Our April Board of Education meeting brought news of student achievement, school construction updates and a few opportunities for volunteers to get involved. The board meets at 6 pm on the fourth Monday of every month at 507 Anderson Dr. in Bayboro. Meetings are also livestreamed on the board’s YouTube channel.

The meeting started with the April Rotary Students of the Month.

Morgan Blaebaum is Pamlico County Middle School's Student of the Month. Morgan is described as kind and intelligent with a strong work ethic. She is vice president of SkillsUSA and a member of the school's Beta Club. She is actively involved in both sports and academic clubs, juggling a number of commitments while maintaining high standards. 

At Pamlico County High School, Ruby Rohrman is the Student of the Month. Ruby's many activities include ROTC, cross country and track. Her teachers praise her academic performance and her high character.

Morgan retook the podium to make a presentation with her fellow members of SkillsUSA, including club President Taquan Scott, Treasurer Antonio Carmon, Secretary Mya Hopkins and Lead Reporter Mike Gary. 

Throughout the year, the kids at SkillsUSA participated in a lot of community service action. This includes putting together birthday cake kits for Fishes and Loaves and an annual stuffed animal drive for plushies to give to the Sheriff and Fire Departments. The departments, in turn, give the stuffed animals to children in stressful situations.

The group also does a lot of fundraising throughout the year. One highly successful fundraising drive is their pick-a-date calendar fundraiser, where donors pick a calendar date and donate a corresponding amount. At their Mingle and Jingle event, attendees had the opportunity to bid on trees, with the highest bidder taking their chosen tree home.

The club also received many accolades at the State Leadership & Skills Convention. These include:

Promotional Bulletin Bd 4th:

Team Engineering 2nd:

In all, 40 students from Pamlico County attended the state skills conference.

As many parents know, 40 music students were scheduled to attend an event in Washington D.C. on April 17 that would have included a masterclass with a professor and a semi-formal dinner and dance. At 5:30 that morning, the district's mechanic inspected the charter bus the kids were intended to use. The bus was found to have unsafe wear on the tires, as well as other mechanical issues. The charter company serviced the tires, but they were found to still be out of compliance with safety requirements. As a result, the kids were unable to attend the trip.

According to Superintendent Jeremy Johnson, a replacement trip has been approved.

Project Manager Henry Rice reported on the updates on construction on the new consolidated school. The proposed completion date is May 31. At this time, there is still a delay related to the elevator. Although the elevator was ordered in December, delays at the elevator company meant it did not go through until March. As a result, the elevator is expected to arrive in mid-June. The building cannot be granted a certificate of occupancy until the elevator is installed.

In the meantime, a stocking permit should be granted by June 1. This means that materials can be moved into the new school and will not have to be stored offsite after demolition of the old school building.

The building has full power and floors are expected the first week of May. Cabinetry, kitchen equipment, gym lockers and air conditioning are also in the process of being installed.

School goes back into session August 19. It is expected the building will be ready for the new school year. 

Administrators talked about two opportunities to volunteer with local schools. At Fred A. Anderson Elementary, their Mind your Manners program has begun. Every Thursday between 11:15 and noon, 5th graders participate in a weekly program where they work to master the rules of etiquette.

The school is seeking people who can come sit with the students, engage in conversation and help the kids learn how to confidently present themselves in a group setting.

"We want an adult at every table so that we can talk them through these etiquettes," FAA principal Wendy White said. "We can talk them through some of the strategies they need to use when they're at a table setting such as that."

Those interested should contact the school.

The summer reading camp at Pamlico Primary is seeking volunteer readers to participate in this summer's camp program. This summer's theme is Reading Is Out of This World. The state requires volunteer participation to secure funding, making volunteer readers doubly important.

Volunteer readers can contact Pamlico Primary's principal, Savannah Alexander, for more information.