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[Tue
30 120203 * * * *""CAR-RT-LOT*"C022O
N C ROOM
FORSYTH CNTY PUB LIB
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WINSTON SALEH NC 27101-2755
Chronicle
Wi.nston-Sai.kvi ? Gkkknsboro ? Hk.ii I'iksi Vol. XXIX No.14
Class of 2007 will face new hurdles
A new list of high school
requirements aims to make
students better prepared
BY PAUL COLLINS
flfE CHRONICLE
File Photo
Local high school students will have more requirements to fulfill in the near future before
they get to chance to don caps and gowns in Forsyth County.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school
system has been holding meetings at high schools
about new graduation requirements adopted by the
NC State Board of Education and the school sys
tem, according to the school system's Web site,
the new requirements affect students in the Class
of 2007 and are part of the state's accountability
program.
The State Board of Education has approved
four distinct options for students to receive a diplo
ma (beginning with the Class of 2004): career
prep, college tech prep, college/university prep,
and occupational prep.
Career prep is primarily for students who
intend to seek employment after high school. Stu
dents select a career pathway (four units) of voca
tional/technical or arts education courses that will
assist them in their career goals.
College tech prep is for students who are plan
ning to pursue a two-year technical or community
college degree program after high school. Students
in this course of study may also satisfy the col
lege/university prep requirement if they complete
math beyond Algebra II (or beyond Integrated
Math III) and obtain two units of the same foreign
language.
College/university prep is intended for students
planning to enroll in a four-year college or univer
See Graduation on A9
School
Daze
Saturday meeting
latest in ongoing saga
of long-awaited East
Winston high school
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Brown
Burke
Photo h> Bruce Chapman
Members of the Twin City Choristers belt out tunes Sunday at the Sawtooth Center. The legendary local
group entertained a large audience for its annual Christmas concert.
The Black Leadership
Roundtable is spearheading a
Saturday
"that will
bring
school
system
officials
face-to
face with
residents
to discuss
a possible
new tech
n o I og y
liigh school off Old Greensboro
Road.
The meeting is a stipulation
that was put in place by the Win
ston-Salem Board of Aldermen
Monday night. Without the meet
ing, aldermen said they would
not reconsider a deal that calls for
the city to turn over 28 acres of
land for the new school in
exthange for several parcels of
srhnnl.
owned
land. Last
w e e
aldermen
sfiocked
many
people,
including
members
of the
Board of
Ed u ea
tion, when they indefinitely put
off a vote on the deal.
Alderwoman Joycelyn John
son suggested the meeting. The
land in question is in her East
Ward, and she says many resi
dents have questions about the
ptjiposed school that need to be
answered.
- Some aldermen cited envi
ronmental concerns since the 28
acres is park land; others said that
the school system can afford to
pay for privately-ovyned land
instead.
In response to the aldermen
putting the issue on the back
burner, the School Board voted
S-T on Nov. 26 to move the site
of the school from Old Greens
See School on A4 |
Prevention
study tracked
teen suspects,
official says
Nathaniel Jones
Oberle
Neighbors, expert say more mentoring
and other programs needed to keep
youngsters on straight and narrow
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE *
Just one week after the Winston-Salem State Uni
versity Center for Community Safety (CCS) released
a study on community mentoring, five juvenile sus
pects were arrested and charged with killing local
businessman Nathaniel Jones.
Jones was a well-known and respected fixture in
the city, having been the only private black owner of
a service siatHin in me state.
Like much of the community,
CCS was stunned to leant that
the murder suspects are so
young (none is over the age of
15). The suspects were
brought to the attention of
CCS once worried neighbors
identified them over the last
year as part of a group of
nearly 30 adolescents consid
ered to be at risk in the
Belview neighborhood on the
ouuuimuc ui winsion-csaiem.
Sylvia Oberle, executive director of the Center
for Community Safety, recalls the time when several
residents from that area* came into CCS and
expressed their concerns over activity by these neigh
borhood youths. These youths and many other trou
bled youths in the area became the reason for the
mentoring study discussed at the WSSU community
symposium.
"The young people who were recently arrested
are sort of examples of some of the work that we try
to do," Oberle said. "When that happened and it was
those young people, we felt like that is exactly the
work that we're trvine to do.
that's exactly the point that
we're trying to get across to
the community, and it's very
much related to the mentoring
study that was done."
Earlier this year, CCS
commissioned a study that
examined current mentoring
activities involving middle
through high school African
American male youths in
Winston-Salem and Forsyth
Cr?nnt\; It rr>i/t>alc>rl flrit nnr.
.. ...U. pu
ems in most cases are not linked in substantive ways
to programs in which their children are involved and
that most of the agencies available to provide positive
outlets for teens lack sufficient resources, facilities,
funding and personnel.
"We have unfortunately not been able to stop
every incident....The incident with Mr. Jones' death
just brought it home, brought it right in front of us
that this is one of the most, if not the most, important
issue that the community needs to deal with." said
Oberle, who recalls the time when several elderly res
idents from Belview came into the center with con
cerns about some of the youths in their neighborhood.
Only a few days before Jones was found dead
outside of his home, the Center for Community Safe
ty brought together agencies and law enforcement
See Teens nn A5
Library hires staffer to try to lure teen readers
Photo by Courtney Gaillard
Jaleema Nanton will be reaching out to teem for her new job at the library.
BY COURTNEY GA1LLARD
THE CHRONICLE
Area teens will soon have a place
of their own at the Forsyth County
Public Library's Central Library.
Jaleema Nanton was recently hiiied
as teen coordinator for the Forsyth
County Public Library (FCPL) to
organize Teen Central, a program
that will target teenagers with a slew
of activities and events just for them.
Atop Nanton's to-do list is to
round up a group of teens to form a
Teen Advisory Council (TAC) who
will help her spread the word about
Teen Central to the community.
Their input. Nanton said, will keep
the program "fresh, innovative and
on the cutting edge" of what's hap
pening today.
"The community is on
(teenagers') side. We have their back
so to speak....I think it can definitely
be an important fixture in Winston
Salem," Nanton said. "I think the
library is tremendous because no
other establishment really has tried
to embrace teens as much as this
project is."
FCPL is hoping that it's new teen
program with monthly themes will
garner as much success as children's
and adult programing have in recent
years. Several FCPL events - such
as a block party, mock trial and open
mike - aimed at teens in the past
have been huge successes and indi
cation enough that the young popu
lation was interested in still coming
to the library, said Elizabeth Skin
ner. manager of the FCPL Central
Library.
One service that has been avail
able to young Internet surfers is NC
Live, (www.nclive.org), which is an
online group of databases that was
See Library on A5
The Only Choice for African-American and Community News ? - *f|?189MNNMMMHi