corridors, mow lawns, and make the campus as attractive as is possible at this time.
Remodeling of facilities was not complete, and in some areas is still not done. So, for the past three weeks classes have moved from room to room to keep ahead of painters, a last minute delay in the arrival of kitchen equipment forced us to call on the Durham City Schools to feed our students for a week, not all books and equipment arrived on time, and electrical and plumbing problems surfaced by the dozens.
Despite all that the students are hard at work, and have shown great patience at some of the temporary situations that arose with the occupancy of these old buildings.
Not only is a challenging academic program off to a good start, but the residential life program of guidance, clubs, sports, and social/recreational activities is underway - some of it initiated and being organized by students."
[Charles Eilber; Directors Report to the Board of Trustees (October 1980); NCSSM Digital Collection]
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Regional student selection
The school had a mandate to represent all of North Carolina; taking students from as many counties as possible. Representatives from the School of Science and Math went to each of the eight Regional Education Centers, first to speak with school superintendents, in person, about the proposed new school; and then, a second time, to get feedback from parents, students, school personnel, and community representatives. In addition, interviews and testing of semifinalists were performed in each of the educational districts; and an even distribution of students were selected from each of the regions. According to the first edition of the school newsletter, "Dialogues", published in November, 1980:
"Today, after a year of preparation, Charles Eilber, Director, can look back on the selection and admission of 150 students from 63 of North Carolina's 100 counties, and the hiring of an outstanding faculty...
"After a few weeks of classes, students are beginning to feel at home. They are a varied group -- nearly a quarter are minority students, half are male and half female, and they come from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds. "
[Dialogues Vol. 1, No. 1; November 1980; NCSSM Digital Collections]
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