UNCG grant
to enhance
ESL instruction
across the state
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
GREENSBORO - A five
year, $1.4 million federal grant
to the School of Education at
The University of North
Carolina at Greensboro will
enhance English as a Second
Language instruction across the
state.
The U.S. Department of
Education grant provides train
ing in working with the growing
number of ESL students in North
Carolina's schools to UNCG fac
ulty, undergraduate and graduate
students in the Department of
Curriculum and Instruction, and
teachers in the Chatham County
and Asheboro City schools. The
project, TESOL for All
(Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages=Academic
Achievement for Language
Learners), addresses the achieve
ment gap between ESL students
and traditional students. North
Carolina had over 90,000 ESL
students in schools across the
state as of October 2006.
Dr. Barbara Levin, one of the
principal investigators for the
project, said teachers are often
not prepared for the added chal
lenge of teaching ESL students,
and licensed ESL teachers are in
high demand.
"There are not enough
licensed ESL teachers out there,
so we want to prepare as many of
our teacher educators and
teacher candidates at UNCG,
and experienced teachers in our
partner school districts, to meet
the needs of their ESL students.
Teachers have done a fine job so
far. They have bent over back
wards to try to meet those
needs."
TESOL is a coordinated
effort among faculty in the
UNCG elementary teacher edu
cation program, Chatham
County Schools, Asheboro City
Schools, the Center for New
North Carolinians and the North
Carolina Department of Public
Instruction.
Dr. Kathryn Prater, Dr. Ye He
and Dr. Ann Harrington, all from
the CUI department, worked
with Levin as investigators on
the grant, which will distribute
$228,000 during the 2007-08
school year.
Dr. He said partnering with
Chatham County and Asheboro
City - two school systems that
already have large populations of
ESL students - is a win- win situ
ation for UNCG and the schools.
The TESOL grant will add a
new MEd program called the
Classroom Practice Track pro
gram that will lead to initial
licensure for teaching K-12 ESL
students. This new program is
designed to attract second
degree, career changing adults
into ESL teaching at the graduate
level.
The leaders of TESOL
expect to provide comprehensive
professional development expe
riences for up to 30-45 teachers
annually, ultimately serving over
1 300 ESL students at the end of
the five-year grant period.
Film
from page AW
mainstream media.
Morton wants to see a
change in the messages being
pervaded by the media. The
problem began with what he
described as the "disempower
ing" message that came out of
the 1960s: "You've been held
behind for 400 years; 1 can'l
expect you to compete, so I have
to do something to help you out.'
Interviews with black intel
lectuals in the documentary
agreed that this has caused com
placency in the black communi
ty. In order to re-empower th<
black identity. "The'message i:
to take more responsibility ii
what we think about one anoth
er," Morton said.
A producer and directoi
Morton is also the founder o
iYAGO Entertainment Group
IXC, a multimedia productioi
company. He also establishe<
Give Us Free Production Inc., i
commercial production compan;
which produces independen
documentary films and video
for distribution. He also serves a
executive vice president o
JynxDaCat Productions, a musi
production company. Mortoi
lives in Upper Marlboro. Md.
For more information abou
the film, go t<
www my space com/whatblackm
nthink
Group formed to preserve Forsyth County's history
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
It is no secret that Winston
Salem/ Forsyth County has a
rich history. The existence of
places like Historic Bethabara
and Old Salem are evidence of
that.
Ironically, until recently.
Forsyth County was one of only
a handful of counties in the state
that didn't have an organization
established specifically to pro
tect its historic sites.
"There wasn't an organiza
tion whose mission it was to tell
about our heritage properties,
and so people didn't know, and
more and more and more of
them were being lost," said
Catherine Hendren. a local
attorney and one of 22 founding
members of Preserve Historic
Forsyth, Inc.
The group was incorporated
just recently, founded to address
this growing need. While much
is known about the county's
strong Moravian roots because
of places like Old Salem,
Hendren hopes that Preserve
Historic Forsyth will shed light
on lesser-known aspects of local
culture.
Preserve Historic Forsyth
was born of the shared vision of
a handful of its founding mem
bers, who were inspired by the
city's Historic Resources
Commission's inaugural
Heritage Awards ceremony, held
Submitted Photo
Dozens attended the launch meeting earlier this month.
in May 2006. The group then
recruited others within the area
to join in the effort, and Preserve
Forsyth was created.
"It was so exciting to see all
the (Historic Resources
Commission) awards that were
given to individuals and groups
that had been leaders in historic
preservation in Forsyth County
and to see the tremendous diver
sity of it," Hendren said.
Winston-Salem State
University Librarian Vicki
Jones' ties to the county's his
toric sites date back to the early
'80s, when she served on the
City-County Planning Board. As
a board member, she helped to
compile a list of the city's his
toric sites. Jones says the experi
ence opened her eyes to the rich
heritage of the county.
"1 hadn't even thought about
it and I was a history major."
she confessed. "When I took
that job I really came to love
(older properties) quite a bit."
Preserve Historic Forsyth,
Inc. has afforded Jones the
chance to reconnect with her
passion for history.
"It's giving people a voice
for what there is in the county,"
she said, "Trying to let others
know what was there and trying
to preserve what we do (still)
have."
Jones says she hopes that the
organization will help people
understand the value of historic
properties as well.
"Sometimes people don't
know what they really have,"
she commented.
Hendren, who lives in an
1895 home in the city's Historic
West End, says she has always
been intrigued by historic prop
erties.
"I have lived in wonderful,
old houses all my life, and I
grew up in this part of the coun
try," she remarked. "I have, I
guess, come to appreciate the
landscape and the heritage of
this part of the world. It is
something that 1 would like to
see preserved and not erased by
sprawl and kind of homogeniza
tion, with everything beginning
to look alike."
Ai pan of its mission.
Preserve Historic Forsyth will
hold workshops to educate
homeowners about the impor
tance of preserving their historic
properties. The group will also
build a repository of materials
on preservation techniques and
resources.
Aside from aesthetics, his
toric properties have a lot to
offer the community, Hendren
asserts
"We're also very much inter
ested in the stories that go along
with it, because if you have a
building, what's interesting
might be the architecture, but
always, the story of the people
who lived there and their lives
are the best part," she said. "It's
a way of knowing what people
have accomplished and how
they have accomplished it, so
that you can better understand
who you are and what you can
be. You leant from your history
about what the possibilities are
for yourself."
Preserve Historic Forsyth
will have a lot to keep it busy.
The group will be working to
preserve history in Winston
Salem and more than a dozen
other townships in Forsyth
County, including Lewisville,
Abbotts Creek. Bethania and
Kernersville.
For more information or
online resources, go to
wwwpreservehistoricforsythjorg.
Photos by Kevin
Walker
A Ml. Olive
member
prepares
bags of food
Salu rday
for the hun
dreds who
came for
them.
Right: First
Lady Eula
Gray, right,
with church
member,
S h a n t e a
McBride.
Mt. Olive
from page A!
Mt. Olive family is some
what expected to open their
hearts and wallets to help their
neighbors. In addition to the
Thanksgiving give-away, Mt.
Olive sponsors annual
Halloween celebrations, back
to-school block parties and a
year-round food pantry.
Gray - whose contributions
to the community were
acknowledged two years ago
when the city named a street
adjacent to his church in his
honor - says that both saving
souls and giving back are
essential missions for the
church.
Gray knows that the black
church has lost some of its lus
ter. Many no longer consider it
a beacon of hope and the
nucleus of the community. The
reason for that. Gray says, is
partly because of the church's
actions, or rather, inactions.
"So many people have a
negative outlook of the church
because they think we just
want to receive - that we just
want their money," the pastor
said. "We have to show that
churches aren't just in this for
the money. We have to show
that we care. We have to give."
Russell Funeral Home
helped Mt. Olive with this
year's give-away. The
Waughtown Street Food Lion
also contributed to the project
by providing discounted
turkeys.
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