School News and Information

May 2005-Mr. Scott Stewart accepts "Landscaping Award" from Principal, Robert C. Grimes during the Volunteer Banquet

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LANEY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FIGHT YOUTH TOBACCO USE, WEEK OF APRIL 28-MAY 4, 2005
by FROM NEWSWIRES
The Wilmington Journal
Originally posted 5/14/2005

Laney High School students fight youth tobacco use in honor of Earth Day, Kick Butts Day and Tobacco Awareness Month, on April 22, 2005.

Young people from Laney High School are joining thousands of kids across the country taking part in Tobacco Awareness Month, Earth Day and Kick Butts Day, a nationwide initiative that makes kids leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use.  As part of the Kick Butts Day celebration, Laney High School students picked up cigarette butts littering the school campus.

Throughout the year, young advocates take part in a variety of activities to protect their peers from tobacco, including working with elected officials to develop policies that reduce youth tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke and educating their peers about tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices.

On April 22nd, at 1:20 p.m., several high school students at Laney canvassed the campus of the high school as well as Trask Middle School, and picked up cigarette butts that have littered the grounds.  New Hanover County Schools have a 100% Tobacco Free Schools policy, but even with the policy in place, people are still smoking on school property.  In order to make a statement about how cigarette butts are a disgrace to the environment, in honor of Earth Day, the students picked up all the butts they can find.  In order to make the point that too many people are smoking on school grounds, the butts will be counted, in order to quantify just how many cigarettes are smoked despite school policy.
 
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people every year. Every day, more than 4,000 kids try their first cigarettes; another 2,000 kids become addicted smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result.

The Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is the largest non-governmental education and advocacy initiative ever undertaken to decrease youth tobacco use in the United States.

The campaign strives to build a healthier future for our children by reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke and is the main force behind the annual Kick Butts Day.

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Laney High School to Receive 2004-2005
Air Force Junior ROTC Distinguished Unit Award

Unit NC-802 at E. A. Laney High has been selected as one of 200 units to receive the 2004-2005 Air Force Junior ROTC Distinguished Unit Award. This award recognizes Air Force Junior ROTC units that have performed above and beyond normal expectations, and that have distinguished themselves through outstanding service to their school and community while meeting the Air Force Junior ROTC mission of producing better citizens for America.

The objectives of the Junior ROTC program are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship and life skills, promote community service, instill responsibility, character, and self-discipline through character education, and to provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. Enrollment is open to all young people who are in the ninth grade or higher, physically fit, and are citizens or nationals of the United States.

Air Force Junior ROTC is located in 746 high schools across the United States and at selected schools in Europe, in the Pacific and Puerto Rico. Junior ROTC enrollment includes more than 104,000 cadets.

For more information, please contact E. A. Laney’s principal, Mr. Robert Grimes, or the Air Force Junior ROTC department, Lt Col Green at the school at 350-2089, ext 231.

Rebecca Mayo, Biology Teacher at E. A. Laney High School, has been nominated and selected as the 2005 E. A. Laney High School Teacher of the Year.