Ed White Middle School

Infobox School
name = Ed White Middle School


imagesize =
caption =
motto = "Flying to new heights"
established = 1969
type = Public
affiliation =
district = Huntsville City Schools
grades = Middle school (6-8)
principal = Annie C. Savage
faculty =
staff =
students =
enrollment = 600+
athletics =
colors =
mascot = Bulldogs
campus size =
location = 4800 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, Alabama 35810
country = USA
coordinates = coord|34.7598|-86.6365|region:US_type:edu|display=inline,title
information = 256-428-7680
website = [http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/schools/middle/ewms/index_new.html Ed White Middle School] |

Ed White Middle School is a public 6th through 8th grade middle school in Huntsville, Alabama. It is located at 4800 Sparkman Drive in northwest Huntsville.

The school is named for astronaut Edward H. White II, killed in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy on January 27, 1967. Huntsville is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and has strong community ties to the space program. At the same time, the Huntsville City Schools named Roger B. Chaffee Elementary and Virgil I. Grissom High School for White's fallen Apollo 1 crewmates.

Recognized faculty

Ed White Middle School teacher Marcus Taylor was one of just 60 teachers honored by the Parker Griffith Family Foundation for "dedication and desire to succeed in the classroom" with a 2006/2007 Classroom Grant award. Teacher Dennis Kimery was one of just 42 recipients of a 2005/2006 Classroom Grant award from the same organization. [cite news | title = Classroom Grant Recipients | url = http://www.parkergriffithfamilyfoundation.org/EDU-Recip.htm | work = Parker Griffith Family Foundation | accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Science teacher Bonnie Garrett won one of 80 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards in 2007. The $25,000 check was presented during a November 2007 school assembly. [cite news | first = Sallie | last = Owen | title = Examples of Excellence - 'Education Oscar' Winner | url = http://www.aplusala.org/ednews/2007/en07-nov14.asp | work = Education News in Alabama | publisher = A+ Education Foundation | date = 2007-11-14 | accessdate = 2008-01-09 | quote = Science teacher Bonnie Garrett of Huntsville [...] excels at motivating "difficult to teach" students, according to her principal.] Garrett, who teaches biology and aerospace science, was Alabama's only Milken Educator Award recipient for 2007. [cite news | first = Steve | last = Campbell | title = Ed White science teacher is tops | url = http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/119451731320670.xml&coll=1 | work = The Huntsville Times | location = Huntsville, Alabama | date = 2007-11-07 | accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Engineering outreach

In April 2001, teacher Doreen Forsythe and a group of students from Ed White Middle School visited NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to help produce some of the mirrors for Starshine 3, an Earth-orbiting satellite that resembles "a high-tech disco ball" and was designed to help study the effect of solar activity on Earth's atmosphere. [cite news | title = Local students to visit NASA Marshall Thursday to help produce Earth-orbiting 'disco ball' satellite | url = http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news/news/releases/2001/01-144.html | work = NASA Media Advisory | publisher = Marshall Space Flight Center | location = Huntsville, Alabama | date = 2001-04-21 | accessdate = 2008-01-09] Ed White was one of 500 schools around the world whose students helped grind and polish mirrors for the Starshine project.

In 2002, students from Ed White Middle School participated in NASA's Earth-to-Orbit Engineering Design Challenge. Under the guidance of a mentor from the Marshall Space Flight Center, students built a scale model of a propeller designed by the Wright brothers. [cite news | title = The 'Wright' Stuff | url = http://marshallstar.msfc.nasa.gov/6-6-02.pdf | format = pdf | work = Marshall Star | publisher = NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | location = Huntsville, Alabama | page = 1 | date = 2002-06-02 | accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Teacher Roberta Freeman and engineering mentor Gregory Miley will lead a team of students in the 2008 National Engineers Week Future City Competition. The Alabama Future City Competition will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2008, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. [cite news | first = Sonya | last = Hutchinson | title = Alabama Students Tackle Infrastructure Safety In Future City Competition | url = http://www.ieee-huntsville.org/y2007/lw0710/lw0710arfcc.html | work = IEEE Live Wire | date = 2007-10-07 | accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Facilities and structure

The school gymnasium is a Huntsville-Madison County Permitted Fallout Shelter as designated by the Madison County Emergency Management Agency. The rated capacity is 295 persons. [cite web | title = Huntsville-Madison County Permitted Fallout Shelters (Updated Apr 2007) | url = http://www.madisoncountyema.com/FalloutShelterList%2520-%2520Permit%2520Apr%25202007.pdf | format = pdf | work = Madison County EMA | location = Huntsville, Alabama | date = 2007-04-01 | accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Controversy

In late 2000, during a movement to ban corporal punishment across the state of Alabama, Ed White Middle School was one of just ten public schools in Huntsville that still used corporal punishment. [cite news | first = Challen | last = Stephens | title = South stands alone and more than one of every 10 licks lands in Alabama | url = http://www.nospank.net/n-h08.htm | work = The Huntsville Times | location = Huntsville, Alabama | date = 2000-12-17 | accessdate = 2008-01-09 | quote = "However, we have to be very, very careful as far as the licks and making sure you're not too forceful," said principal Ann Savage at Ed White Middle. "That one kid can bruise easily so that the parent gets upset and files a lawsuit." Ed White is one of 10 schools in Huntsville that still use corporal punishment.] Paddling incidents in 2003 again made headlines but to date the policy of the Huntsville City Schools leaves corporal punishment as an allowable but discouraged practice. [cite news | first = Lee | last = Roop | title = Editorial: Put up the paddle--The days when corporal punishment in schools was appropriate have passed | url = http://nospank.net/huntsville.htm | work = The Huntsville Times | location = Huntsville, Alabama | date = 2003-03-11 | accessdate = 2008-01-09 | quote = In Madison city schools, paddling is not an option. In Huntsville, paddling is not disallowed but is discouraged by the current administration.]

External links

* [http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/schools/middle/ewms/index_new.html Ed White Middle School official website]

* [http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/Bonnie_Garrett/Bonnie_Garrett.php Huntsville City Schools - Bonnie Garrett]

References