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GRYPHON
February 10, 1977
Rocky Moant Senior Hijth Rocky Mount, N.C. 27801
Vol. 3, No. 5
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POLLARD WINS CONTEST; Toretta Pollard recently
competed and won on the district level in the Voice of
Democracy speech contest. She will advance to the state
level to compete for further honors, if successful she will
compete in the national finals.
Toretta Pollard Receives
Voice Of Democracy Win
Toretta Pollard, a sophomore
at Rocky Mount Senior High,
has won in a district competition
in the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Voice of Democracy Contest.
In December Toretta won on
the local basis and in January
she won the District. She is on
her way to competing in State
Competition and if she wins on
the State Level she will go on to
compete on the National Level
in Washington, D.C. The
winner in Washington will take
a trip to California.
Toretta stated that she had to
write a speech, record it, and
send it away to be evaluated.
She is very excited about
competing in the National
Competition. She also said that
many people were so proud of
her that they sent her the
newspaper clippings concerning
the contest.
Also the Veterans of Foreign
Wars gave a very nice dinner in
honor of the three Local winners
at their new Club House.
Toretta said that her biggest
hobby is reading. She is now
serving as Secretary of the
Sophomore Class for the second
semester.
Board Approves Grouping
On January 17 the school
board, with 6-2 vote, decided to
keep the present grouping
systems.
“Why can’t we develop tests
locally?” Mr. Clarence Wiggins
kept asking during a study
meeting of the Rocky Mount
Board of Education on January
10. In response to Mr. Wiggins
questions as to whether the
Readiness Test given to
first-grade children is effective
in deciding the level a child
should be placed, Dr. Ben
Currin, superintendent of
schools replied, “if we had local
tests we would then be testing
ourselves, and the average
person would not have confi
dence in any testing we did to
measure ourselves.”
After reading grouping re
ports, Wiggins also questioned
the ratios of blacks and whites in
the accelerated classes. There
are 50% blacks in the school
Senior High Enrollment
To Drop In Near Future
Many problems have arisen at
Senior High because of the
overcrowded situation which
now exists. However, according
to Principal Elton Newbern and
Superintendent Ben Currin this
situation should be alleviated
within the next four or five
years.
Some of the problems caused
by the large student population
of approximately 1614 are a lack
of classrooms for some courses,
and the lack of a room for class
research in- the library. Also,
some teachers move around to
different rooms for different
periods.
Dr. Currin stated that a drop
in the birth rate in Rocky Mount
has caused a drop in school
enrollment in the lower grades,
and that this drop will
eventually be felt at Senior
High. He also remarked that no
additional building is feasible at
the present time because the
crowded situation would end
about the same time the
building would be completed.
The present enrollment in the
City School System consists of
425 in the 12th grade, 600 in the
11th, 589 in the 10th, 620 in the
ninth, and 643 in the eighth.
Then the drop in enrollment is
evident. Starting with a seventh
grade of 552, enrollment drops
steadily through a sixth grade of
493, and a fifth grade of 462, to
a fourth grade of 535. A slight
increase in students finish the
enrollment with a third grade of
486, a second grade of 470, and
a first grade of 512.
The drop is slightly deceiving
according to Dr. Currin. Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, a
Catholic elementary school
feeds into the city system after
the sixth grade usually adding
30 students to the seventh grade
class. Dr. Currin also noted that
the City School System picks up.
an additional 8-12 students after
grades seven, eight, and nine
from various private schools.
The present sixth grade class
should then have 60 more
students when it reaches Senior
High or 553 students. When the
figures are totaled for the
fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.
Senior High should expect 1570
students in six years. But there
is another factor in predicting
the school population: the
drop-out rate. Dr. Currin
estimated that 100 students per
class would drop-out between
the 11th and 12th grades for
various reasons. Thus, a total of
1470 students, or almost 150
students less inhabit Senior
High in 1982.
Mr. Newbern commented
that although the students
population will soon drop 150
students below the present
level, teachers will be lost
because of the quota system.
The immediate future does
not look quite so bi’ight
according to the eighth and
ninth grade enrollments.
George R. Edwards was
enlarged to hold 1100 students.
The school population is 1263.
I
population and only 26% are in
the accelerated classes. “Why
aren’t black students doing
better on National tests?”
questioned Wiggins. Jeanette
Pittman, director of pupil
personnel, and the five princi
pals, Steven Wrenn, T.V.
Foster, Richard Hicks, Douglas
Watts, and Elton Newbern,
explained that a lot of Criteria
based on socio-economic back
ground, neighborhood, and
home life would answer this. To
some, learning at home is
important, and to others, it’s
not.
In the next meeting held on
January 17, Tom Harris,
chairman, said “we are
attempting to measure things
that are not always measurable
because every child is different
and we are attempting to put lay
people in the place of
professionals.”
The vote was then taken.
OFFICERS ELECTED: New class officers are left to right: top row, seniors, Joseph
Williams, president; Amy Fisher, vice president; Cynthia McKnight, secretary, absent
from picture; and Lanie Powell, treasurer; second row: juniors, Stephen Phillips,
president; Freddie Woods, vice president; Jim Thorp, secretary; and Brad Craft,
treasurer; bottom row, sophomores, Audrey Cooper, president; Keitha Lawrence, vice
president; Toretta Pollard, secretary, absent from picture; and Kim Flora, treasurer.
Class Officers Elected
Here in the days of the big
elections. Senior High too, has
chosen new officers for the three
classes: ’79, ’78 and ’77. Not a
single candidate thougli ran on a
platform concerning unemploy
ment, conservation, or even
defense spending; but each has
promised to do a good job and to
be a better officer than any
preceding him.
In an interview with the three
presidents, Audry Cooper
(sophomore), Stephen Phillips,
(junior), and Joseph Williams
(senior), questions were raised
as to what they planned to do
differently than preceding presi
dents. Audry expressed a
concern over the lack of
involvement of the sophomores.
She plans to have more
programs and fund raising
projects so that the students
might become a closer body.
Stephen plans to look at his new
job through the eyes of the
average student and do those
things that would prove
beneficial to the Junior class as
a whole. Joseph Williams
wants to bring the officers closer
to the students through class
meetings where they can get the
opinion of the class. Joseph
closed in a very matter-of-fact
manner by saying, “I want the
class of ’77 to be the closest
class ever to graduate from
Senior High!”