Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/34020
Congratulations to Erica Caine Beginning Teacher of the Month for Cumberland County Schools Erica Caine is a beginning teacher at E. E. Miller who has shown marvelous growth throughout this school year. Ms. Caine’s addition to our fi fth grade team proved to be rewarding for both her and the grade level. Although it seemed impossible for her at times in the begin- ning of the school year, she listened to those around her, accepted good ad- vice and turned her classroom around in an amazing way. Most importantly, Ms. Caine is not a quitter! She gave it all she had to be the most outstanding fi rst year teacher that she has become. Ms. Caine has a natural ability in being a team player. When she ar- rived, she was full of new ideas and activities for us to implement in our own classrooms to benefi t all of the fi fth grade students at E.E. Miller El- ementary. She has a remarkable ability to effortlessly create effective les- son plans in any format required. Ms. Caine attended all the grade level meetings with inspiring knowledge and a positive attitude. Her enthusi- asm about sharing and planning was profi table for the grade level. She took on any responsibility required of her and always put forth her best effort in everything she did. I believe that Ms. Caine is an amazing fi rst year teacher because she has proven that she is capable of overcoming obstacles and that her number one priority is the success of her students. She takes it upon herself to stay current on county requirements by attending professional develop- ment as well as pursuing her own education as she continues to work on her Master’s degree. I have seen tremen- dous growth in Ms. Caine’s teaching ability in such a short amount of time. Her passion in teaching shows as she takes the initiative to do what it takes to help her students as well as herself to succeed. Sponsored by: Federal Transition to Teaching and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers Aliens attack in Falling Skies TV by DEAN ROBBINS Falling Skies (Sunday, 9 p.m., TNT) is a superior alien-invasion series because it cares about the humans more than the aliens. In the prologue, we learn about a horrifying chain of events through the perspective of a child’s drawings: The aliens came and conquered, forc- ing survivors to form ad hoc resistance factions. The boy who drew the pictures is in a sort of alternative-family paramilitary outfit that includes his history-professor dad, Tom (Noah Wylie). The community doesn’t include Tom’s wife, who was killed by the aliens, or his son Ben, who’s been captured. Falling Skies plunges you into the battle for survival, to the point where you cheer a resistance fighter recover- ing a stray can of tuna for sustenance. But this is much more than just an alien shoot-‘em-up. Presumably with input from executive producer Steven Spielberg, the pro- duction emphasizes human personalities and relationships, finding tenderness and even humor in the grim scenario. In the two-hour pilot’s most stunning scene, Tom and a small guerrilla force manage to kill a creepy alien. Rather than whooping it up, however, they feel guilty about what they’ve done. As they stare into the thing’s arachnoid-reptilian face in its death throes, Tom says, “I wonder what it’s thinking.” Just the fact that Falling Skies cares what it’s thinking establishes the series as extraordinary. Rocco’s Dinner Party Wednesday, 11 pm (Bravo) Rocco DiSpirito has a decent idea for his new cooking show: Pit two chefs against each other to see who can throw the best dinner party. Pick a theme for the parties and put the contestants in charge not only of the food, but the décor. Listen in on the guests’ sparkling conversation and let them pick the winner. The pilot does a good job with the “dinner” part of Rocco’s Dinner Party. The two chefs both have sophisticated concepts, and it’s a pleasure to watch them prepare mouth- watering oxtail, cod, grits and mushroom salad. The “party” part, though, leaves some- thing to be desired. The guests are minor actors, chefs and TV personalities, and they have nothing interesting to say about the food or anything else. Sample conversation: “Delicious, absolutely delicious!” “This dessert is awesome!” “It’s really well cooked!” It’s a shame to waste good food on people this dull. Drop Dead Diva Sunday, 9 pm (Lifetime) A gorgeous model named Deb has returned to life in a non-gorgeous body and now works as a lawyer named Jane (Brooke Elliott). It would seem crazy to expect this prem- ise to yield anything more than silliness, but I recall early episodes of Drop Dead Diva as being dramatically satisfying. Not so the season-three premiere, which finds the series wallowing in camp. Jane keeps lapsing into dreams, in which she chats with Paula Abdul, boogies with an entire hospital staff, etc. Junky cameos by Wendy Williams, LeAnn Rimes and Mario Lopez make it impossible to take the plot seriously. Not that you would have anyway: Jane de- fends a bad-boy movie star, while Kim (Kate Levering) sues a man for having sex with his ex-wife. Has Drop Dead Diva hit rock bottom or am I about to wake up from a dream? Y trv urvvbvu vurr u vvyryrv x 484-6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com 18 UCW JUNE 15-21, 2011 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM