THE
16 110807 1
NORTH CAROLINA ROOM
FORSYTH CTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
660 W 5TH ST
WINSTON SALEM NC 271(81-2755
5-DIGIT 27101
Vol. XXXIII No. 15
JilCLE
iTIj NC 27101 THURSDAY, December
W-S Prep
star is a key
to team's .
success
See Page B1
Community
kitchen
opens with
high hopes
?See Page AS
75 cents
Students .
learn about . q
giving back ? ?
to others o //ear# f
V <5
Hie Photo
C ?cal community hero Ben
fCuffin was laid to rest on
Tuesday.
Mourners
Celebrate
full life .
6f Ruffin
By lay la farmer
THE CHRONICLE
1 "Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
till earth and heaven ring . let it
resound loud as the rolling sea,"
more than a thousand voices
rang out in the sanctuary of
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Tuesday morning, ".. facing the
rising sun of our new day
begun, let us march on till -victo
ry is won." The resonating har
mony sprang from the lips of all
those who came to honor the
memory of the late Benjamin S.
Ruffin.
Outside, cars lined both
sides of Shalimar Drive and the
perpendicular Reynolds Park
Boulevard, packing the church
yard and parking lots and cover
ing every conceivable inch of
space as Ruffin's friends and
loved ones came together to
remember him.
"We're thankful to each of
you for the many individual
memories of my father. He held
so many of you close and dear,"
April Ruffin-Adams, Ruffin's
daughter, told the audience as
she spoke on behalf of the fam
ily
"It's okay if you're sad that
he's gone," she continued. "Be
sad and be shocked but use that
to move forward - in his memo
ry, in his legacy." o
Ruffin's legacy is a long and
accomplished one, filled with
the many inroads he made in the
worlds of business and public
service. At the time of his death,
Ruffin served as CEO of his
own company. The Ruffin
Group, which he founded in the
See Ruffin on A9
Union seeks to bridge tech divide
Dell, The Chronicle
partner to give
community more
access to computers
BY T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Computer giant Dell and The
Chronicle have joined forces for
a program aimed at getting tech
nology into the hands of local
churches and agencies that will
put it to good use.
Last month, more than two
dozen Dell lap tops - similar to
the ones produced at the behe
moth Winston-Salem production
facility that opened last year -
arrived at The Chronicle office.
The newspaper, which prides
itself on keeping an accurate
pulse of the community, has been
charged with finding local
churches, agencies and groups
that would get the most benefit
for the machines. Plans are to
make" the computer distribution
annual through a program that
has been dubbed the
Dell Chronicle Partnership.
"We are very, very serious
about improving the communi
ties where we live and work,"
said Donna Oldham, a city native
who is senior communications
manager for Dell North Carolina.
"We know that there are citizens
out there who need help in bridg
ing the digital divide."
The Chronicle is also well
aware that the technology divide
here in the city is real and trou
bling. This year alone, the paper
Photo by Jacson Pin
Emery Rann,from left, with Ernie Pitt, the Rev. Samuel Stevenson, the Rev. Calvin Runnels (seated), Donna Oldham and the
Rev. Donald Jenkins
has done more than six stoTO^On
the topic. Ernie Pitt, file publish
er and co-founder of The
Chronicle, said that he knew that
many groups were doing their
part to help bridge the divide, but
that they were in need of all the
help that they could get.
"I knew there were several
churches out there w ith prpgrams
%
for young people that were strug
gling with technology," Pitt said.
"It is a beautiful thing that this
Dell Chronicle Partnership will
allow those groups to get some
help."
Pitt turned to Bridging laith
Communities to help pinpoint
programs in need of technology
Sec Dell on A 12
Second Chances
i i ,
Faith Seeds seeks community help for ex-offenders
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
A local agency continued its efforts
late last month to make the community
more aware of the plights of ex-offend
ers.
. For the second consecutive year,
the Faith Seeds Community Re-entry
Coalition held its Restoration Caf?, a
morning-long dialogue that brought
together dozens of representatives from
..ocial service agencies, law enforce
ment officials, elected officials, reli
gious leaders and men and women who
have served time behind bars for vari
ous lniracuons.
Faith Seeds, a nonprofit, has become the first
post-release stop for many ex-offenders. The
agency, with the help of its various community and
individual partners, steers them toward employ
ment opportunities, housing and other services.
Caf t attendees heard horror stories from ex
offenders who said that life behind bars was easier
Glover
than the lack of opportunities they faced when they
_ were released. Often employers and landlords slam
the door on those with criminal records, several
people said The central goal of the cafe.
according to Faith Seeds leader Sharon
Glover, is to keep the issue of re-entry on
the community's radar screen.
"One group can't fix everything . . .
there has to be a community dialogue,"
she said. Although programs like Faith
Seeds need some funding. Glover made
it a point to say that money is not always
the answer, either. Her agency has been
able to help countless ex-offenders by
building bridges with other local agen
cies.
"I believe thai people solve problems," tilover
said.
The Nov. 17 powwow began at Winston-Salem
State University's Anderson Center with a light
breakfast and ended with lunch. What came in
between was several hours of brainstorming and
sounding-ofT. Attendees rotated from tablc-to-table
See Faith Seeds on A 1 1
nmoa by Kc* in Walker
The Rev. William Barber gives the keynote address.
Students and their parents sold on the new Atkins High
Animator Keith Hohgood speaks to the audience last week.
New high school in search of more students
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Nearly 400 people were in atten
dance last Thursday night at Atkins
Academic and Technology Higfi School
for a presentation that pitched the school
to eighth-graders and their families
The event was an attempt to attract
more students to Atkins, a magnet
school that houses three separate
schools under one roof The mini
schools focus on biotechnology, pre
engineering and computer technology
The school is growing its student body
Atkins started with only sixlh-and sev
enth-grades, added llth-grade this year
and will add 12th-grade next year. The
school, which is now over a year old.
has the capacity for 1,200 students and
currently has about 725, according to
Atkins Executive Principal Dan Piggott
Winston-Salem Forsyth County
Schools Superintendent Don Martin
talked about how the new
school came about, buill
under the vision of a place
that will engage students
while preparing them for the
high tech jobs of tomorrow.
Now, he hopes that students
will take advantage of what
Atkins has to offer.
"1 think a lot of people
here probably saw (the
movie) "Held of Dreams.
'If you build it, they'll
come, Martin said, quoting
a famous line from the film "Part of it
was building it and we're hoping some
folks will come."
To illustrate how high-tech training
Piftntl
can translate into real local jobs. Keith
Hobgood from Out of Our Minds
Animation. Studios showed one of his
company's computer animal
ed short films Out of Our
Minds is responsible for the
recent animated Dixie
Classic l air television com
mercials as well as several
award-winning short films.
The company is currently
working on its first feature
length film. Hobgood said
that he hated the first film he
worked on while he was
making it. Ten months later
when he was sitting behind
Johnny Depp in London at the British
Academy, Awards, where the film was
nominated, he changed his mind about
Set' Atkins on A 1 1
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell and
CarTW. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
ffittgggll ffimtmtl ^ante
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl 'Russell Ave.
(at Martin Kuther King Dr.)
Winston-Salem, N<" 27101
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