Religious
Last-minute gifts
Indoor track moves outside
tolerance varies
Features, Page 5
Sports, Page 11
among Americans
Opinion, Page 3
Albums of the year
Features, Page 9
“Sneaks” for the pickin’s
Sports, Page 12
§ L^ I IC r
ll Li I ti
Volume 83 No. 4
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC27408
Wednesday, December 20,2006
Eastern Guilford High School update
BYHALZYPHILLIPS
News Editor
More than a month after
the destruction of Eastern
Guilford High School by fire
on November 1, plans for the
school's reconstruction re
main unclear. Officials are
certain, however, that a new
building will not be in place
for over a year.
"They are trying to find a
builder, you've got to worry
about demolition, then
they've got to clean the site
and find an architect. They
are at least two years out
from being able to have their
own building again, 1
assume," said Instructional
Improvement Officer
John Eldridge.
Guilford County Board of
Education members recently
voted 9-2 to create a village
of portable classrooms at the
site of the former Eastern
Guilford campus. Students
will attend classes at the vil
lage for two years beginning
in 2007 until a new school is
built on the same site. Sev
eral students and parents
were upset at the decision to
move to portable class
rooms, supporting instead a
move to a single location at
McLeansville's Carolina Cor
porate Center by next semes
ter. Board members decided
against relocating to the cor
I
Internet Photo
Before and after: Eastern Guilford High School before the November 1 fire (left) and during the devastating event. Students
have been attending classes separated by grade since the school’s destruction and will not be reunited for at least two years.
porate center because of its
cost and because of doubt
that the site would be ready
in time.
Eastern students are cur
rently attending classes at
two different sites. Ninth
and tenth graders are housed
at the former Central North
Carolina School for the Deaf
in Brown Summit, while up
perclassmen have resumed
classes in two buildings of
GTCC's East Wendover cam
pus. Arts and Advanced
Placement classes are only
offered at the Brown Summit
campus, requiring some stu
dents to make a daily nine-
mile trek between the
two campuses.
"Eastern is now on two
school campuses, so from
our perspective it is as if we
have opened two new
schools in the middle of the
school year. We have had to
collect all the materials
needed," said Instructional
Improvement Officer Debra
Barham, who works with
Eastern Guilford.
Finding resources to re
place those materials de
stroyed in the fire has been
difficult for the Eastern
Guilford community. By all
accounts, companies, such as
Collegeboard, as well as
other high schools have been
very accommodating.
"One of the challenges is
finding resources in the
middle of the school year,
which is not a normal time,"
said Barham. "What has re
ally helped a lot is our other
high schools have shared
their materials, and that has
helped out a
tremendous amount."
Weeks after the fire. East
ern students and teachers
continue to adjust following
the tragedy.
"I think the adjustment
for teachers is similar to that
of students. It's like being a
student at a new school. All
the teachers and students at
Eastern Guilford can now
empathize with new stu
dents at a new school. The
same issues that a transfer
student would go through,
an entire staff and student
population have gone
through," said Barham.
JROTC stu(jents bestow gifts upon neetdy children
BYADAMLONG
StaffWriter
Thousands of chil
dren across the nation
are not fortunate
enough to receive the
latest electronics, the
newest toys, or name
brand clothing. In fact,
these impoverished
boys and girls receive
substantially little com
pared to the extrava
gant devices and gifts
most of us unwrap dur
ing the holidays.
December is a
month to show kind
ness and caring to oth
ers and especially to
show generosity. The
Grimsley Junior Re
serve Officers Training
Corps is doing just that.
The Army JROTC is
participating in the
Guilford County De
partment of Social Ser
vices "Celebrate the
Children" program.
"Celebrate the
Children" is a program
initiated to gather gifts
from volunteers to give
to county youths who
otherwise would not
have presents during
the holiday season. The
program attempts to
alleviate the sadness of
local children through
the governmental de
partment with the most
association with the
poor. Social Services.
Grimsley's
JROTC cadets, under
the leadership of Ser
geant Major Dunlap,
have selected five area
children to bestow their
collected gifts upon.
Grimsley students are
encouraged to donate
presents for these five
by December 14. The
cadets will wrap the
presents on that day,
and send them off to be
received by the needy
young children.
Sergeant Major con
ceived of the JROTC's
participation in the pro
gram while visiting an
area laundromat. There
he saw a Christmas tree
decorated with angels.
Upon consulting the
owner about the tree.
he learned of the holi
day charity Social Ser
vices was operating. It
was then that he de
cided to involve his
many cadets.
"We have so many
resources around here,
so why not use them?"
Dunlap said in an inter
view. "This is a great
program because so
many children do not
have a Christmas
at all."
Dunlap's cadets
make a habit of doing
good deeds for the
community. Earlier in
the year, the JROTC or
ganized a canned food
drive. The drive raised
over 400 pounds of
food for charity. Suc
cess of this program
has fueled their contin
ued efforts for the poor.
"The cadets
are enthused about
helping," said the Ser
geant Major.
After the "Cel
ebrate the Children"
Continued on page 2