Officials promote
unity during Main
Street Academy
IAAM program
BY KIM UNDERWOOD
WINSTON-SALEM/FORSYTH
COUNTYSCHOOLS
"At the I AAM School
and Community Fair on
Monday night, March 21,
assistant superintendent
Carol Montague-Davis
was scheduled to talk about
academic data.
Instead, Montague
Davis, who is the assistant
superintendent for second
ary schools, spoke with
passion about the impor
tance of everyone working
together.
"The schools cannot do
it themselves," she said.
"The parents send us the
best they have. The teach
ers give it all every day."
It's essential that all
students become the best
they can be, Montague
Davis said. "We can only
get that if we all work
toeether."
I AAM is an acronym
for Initiative for African
American Males, which
Lakeisha Hill, the assistant
principal at Main Street
Academy, and others start
ed earlier this school year
f after they decided that
something more had to
done to close the gap in
achievement between
African-American boys
and other groups of stu
dents.
At an I AAM forum in
October, people laid out
some of the statistics, and
people within the school
system and from the wider
community talked about
ways that people are
already working to
improve achievement for
African-American boys
and about possibilities for
future action.
For the School and
Community Fair held at
Main Street Academy, Hill
and other organizers want
ed to help students and
their families make con
nections. They had invited
representatives from the
school system, from com
munity agencies, and from
such local colleges and
universities as Appalachian
State, the University of
North Carolina at
Greensboro and N.C. A&T
State University.
Principal Karen
Roseboro of North Hills
Elementary School, who
helped organize I AAM,
said that it was a way of
bringing resources to fami
lies "so they don't have to
go searching for them
selves. ... I'm hoping that
parents will be able to set
some goals for their chil
dren."
As a way of introduc
ing the formal program for
the night. Hill showed a
series of photos of students
holding signs that said such
things as "I A AM worthy,"
"I AAM capable," and "I
AAM deserving."
The program itself
offered a mix of perform
ances and of speakers.
Kenneth Simington, the
school system's chief aca
demic officer, had been
invited to tell his personal
story. As part of that, he
talked about how, when he
was a professor at the
University of Virginia, it
sometimes seemed as if
people presumed that,
because he was black, he
was a student rather than a
professor.
"People couldn't see
me because of what they
thought they saw,"
Simington said.
Among the lessons he
learned from such experi
ences was "you have got to
be sure about who you are
as you go forth."
Gwen Johnson-Green,
the school system's direc
tor of alternative education,
was on hand to talk about
some of the discipline sta
tistics associated with
black males. She doesn't
believe in suspending stu
dents from school, she
said. She believes in doing
everything possible to keep
them in school.
The performances
included Reid Swann, a
Reagan High School soph
omore who performs under
the name "Young Reid,"
reciting a rap that he had
written.
Coach Jimmy
Wormack, who teaches
physical education and
coaches girls' basketball at
Flat Rock Middle, was
there with the Flat Rock
Step Team.
Two young men from
the Greater Vision Youth
Dance Company School
danced. Chris Turner goes
to North Forsyth High
School, and AJ Preston
goes to Quality Education
Academy. Dance instructor
Wayne Jones was there
with them.
Other performers
included the West African
Drumming Squad at
Reynolds High School, led
by Colin Tribby, an assis
tant principal at Reynolds,
and Elliot Axiom, a spoken
word artist and teacher at
Carter G. Woodson School
who performed the poem
"Invictus" by English poet
William Ernest Henley.
Many of the students
and adults who performed
were black. That was inten
tional, Hill said after the
program.
"I wanted them to see
positive images - people
that look like them doing
positive things," Hill said.
The next 1 AAM pro
gram is scheduled for May
23,
Carlson Greene greets Keith Penn, of the Winston Salem State University MSEN Pre-college program, at
the Community Fair section of the IAAM program.
Two take new roles with W-S/Forsyth County Schools
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Dionne Jenkins is now the gener
al counsel for Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and
Andrew Kraft will serve the district
as the interim director of accountabil
ity services.
Jenkins had been the interim gen
eral counsel since Jan. 1 after former
general counsel Ali Tomberlin
resigned on Dec. 31. Jenkins now
moves into the position on a perma
nent basis.
She has been a staff attorney for
WS/FCS since 2013. She has worked
with employee and student griev
ances, district litigation and vendor
contracts.
Jenkins is an adjunct professor for
Forsyth Technical Community
College and a former adjunct profes
sor for Salem College. Previously,
she was sole practitioner of a small
general practice primarily in the areas
of criminal and family law, and she
litigated matters in District and
Superior Court.
Jenkins earned a bachelor's
degree in political science and a law
degree from Wake Forest University.
Kraft is replacing Dana Wrights,
who will be leaving the district June
16. She will help Kraft with the tran
sition throughout the 2016-17 school
year.
Kraft has been the district's pro
gram manager for social studies since
2012. He also works as an adjunct
professor at Winston-Salem State
University instructing students in
social studies teaching methods.
He has worked as the district's
lead STEM teacher, the STEM mag
net coordinator at Hanes Magnet
School, and as a social studies
teacher for N.C. Virtual Public
Schools, WS/FCS and Stokes County
Schools. He also taught at a 12
month residential therapeutic wilder
ness education program in Low Gap.
Kraft earned a bachelor's degree
in secondary education from Elon
University and a master of arts in lib
eral studies from Wake Forest
University.
Jenkins
Krcfft
Women's Fund
hosting its first
online fundraiser
BY TEVIN STTNSON
THE CHRONICLE
The Women's Fund of
Winston-Salem is asking
residents to use their social
media networks to improve
lives.
On Thursday, April 7,
the non-profit oiganization
will host the culmination of
"The Fund Do Party," the
first-ever technology-dri
ven fundraiser The
Women's Fund has held. It
will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Biotech Place, Wake Forest
Innovation Quarter, 575 N.
Patterson Ave. The com
munity will be able to net
work with members while
raising funds and aware
ness to move women
beyond poverty while com
peting for prizes.
Since earlier in March,
The Women's Fund has
been keeping tra^k of who
is buying tickets", gathering
donations and sharing with
their friends on Face book.
Twitter and Instagram. The
top fundraiser and person
with the top social score
will receive exciting prizes.
As of Tuesday evening,
$8,030 had been raised.
Tickets for the high
tech cocktail party are $30
and include, food, wine and
beer, as well as entertain
ment. Proceeds from the
event will go toward creat
ing more education efforts
in the community to help
address the causes of social
issues impacting women
and girls in Forsyth
County.
Systematic issues have
been identified in The
Women's Fund report, "A
Second Look Through a
Gender Lens: The
Economic Security of
Women and Girls in
Forsyth County 2015."
"For example, our report
shows that poverty has
increased since our 2010
report for women in
Forsyth County," accord
ing to the fund's website.
Since 2006, The
Women's Fund of Winston
Salem has been working to
ensure women and girls
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gives.com.
Police probe Twitter threat to Clipper Chris Paul's wife
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Los Angeles police say they're looking into a threat
made via Twitter to a family member of Los Angeles
Clippers All-Star guard Chris Paul, the Associated Press
reports.
Other news reports say the family member is his wife,
Jada Paul. Both Chris and Jada Paul are from Winston
Salem.
i. ?
I
The LAM) said Monday night that they are investigat
ing the threat, but would give no further details. No one
has been arrested.
Clippers' Coach Doc Rivers said before the team's
game against the Boston Celtics on Monday that the
organization takes all such threats serioilsly.
Chris Paul could not immediately be reached for com
ment. '
Lucy Dillard
home visit
FORSYTH COUNTY DEPARTMENT
OF PUBLIC HEALTH
INVITES YOU TO OUR
- OPEN HOUSE -
In celebration of 100 years of
Public Health in Forsyth County
Wednesday April 6
5 pm to 6:30 pm
799 NORTH HIGHLAND AVENUE
WINSTON-SALEM, NC
Forsyth County
DymammifhMkHiM, .
PfomoOng HwlUi, Improving Live.
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