Vance County Schools Student Accepted to 2012 Governors School


Ethan M. Byrom has been accepted to the 2012 Governors School in recognition of Mathematics.

This summer, 550 of the most distinguished North Carolina rising high school juniors and seniors will attend the 2012 Governor’s School. This year’s attendees are particularly fortunate as the program’s future was in question after Governor’s School funding was eliminated in the NC General Assembly’s 2011-13 biennial budget.

However, thanks to the efforts of the North Carolina Governor’s School Foundation, which raised more than $700,000, the program is able to continue this year with a reduced number of participants (550 from 600) and session length (five weeks from six weeks).

State Superintendent June Atkinson congratulated the students on their selection to Governor’s School. “I’m thrilled these students are going to be able to participate in Governor’s School this year and benefit from its unique learning environment that encourages inquisitiveness and creativity. I hope lawmakers will step to the plate and reinstate the funds to continue this exemplary program that has had such a positive impact on our state.”

The money raised by the Foundation is in addition to a $500 per-student tuition fee enacted in 2010 to help offset program costs. It is the responsibility of the public school system, charter school or private school that nominates a student to pay his or her tuition if selected. Each school or school system determines how it will assess and collect the fee. Three donors, the Golden LEAF Foundation, the Heisman Foundation and the Florence Rogers Charitable Trust, have designated a portion of their donations to provide scholarships to cover the costs of tuition for a select number of students.

Students selected for Governor’s School were nominated to attend by their local school superintendents, charter school directors or private school headmasters. Each school system, charter school and private school was allotted a certain number of nominations based on its 10th and 11th grade populations. Students were nominated in one of 10 curriculum areas: Art, Choral Music, Dance, English, Foreign Language (French and Spanish), Instrumental Music, Mathematics, Natural Science, Social Science and Theater. The Governor’s School curriculum focuses on the exploration of the most recent ideas and concepts in each discipline, and does not involve credit, tests or grades.

The Governor’s School of North Carolina, founded in 1963 by former Gov. Terry Sanford, is the oldest statewide summer residential program for academically or intellectually gifted high school students in the nation. The program is open to rising seniors only, with exceptions made for rising juniors in selected performing/visual arts areas, and is located on two campuses: Governor’s School West and East. Governor’s School West is located at Salem College in Winston-Salem and Governor’s School East is located at Meredith College in Raleigh. The 2012 session runs from June 17 – July 21.

About the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction:
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides leadership to 115 local public school districts and 100 charter schools serving over 1.4 million students in kindergarten through high school graduation. The agency is responsible for all aspects of the state’s public school system and works under the direction of the North Carolina State Board of Education.