CTE Champ Camp Helps Middle School Students Build Skills, Knowledge, and Future Career Interests

Thirty middle school students from across the district spent the week learning by doing during CTE Champ Camp, a hands-on career exploration experience designed to introduce students to valuable skills and opportunities in the skilled trades.

Throughout the week, students explored a variety of career fields, including carpentry, masonry, electrical work, surveying, plumbing, and interior design. These interactive lessons gave students the opportunity to better understand how classroom learning connects to real-world careers and future workforce pathways.

One of the highlights of the week was the opportunity for students to learn directly from local professionals and community partners. These experts shared their knowledge, demonstrated trade-specific skills, and helped students see the many career opportunities available right here in our community.

Craven County Schools extends a special thank you to the community partners who helped make this meaningful experience possible: R.E. Harris, Mike Lawrence Electric, Habitat for Humanity, AXIS Land Surveying, and Creekside Cabinets. A big shoutout also goes to the Home Builders Association for their support and coordination in helping bring this special week together.

To conclude the week, students will continue their career exploration with visits to Craven Community College’s Volt Center and a Habitat for Humanity home. These visits will allow students to see how the skills they learned throughout the week work together in the process of building a home, from planning and design to construction and completion.

CTE Champ Camp has been a great week of building skills, building knowledge, and building future minds. Most importantly, it has helped inspire the next generation of skilled professionals and future workforce leaders.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this week such a success for our students!

Craven County student participates in ECU PIRATE program for future educators

For three days, almost 100 rising high school juniors, seniors and recent graduates from 31 North Carolina counties immersed themselves into life as an education major at ECU. 

One of the participants was Lily Franklin of Havelock High School.

Participants experienced all facets of college life including spending the night in Clement Residence Hall, eating meals in West End Dining Hall, playing games in the Eakin Student Recreation Center, and going to presentations and classes. Participants were in small groups with a student leader who will stay in contact with them throughout the upcoming school year.

“My favorite part of working with the PIRATE program has been witnessing the real-time growth of our participants,” said Arnez Wallace, outreach and engagement specialist and director of PIRATE. “When they arrive on campus for move‑in, many are understandably nervous about stepping into a new environment. Yet by the end of the very first day, I can already see them opening up, exploring their interests through education, and forming meaningful connections with their peers.”

For Dr. Charity Cayton, every year working as a faculty facilitator in the PIRATE program is an amazing experience. Cayton, an associate professor and director of 6-12 education, has been involved with PIRATE since it began five years ago.

“Each year the participants come in with enthusiasm and passion to learn and experience what it means to be an educator,” she said. “I love the diversity of interests each year. We always have a range across grade levels, content and licensure areas. Many of them come in with experiences teaching/working with students from their schools through organizations like Teacher Cadet, which adds to the overall experience for all participants.”

The main improvements she has seen since the beginning have been the addition of the residential experience and expanding the number of faculty facilitators from four to six.

“We used this opportunity to pair up with another faculty facilitator and organize students within groups matched with faculty expertise,” she said. “We had three faculty pairings: elementary math education and special education, secondary math education and special education, and two literacy. This allowed us to have smaller individual groups and partner our groups together throughout PIRATE.”

Current secondary history education major and Honors College student Caroline Madigan was inspired to become a PIRATE student leader after her own experience in the program. 

“I am grateful for the opportunity to encourage and support future educators as they begin their journey toward becoming teachers,” she said. “Participating in this camp helped solidify that goal even more. I enjoyed working with high school students and being able to connect with them on a deeper level while discussing the material. This experience reinforced my passion for teaching and showed me how rewarding it is to help students learn and gain confidence in their abilities.”

For more information about the program, visit the PIRATE website.

Pathways to Possibility: Craven County Schools Hosts First Annual Summer Institute for Exceptional Education

Craven County Schools EC Department proudly hosted its First Annual Summer Institute for Exceptional Education, titled Pathways to Possibility, from July 14–16 at Grover C. Fields Middle School.

The three-day professional learning event brought together educators, administrators, related service providers, instructional support staff, and district leaders from Craven County and neighboring districts. Participants had the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and share best practices designed to strengthen support for students with disabilities.

The institute featured keynote presentations from Kim Molnar and Nathan Levenson, along with a wide variety of breakout sessions. Topics included inclusive practices, behavior supports, legal updates, artificial intelligence, transition planning, instructional strategies, family engagement, data use, and more.

Throughout the event, participants demonstrated tremendous dedication, energy, and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for every learner. Craven County Schools is grateful to all presenters, participants, staff members, and community partners who helped make the inaugural institute a success.

A special thank-you goes to the Exceptional Children Department for creating this valuable professional learning opportunity and helping launch what we hope will become an annual tradition.

Together, we are creating Pathways to Possibility for every learner.

Craven County Schools Announces Free Summer Meals

for Children and Teens

Craven County Schools is pleased to announce the return of its Summer Meals Program, providing free, healthy meals for children and teens throughout Craven County this summer.

Through the Sun Meals North Carolina program, free breakfast and lunch meals will be available for youth ages 18 and younger. No ID or registration is required. Meals will be served and eaten on-site at designated locations from June 1 through August 14. In addition, Sun Meals To-Go will be distributed on Thursdays from May 28 through August 13 at select locations across the county.

This program helps ensure that students and families continue to have access to nutritious meals during the summer months when school is not in session. Craven County Schools is proud to partner with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Summer Nutrition Programs to support children, teens, and families in our community.

“Summer meals provide an important opportunity to support the health and well-being of children and families across Craven County,” said Dr. Cheeseman, Superintendent. “We are grateful for the continued support of our School Nutrition team and community partners who help make this program possible.”

On-Site Summer Meal Locations

Meals will be served on-site at the following Craven County Schools locations:

• Havelock High School
• Trent Park Elementary School
• West Craven High School
• New Bern High School
• Bridgeton Elementary School

Breakfast will be served from 8:00-9:00 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Additional Craven Cruiser Route locations in the New Bern area include:

• Craven Terrace
• Trent Court
• Cooper’s Landing Apartments
• Fox Chase Village

Sun Meals To-Go Distribution

Sun Meals To-Go will be distributed on Thursdays from May 28 through August 13 at the following locations and times:

Havelock Area

• Havelock High School: 9:00-10:00 a.m.
• Harlowe Community Center: 9:00-9:30 a.m.

Vanceboro Area

• West Craven High School: 9:00-10:00 a.m.
• Bower’s Park, 7909 Main Street, Vanceboro: 9:00-9:30 a.m.
• The Oaks Apartments, 401 Buck Lane, Vanceboro: 9:40-10:10 a.m.
• Bailey Lane Apartments, 255 Bailey Lane #1, Vanceboro: 10:20-10:50 a.m.
• Juniper Chapel, 655 Piney Neck Road, Vanceboro: 11:00-11:30 a.m.

Bridgeton Area

• Bridgeton Elementary School: 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Dover and Cove City Areas

• Cove City Library: 12:00-12:30 p.m.
• Dover Town Hall: 12:45-1:15 p.m.

New Bern Area

• New Bern High School: 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Families may learn more about summer meal locations by visiting SummerMeals4NCKids.org or by scanning the QR code included on the district’s summer meals flyers.

Craven County Schools encourages families to take advantage of this opportunity and help spread the word so children and teens across the county have access to free, nutritious meals all summer long.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.