CUniiitniSountg
West Craven Highlights
VOLUME 10 NO. 25
JUNE 18. 1987
VANCEBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE 244-0780 OR 946-2144
.(UPSP 412-110)
25 CENTS
SIX PAGES
Budget
Adopted
By Town
By MIKE VOSS
EtUlor
The Vanceboro Board of
Aldermen adopted the town’s
overall $325,335 budget for 1987-
88 and a tax rate of 50 cents per
$100 tax valuation at a called
meeting June 11.
The budget for fiscal year 1987-
88 appropriates $190,494 for the
general fund and $134,841 for the
water and sewer fund.
The largest source of revenue
for the 1987-88 budget is $70,000
which will came from ad valorem
taxes. The next-largest revenue
source will come from sales
taxes, and will bring in about
$32,000 to the town. Other major
sources of revenue are garbage
fees, $25,200; Powell Bill (street)
funds, $21,000 and franchise
taxes, $16,000.
The 1987-88 budget appropri
ates $51,052 for the Administra
tion Department, $54,568 for the
Sanitation Department, $46,2221
for the Street Department and
$25,295 for the Police Depart-
"riwnt. The library will receive
$9,620 and the budget earmarks
$3,738 for fire protection.
The 1987-88 budget lists
$72,000 income from sewer
charges and $46,000 in water
charges. The town’s budget ear
marks $76,799 to be spent for
sewer costs and projects and
$58,042 to be spent for water
costs and projects.
Other areas of income for the
town and the amount of revenue
they are expected to produce
follow:
Library, $8,614; intangible tax,
^,000; beer and wine tax, $4,000;
interest, $2,000; cable television,
$1,500; privilege licenses. $1,000;
ad valorem taxes from prior
years, $1,000; rent. $900; gas tax
refund, $800; traffic signal re
fund, $580; auto tags, $500; offic
er fees, $200 and interest and
penalties on late taxes, $200.
Other sources of income for the
water and sewer funds and the
(See BUDGET, Page 2)
161 Graduates
From WCHS
Earn Diplomas
Diplomas were presented to
161 graduates of West Craven
High School’s 17th graduating
class last Thursday night in
Eagle Stadium.
The commencement exercises
for the 161 member of the Class
of 1987 began with the senior pro
cessional, Pomp and Circumst
ance, by James Polyhar. The wel
come to family and guests of the
graduates was given by Senior
Class President Michelle
Kearney.
The invocation was delivered
by Joanette Best, president of
the Student Government Asso
ciation. Robert Jolly, principal of
West Craven High School, recog
nized the guests. Clare Grund-
man’s rendition of Two Moods
was presented by the West
Craven Concert Band.
Don Hughes, assistant princip
al at West Crave High School, in
troduced the speakers for the
evening. The speakers were the
valedictorian and salutatorian of
(See GRADUATION, Page 2)
Three Injured
Three people were iixjured Sunday when a car
slammed into a tractor-trailer on U.S. 17 north of
Vanceboro. Traffic on the road was affected for
seven hours while rescue and fire personnel from
Vanceboro Breed the victims and wreckage was
removed. Reed Sparks, 41, of Gloucester was
charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an
accident by investigating trooper J.T. Hofmann of
the Highway Patrol. Sparks was traveling north
when he Igst control of the truck when he tried to
avoid hitting a car in front of him. Sparks crossed
the highway and struck a pole. The trailer swung
out into the highway where it was struck by a car
driven by Russell Gray of Chocowinity, said the
Highway Patrol. Gray and his passenger, Mary
land Deloatch of Grimesland, and Sparks were
taken to Craven County Hospital. Sparks and Ms.
Deloatch were treated at the hospital and re
leased. Gray was admitted and is in stable condi
tion, said a hospital spokesman.
Graduates inarch and wait for diplomas
Farm Life School Teacher Earns Educator Award
The New Bern Area Chamber
of Commerce in conjunction
with the New Bern-Craven
County Board of Education spot
lights “Educators of the Month’’
for June, 1987. Mrs. Cynthia Bel
cher, an exceptional children
teacher at Vanceboro Farm Life
Elementary School, Mrs. Lynn
Cox, a second grade* teacher at
Roger Bell Elementary School,
and Mrs. Nancy Wall, an excep
tional children teacher from the
Havelock Elementary Schools
are the honorees.
Cynthia Belcher graduated
from East Carolina University
'«wilh a B.S. Degree in education
in the special education field.
She specialized in education of
the mentally handicapped and is
currently updating her certifica
tion in learning disabilities. She
is currently serving as a resource
teacher with students in grades
one through five who are educ-
able mentally handicapped or
learning disabled. Mrs. Belcher
works on an individualized prog
ram with each child she teaches.
Each child’s plan is communi
cated with the child’s parents,
other classroom teachers, and
students. Her ability to adapt the
curriculum to each child’s needs,
her belief in developing each
child’s self-worth to the fullest
extent, and her strong drive to
have each student achieve makes
Mrs. Belcher an outstanding
teacher. Students in Mrs. Bel
cher's classroom know that they
will be treated fairly and they
know (hat she will share her time
to help them learn anyway
possible.
Mrs. Belcher is a member of
NCAE and serves as chairperson
of the school-based committee.
She is married to Blake Belcher,
attends the First Baptist Church
and enjoys crafts and bird-
watching.
Lynn Cox is a graduate of the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill with a degree in early
childhood education. She has
done post graduate studies in the
area of academically gifted
education. She taught at West
Havelock Elementary before
going to Roger Bell where she
teaches second grade. Mrs. Cox
believes that educators must be
open-minded, flexible and adept
at keeping lines of communica
tion open with students, parents
and teachers. Mrs. Cox chal
lenges students in many ways in
order that they might acquire the
necessary skills for dealing with
life. Some of the ways Cox chal
lenges her students arc through
“hands-on” activities, guest
speakers, and field trips. She also
encourages the use of computers
as learning tools. Her utmost goal
in her everyday teaching is to
help each individual child to de
velop a positive self-image.
“Only when children feel good
about themselves will they be
able to participate and appreci
ate the learning process and con
sider learning enjoyable,”
according to Mrs. Cox.
Mrs. Lynn Cox is a member of
NEA-NCAE, the Beta Alpha
Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa,
and the First Presbyterian
Church in New Bern. She is mar
ried to William Burton Cox and
has one child.
Mrs. Nancy Wall is a graduate
of Atlantic Christian College
where she received a B.S. Degree
in Elementary Education. She re
ceived her M.S. Degree B’om East
Carolina University in
Elementary Education and has
North Carolina certification in
Gifted Education. She presently
is a resource teacher for academi
cally gifted children from West
Havelock Elementary, Havelock
Elementary, Graham A. Barden
Elementary, and Roger Bell
Elementary. In Mrs. Wall’s
teaching she provides enrich
ment for students through small
group and independent study
units. She particularly likes to
offer special interest projects and
field trips outside the classroom
setting and includes many com-
munity resources in her
teaching. She feels that com
munication and understanding
(See TEACHER, Page 5)
Ft. Barnwell School Involved
Twin Rivers Reading Council
Told Reading Is Balancing Act
Getting Away From It All
When the hustle and bustle of a reunion gets too
much, children have the uncanny ability to find a
way to eidoy themselves. A nearby swing set
offers a fine diversion ff^om too many adults and
watching eyes. Under the shade of an oak and
with little adult supervision, these children get in
some exercise and Am on a hot, sunny day. While
children were busy playing, adults were busy
meeting old Aiends, er\joying tables loaded with
home-cooked foods and comparing notes on chil
dren, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Look for this scene to be repeated many times this
summer as families hold reunions. (Mike Voss
photo)
Members of the Twin Rivers
Council of the International
Reading Association were
advised to keep growing as edu
cators. and that growth comes by
learning, by reading, by doing
and by joining.
That advice come to the mem
bers at the recent meeting of the
Twin Rivers Council from Dr.
Molly J. Sloan, coordinator of
personnel services at the South
east Regional Education Center
in Jacksonville. Ms. Sloan, guest
speaker at the meeting, spoke on
“Balancing Your Schwas and
Your Songs.” Ms. Sloan said that
the schwas represent the mecha
nics of reading and the songs rep
resent the erxjoyment of reading.
She pointed out that reading is
a constant balancing act of basic
skills and enrichment. Ms. Sloan
reminded the members that
President Reagan has officially
proclaimed this year as “Year of
the Reader.”
Ms. Sloan said the Basic
Education Plan is an attempt to
provide this balance to all the
children of North Carolina. The
Basic Education Plan requires
schools to teach a specific curri
culum, in effect offering the
same course of study to all stu
dents across the state. The BEP
is designed to provide an equal
opportunity for students regard
less of the size of their school.
Ms. Sloan commended
teachers for their positive atti
tudes toward teaching, which is
evidenced in the increasing en
rollment in the education field at
colleges.
Martha Boyd, chairman of the
Newspaper in Education Com
mittee, announced that the
North Carolina Newspaper in
Education Foundation and the
Twin Rivers Council were to
have co-sponsored a Newspaper
in Education workshop this
week at the New Bern-Craven
County Board of Education’s
administration building.
Joan Libert, chairman of the
Celebrate Literacy Committee,
presented a certificate of appre
ciation to the Craven County Li
teracy Council. The certificate
commends the council’s work in
the promotion of reading.
Accepting the award was Bill
Swan, vice president of the
council.
The publicity committee asked
for volunteers interested in help
ing develop a logo for the Twin
Rivers Council. The membership
committee reported mem
bership at 198 people.
During the Sharing Reading
Time, several ideas were pre
sented. Amy Salter showed how
children could make their own
“homemade TV”, draw their own
program and write or read their
own script. Rebecca McLawhorn
told about a Reading Fun Day to
be held at Fort Barnwell School.
Leslie Williford and Loulie Sikes
explained how seventh graders
and kindergarten students were
paired for a special reading-
writing-caring relationship.
Ms. Sloan was presented a
copy of the Historic Guide to
New Bern and a READ license
plate by the Twin Rivers Council.
President Bertha Grubb
thanked the classes of Betty
Blythe and Freda Thomas for the
table decorations. The meeting
concluded with the reading of a
poem, Read, written by David
Jackson, a fourth-grade student
at Havelock Elementary School.
The International Reading
Associaton is the major profes
sional organization for classroom
teachers, reading specialists,
librarians, parents and others in
terested in the improvement of
reading instruction and the de
velopment of the lifetime read
ing habit.