January 15, 2010, Monroe, NC - Want to “bee” a beekeeper? Union County Cooperative Extension and the Union County Beekeepers will be conducting a class for beginning beekeepers at the Union County Ag Center on Jan. 30 from 8 a.m. – 5 [...]]]> Due to inclement weather, the beginning
beekeeping class scheduled for
Saturday, Jan. 30 is rescheduled for
Saturday, Feb. 20

January 15, 2010, Monroe, NC - Want to “bee” a beekeeper? Union County
Cooperative Extension and the Union County Beekeepers will be conducting a class for
beginning beekeepers at the Union County Ag Center on Jan. 30 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Cost for the class is $10, which includes membership in the Union County Beekeepers
Association and the NC State Beekeepers Association.

Bill Sheppard, NC State bee inspector, and Jeff Knight, master beekeeper and president
of the Union County Beekeepers, will teach the class.

“Bill Sheppard has one of the most engaging personalities you’ll experience in a teacher,”
said Jeff Rieves, Union County extension agent. “He is an excellent speaker, and an
absolute fountain of knowledge on bees and beekeeping. Jeff Knight is one of the few
master beekeepers in the area and a great teacher. Jeff is who I call about beekeeping.”

The class will cover all the basics of beekeeping including the importance of bees and
beekeeping, bee biology and behavior, getting set up as a beekeeper, hive management,
honey plants in the state, honey harvest, uses of honey and selling your honey.

To register, please call Dana Braswell at the Cooperative Extension Office at 704-283-
3742.

Twenty-five families had a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season thanks to the efforts of students at Waxhaw Elementary School.

A total of 2,742 items of canned and dry food were collected during the fifth-anniversary food drive at the school, the brainchild of the school’s Spanish teacher [...]]]> Waxhaw Elementary students feed 25 needy families

Twenty-five families had a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season thanks to the efforts of students at Waxhaw Elementary School.

A total of 2,742 items of canned and dry food were collected during the fifth-anniversary food drive at the school, the brainchild of the school’s Spanish teacher Ginger Polk.

“The food drive is a way for me to teach my students about being culturally sensitive and how it feels to help others less fortunate,” Polk said. “It is my job to teach culture and language. What better way of doing this than putting words into actions. We talked about all the different cultures in our school and how we should be sensitive to everyone. The food drive is one way we give back to the community.”

For the past five years, starting on the first day of November, students at the school collect food for the food drive, continuing most of the month. They stop collecting the day before Thanksgiving break.

Once the collection is complete, each of the chosen families schedules a time during the week of Thanksgiving to come and “shop” for food items with their children. The student council representatives help take the boxes of food to the cars. The family also had the choice of a ham or turkey.

“I love seeing the smiling faces of the students that come with their parents to shop,” Polk said. “I am giving them more boxes to fill as the parents are telling them not to take so much food.”

Polk said she was touched by comments made by one of her students who wrote in her Writers’ Workshop Notebook that she was thankful that her dad was able to put food on their table even though they were very poor and didn’t have much food. Because of the food drive, this family will now be able to eat through the Christmas holiday.

“It’s not just about Thanksgiving,” Polk said. “It’s about giving, and our students learn this first hand through the food drive.”