Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 19, 1998, edition 1 / Page 1
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% Big ?>SL luSBBOTBBBST ?AKE A \WFEBEMCE! S Doming Tkoa^MM, a Program CoordhiBtoi wMi Big Brothmro, Big f fa ton of Oroonohoro ?n? H mMinfi ft? (now ffc* pfcow niwwtir to mI to binnw ? BB/BS or km o child matchod up whh a I'lkwliw. Big brothers offer friendship and guidance : I By DAMON FORD The t'HKQNH i I Reporter A As children mature, they need adults in their lives, and. Robin Williams is one grown-up who makes herself available. "A lot of our kids are not thinking past tomor row. They're not preparing for 10 years down the road or five years down the road ... they're going to get caught short if we leave them to get it together on their own," said Williams, director of volunteer programs for Big Brothers, Big Sisters (BB/BS) of Greensboro. "They need the involvement of adults in the community." BB/BS gives adults the opportunity to impact a young persons life. BB/BS is a volunteer program designed to match a mature, caring adult with a young friend in need of friendship and guidance. The program serves children who may be neglected, lonely, hawing difficulty facing the challenges of liv ing in a single parent family or in the home of a fos- " ter parent or guardian. BB/BS volunteers are asked to give two to four hours a week to a child between the ages of 6 and 14. Next month will represent the 10-year anniver sary of BB/BS in Greensboro. The national organi zation was formed over 90 years ago. Today, BB/BS is a United Way agency which operates under the servicing organization Youth Focus Inc.. there are over 500 BB/BS's nationwide. Ten are in N.C.. The triad area has one in Winston-Salem (724-7993) and I High Point (882-4167) as well as Greensboro (378- I 9100). Williams does not work alone. There are five Set MOW?Son A2 jjj ?,S_ Gkkenshoro High Point vw. xxiv No. 29 ? The Chronicle 051498****** "car-rt-sort* *c012 Choice for African American News and Information e-mail address: wschron @ netunlimited.net I . periodicals ^1^ i ???? forsyth cnty pub lib i 660 w 5th st * 2 WW T\ winston salem nc 27101-2755 j, ? ~ ^ ^ ? wnerearejoos for NC blacks? By HERBERT L. WHITE I THE CHARLOTTE POST j 1 A symposium on economic iso lation in urban and rural commu- ? nities next week with the hope that neighborhood leaders and organi zations can formulate plans for action. The N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development will spon - tor the symposium Monday and Tuesday in Raleigh. "With so much focus on the booming areas and companies not finding enough workers, there still remains sectors in the. state being left behind," said Jonathan Morgan, the institute's research and policy director. "Our data shows there's pockets of individu als in urban areas and a mirroring underclass in rural areas." The symposium is open to the public. Registration is S 60. For more information, call (919) 831 2467. The institute's mission is to strengthen and build the asset base of economically-isolated commu nities. The institute provides research, analysis and information and offers business assistance to minority- and women-owned busi nesses. '? Although North Carolina's economy is expanding with new industries and growth, many poor communities ? especially majori ty black ones ? don't have a stake in it. Unemployment for African Americans is still twice that of whites, and coupled with econom ic, education and transportation factors, make the disparity greater, Morgan said. "In the northeast part of the state ? the Black Belt ?? funda mentally, there's no jobs," he said. "In Charlotte or Durham, there's some sort of disconnect with jobs, such as (the lack of ) transporta tion." Nationally recognized authors ahd academic leaders, including Neal Peirce, author of "Citistates" and Christopher Edley Jr., a Harvard law professor who has worked as an expert on the rural and urban underclass in the Carter and Clinton administration, will See JOBS on A2 Mmniow WWii? P toHf^hoUt m photo *ho claim* thow$ Mcwyii failm mnd ? ? olhgod ?oeobto dtoUt* wMb t?Hfying on CopHol HIM Mo ndop Morth 14, 1499, baton thm I<mC HitoMgonto Contmhtoo boo ring ?? **??? 9toton, who nptoaonto Sooth Control I? Amgaloa, tl?H ? 0? ropart, dHn? oxtmutom 9n4btga front hoe nwn Inquiry | Disabled students > One parent's experience with Forsyth County schools ^flyDAMON FORD .Jhe Chron cle Reporter . ? This is the second part of a three part series [on disabled students and their rights to receive ?help through Section 504 policies. Section 504 is ?i broad civU rights law that came about through - tfte Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In October 1997, '.the WSIFC school system adopted these policies ",ind procedures of Section 504. The Chronicle ?discussed the policies with a black parent. Because of the sensitivity of the subject matter, '.the names of the parent and children have been [ehanged ? I For one parent in Winston-Salem, it's too fete do anything about her two sons' education. > From the time that they were children, Jane Doe says her boys had problems learning. When they couldn't remember their ABC's and 123's she confronted school officials about this but they just told her that "there were no prob lems." ? Doe kept pushing and by the time her . i youngest son, John Doe, was in fifth grade he was diagnosed as Learning Disabled. Before this time Doe says that teachers said her son * John was well mannered, but after the diag noses, things went down hill with his attitude. Because John was LD he had to go to LD classes during the day, which wasn't a pleasant experienceTor him. Peers looked at him differ ently and he looked at himself differently. He would say "I'm dumb, I'm not going to be nothing," his mother said. "I have no problem that he was learning dis abled, I went to them (school officials) for this," said Doe. "What really hurt me is that it (being LD) embarrassed my child." What Doe did not know is that a child who is diagnosed LD, which is covered by the statute of IDEA, is also covered under Section 504. With 504 a parent has the option of having his or her child go to another class during the day to get help or have help come to the child' class. Middle school proved 10 oe no better for John. Teachers ^ tried to get him to do his work like his peers, but he just wasn't able to perform these tasks. His behavior went down hill and Doe started receiv ing calls from John's school. "We know that through years of research that labeling and being put in a special class will cause you to have problems," said Barry Tesh, a Licensed Professional Counselor in N.C. and native of Winston-Salem. Once in high school Johns troubles con tinued to mount. He was sent to the alternative school in the county, Independence High School. "One of the teachers at Independence told me 'he doesn't need to be here,"' said Doe. "'He is not this type of child.'" John dropped out of school in the 10th grade. Doe's oldest son dropped out in the ninth grade. "I am very frustrated with the school sys tem," said Doe. "I depended on the Forsyth County school system, not once but twice. They took something precious away from me ... my children's education." Why wasn't Doe told about 504, if it was ! always in operation in the county? my opinion, they were pick ing and choosing," said Tesh. "Parents are not educators, they are not therapist, they are not psychologists. (Parents) should not have to be familiar with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and go to school and tell them (school officials) about it. They should go (to school) and be told their options." Emily Simeon, who has worked in the WS/FC school system for seven years and holds the position of division Director for Exceptional Children Services, says that 504 See STUDCNTS on A! Guilford schools suspend blacks more than whites . GREENSBORO (AP) ? Black students account for almost 70 per cent of out-of-school suspensions in Guilford County, a trend that's echoed across the state. According to records given the News & Record of Greensboro by the school system, black students, who comprise less than 40 percent of the student population, were suspended about 9,000 times last school year. White students accounted for less than 4,000 sus pensions. A study commissioned in the 1995-96 school year by the state Department of Public Instruction shows a racial school-suspension gap crisscrossing North Carolina. That survey revealed that black youngsters, who comprise about 30 percent of the state's students, accounted for 56 percent of almost 120,000 reported suspensions. The state survey also showed that black students were suspended longer than whites, an average of 3.6 days, compared 3.1 days for white students. \ In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, where black stu dents make up a little more than 40 percent of the population, black students account for 75 percent of long-term suspensions. Black stu l dents in Wake County make up 26 percent of the public school pops lation and account for S4 perceft of out-of-school suspensions. ? j Reasons for the suspension g& offered by teachers, school admiil strators, sociologists, civil righa workers and students include: 1 ? White teachers' preconce^H beliefs that black children willV aggressive, disruptive and have ftculty learning. ? Socioeconomics This is w reason, or reasons given by ma? people, white and black, for UK disparity. The grip of poverty an the black experience of racism an slavery lead in many black childrn to feelings of inadequacy and aj[ early loss of self-esteem. Black stu dents then manifest these feelings in class disruptions fights inap propriate language and other vio lations of the student Code off Conduct. ft ? Tough black standards. SomI black teachers and administrator may be tougher than white educs tors in disciplining black student# , ? Class. This reason is linked with socioeconomic reasons minus the effects of race. Some believe the problem has nothing to do witly race, that it is strictly one of pover ty and class. M ? Lack of classroom manaM See SUSPENSIONS
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 19, 1998, edition 1
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