Vol. LXXIII, No. 6
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Single Copies: 50c
Ninth graders, teachers team up for success in coming school year
BY GLENDA JAKUBOWSKI
Edenton-Chowan Schools
Edenton-Chowan Schools Board of
Education members heard about
plans to change the ninth grade high
school experience at their February
I meeting.
John A. Holmes principal Bill
Moore, hosting the meeting in the
schpol’s media center, said incoming
freshmen will be placed in one of two
1 teams, with core classes taught up
stairs in the main building.
“There are more lockers up there,
and we know that ninth graders use
their lockers more than the other stu
dents,” Moore said. “Also the school
nurse and resource officer are located
on the second floor - it makes sense
to put the teams there.”
Experts have identified ninth grade
as a “make or break” year for stu
dents. School systems throughout the
country have begun to address issues
particular to ninth graders in an ef
fort to ensure the students’ high
school success, Moore said.
The ninth grade students will be
taught by teachers who have volun
teered for the role, both because they
are intrigued by the teaming concept
and because they
have a special
love for the
younger stu
dents, Moore
said. The stu
dents also will
take a character
development
class designed to
build real world
social expertise.
Elective classes
will be taken with the mixed high
school population.
Moore cited statistics to back up the
Moore
advantages of the team concept for
ninth graders, including significant
drops in tardiness and a 50 percent
drop in fights among students. Other
advantages include easier sharing of
information among team teachers,
flexibility in blocking class time, a
common planning time for teachers,
interdisciplinary learning, and more
flexibility for parents wishing to meet
with teachers.
“Parents can meet with teachers
during the school day now, if they
wish,” Moore said. “Before, they had
to wait until after school.”
Ninth grade students will earn the
same number of credits during the
year as they did under the previous
configuration, Moore said.
Also under study for the high
school’s future are an AP Spanish
course and a “credit recovery” pro
gram designed to help students who
have not done well in portions of a
course they otherwise successfully
completed.
In other board news, the system’s
Teachers of the Year, Administrator
of the Year, and National Board Cer
tified Teachers were honored with a
See TEAM On Page A2
Harriss:
Vaughans
named Main
Street champs
From Staff Reports
On Thursday, January 26,
Mayor Roland and Peggy Ann
Vaughan were honored as 2005
Main Street Champions at the
North Carolina Main Street
Annual
Awards
Dinner in
Salisbury,
NC. The
Vaughans
were se
lected for
this spe
cial rec
ognition
by Destination Downtown
Edenton in appreciation for
their exceptional contribu
tions to the downtown revital
ization process. Along with
Champions from 31 other com
munities, the Vaughans were
presented certificates com
memorating their designation
by NC Assistant Secretary of
Commerce Cleve Simpson, Di
vision of Community Assis
tance Director Gloria Ndnce
Sims and Office of Urban De
velopment Director Rodney L.
Swink, FASLA.
Each of the state’s active
Main Street programs is given
the opportunity annually to
recognize a local Main Street
Champion. The dedication and
hard work of countless volun
teers is required to make a lo
cal Main Street program suc
cessful, and the Main Street
Peggy Anne and
Roland Vaughan
See CHAMPS On Page A2
Planning for growth
Sean JaeksonfThe Chowan Herald
Councilors Willis Privott, Jimmy Stallings and Steve Biggs listen intently during discussions on
future growth as a Vision Statement containing goals for the future is fine-tuned.
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
With new housing sprout
ing up in and around Eden
ton — and with more poised
to come in the near future —
town councilors have added
the growth issue to their an
nually revised Vision State
ment.
During a meeting at the
town-owned Northeast Part
nership building on Jan. 31,
councilors high lighted their
goals for the new year. Han
dling the projected popula
tion influx, and its increased
need for public services, was
one of the hot topics at the
four-hour session.
The big question, Council
man Steve Biggs said, is:
“What are we going to do?”
The town could have to ex
pand its utility services, in
cluding water and sewer, an
issue officials have discussed
over the past year. In addi
tion, new retail businesses
may also follow the new resi
dents, Biggs, an economic
developer, said Monday.
Councilors are also discuss"
ing how to manage any new
business development while
maintaining the town’s qual
ity of life, Biggs said.
Mayor Roland Vaughan,
one of five council members
who joined Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton for the
afternoon meeting, said the
town’s future would unques
tionably be affected by a
larger population. Especially
businesses.
“I think the challenge for
Edenton is how we can ac
commodate the new growth
so the businesses in Edenton
get the first look from these
people who come out to
spend their disposable in
come,” he said.
Biggs agreed, adding that
modern shoppers like conve
nient, nearby places to shop.
“We’re now the kind of
people,” Biggs said, “we
want (everything) now.”
See GROWTH On Page A3
County election
filing period
opens Monday
Sheriff says he
has no plans to
seek re-election
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Three county commission
seats and the Chowan sheriff’s
job will occupy the ballot slots
for the May primary elections,
with the filing period for those
races set to open Monday (Feb.
13).
Board of Commissioners
Chairman Wayne Goodwin’s
District 1, Seat 2 post will be
joined by positions held by
commissioners Louis Belfield
(District 3, Seat 2) and Jimmy
Alligood (District 2, Seat 2) on *
the May 2 primary ballot. All
three commissioners are
Democrats.
Sheriff Fred Spruill has
said he does not intend to
seek re-election, opening the
door for a new Chowan
County sheriff. In addition,
Chowan
County
Clerk of
Superior
Court
Mike
McArthur
is set for
■another
re-elec
tion bid.
' The filing period opens at
12 p.m. on Monday, and will
close at 12 p.m. on Feb. 28.
Edenton-Chowan Board
of Education posts will not
be on the May ballots, as
they are non-partisan posi
tions. The filing period for
school board posts will open
in July.
Cocaine kilos confiscated
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
Two kilos of cocaine were
intercepted on their way to
Chowan County Thursday
night at approximately 8 p.m.
through a multi-agency effort
bust in Alamance County.
Francisco Avila of the
Greensboro area was arrested
and is currently being held in
the Alamance County Jail un
der a $60,000 secured bond for
2 cpunts of trafficking. The
kilos found were estimated to
be worth $72,000, but could
range in value from $24,000
$200,000 depending upon how
it was broken down for street
sale.
A 380 handgun, along with
$100,000 in US currency, was
also seized.
Trafficking is a class D felony
punishable by a mandatory
See COCAINE On Page A2
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Editorials.A6
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<
Chowan Hospital brings hi-tech screenings home
$1.4 million spent
on renovations,
technology needs -
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
No longer does the radiolo
gist at Chowan Hospital have to
place an X-ray on a light screen
to diagnose what ails a patient.
All Dr. Williams C. “Skip” Hope
IV has to do is view the image
on a computer-style monitor.
The Picture Archiving and
Communication System, or
PACS, is just one new facet of
Chowan Hospital’s revamped
radiology department. A new
CT scanner machine and
nuclear medicine camera also
provide better service to pa
tients, to what was already a
V
good system at the hospital,
Hope said.
“I think we’re real lucky in
this community,” Hope said,
“to have this hospital, and
this equipment. Most (smal
ler) hospitals don’t have
equipment like this.’’
Hospital president Jeff
Sackrison agreed that the
$1.4 million renovation — in
cluding the purchase of new
equipment — enables the
hospital to better serve the
community by eliminating
the need for some patients to
travel out of Chowan for hi
tech exams.
“This is state-of-the-art
equipment,” Sackrison said.
Hope and his staff work in
a new radiology suite that
provides comfort, swiftness,
and hi-tech servicse. The new
space Includes renovated
I mm i
rooms that formerly housed ad
ministrative staff. In aD, the
upgrade has doubled the size of
the hospital’s radiology depart
ment.
ISlBKiillHUiWraHiiiilMSiiil)
V
Sean Jaduon/Ihe Chowan Herald
Hope, the chief radiologisi
at Chowan and Bertie Memo
rial hospitals, lives in Edentor
with his wife, Virginia M
Hope, and their three children
Dr. William C. “Skip” Hope IV
talks with a patient about to
undergo a CT scan in the newly
renovated Radiology Department
at Chowan Hospital. Dr. Hope
serves as chief radiologist for both
Chowan and Bertie County
Memorial Hospital.
He is board certified. In addi
tion to the new scanning ma
chines, Hope feels the PACS
will boost the quality of care
radiology patients receive.
* “It’s faster, it’s more effi
J1 cient,” he said of the PACS
See HOSPITAL On Page A2
l.