??????? T1"! 1T* T ri #\lk For Reference r -*-? I HE CHRO>:::: LE 75 fORsWcNTYp^rx. " >S I DN-S VI KM ' (?KK K NSBOKO ? lllCH 1> Cook The Komen Race tor the Cure has become the largest series of 5K runs in the country, occurring annually in 114 cities. Sev enty-five percent of the funds raised by the Komen N.C. Triad Affiliate will remain in the local community to fund breast cancer educa tion, screening and treatment. Around 7,(XX) people are expected to par ticipate in this year's race, scheduled for May 3 at Old Salem. Since the first Triad Race for the Cure in 2000, more V n /vui IIIUIJ I-.IAA/ ptupit have raised $1.1 million for breast cancer. Cook's full-time job is as a capital campaign coordina tor for Winston.-' Salem State Univer sity. She served as a I co-chair of the Triad | Race for the Cure last year. * Davis "As an African American woman. I have an opportunity to talk to women who look like me about the impor tance of breast health," said Cook, who says that many women of color she encounters con sider breasi cancer to be a "white woman's dis- t ease." Statistics show that more black women, despite lower incidence rates, are dying from breast cancer than white women in this coun try. See Rocs on AIO Roundtable gets answers about closing of school ? BY T KEVIN WALKER THE CHRONICLE ?' Members of the Black Leadership Roundtable were cautiously optimistic last Thursday night after Schools Superintendent Don Martin assured them that suspend ed and expelled students would not fall through the * cracks now that the alterna tive school thai many such students attended has been shut down temporarily. After months of discus sions. the School Board decided to close Indepen dence High School for at least a semester. The schtxtl had been used as a site to educate students who had discipline problems at tra ditional schools. The school is exneeted to be Martin given a complete makeover during the shut-down - from renovations to a revamping of the school's pro grams - but Martin told the roundtable that money was the main reason for the decision. Like last year, the school system is expected to be I See School on A10 Planting seeds Elementary children get visit from professionals BY T KEVIN WALKER THE CHRONICLE . Leprecious Baldwin and her fel low classmates were the first group of students at Cook Elementary School that got access to more than a dozen professionals who came to the school for a career fair Monday. Firefighters, nurses and business people were among those scattered around the school's media center. Most were standing near eye-catching props that depicted some aspects of their careers. But Leprecious had only one destination on her mind: the front table where two cosmetologists from J.C. Penney had set up shop. After Leprecious announced that she already knew how to braid hair, the cosmetologists - Brandi Williams and Sharon Black - put Leprecious to the test, giving her free rein over one of two mannequin heads in order to see the girl's braiding magic. "That looks great ...You are doing a great job." one of the women said as Leprecious transformed once straight hair into a row of braids. Cook has held the career fair for several years as a way to expose young people to the vast number of career opportu nities available to them. Brett Pesce. a guidance counselor at the school who organized the fair, said it is not too early for elementary-aged students to start thinking about their careers. "It is really important that you plant seeds early," she See Cook on A4 Leon Witherspoon Jr. hands out literature about the city's Fire Deportment. Phoim h\ Kevin Walker Brandi Williams watches as Lepreciaus Baldwin works. Cp) p The Only Choice for African-American and Community News