WINSTON-SALEM — Seventh-grader Callum Forest recently won Our Lady of Mercy School’s annual Spelling Bee – for the fourth consecutive year.
The bee included contestants from the fourth through the eighth grade.
Forest also competed in the Forsyth County Private school’s bee, and he won that.
Forest will advance on to compete in the Non-Public Schools round of Forsyth County competition.
Last year, he was the Forsyth County Non-Public Schools Spelling Bee Champion for the second year in a row.
— Katrina Capistrano
HIGH POINT — St. Pius X fourth-grader Mary Parker recently got to be a meteorologist for a day as Vann Denton’s Weather Kid on Fox 8 News. Parker sent in a letter to the Fox 8 studios back in October telling about her love of science and requested to be chosen as a Weather Kid. Within a few weeks, she received a call from the Fox 8 studios to schedule her debut.
“In my letter, I explained that being Van Denton’s Weather Kid would be a good way for me to see if I wanted to be a meteorologist,” Parker said. “I was so excited and very happy when Fox 8 Studios called my house. My mom talked with the lady from the studio and they set up a date for me to come in.”
Parker got a tour of the studio followed by one-on-one tips on how to give the TV weather report from Chief Meteorologist Van Denton.
“There were only a few steps to learn, but the most exciting part was standing in front of a green screen,” she recalls. “I was surprised because I didn’t know what was going to pop up on the screen beside me. It was really easy to talk into the cameras and read from the teleprompter. The experience was all very fun.”
Both of her parents are teachers at St. Pius X School. They encourage educational extensions such as the Weather Kid program that allow students to branch outside the classroom to learn about future career opportunities or to just get a behind-the-scenes look at service jobs that go on in their community.
“Girls, especially, need to see the role of women in areas of science and communication,” Parker’s mom April noted. “An opportunity to visit a news studio opens a door to careers in telecommunication, technology, science, business, and even acting.”
Parker was one of the first students at St. Pius X to appear as a Weather Kid on Fox 8. Her parents urge other students from Catholic schools to take advantage of this unique program, as well as other programs in North Carolina that allow students to branch out of the classroom to take a first-hand look at career possibilities.
“I enjoyed my time as a meteorologist, but the experience made me think more seriously about be-coming a news anchor instead of a scientist,” Parker said. “I would encourage my friends to be weath-er kids to see if they might like a job as a meteorologist or a new anchor, too.”
— Photo provided
