IN OUR SCHOOLS
Governor's School
'
Twenty Winston- Salem/Forsyth County Schools students have been
i selected to attend the 1994 Governor's School this summer. Governor's
School is a six-week summer program for 800 North Carolina rising
seniors who are gifted in arts or academics.
The program is held on the campuses of Salem College (Governors'
School West) and St. Andrew's College in Laurinburg (Governor's
School East),'
Nominees from across the state were selected by a committee of the
Division for Exceptional Children of the North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction.
Local students selected, their high school, their subject area of con
centration. and the school they will attend are listed below:
Student
Deena Move
David Richmond
Nurica Good
John Lawson
Edward Zacot
Aaron Joyner
Brett Chavis
Amanda Helsebek
Julie Underwood
Jennifer Watson
John McDowell
Laura Sawyer
Rhett Iseman
Gregory Lee
. Anna Spaugh V "?
Aaron Zimmerman
Bonnie Kasserman
Jill Ochs
Nathaniel Rogers
Dominique Vonsiatsky
High gchool
Carver
East Forsyth
East Forsyth
East Forsyth
East Forsyth
Gtenrr-"
Mt. Tabor
Mt. Tabor ,
Mt. Tabor
North Forsyth
North Forsyth
Parkland
Reynolds
Reynolds
Reynolds
Reynolds
West Forsyth
West Forsyth
West Forsyt^
West Forsyth
Subject Area
Drama
Mathematics'
Natural: Science
Drama
Instrumental Music
Choral Music *i
Mathematics
Dance
Dance
English
Mathematics
Instrumental Music
Natural Science
Natural Science
English
Natural Science
Visual Art
Natural Science
Visual Art
Instrumental Music
Campus
West
West
~ Wesr"?
West
East
East
"West
West
West
West
, East
East
East
East
East ? ?
East
East
East
East
West
School Board Meeting
Board of Education Meeting at the Administrative Center Audito-j
num. 1605 Miller Street, will be Thursday, May 19 at 6 p.m.
Placement Exams
\ ' ? . ; ? .
Advanced Placement Exams: European History and Chemistry will
be given on Friday. May 20. ^ .
Field Day
The second and third graders at Ibraham Elementary' School will
participate in a field day on the school grounds with games and other
sports activities on Friday, May 20 at 9 a.m.
Story Telling
On Friday, May 20 Pat Stepney will tell African- American stories to
individual classes at Speas Elementary School at 9 a.m.
Splash Program
School will take a a trip to the Walkertown Community Park to celebrate
the end of school with a picnic on Friday, May 20 at 2:45 p.m.
Grand Parents Day
Siudenis at South Fork Elementary School will celebrate Grandpar
ent's Day on Friday, May 20 at 10:45 a.m. All grandparents of student
attending South Fork arc invited to join tlieii giandihiklicn fui lllflCH.
S.T.A.R. Program
Kernersville Elementary School will participate in a S.T.A.R. (Stu
dent + Teachers Achieving Results) picnic on Friday, May 20 at 2 p.m.
This program pairs third, fourth and fifth grade "buddies" with an East
Forsyth High School student.
The East Forsyth students come one day per week to tutor, talk and
spend time with their "buddy." The picnic has been planned and will be
presented by the hast Forsyth Senior Girl's Club.
Mayfest '94 ?. ? '
Konnoak Elementary School will present "Mayfest *94" for parents,
students and faculty on Friday at 5:3Q.p.m.
Activities will include wrapping the Maypole, a talent show and
vendors who will sell arts and crafts. Food will be served. -
Student Holiday
There will be no classes on Monday, May 30. It will be a profes
sional day for teachers and a holiday for students.
Meeting Held ,
There will be a Board of Education meeting on June 2 at 6 p.m. at
the Board of Education office on Miller Street.
High School Graduation
The "Project Graduation" celebration will be held at the Dixie Clas
sic Fairgrounds for all graduating seniors on June 3 ? except South Park
High School, which will be on June 2.
Last Day of School
June 8 will be the last day for students in year-round schools.
Traditional Last Day ^
June 9 will be the last day for students in schools on the traditional
calendar.
***
"In Our Schools" is a weekly calendar of events that chronicles
going-ons in our local schools. If you would like your event information
included send them to: "In Our Schools",
The Chronicle. P.O. Box 1636, Winston-Salem, N.C., 27102. You
may a ho fax it to 723-917*
County Seeking Proposals for CBA Funds
The Forsyth County Juvenile
Justice Council has about $100,000.
and officials there are looking for a
few innovative ways to spend it.
The windfall is result of the
state General Assembly Short Ses
sion on Crime, during which $5 mil
lion were allocated to counties in
the state. Forsyth County's share
was $163,571.
Jean Irvin, executive director of
the council, said the money will go
\p agencies who work with at-risk
children. The council will accept
proposals until the afternoon of
May 27. She said there will be no
exceptions. She said there will be a
review process, and recommenda
tions will be made to the county
board of commissioners.
*
"We particularly are interested
in seeing innovative, out-of-the box
thinking," Irvin said.
However, about a third of the
funds were allocated before any pro
posals had been made. The council
has given $59,436 to an emergency
shelter on Brookstown Avenue
operated by Youth Opportunity
Home. The agency, which recently
relocated to the same building of the
Juvenile Justice Council ? 301 S.
Liberty St. ? and is run by Robert
Beasley, wrote a prc^osal request
ing funds prior to the funds being
available, Irvin said.
She said the council felt that it
should honor the agency's request,
leaving $104,135 to be doled out.
On June 1, the Review and
Comment Committee will meet to
review the requests. Depending on
the number of proposals, the allocat
ing funding process could occur at
that meeting, Irvin said.
She will make the recommen
dations to County Manager Graham
Pervier on June 27.
Relatives of Death Row Inmate Hangs on _ fromPase i
threatening and robbing Sandra
Harper Winfield, a witness whose
testimony helped convict Robby
Lyons. Winfield is the manager of
the Kentucky Fried Chicken store
that Robby Lyons robbed April
1993.
"It's like if you say the name
Lyons, you've said a bad word,"
Eleanor Lyons said from her home
last week. "Damc^n has never been
in any trouble. He watched his
brother and tried to do just the oppo
site.
"Seems like the more you try to
do right, the harder it is on you."
Police saidd Damon Lyons
stole a pocketbook from Winfield
about half an hour after she left the
courthouse. Eleanor Lyons said it s
not true. She said she and a friend
grabbed Damon Lyons and took him
home after he saw W infield to keep
him out of trouble.
Family members said they felt
that because Robby had two prior
convictions on robbery charges, he
wouldn't get a fair trial.
"It's like they tried him for
everything he ever did all in one
shot," said Linda Harris, a cousin of
Lyons. "He didn't have a chance. All
we want is justice."
Eleanor Lyons said Robby
called her a few days after the
shooting and said Stafford had tried
to take the gun in a scuffle and was
accidentally shot. She said Robby is
no angel, but feels he doesn't
deserve the death penalty.
"I don't feel, guilty about
Robby; I did the best to raise my
children right," she said. "Robby is
very intelligent. He could write
poems that will bring tears to your
eyes, but I couldn't get him to put it
to use. He was the sweetest person
in the world when he wasn't mess
ing with drugs ? sort of like Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
Robby Lyons' execution date is
July 8 ? two days before his 25th
birthday ? but the case will be
automatically appealed to the state
Supreme Court.
Damon Lyons is being held in
Forsyth County Detention Center on
$100,000 bond on charges of com
mon-lav, robbery.
Eleanor Lyons hopes Robbyv
will get a lesser sentence, but now
she is worried about Damon, who
she feels is being held because of
his kinship to Robby.
"I have mixed emotions right
now," she said. "I really don't know,
how it's going to turn out. But
Damon hasn't done anything wrong.
If you're wrong, you're wrong; but if
you're innocent I will do whatever I
have to do as a mother to correct
this."
? ? ? ? , ? , * ' t
Woman Files Brutality Claim Against Cops from page 1
white.
According to Grimes and wit
nesses, two police officers had
come to Cherry View Apartments
to investigate a complaint of shots
being fired. After Grimes told the
officers she did not know anything,
they went back and stood near their
cars. Shortly thereafter. Grimes said
her boyfriend arrived and the two
Grime* said her 9-year-old niece
came upstairs and told her that the
female police officer had told her
"that I should shut my big fat mouth
and that I was a bitch."
"I told her if she didn't have
that uniform on. she wouldn't be
saying those things about me," she
said.
She said the o' ricers then came
upstairs to arrest her, and that is
when the fighting began.
Grimes said several other offi
cers arri ved and came imo her
apartment and began fighting with
her and her sister, Felicia Gist.
. Grimes said Skidmore picked
her up and body-slammed her to the
floor and pushed Gist out of the
way.
. During the fight, which she
estimates lasted between five and
10 minutes. Grimes said she bit one
officer on the hand after he had hit
her in the mouth and bit another one
on the leg as several officers pinned
her to her couch.
noon, Grimes said a police sergeant
had visited her Saturday afternoon
and tried to get her not to file a
complaint. The sergeant, Ken
B levins, also offered to take her to
run errands. Grimes said he also
came by her apartment Tuesday "to
check on me."
"He claim he just want to be
my friend," she said. "He whispered
in my ear that my neighbors would
try to influence me to press charges,
and that he wanted to talk with me
byhimselfT41
B levins said he could not com
ment on a pending investigation or
complaint.
WSSU Graduate Changes Lifestyle from page 1
Virginia Beach youth conference.
She also spoke to youths at the
Housing Authority of Winston
Salem's Crime Reduction Confer
ence two weeks ago.
Sowel^ was forced from
Chicago to Winston-Salem before
her last year of high school to live
with her sister. This was a final
effort by her family to help her get
her life turned around. She added
.that her family was considering
turning her over to the state before
her sister offered to be responsible
for her.
"My sister sacrificed everything
for me," she said. "If it wasn't for
her, 1 wouldn't be here. She is the
only person in the world I fear." *
It took more than getting Sow
ell off the Chicago streets for her to
.reform. She said she still had easy
access to the streets, even in North.
Carolina: She never had to work;
t
? liei buyfiiend, who was a drug
dealer, would send her money. And
it only took a phone call to get a
ptene ticket to Chicago during her
holiday breaks at WSSU.
"I used to call myself 'Dollar
Bill'," she said. "Never work, never
will."
That slogan soon became obso
lete for Sowell when she found out
her boyfriend was cheating on her.
When his faithfulness went so did
her money supply.
She was forced to get a job and
support herself, and that began to
^change her attitude.
"I started to feel good about
myself," she said, "and I saw smiles
on my family's faces. Things just
started h lappen ing apd I started
learning to be responsible."
To get youths on target and
help them stay on the right track,
parents need to be more involved,
Sowell said. She believes that as
long as a parent stays involved,
something good will eventually hap
pen.
"Parents need to know what
they need to do," she said. "As long
as you work with your child, they
_will learn to appreciate what you're?
trying to do."
Many youths can deal with
their problems once they begin to
love themselves, Sowell said. Part
of her reform had to do with realiz
ing her self worth.
"You have to love yourself
enough to invest in yourself," she
said. "You're not going to use a drug
that can kill you or make you kill
someone else or hurt your mother.
"No one can tell me 1 don't
have self-esteem," he said. "I don't
think I'm better than anyone else,
but I'm one of the most important
people in this world."
Another thing that helped Sow
ell was prayer.
"You can never go wrong with
prayer," she said. "1 had people
_praying for me that I didn't even
know about, and 1 prayed for
myself.."
Family support has a lot to do
with Sowell's recovery, especially
her sister's efforts in her recovery.
Sowell is the last of five chil
dren to get a. college education. At
graduation, Sowell and her older
sisters and brother gave their mother
a plaque naming her the "Ultimate
Educator." *
Another avenue of support foi^
Sowell came from her relationship
with Valerie SaddlerT a professor at
WSSU.
"She took a personal interest in
me,-" Sowell said. "Whenever I
needed to talk about something, she
was there and always interested."
Not once did Sowell enter a
rehabilitation center. She calls
WSSU her rehab center.
According to David Abemathy,
manager of the substance-abuse
center for the Forsyth/Stokes Area
Mental Health Facility, Sowell
would qualify as one of the excep
tions as far as her rehabilitation.
Most people who. are addicted to %
drugs, he said, need some kind of
intervention, many times being a
combination of out-patient and in
patient treatment.
While on the streets, Sowell did
gain some abilities that arr working
for her in a positive fashion. Being
involved in so many life-threatening
situations, she learned how to be an
effective Speaker.
"?"If I can't do anything else, I
can talk," she said. "It may not be
true, but I can make you believe it
is."
Sowell's communication skills
- have helped her get financial aid fof?
college when she was told there was
no money left and have helped her
get jobs.
She wants to let youths know
that drugs can only make a bad situ
ation worse.
"Drugs is not the way," she
said. "Once you get a police record, '
you're screwed, and once you decide
to work, no one will want you."
from page^r
"I'm an entrepreneur; I'm my
own boss," he said. "I don't have no
blocks to punch and no quotas to
meet. Plus I get to travel and meet
new people." '
Alex said he averaged $4,500
to $5,000 a week, and on a very rare
but good weekend, he could bring
home close to $10,000 ? selling
drugs in Winston-Salem alone.
"It depends on your clientele,
where you're selling." he said. "If
you've got good dope it will sell."
Alex bought lavish gifts for
himself, but said he gave the major
ity of the money to his mother and
"let her live good."
Alex said his mother, a devout
Christian, at first refused to believe
that her son was selling "rocks" or
crack-cocaine until he got arrested
for drug possession. She urged him
to get a job. which he did in mid^"
January, for the first time in his life,
but he continues to sell drugs.
Alex said his mother was dis
appointed. but since the family was
*
poor, after awhile she learned to
live with it.
"(Parents) tend to overlook
things like that because you're
doing so much for them,": he said.
But not everyone does it to
help the family.
Nathan, Tony, and Rico, three
area teen-agers, seemed to be fasci
nated by the fancy lifestyle of major
drug dealers. They didn't worry
about being caught by police when
they were selling drugs because of
their ages. All three are currently in
middle school and said they quit
because their mothers urged them
to.
Nathan, 13, said he started sell
ing crack-cocaine at the age of 10.
He said he sold drugs just to buy
shoes and clothes.
"I had a roll of money this fat,"
-he said, shaping his hand is if hold
ing a hamburger. "I would bring
him the money back and keep about
$500 for myself."
Nathan said his mother knew
what he was doing by the new
shoes he wore home, but she didn't
question him in the beginning.
"I was tired of asking my
mama for money," he said. "She
knew I was selling dope, but I
stopped after a while."
Rico. 15, started selling drugs
at the age of 12 and said he quit at
the urging of his mother. He is now
a "lookout."
"I did it for the money," he
said. "My mom knew I was selling
dope but I stopped because she was
worried when I stayed out all
night."
Tony, 15, said he sold drugs
because he wanted to be like the
"high rollers" and have lots of
money.
."You get tired of being broke,"
he said. "1 only did it for the
money."
"I can still sell anytime I want
to but I know 1 can get what 1 want
from my mama," Tony said.
Alex, who has been convicted
twice ? once on a two-year posses
sion charge and again on a five-year
possession with intent to distribute
charge ? but never completed a
sentence, said he doesn't worry
about being caught by police
because he knows the system.
"You can go to jail over and
over again, but you tend to get out
because of the overcrowding," he
said. "We consider it a little vaca
tion."
Although Alex has a job now,
he said even if he became a million
aire he probably wouldn't stop sell
ing drugs. .
"It was my choice (to cut-back)
because the police were investigat
ing my family and giving them
problefns," he said. "Once you start
you always continue ? the hustler
is in you.
"People blame rap music, but it
has nothing to do with it. And after
a while it's not a money thing, it's
more of a habit"