Powhatan Elementary School recently welcomed Michael J. Corman, who came to talk to the school’s first graders as part of Disability History and Awareness Month. Mr. Corman talked to the students about living without sight, stressing it doesn’t stop him from living life, including becoming an attorney, an accomplished pianist, a family man with two children, and speaking several languages. Accompanied by his seeing eye dog, Elton, Mr. Corman performed a few songs for the children, read a book in braille, and answered some thoughtful questions from the students. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Mrs. Farrell and Mrs. Lambert recently taught the seniors in the Nurse Aide Program at Powhatan High School how to administer CPR so they could be CPR certified. The certification is required both by the Board of Nursing and so the seniors can start their first clinical rotations. The program, which is part of the division’s Career and Workforce Development offerings, sends the students to work in units with patients. “If something were to happen, it’s very important that the students know how to respond correctly and accordingly,” Mrs. Farrell said. “Of course, they’re students so the staff would quickly take over, but they need to know how to respond. Also, just out in the community being good citizens. Every year, we have students in this program that volunteer with the Rescue Squad. And this training is required for all of that.” This class is a state-accredited nurse aide course and meets all course requirements necessary for students to receive their CNA certificate. “If they pass the State Boards they are fully certified, and, honestly, they are instantly employable as nurse aides,” she added. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
During their Virginia Studies class with Mrs. Dillon, fifth graders at Powhatan Elementary School made models of Native Virginia homes. The classes took turns visiting the STEM Lab and having the kids work in three-person groups to create their take on a native house. Mrs. Dillon said: “It was fun to give the students a different setting that allowed them to work together and be creative in order to model Native Virginian homes. The students loved being innovative!” #wearepcps #teampowhatan #elevateeducatorsva
Powhatan County Public Schools kicks off its Let’s Pull Together Tab Collection today. Now through Dec. 11, bring your aluminum pull tabs to your child’s school. The tabs will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond, which provides a "home away from home" for families traveling to the Richmond area while their children receive medical treatment in local hospitals. By collecting the pop tops from aluminum cans and bringing them to RMHC Richmond, PCPS can help RMHC continue to carry out its mission of keeping families close. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Mr. Payne’s Electrical 2 class at Powhatan High School works on their wiring comps, which involves installing different kinds of switches and learning different circuitry. One student is shown using geometry to calculate the bends on a pipe. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
School bus transportation plays a critical role in the education of our nation's students, and is the direct link between a neighborhood and the classroom. More than 25 million children ride the yellow bus every school day, and National School Bus Safety Week serves as a reminder for students, parents, teachers, and the community to keep school bus safety in the forefront. Here are tips from PCPS to keep our children safe at the bus stop and riding the school bus. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Twinsies! It can be fun when co-workers are on the same wavelength and inadvertently show up to work dressed the same. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Bullseye! Students in Mr. Freund's fourth grade P.E. class at Pocahontas Elementary got the chance to take aim and hit the mark when they practiced archery in a recent class. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
The PCPS elementary schools' fall festivals are about to start! We hope everyone has a safe and joyful night. We would love you to snap a photo in front of one of your school's cool decorations, share it here, and tell us your kids' favorite part of the night. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Oct. 16-20, 2023 is National School Bus Safety Week, and we want to give a huge thank you to the men and women who make it possible to transport our kids to and from school, field trips and extracurricular activities. We are sharing photos of many of the awesome PCPS Transportation employees who keep us rolling forward, including School Bus Drivers, Car Drivers, Bus Aides, Mechanics, Dispatchers, and our Transportation Office Staff. Thank you for all you do! #wearepcps #teampowhatan #schoolbussafety
Mrs. Stout’s third grade class at Pocahontas Elementary recently indulged in creating blanket forts with friends so they could read by flashlight for their participation in Wellness Wednesday. Anybody else having flashbacks? #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Powhatan County Public Schools is recognizing Bullying Prevention Week from Oct. 16-20. We are asking our students to “pledge to support others that have been hurt or harmed and treat others with kindness.” #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Zachary Durrbeck has chosen to build tab collection boxes for his Eagle Scout project. Pop-top tab collections are an easy way to support Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond. We are hopeful having collection boxes throughout the community will encourage more participation. He presented the school principals with the boxes for their school at the Oct. 10 school board meeting, where school board members thanked him for his thoughtful gesture. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
A recent $50,000 donation to Powhatan High School’s Electricity program by a former industry nonprofit organization has sparked a great deal of joy.
Mike Payne, the high school’s electricity and building trades teacher, was notified in September that one of The Builders’ Exchange of Virginia’s last acts as an industry organization would be to donate its remaining funds to local schools and organizations, including the program in Powhatan.
Adam Foege, treasurer of The Builders’ Exchange of Virginia, presented the check at the high school during the Electricity 2 class, where he toured the facilities and spoke with students. Foege also represented the former trade group at a meeting of the Powhatan County School Board on October 10 and was recognized for the generous donation to the program.
The organization, which lasted more than 100 years, used to raise money to help offset blueprint costs for contractors making bids on jobs, Foege said.
Career and workforce development programs like the electricity program at PHS are instrumental in furthering trade industries, said Foege, who is also the president of the Central Virginia Electrical Contractors Association. He applauded the work the program does in preparing students who want to pursue a career in the electrical field and said donating to it was an excellent legacy for The Builders’ Exchange to leave behind.
“It lays the foundation for not only their work for the employers but it also sets them up with the right tools that they are going to need in the trade,” he said.
When Foege first called to tell him about the donation, Payne said he was blown away by the large amount. He hopes to use part of the money for requests that don’t fit into the program’s allocated budget.
However, the use he is most excited about is setting up scholarships that will offset the startup costs graduates face when going into apprenticeships.
“I am hoping it will benefit as many students going into the trades as it possibly can. What we have done here in Powhatan in the last few years with the partnerships, I think this shows how important those partnerships are with business and industry,” Payne said.
Kathryn Garrett, the division’s Career and Technical Education Coordinator, expressed deep gratitude to Foege and The Builders’ Exchange of Virginia for the generous donation.
“These funds will be used to support students in their pursuit and training of a career in the electricity field, and the benefits of this donation will impact our electricity programs for many years to come. We appreciate this partnership immensely,” she said.
Join us for Unity Day! PCPS will celebrate Unity Day by wearing ORANGE
for KINDNESS on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Mrs. Lewis’ fifth grade class at Powhatan Elementary focused a recent English lesson on sequencing, or order of events. Students were given pieces of a story on several sheets of paper and had to read through and organize them in an order that made sense. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #elevateeducatorsva
Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Konvicka’s kindergarten class at Pocahontas Elementary paused for a minute on their way to lunch last week to show off how their students dressed for Pajama Day. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Throughout the year, Dr. Beth Teigen meets with groups of students at each school who are on her Superintendent Advisory Committees to get their feedback on various topics. Last week, she met with this year's committee of fourth and fifth graders at Flat Rock Elementary and asked them questions about the school calendar to gather their perspectives. Football fans may be happy to know several of the students are in favor of the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday being a holiday. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
School bus transportation plays a critical role in the education of our nation's students, and is the direct link between your homes and the classroom. More than 25 million children ride the yellow bus every school day, and National School Bus Safety Week serves as a reminder for students, parents, teachers, and the community to keep school bus safety in the forefront. Here are tips to keep our children safe at the bus stop. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
We love having the halls of our schools decorated in student work. Mrs. Garner and Mrs. Wasosky had their civics and economics students at Powhatan Middle School complete the “If you could walk a mile in my shoes” project, and the results adorn one of the upstairs hallways. The purpose of the project was to connect with the students on a deeper level than just asking them basic get-to-know-me questions. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
