Wilson has been extremely successful in previous competitions. He placed first in all three of the competitions leading up to the state finals. These were the Post 67 competition at the Cary Town Council Chambers on Jan. 18, the Wake County District competition in Fuquay-Varina on Feb. 2, and the Division competition at American Legion state headquarters in Raleigh on Feb. 9.

This year the All-State Band will boast four Cary Academy students and the All-State Orchestra, five.

Last weekend Southwest Guilford’s middle and high schools in High Point hosted the All-State competitions where hopeful musicians from six districts across the state had to memorize seven to eight scales, play a prepared solo and sight-read an unfamiliar piece of music.

Cary Academy students shined in the competition. In the past four years only a total of three Cary Academy students have been chosen for All-State Band-by contrast, four have been chosen this year alone.

From the Middle School, Joelle Portzer (’06) earned second chair, recognizing her as one of the top two middle school trumpet players in the state. Paul Laurent (’06) earned fourth alternate, aligning him among the top eight middle school euphonium players in the state.

Zack Hobbs (’04), Adam Pedersen (’04) and Roger Shaw (’04) from Cary Academy Upper School also earned seats with the All-State Band. Hobbs earned first chair for the string bass. He was the only one selected from the ninth and 10th grades. Pedersen earned first chair for tenor sax. He was also the only selected. Shaw earned sixth chair for clarinet.

Upon receiving the scores and placements, band teacher Eric Grush said, “I am very proud to be associated with young people who exhibit such drive, determination and talent and who represent Cary Academy in such an exemplary way.”

About 700 players from across eastern North Carolina rosined their bows for the All-State Orchestra (eastern region) Competition last weekend, as well. Five students from Cary Academy Middle School participated in the competition: Aparna Chatterjee (’06) on violin, Abraham Chen (’06) on violin, Tony Lee (’06) on violin, Jeffery Stanton (’06) on viola and Andrew Bryson (’06) on cello.

Orchestra instructor Yiying Qiao said the students surpassed his expectations and added, “They took their responsibility seriously and reached their goal. I am so proud of their hard work.”

Mitch McGuigan, the new head of the upper school at Cary Academy, greeted the Cary Academy community in an informal introductory ceremony and assembly on March 21. After receiving Cary Academy-themed gifts from Senior Class President Teresa Smith, McGuigan shared details about his background and family life with attending upper school students and their teachers. Along with his intense interest and ample experience in the field of education, McGuigan said he loves the outdoors and has an affinity for white water canoeing and hockey. He spoke about his wife and two college-age children and detailed a family-wide love for the arts.

During his speech, McGuigan said he already had “the feeling that [Cary Academy believes] trying is more important than perfection.” He said he agrees with that philosophy, and wants to encourage all Cary Academy students to “explore things you are good at and not good at” while he helps build the school’s already strong reputation for excellence.

Junior Casey Samulski garnered praise recently by winning honorable mention in the North Carolina Music Teacher’s Association (NCMTA) Composition Competition 2001-2002). Samulski won the recognition for composing a piano piece intended for four hands titled Acerbitas, which means “bitterness” when translated from Latin to English. In fact, Samulski’s composition is so haunting and impressive that it will serve as the musical backdrop for a dance performance this Sunday at Carrboro Arts Center. The performance, a dance titled Woven, will take place at 4 p.m. and is open to the public.

The Cary Academy Varsity Boys Basketball Team Awards Banquet was held on March 1 at the home of Fred and Elaine Wood. Coach Jon Powell says he is pleased with the outcome of the season despite the loss of four seniors from the 2000-2001 team.

The awards received at the banquet are as follows:

• Charger Award (for leadership on and off the court) - Alan Chang (SR)
• Defensive Hustle Award - Kiwan Bigelow (SR)
• Best FG% - Reynolds Willis (.50) (FR)
• Best FT% - Kiwan Bigelow (.80)
• Best 3 pt.% - Alan Chang (.35)
• Most Points in Season - Surry Wood (301) (JR)
• Highest Scoring Avg. - Surry Wood (11.6)
• Highest Assist Avg - Kiwan Bigelow (4.0)
• Highest Rebound Avg. - Surry Wood (6.7)
• Most Steals - Surry Wood (44)
• Most Charges Taken - Reynolds Willis (16)

In the past, all relay carnivals in North Carolina have been large 4A public school affairs, that include, but often dwarf, the state’s smaller schools. The Charger Relays was created to provide a unique opportunity for the smaller schools, like those in the NCISAA, to take part in great relay competition with other schools their size. Future plans for the event encompass expanding the field to include additional small school teams, both public and private. This year, ten girls’ teams and nine boys’ teams competed, all small schools from the NCISAA. The meet was a great success, with many close, exciting relays and great competition and sportsmanship throughout. All of the teams competed well.

The meet included all traditional relay events, in addition to unique specialty relays like the co-ed 4 x 400m and the co-ed Shuttle Hurdles. Field events were also scored as relays, with a school’s top two athletes combining their performances to determine their place in the event.

Both Cary Academy teams had outstanding meets. The Cary Academy Boys won the meet, defeating TISAC Conference rivals Cardinal Gibbons, Durham Academy, and Ravenscroft, and 3A out of conference teams from Providence Day and Forsyth Country Day. The Cary Academy girls also had an outstanding meet, placing third behind Durham Academy and Ravenscroft, but defeating Cardinal Gibbons and St. Mary’s from the TISAC, and Providence Day and Forsyth Country Day from out of conference. There were numerous tough, gutsy performances from both the boys’ and the girls’ teams. We set several school records and competed hard down to the wire in many close relays. To single out a few specific performances wouldn’t do justice to the fact that this was a whole team effort and all athletes did a tremendous job.

Science Olympiad Team Takes State-Level Medals!

Science Olympiad faculty advisor Lauren Brown said she is still waiting for the overall team results, but she proudly announced some individual medal winners from last weekend's statewide competition! There were 44 teams competing in each event. The winners were:

Facilities Committee Provides a Progress Report

Each year the Facilities Committee meets to solicit ideas from the various school divisions and constituents and establishes priorities for improvements to the school’s facilities. You can look at a history of the Committee’s work on our Intranet. Many of our priorities for the previous two years are tied to the completion of the Sports and Education Annex (The SEA should begin construction in a few weeks as we have just received word that the Town of Cary and the State DOT have reached an agreement that fulfills Cary Academy’s responsibility for meeting the town ordinance on the Cary Parkway extension proposed on the upper corner of our property. This will be the subject of my May monthly letter). The SEA and related projects should meet many of the requests of a more academic nature and that is why the items on the list below fall into other areas.

After considering this year’s submissions and the accompanying rationale, the Committee has decided on priorities to recommend to the Leadership Team and Board of Directors. The Committee considers the relative costs of the items, the extent they improve or add to student programs and school operation, and how wide an audience they impact. These priorities will all not be accomplished next year. They are assessed along with other capital improvement requests and compete for a limited amount of funds.

Below are the priorities established this year, with the estimated cost of each item. Prior to our finalizing this list we would like to give the community a chance to comment, either in person or via email. If you would like to comment in person, I can schedule you to attend our meeting this Tuesday, April 30, from 7 to 8 p.m. If you would like to comment via email, then please submit your comment to me by Tuesday, April 30, at noon. Please note that to place this year’s list in proper context it may be helpful to review last year’s report. Thank you.

Two priorities not completed from last year’s list. They are the top two priorities this year:

1. Additional athletic field space - additional land on Reedy Creek Church road may be donated by SAS

2. Business Office Workroom -- $3,000

3. Add 35 cubbies to the 10^{th ,} 11^th, and 12^th grade corridor (possibly add gym corridor cubbies) - $2,000 each

4. Install a PA system with permanent speakers for the soccer/track stadium - $2,000

5. Add a second long jump/triple jump pit - $3,000

6. Baseball field dugouts - $15,000 - $30,000 depending upon materials used

7. Main gym filming platform - $5,000

8. New maintenance shop -- $350,000

9. Orchestra Pit - $80,000

Students Participate in Potato Drop to Benefit the Food Bank

On Friday, April 19, eighth graders at Cary Academy teamed up with the Society of St. Andrew to inspect and bag 42,000 lbs. of sweet potatoes for donation to the N. C. Food Bank. 

The Society of St. Andrew salvages food produce to give to the needy. Over 300 farmers donate to the organization, which works to prevent a minimum of 100 million pounds of produce from going to waste in North Carolina alone. Only 80% of what is produced in America actually makes it to the dinner table, a spokesperson from the organization said. 

On Friday, the truckloads arrived and Cary Academy students worked to ensure that these thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes would not go to waste.

Band Students Learn Tips from Professional Musicians

Last Monday, thanks to a grant from the Alliance, six members of the North Carolina Symphony joined Eric Grush’s band classes to provide individual instruction for Cary Academy students. The symphony players worked with three band classes over a period of two and a half hours. Students were able to learn from those who have experienced the professional aspect of performing. The grant provided for a total of nine professional players to provide instruction at the school (six of whom were present Monday). 

• Andrew McAfee, horn
• AJ Ikner, oboe/bassoon (faculty at Campbell University)
• David Lewis, tuba/euphonium
• Mary Boone, flute
• Mike Cyzewski, clarinet
• Rick Motylinski, percussion
• Robert Faub, saxophone (freelance musician from Greensboro, NC)
• Terry Mizesko, trombone
• Tim Stewart, trumpet

“The session was well received by the Middle School teachers and administrators who attended,” Service Learning Coordinator Tami Kaiser-Polge said. “The students did a terrific job - they were very poised.”

EnviroFest Showcases Science Projects

Parents and faculty flocked to EnviroFest on April 23^rd to see the displays of students in grades 6-8. The science fair projects highlighted student inquiry into an environmentally important project. Student work ranged from in-depth research projects to analysis and reporting on acquired data. Posters and virtual posters filled the Middle School and students answered questions from those in attendance. Two hybrid vehicles were parked outside the Middle School for a project focusing on more environmentally friendly alternatives to the current "gas guzzlers!"

Four CA Students Enjoy All-State Honors Band

Joelle Portzer, Zack Hobb, Adam Pedersen, and Roger Shaw participated in the All-State Honors Band concert Sunday, April 28^th. First they had to make the All-District Band to be eligible for All-State. Then they had to compete with the best players in North Carolina (public and private schools) in March learning a number of scales, a challenging solo, and demonstrate their sight-reading skills. Congratulations Joelle, Zack, Adam, and Roger on your musical achievement!

Banquet Culminates MS Leadership Conference

Students, faculty, and parents are invited to hear keynote speaker Jamie Valvano Howard, the daughter of the well-loved NC State Coach Jimmy V, on Thursday, May 9^th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Student Center. Her work with the V Foundation for Cancer Research has involved her in many important outreach initiatives and community service projects. As a public speaker she stresses creating a life that is positive and rewarding. Following her speech, student groups from some of the 18 participating schools in Wake County will talk about their service or leadership projects. Cary Academy’s Junior Beta Club and the MS Student Government will share their projects with those attending. The dinner is free. Please RSVP to Tami-Kaiser Polge, 677-1946, X4488 or email.

Sports Anchor Tom Suiter visited Cary Academy last Thursday to present senior Maria M. with the highly-recognized Extra Effort Award for outstanding academic and athletic achievement. Coach Eric Bondy and faculty member Vic Quesada-Herrera were interviewed for the soon-to-be announced Wednesday airing. Soccer team members were on hand to share Maria’s joyful moment.

Video on WRAL Page

F.A.M.E. Features Student Talent

Music, ceramics, drawings, paintings, and performances on the Quad highlighted the first F.A.M.E. Fest on Friday, May 10^th. Parents visited classrooms, attended lunch, and enjoyed the many exhibits and performances throughout the day.

MS Musicians Play in All-State Orchestra Festival

Conductor Dr. C. Gregory Hurley had the pleasure of leading 62 talented students including Cary Academy’s  Abraham Chen (1^st violin), Aparna Chatterjee (1^st violin), Tony Lee (1^st violin), Jeffrey Stanton (viola), and Andrew Bryson (cello) in the All-State Orchestra festival, May 4^th. Congratulations!!  

Scholars’ Golf Classic Celebrates Fifth Year

Golfers representing companies from all over the Triangle participated in yesterday’s Scholars’ Golf Classic and contributed more than $70,000 for need-based scholarships to Cary Academy. For the fourth straight year, R.N. Rouse donated $10,000 and served as grand sponsor. A special thanks to all the parents and staff who volunteered to make this year’s tournament the best yet!!

Volunteers Appreciated
Cary Academy parents gathered in the lobby of the Administration Building yesterday for the annual Volunteer Appreciation Reception. Each year volunteers are honored with a small gift in appreciation for the time they have dedicated to the Alliance, the golf tournament, the library, classroom activities, and other school events.

Community Celebrates Founders Day
The campus was bustling with activity Tuesday, May 21^st as Cary Academy celebrated its five-year anniversary at the annual Founders Day celebration. Festivities began with student, faculty, and staff speakers’ messages of pride, tradition building, achievements and possibilities followed by a picnic lunch on the Quad with live music performed by the Jazz Band and Addie’s Children. Later Upper School students enjoyed the Physics Olympiad, featuring activities such as Mission Possible and Planet of the Eggs while Middle School students selected from 20 activities highlighting the number 5 such as Five Dramatic Pieces, Five Charger Heads, or Five Pounds of Flesh.