Learn in Burke: a Burke County Public Schools Podcast

BCPS Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan sits down with the GEAR UP team to talk about how this program introduces students to the possibilities of college and university. GEAR UP is a partnership with Appalachian State University designed to prepare middle and high school students to succeed in postsecondary education. Listen to learn how BCPS students are GEARing UP for college.

In this episode of Learn in Burke, we listen in on a conversation between our Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan and Dr. Melanie Honeycutt our chief information officer as they discuss how books and supplemental materials are chosen for our media centers. They even uncover important internet safety tips that all parents need to know! This episode is a great one to take a moment to listen in on as your driving running errands or at home completing tasks off your to-do list. This episode was a part of the Superintendents Snapshot series by the City of Morganton Compas Cable! #ignitelearningBCPS #allinBCPS

It takes about 8 seconds to tie a shoelace, form a first impression or get bored with a video. For Hildebran Elementary School fifth grader William Buff, it takes exactly 8 seconds to win championships.We sit down with William and talk about how he started his career in bull riding and what it takes to be the best! You don’t meet students like William Buff everyday, so don’t miss out on this conversation!

School safety was the topic of our newest Superintendent's Snapshots TV segment in partnership with City of Morganton, NC Government CoMPAS Cable. We invited Sara LeCroy, our director of student and family services; Lt. Albert Becerra, one of our school resource officers and Andrew Clemens, our BCPS safety officer to talk about the issue of school safety. Don't miss out on this episode! #allinBCPS #ignitelearningBCPS

We have recently unveiled the 2023-2028 Burke County Public Schools Strategic Plan that includes our “All In Promise.” What is it? Why is it important to me or my student? These may be a few questions you have and in this podcast episode we answer them all! Our Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan and our Assistant Superintendent Dr. Karen Auton join us for this episode to break down our new strategic plan and why we are ALL IN for our students and staff! 

Please subscribe to Learn in Burke on Spotify, Apple Podcast and many more platforms to keep up with each of our podcast releases. #allinBCPS @ignitinglearningBCPS

Kindergarteners from Hildebran Elementary School have taken over the Learn in Burke podcast! We wanted to have a chat with some of our youngest students in Burke County Public Schools, so where better to go than KINDERGARTEN! Get ready to laugh, hear some advice about life and participate in sing-alongs! These students are on their way to being talk show hosts! Our kindergarteners are AWESOME! 

The students who participated today were Gracie, Greylon, Graydon, Granger and Colt! Thank you to Hildebran Elementary School for hosting us!

Most of our community knows about Burke County Public Schools and Western Piedmont Community College, but do you know their leaders? What about how the two educational institutions partner together to create opportunities for workforce development? BCPS and WPCC are impacting our community in many different ways and together they are preparing more and more for the workforce or higher education. In this podcast, we touch on many different topics with WPCC President Dr. Joel Welch and BCPS Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan, including a special opportunity juniors and seniors have to attend Pioneer Preview at WPCC! So much good information is jam-packed into a 30-minute podcast, you don’t want to miss it!

Inside schools we are used to seeing students learning in classrooms, laboratories or gymnasiums, but in the recent years some classrooms are turning into barns, greenhouses and grazing fields. Why may you ask? Agriculture, that’s why. A growing trend is taking our students outside to see all the different ways our world grows when it comes to plants, animals and more! For this episode, our Superintendent, Dr. Mike Swan joins us as we visit East Burke High School’s agriculture class to talk with student about the program. We might have even taken a stroll to the animal barn! Take a listen to hear first-hand from students as to why this class is growing in popularity.

Special Guests: Jennifer Hawkins, coordinator for MTSS and students success; Elicia Carter, school counselor at EBMS; and Sara LeCroy, director of student and family services. 

Here at Burke County Public Schools, we want our students to know that as soon as they walk into their school they will be surrounded by people who care for them. In this episode of Learn in Burke, we dig deep into how we support the mental well-being of our students and staff. It is no secret that the amount of mental health services we provide through BCPS has escalated over the past couple years. We talk about different aspects of our MTSS program, the Mindfulness Classroom and the help that our many school counselors provide for each student and staff. We even offer up advice to parents on how they can help their student who may be struggling. This is a great episode for our whole community to hear!

In case you have any questions for our three guests on this episode, please see their email addresses below. 

Elicia Carter - [email protected]

Sara LeCroy - [email protected]

Jennifer Hawkins - [email protected]

More and more we are seeing a generation of our students being raised by their grandparents. The challenges that are presented to these “grand-families” are numerous, but for the past 20+ years, we have helped them and parents who need support raising children succeed through the Burke County Public School’s FUTuRES program. The program is led by Lisa Schell and Michael Massey. Take a listen on your drive home or play us during your lunch break to see how this program has changed lives for the better! #ignitelearningbcps

Here is a link to the BCPS FUTuRES program site, where you can find the resources and reach out for help! - - - https://www.burke.k12.nc.us/cms/one.aspx?portalId=697882&pageId=10809314

Pictured below are Lisa Schell (left) and Michael Massey, who operate the FUTuRES program for Burke County Public Schools.