Photos by Tori P. Hmy me % worth
Elections Board member Fleming El-Amin, left, and Chairman Ken Raymond
listen to the discussion by other board members.
Poll workers
from page A]
During the State Board
of Election's conference
last week, Raymond sug
gested haying an Election
Day greeter.
"The greeter's job will
be to talk to any voters,
standing in line, and pre
pare them to respond [to]
questions asked by the
precinct judges.
"We believe that the
lines will move more
quickly, if the voters know
what to expect when they
get to the tables," said
Raymond.
Steve Hines, former
director of elections, has
resigned his position. His
last day was Monday, Aug.
17. Hines, who was board
elected in August 2014
after months of searching
for the right candidate, will
be moving in hopes of
serving as the Greene
County elections director
near his hometown of
Kinston.
"I certainly hate to see
Steve leave us," said
Raymond. "He's worked
hand and has greatly con
tributed to the office run
ning better than it has in the
past."
Fleming El-Amin stat
ed that Hines' intent was
"honorable" upon his serv
ice to the Board of the
Elections and to Forsyth
County.
Stuart Russell gave fur
ther remarks regarding
Hines' departure.
"Sad to see Steve go,"
said Russell. "I respect his
decision. I wish he could
still be with us."
Other agendas during
the meeting were about
updating the electronic poll
book to make the voting
process quicker and better.
Also, the Good Shepherd
Moravian Church, which
will be moving from 1474
Kerner Road in
Kemersville, won't be used
for election purposes.
However, the board will be
trying to figure out what
facility to use for Precinct
068 to vote by next year.
For further and addi
tional information, go to
the Board of Elections web
site at
wwwforsyth .cc/Elections.
Stable
from page AI
work as smoothly as possi
ble.
"It brought our faculty
closer together because we
had to move in such a short
period of time," she said.
Dickey said teachers
used it as a teaching oppor
tunity, talking with them
and giving them presenta
tions on the move. They
held a scavenger hunt to let
students get used to the
new facility, which is a sec
tion of Atkins Academic
and Technology Magnet
School.
Dickey said that Atkins
has been a wonderful host.
Lowrance, which has 148
students this year, contin
ues to operate as its own
school, with its own office
and entrance, but using
some of the same facilities
as Atkins students, such as
the cafeteria. A new pod
with seven mobile class
rooms was added, so there
is now room for all of
Lowrance's classes.
We re excited about
being here and able to start
the school year in a school
we're going to finish the
year in," said Dickey who
served as Lowrance's assis
tant principal before
becoming principal this
school year.
Mashica Jefferson,
Lowrance PTA president
whose son is in eighth
grade at the school, said
she appreciated all the new
accommodations for the
school at Atkins this school
year, such as improved
parking and a new play
ground. She said the
mobile classrooms will
help greatly since a lack of
space caused classes to
have to share a room at the
same time.
However, she hopes to
soon see a new school built
for Lowrance
"We don't want them to
forget we need a new
school," she said.
A replacement for the
aging Lowrance building
was originally part of the
2006 bond issue proposal
but was cut from the final
package It is now among
the top priority projects in
all four versions of a new
bond proposal before the
Board of Education, which
will be on the 2016 ballot if
approved.
Hanes, which has more
than 900 students, moved
its seventh and eighth
grades to the old Hill
Middle School, which had
sat empty since Hill was
merged with Philo Middle
School in 2012. Due to
lack of space, sixth graders
were sent to a vacant sec
tion of Smith Farm elemen
tary, a relatively new
school that opened in 2013.
Elective teachers and
administrators drove
between the two schools.
This year however,
with two new pods and
four new trailers, every
Hanes student and teacher
will be at the old Hill
Middle location, which
now bears the Hanes name.
"We certainly had a dis
ruption with the move and
this school year is a fresh
start that allows us to refo
cus on the things we want
to do in the classroom,"
said Hanes Principal Melita
Wise.
wise saia nanes win
also have new leadership
this school year, as she is
leaving to become the prin
cipal of North Forsyth
High School.
PTSA President
Kimber McCracken said
that even with the pods, the
school is too small for the
Hanes' student body. She
said the PTA is working to
improve the facility but is
making sure anything they
do is mobile and can be
moved to a permanent
location for the school,
which is another high prior
ity item in the proposed
school bond.
McCracken said she
was glad to have the con
troversy and subsequent
move behind the school. It
became a divisive issue
among parents, with many
like her feeling it was safe.
She said the controversy
spilled over into the stu
dents, with her daughter
getting in arguments with
other students over the
school's safety. She was
also glad, after her daugh
ter went to class at Smith
Farm last school year, that
the entire student body is
now together.
"One location, one
family, it just makes it so
much easier," she said.
Eighth grader Torey
Bailey said he didn't want
to leave the old building, as
it had a lot of history to it
such as NBA Star Chris
Paul attending middle
school there and playing
basketball at Hanes.
"We have a lot of mem
ories at the old building,"
said Bailey.
He said students were
still getting used to the
smaller space at the Hill
location. He said he contin
_ ues to enjoy the curriculum
' at Hanes, including science
experiments and creating
3-D designs and is consid
ering continuing the sci
ence track in high school at
Atkins.
A possibility being con
sidered as part of the bond
is moving Hanes to the cur
rent location of Winston
Salem Preparatory
Academy (WSPA). They
would join the middle
school students already
there for a new Hanes
Middle. Currently there are
talks with Winston-Salem
State University about
moving WSPA's college
prep high school students
to a location there. The cur
rent location of WSPA is on
Cameron Avenue in a
building that housed the
original Atkins High
School, one of the city's
"Big Four" black high
schools during segregation.
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N.C. NAACP prepares
for 'America's Journey
for Justice'
BY CASH MICHAELS
HXTOR OF THE CAROUMAN _____
The N.C .NAACP is urging all to take part in the North Carolina leg of "America's
Journey for Justice," scheduled to come through the state starting Saturday, Aug. 29.
A national coalition led by the national NAACP and its president/CEO, Cornell
William Brooks, "America's Journey for Justice" is a 40-day, 860-mile protest march
which began in Selma, Alabama, on Aug.l from the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge,
where civil rights marchers were beaten and attacked by Alabama state troopers as they
marched for voting rights in March 1965.
The modem-day Journey few Justice is routed from Alabama, through Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, finally arriving in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 15.
The Nofrh Carolina leg of the march is scheduled to reach the state Aug. 29 through Sept.
7, before it moves on to Virginia.
Marchers from across the nation will say to the nation and world family, Our lives,
our votes, our jobs, and our schools matter," the NAACP, a major coalition in the march,
says. With each state stopped in, a designated issue of concern to African-Americans -
such as fairness in the criminal justice system, jobs with sustainable wages, improved
public education, and protection of voting rights - is addressed.
In North Carolina, according to N.C. NAACP President Rev. Dr. William Barber 0,
the issue is voting rights because the state has become "the national battleground for vot
ing rights."
"In an effort to challenge a regressive Southern legislature and Congress' failure to
act on strengthening the Voting Rights Act, the N.C. NAACP, the Forward Together
Moral Movement, and other justice-loving North Carolinians from across the state will
join the march and continue on across the Virginia state line, "Barber said in a statement.
Thus, a major "Rally for Voting Rights" featuring Barber and Brooks, among others,
will be held at the State Capitol in Raleigh on Thursday, Sept. 3, with activities begin
ning at 5 p.m.
Leading up to that. Brooks will take part in a Monday, Aug. 24 Moral Monday
Livestream online to promote the Sept. 3 rally.
On Aug. 29, marchers are expected to enter North Carolina from South Carolina at
U.S. Highway 1 near Rockingham County at the state line.
Later that evening, there will be a Journey for Justice Youth and Cultural Artist
Teach-in, 7:30 pjn. at Southern Middle School, 717 Johnson St. in Aberdeen.
On Monday, Aug. 31 at 7 pjn., the Journey for Justice Voting Rights Teach-in will
be at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh, and on Sept. 1
at 10 a.m. at various congressional offices across the state, there will be simultaneous
press conferences on voting rights action.
Supporters from across the state seeking to join the Journey for Justice March while
its in North Carolina may sign up by logging onto wwwjiaacpnc.org, and click onto the
American Journey for Justice tab, or call 919-682-4700.
Jfllpk
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