Powhatan County Public Schools -

Powhatan County Public Schools and County staff are joining forces to help spread a little cheer with a Holiday Silent Auction to benefit the Powhatan Christmas Mother program. The Powhatan community is invited to attend a silent auction filled with gift baskets, baked goods, handmade gifts, and gift certificates from 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1 at the Pocahontas Landmark Center. Now in its second year, the event brings together school and county employees to give back to the Christmas Mother program, which supports the Powhatan community all year long. Suzanne Cline, 2023 Powhatan Christmas Mother, said she appreciates the enormous show of support from community partners, including local government, businesses, civic groups, and individuals. The way the Powhatan community can join together in such fun and imaginative ways to spread joy and kindness to others in need only reinforces the genuineness of Cline’s theme for this year, “A Village of Blessings.” “We are 100% funded by donations. Without community partnerships, we wouldn’t be able to provide the magic of Christmas to over 500 Powhatan children and seniors,” Cline said.

PCPS received a $30,000 grant from the VDOE RARS Grant Program, which will be distributed throughout the school year. The intent of the Recruitment and Retention Support (RARS) Grant is to provide public school divisions with a structured framework upon which they can systematically develop plans to support the recruitment and retention of employees through hiring incentives and continuing education funds. This is our first group of recipients: Colleen Chinnis, Flat Rock ES (SPED); Lauren Hockaday, Flat Rock ES (SPED); Amy Tucker, Flat Rock (SPED); Katie Humphrey, Powhatan ES (fourth Grade); and Bonnie Lambert, Powhatan HS (CTE – Health Sciences). Recipients were recognized at the Nov. 14 Powhatan County School Board meeting. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

SkillsUSA is an organization for technical, skilled, and service career students. During the State Fair of Virginia, three Cosmetology students and one Electricity student from Powhatan High School showcased their skills and performed well in their respective SkillsUSA categories. Mrs. Hazelwood’s Cosmetology 1 students Olivia Benton (model), Addison May, and Brielle Walters were competing for the first time and brought home fourth place in the Total Fantasy Look Competition. Mr. Payne’s Electricity 2 student, Bradley Wade, placed fifth out of 25 at the SkillsUSA State Fair Electricity Competition.The Powhatan County School Board recognized the students at the Nov. 14 meeting. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Barbara Adcock, PCPS STEM coach, has been selected as a recipient of the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) Grant from the Office of Environmental Education within the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The MWEE Grant, in the amount of $7,480, has been awarded to support our efforts to purchase Enviroscapes for each of our elementary schools for our students in fourth grade while conducting their MWEE. Mrs. Adcock was recognized by the Powhatan County School Board on Nov. 14. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

During its Nov. 14 meeting, the Powhatan County School Board recognized Betty McCracken for 17 years of exceptional service in the Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District and for her invaluable contributions to PCPS. They commended her unwavering dedication to environmental education, conservation, and advocacy, which have enriched the lives of countless students and community members. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

The Powhatan County School Board had a full night of recognitions at its regular Nov. 14 meeting. To start, congratulations to our Powhatan Education Foundation winners! Each year, the Powhatan Education Foundation (PEF) awards Innovative Classroom Grants that present ideas for achieving the county’s curricular goals, enhancing students’ personal development, and/or encouraging links with the community. This year, PEF received 21 grant requests. Six grants were fully or partially funded for a total investment of $16,146.28. * Droning Across the Curriculum: ($3,000) Amanda Henley, Jordan Nutt, and Cara Alexander -Grant money will be used at Powhatan Elementary to purchase drones to give students a hands-on learning approach to concepts students struggle with for example, computational learning. * From Seed to Fruit: ($2,544) Barbara Adcock - A grow tent indoors at Pocahontas Elementary will allow students to not only see the complete cycle of a variety of vegetables, but also allow them to experiment with different types of soils, lighting, and methods of pollination. * Let’s Explore CoDrone EDU: Drones Made for Learning: ($2,999.99) Katy Osborne, Kelly Terry, and Kristen Bentzen - CoDrone EDU is the latest in coding drones made specifically for classroom learning featuring the safety, flexibility, and durability needed for student learning and classroom usage. * Upgraded 3D Printer for the Engineering Classroom: ($2,106.90) Marcellus Beasley, Cody Seibel, and Elaina Buczkowski - Grant will upgrade 3D printer for engineering classroom at Powhatan High School and allow for transfer of existing 3D printer to the library. * Clay in the Classroom: Shaping a New Future for High School Anatomy Education: ($2,891.69) Cheri Ashman - ANATOMY IN CLAY® is an innovative educational approach that reimagines how human anatomy is taught by using tactile clay models, allowing students to grasp the subject matter in a way that flat, 2D diagrams simply can't achieve. The system is expensive, so Ms. Ashman proposes to pool resources from the PEF and her Curtis funds to provide enough materials to thoroughly pilot the program. * High School library iPads for classroom collaboration: ($2,603.70) Loren Jacobs and Paul Smartschan - Powhatan High School Library will purchase iPads for collaboration.

Future artists in the making! Miss Katie’s preschool class at Flat Rock Elementary got into the spirit of Thanksgiving a little early with directive drawing turkeys and making individual thankful feathers that were combined to create a class turkey. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

We are thankful for staff at Powhatan Elementary giving back to the community at one of the school division's great local partners, Backpacks of Love. One small act of kindness goes a long way. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🎨✨Our middle schoolers are bringing their unique personalities to life through art. Powhatan Middle School eighth graders in Miss Keys’ Art 1 class recently made mixed media projects in a lesson with points of focus on Hispanic Heritage Month, Frida Kahlo’s role in art history, and learning how to create a self-portrait. The budding artists had to use at least three different types of media, such as watercolor or acrylic paint, alcohol ink, and colored pencils. Miss Keys said she focused on understanding how to draw realistic facial features but also asked the students to draw the self portraits based on how they see themselves and include some of their interests. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Ms. Richter’s first graders at Pocahontas Elementary use the four-square writing tool to organize their thoughts when describing people in their families. This is the prewriting stage before they write their sentences. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Powhatan County Public Schools is hiring homebound instructors and substitute teachers. Be the guiding star in our students' education journey. Join us now! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Andrea Wassmer, GRASP Advisor for Powhatan High School, recently talked to economics students in Mr. Bell and Mrs. Detrick’s classes about FAFSA. Completing and submitting the FAFSA form is free, and it gives families access to the largest source of financial aid to help pay for college or trade school. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Powhatan County Public Schools wishes to say thank you to all of those men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and a special thank you to all of our employees who served. We honor your sacrifice. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

After a resounding 5-0 quarterfinals victory on Tuesday, the Powhatan High School Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey team will compete in the Class 4 State Semi Finals at noon tomorrow. The game is at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. Let’s send the team lots of love and support to speed them on their way. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Real Money. Real World. is a financial program that introduces a dose of real life to money management for our eighth graders. Virginia Cooperative Extension is seeking adults to assist students at each of the booths where they will "purchase" homes, vehicles, groceries and many other monthly needs. If you enjoy working with young people, please consider signing up to help us with this upcoming program at Powhatan Middle School on Monday, Nov 13. Register to volunteer at this link: https://forms.gle/cbkSr2YcpuDNUzHb8

Flat Rock Elementary fifth graders recently had a visitor from the Mattaponi tribes in Ms. Korte’s room. The informative visitor is an aunt of a student in Ms. Amorese’s homeroom. The students enjoyed learning more about Native American life from her. She ended her presentation with a traditional dance she taught the students. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

National STEM/STEAM Day is celebrated every year on Nov. 8 to encourage kids to explore their interests in science, technology, engineering, arts and math careers. On a recent third grade STEM Day at Pocahontas Elementary, students recently learned about the importance of soil by making observations of the soil components, testing the soil in the schoolyard to determine what it contained, and learning about vermiculture - composting with worms. They will use worms to compost their food scraps throughout the year. The day ended with them creating their own soil mixture to grow microgreens. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Flat Rock Elementary math and reading interventionists are set up in the library during parent-teacher conferences today offering parent information for students in intervention. They are highlighting tools such as Kindergarten Fundations, All About Spelling, high interest texts to promote comprehension, Number Worlds, and Pearson Focus. The goal of these tools is to support literacy and math growth in our students. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

The smiles on the faces of students in Mrs. Hintz and Mrs. Hall’s kindergarten classes at Powhatan Elementary lit up the room as they learned and played under neon lights on “Glow Day.” As part of a Halloween Escape room using language and math skills, the students could earn “glow wear” – glow bracelets, pens, necklaces, glow glue, glow markers – when they completed a task. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

It's film festival time! Mrs. Peyton’s Introduction to Film class at Powhatan High School recently held its own Stop Motion Film Festival and Awards Ceremony, where a panel of judges was asked to award honors in several categories to four different films made by students in the class. The students in the new elective class spent two weeks planning and creating the short films using stop motion technology, and then Mrs. Peyton held the film festival to debut them. The four films were posted individually last night. Here are the winners of the awards ceremony. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #elevateeducatorsva And the winners are: Best Animation: The Four Seasons Best Character: Adventures of Iggy Best Soundtrack: The Bookshelf Best Camera Shots: The Bookshelf Best Sound Effects: The Train Most Creative: The Four Seasons Best Background: The Train Best Actor: The Bookshelf Best Director: Adventures of Iggy Best Picture: The Four Seasons Best Comedy: The Train Best Plot Twist (category added by the judges): Adventures of Iggy