We Love Durham NC

Water Filtration

At NCMLS today we happened upon an experiment in the new exhibition area. It was about water filtration, and we learned that activated charcoal does a good job of filtering out color, dirt, and smell.

There are 17 different experiments in rotation so far, and they feature one each day. So much science to learn!

About Thyme

It only took me 22 years to find this out, but the Ravioli at Anotherthyme is divine. As is the service. I always thought it was a vegan restaurant, but there’s pork.

Packing Peanuts

I hate packing peanuts. The kids like to pop them and then they end up all over the floor, under the fridge, in the dog bowls… I found out today that the Packaging Express will take them off my hands. No pop!

Duke Gardens, Brown

The theme at Duke Gardens today was Brown, with Pansies. Couldn’t decide if this is because of the drought or the month.

Brown frisbee field… the whole field is blocked off for grass renovation.

A giant Koi easily visible without lilypads to hide beneath

Detail of new bridge, east of the terrace gardens

Play to Learn

The new little-kid area at NCMLS opens today. It was previously called Small Science, but is now Play to Learn.

New Music, Dance, Tae Kwon Do, Theater Camp

Local Author Reads Book

Ask me how much restraint it took not to put “Cary Serial Killer” as the title of this post.

“North Carolina author Bill Floyd will read from and sign copies of his new thriller, The Killer’s Wife…”

Grab your wii-mote!

Starting at the end of the month: Wii tournaments at Bull McCabe’s. No prisoners!

Happy Valentine’s Day

The Build-A-Bear folks have been throwing coupons at us like mad… $10 off, $8 off, free animal… so we took them up on it and headed to Southpoint after school. We took our little BaB buddies with the intent to get them Valentine’s t-shirts. (Hey, stuffies celebrate, too!) As is typical, the plan changed so that the koala got a Cat in the Hat shirt (which she can wear to the Dr. Seuss Birthday Party at A Sea of Learning later this month!) and the penguin got a Carolina Panthers shirt. Football, Valentine’s, whatever.

While the choosing was happening, I had time to people-watch the earnest dating couples buying gifts for little sisters, the young guy buying a bride bear which I imagine will be the “box” for a ring tomorrow, and gaggles of 14 year olds buying each other bears decked in hearts sporting pink sparkly cell phones (the bears, not the girls…okay, also the girls).

Koala-bear and penguin-bear took on new personalities in their new attire. Grr, penguin-bear, go long!
It’s the fun mom-moments like this that make all the nagging about teeth, vegetables, and piano practice worth it.

Step this way

The cashiers at Tuesday Morning (who were dancing to the Muzak–symptom of being at work too long and almost closing time, if I remember correctly) said people were lined up on the sidewalk this morning for the Sketchers shoes sale. LINED UP!

A Sea of Learning Supplies

I resisted the temptation to visit the new teacher supply store in the Renaissance Center (across from Southpoint mall) long enough. Until today.

Half of the store is focused on teachers (including homeschoolers)… posters, bulletin board themes, workbooks, manipulatives. The other half is focused on parents… Melissa & Doug, Alex, dollhouses, puzzles, puppets.

The bathroom is clean and bright, with a small stool, hand sanitizer, and baby wipes. Also in the store are a saltwater aquarium, TV, trains table, and table with puzzles.

If you need a reason to go, at the end of the month (2/29 and 3/1, starting late morning through the afternoon*) they’ll be hosting a Dr. Seuss Birthday Extravaganza. Readings, movies, snacks, crafts, parade of costumes (dress as your favorite character–we’re going as fish). Have your picture taken with the Cat in the Hat.

*I would post exact times, but my newest goofy dog ate half the flyer–no, really. Call 361-2525 for more info.

Durham Gifted

As I mentioned, Durham Public Schools is holding open houses in each school throughout the month. I visited one this week. Many things are new in DPS since the last time we did the rounds. Here’s just one. This is by no means definitive–just some things I’ve noticed were emphasized.

In case you did not recently grow up in NC, here they call gifted AIG–that is, academically or intellectually gifted. In other places, this is called GT, AG, or just plain gifted. In Durham Public Schools we have an open-enrollment gifted magnet school that nurtures each student’s gift. Students that score high on achievement or IQ tests (and other factors*) are designated as AIG.

In 2006, an office of Advanced Academics was formed, with the purpose of providing better services for AIG students and increasing the number of students receiving those services–both widening the number overall and increasing under-served populations. Starting with the 2007 school year, a new 3-year plan for AIG students [warning, that link is a 62-page PDF, but it's chock-full of info] was put into place.

The changes are not coming slowly. Incoming 2007 kindergartners were sweep-screened for the AIG program (that means they were all tested with the KBIT). A new middle-school IB program was added. The district is offering teachers AIG licensure, which translates to better skills with AIG students, but also higher pay. More students are taking AP exams.

Schools implement AIG plans independently–although each school has an AIG program, the particulars vary by school. The school we toured has in-class services for K-1, reading pull-out for 2nd, and 3 hours daily of accelerated instruction in language arts and math (self-contained for those subjects) for 3rd-5th. Each student is expected to make a year of progress (via testing) for a year of school. Differentiation is a standard element. There is an AIG coordinator for the school, and 1-3 teachers per grade level are dedicated to AIG services.

A telling brochure–this is from the district–contains a graph titled “What do we do when students do not learn or have already learned the curriculum?” Some programs implemented–focusing on literacy–include Riverdeep, small groups (little book discussion groups), and the William & Mary curriculum.

For students who seem on the cusp of services, a nurturing program is implemented. These might be students who have learning disabilities resulting in low test scores, masking their AIG status.

Advanced Academics program is not an elite program, but instead is targeted to a large group of advanced learners. 15% of DPS students participate; 25% at the school I toured.

Based on the ways they answered questions from the group, the staff and administrators do not seem to be just “talking the talk” but rather carrying out these plans thoughtfully, and with long-term commitment. I wonder how this will affect both the reputation of DPS and enrollment in the public schools in Durham.

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*A total of 90 points in either math or language arts is required on the Evaluation for AIG Services form (90 points for math services, 90 points for language arts services), distributed as follows. The tests are given at no cost by the system once a student is nominated (by a teacher, parent, self, or other student). ~source: p. 23+ of the 3-year plan PDF linked above

For math:
IQ test (like the WISC or OLSAT) = up to 50 points
math achievement (like the Woodcock Johnson) = up to 50 points
math performance = up to 10 points
motivation and other characteristics (Renzulli Hartman Scale) = up to 8 points

For language:
IQ test = up to 50 points
verbal achievement = up to 50 points
language arts performance = up to 10 points
motivation and other characteristics (Renzulli Hartman Scale) = up to 8 points

Durham Entrepreneur Releases Book, Does Good

Ryan Allis built three companies to over $1 million in sales by age 21, raised over $5 million in venture capital at age 22, and today at age 23 runs an 85-person company in Durham called iContact that does over $10 million in annual sales.

Tomorrow, February 5th, he will release Zero to One Million: How I Built a Company to $1 Million in Sales… And How You Can Too. His goal is to sell 2500 copies on Tuesday, thus making #1 sales in Amazon for that day.

All proceeds go to his Humanity Campaign, which works to reduce poverty and hunger. (Read more at the “Ryan Allis” link above.)

Lakewood Pool closing

A letter from the Y tells me that the Lakewood pool is closing. Apparently 65 people visited the pool all of last year. 65 people?! No wonder they’re closing. I wonder if that is closer to 1 person 65 times, or 65 people 100 times each. We thought about going to the Lakewood pool about 65 times, but always ended up at the Downtown pool (I estimate the 3 of us go 150 times a year).

Durham Public Schools Open Houses

This month you can tour the public schools and see what great things are happening… dates throughout February. Here’s a calendar.