Good evening, this is Rick Parker, Principal of East Mecklenburg High School calling with our weekly update. Today, East Mecklenburg High School was presented a 50thAnniversary Golden Football in honor of Jeff Reed who attended East Mecklenburg and continued a football career. In December of 2010, Reed signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. When with the Steelers he played in Super Bowl XL, and Super Bowl XLIII. This commemorative Golden Football given to East Mecklenburg High School makes the school a member of the Super Bowl High School Honor Roll. Along with the football our school will receive NFL Character Education curriculum and make us eligible to apply for a grant from the NFL Foundation to help support our school’s football program. Tonight, at the Basketball game we conclude our Spirit Week with Reverse Homecoming activities. We encourage everyone to come out and be a part of this event and to see who is announced as the Homecoming King. We have had a great week of Reverse Homecoming Activities and a big thank you goes out to Kathryn Thompson and Student Congress for all their hard work. Looking ahead, tomorrow, Saturday, February 6th ACT Testing will be held on campus. On Monday, February 8th, we will hold our monthly School Leadership Team meeting at 6:00 pm in the Media Center. I encourage all parents to come out and be a part of this meeting. There will be two CMS Board Of Education members, Eric Davis and Tom Tate, present to discuss the student assignment. This is your chance to come and hear about the proposed student assignment plan. As a reminder to all parents and students safety is very important to us. Students are not allowed in any unauthorized area of campus during the school day. Also once students have arrived at school, either by bus, walking or car, they are not permitted to leave or return without properly signing out or signing in at the Main Office. Students may not leave school property for any reason without following the sign out policy or have authorization from the principal, an assistant principal or school nurse. Violation of policies for being in an unauthorized area or leaving school without permission is considered a non-compliance issue and will be considered a minimum Tier I offense to a maximum Tier II offense. If considered a Tier II offense it will result in a referral to the intervention team and up to a two-day out of school suspension. Please make your calendar for the following big events: our Second Semester Open House scheduled for February 25th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. On March 3, 4, 5 our Fine Arts Department presents “Footloose” the musical! Look for more information in the upcoming weeks. The East Mecklenburg High School staff thanks you again for all your support. Enjoy the Super Bowl game on Sunday. Go Panthers! Keep Pounding!!!