On a windswept and rain-soaked evening, those who braved the elements were rewarded with one of SOOTS' best concerts ever. Thank you to the Raleigh Charter and greater Sustaining Roots Music community for helping our students raise over $1800 to assist aging musicians.

The night began with an energetic set from Reed Turchi in the style of Mississippi Fred McDowell. Reed's slide guitar also accompanied Big Ron Hunter whose effusive "happy blues" brought smiles to everyone in the Long View Center. When Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes took the stage in full costume - an Amelia Earhart meets Romantic Gothic fashion - the student-led dance party got in full swing. Robinson kept the party alive with a new repertoire, including this piece based on James Bonds' most dedicated love, Money Penny.

Robinson also treated everyone to a debut solo on his full-sized harp. We were mesmerized, and the smiles are evident in this photo of our gang, current and SOOTS alums with our musicians arm in arm. Congratulations to all our students who made this event happen, especially our tireless leaders: E. Blondin, T. Candiloro & T. Hayes. What a night.

Sustaining Roots Music
An RCHS Community Project
www.sootsblues.org or follow us on Twitter @sootsblues

Update: It is not too late to support our students and our school with a donation designated for our teams who have attended (We the People), are attending (Science Olympiad), and will attend (Quiz Bowl) national level tournaments. Our Quiz Bowl Team will complete at NAQT national tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, May 24-26 and at the PACE national championship in College Park, Maryland, June 8-9. Our Science Olympiad Team is competing now at the national tournament in Dayton, Ohio. Donations will be used for travel expenses for team members and coaches.

We have received $9,720 from current parents, alumni, and friends of RCHS. We are most grateful to our anonymous donors and the following sponsors for their generous support of our We the People team: Charles and Renee Montgomery, the Stroud family, The North Carolina Bar Association Foundation, Rosen Law Firm, Kilpatrick, Townsend and Stockton, LLP, Nichols Law, PA, and Robert Crouse of Myers, Bigel, Sibley and Sajovec Patent Lawyers. Our Quiz Bowl team is grateful for the generous support received from Steve and Cindy Lochbaum and Madhvi Thakkar. Our Science Olympiad team greatly appreciates the support received from Chico's Bail Bonds (a Bad News Bears fan).

We have also received generous support for all of our national competition teams from several anonymous donors the following contributors: The Breen Family, Dr. Laurie Dunn and Crawford Crenshaw, Hedgehog Holdings, the Self Family, Alyson Culin '04, Kate Huddleston '07, Akhil and Saumil Jariwala '08, Lindsey Kennedy '04, Katherine Lundsgaard '08, Reeves Nelson '03, Earle Pope '07, Hannah Rich '07, Doug Sibley '08, Jennifer Tate-Washburn '03, Kevin Wohlgenant '04.

Individual support or corporate sponsorship is still welcome. Donations can be made online at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/giving/onlinegiving.asp (Click on Phoenix Fund and then include the following in the field where you enter how your name should be displayed in donor listings: "[your name]- competitions." You can also contribute by mail. Go Phoenix!

We are in the middle of the annual academic competition season, and we have great successes to share. As you may know, our Ocean Sciences Bowl will be participating in the national competition on April 18-20 in Milwaukee. Our We the People Team will compete at the national level on April 26-30 in Washington, D. C. In addition, our Quiz Bowl Team has qualified for and been invited to two national competitions. Finally, our Science Olympiad Team is preparing for the state-level competition, with the hopes of moving to the national event.

The annual competition season also brings the annual challenge of locating funds for national competition expenses. In years past, there has been partial funding provided for national event expenses. This year, only the Ocean Sciences Bowl Team will have national competition expenses provided. Our other teams must pay their own way to their respective national events. The cost can be as high as $1,100 per participant for transportation, lodging, and meals. If every team reaches the national level, we will need nearly $28,000 after students contribute their own funds to defray some of the costs.

So, we have begun our search for community support for participant scholarships or team sponsorships. We ask all Raleigh Charter families to think about whether they know any individuals or organizations who might be interested in offering financial support for our national competitors in Math and Science and in Civic Education. We are fortunate to have so many students who excel in these competitions, and look forward to finding ways to support their hard work.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Carolyn Jackson, Director of Development cjackson@raleighcharterhs.org

On the tutoring club website, students can sign up to be tutors or peers. The website is also accessible from this page by hovering over the "Students" tab and clicking on "Tutoring Opportunities." Raleigh Charter Tutoring Club works by matching tutors and peers based on what subjects tutors would like to teach and what subjects peers need help in. The tutors and peers can then decide when they want to meet up. It will often be one-on-one sessions which can occur during lunch, before school, after school (in the collaborative study hall), in Math Lab, etc. We recommend that tutors and peers meet at least once a week.