News and Information
June 12th – Teacher Orientation – South Brunswick High School
The first cohort of teachers to be trained in the Hill Center methodology were introduced and welcomed to the program. These teachers will be working with identified students who have displayed a need in the area of reading. The first year of this initiative will target students in grades 3-5. Teachers will receive their training in August with constant support from the mentors at the Hill Center and regular visits throughout the year.
June 12th – Partners’ Meeting – Southport, NC
Representatives from Brunswick County, The Hill Center, and UNCW met to report on the components of the Hill Center Educational Model grant sponsored by the Robertson Foundation. These programs include: the EDN595 graduate course "Intensive Remediation for Struggling Learners"; the July Leadership Institute; the online course offerings; and the work to be done specifically in Brunswick County. The courses and institutes are being offered to all in the UNCW PDS partnership which includes more than a dozen school systems.
July 6th - 10th - EDN595: Intensive Remediation for Struggling Learners - UNCW
During the week of July 6 - 10th, 2009, eighteen graduate students attended EDN595: Intensive Remediation for Struggling Learners. The graduate level course tuition and related 
materials were paid for by the Hill Center Regional Education Model grant. Elementary and high school instructors from area counties learned how to implement this methodology. Of the 18 students, 8 were currently enrolled in a graduate school program, two were currently non-degree seeking graduate students, and 8 applied and were accepted as non-degree seeking graduate students, all at UNCW. The students were from Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender, and Onslow County. Before the face-to-face portion of the class began, students completed a ten hour on-line course, “Phonics – Breaking the Code”. This online course included supplemental readings, instructional activities, and a final assessment. The face-to-face course focused on methodology and instructional role-play activities. Students wrote several literature reviews and analyzed case studies. At the end of the week, each student went home with the knowledge and tools for implementing HillRAP Reading and Math and a better appreciation for learning differences and how those differences may be addressed in the classroom.
July 8th - Leadership Institute - UNCW
On July 8, 2009, UNCW hosted The Leadership Institute presented by The Hill Center. This offering was part of the partnership commitment of the Hill Center Regional Education Model funded by the Robertson Foundation. The partnership of UNCW, The Hill Center, and Brunswick County Schools will coordinate to provide this opportunity twice more over the next two summers.
The Institute was designed for district and school level administrators. The topics addressed included: leadership and special education; connections to the 21st Century Standards for school executives; characteristics of students with exceptionalities; neuroscience and other reading research; compliance with IDEIA; components of response to intervention; and accountability and students with exceptionalities. Sixty-seven participants attended from New Hanover, Duplin, Whiteville City, Clinton City, Onslow, Pender, and Brunswick County School Systems.
Presenters from The Hill Center included: Dr. Kristin Bell, Ms. Angela Duncan, and Dr. Shary Maskel. Dr. Carl Lashley, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Ms. Julie Bost, Program Specialist for Exceptional Children for the Alamance-Burlington School System, also addressed the participants. During the Institute, the attendees were engaged in simulations, provided with current data driven decision making tools and approaches for leadership, and informed of the legal landscape that now exists with special education. All who attended received a certificate verifying their eight hours of participation. Those who elected to complete a pre-reading assignment and submit relevant questions were given a certificate for ten contact hours.
August 2009 - Teacher Training by The Hill Center on the HillRAP methodology
Teachers were engaged in three intensive days of training by The Hill Center instructors.