Y offering free memberships to military, families 1 SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE | ? ? ? . 1 : ; r? : ; ? ' ? : ; ? * : Through a partnership with the United States Department of ? Defense, the Winston Lake Family YMCA is offering free mem t berships to eligible military personnel and their immediate fami t 1) members. The program, called the YMCA Military Outreach Initiative, jk- -? was created to allow family members of deployed military per sonnel access to child development, family strengthening and health and wellness opportunities available through the YMCA. Eligible military personnel and their family members include members of deployed National Guard and Reservists Active Duty or Active Duty Independent Duty personnel and families, if approved by their Military Service Headquarters or relocated spouses and family members of deployed Active Duty personnel. In order to sign up for free memberships, eligible military personnel and their family members should contact Military OneSource at www.militaryonesource.com or 800-342-9647 to confirm eligibility and receive an eligibility form. Then they ?should visit their local YMCA branch with copies of their eligi ibility form. Military ID and deployment orders or Military Service Headquarters approval letter. The YMCA will then pro vide a free six-month membership. The membership can be renewed at the end of the six months provided the personnel and family are using the YMCA on a regular basis. To find out more about the Winston Lake Family YMCA and the Military Outreach Initiative, contact Membership Director Jolyn Roberts atj.roberts@ymcanwnc.org or 336-724-9205. Commissioners from page A! ing for it. Voters and taxpayers and working people are tired of this. Spending is not your job. Your job is to be good stewards of taxpayer money." Education was an issue on the minds of many. Commissioners allocate dol lars for the city-county school system. Concerns about student performance and the allocation of funding for Title 1 schools, which largely serve low-income schools, have been voiced by a growing number of leaders in the black comtnu nity. With new funding poised to come down the pipeline from the federal economic stimulus package, a collec tion of leaders and con cerned residents came together to see what could be done differently this time to translate the dollars into academic results. They formed the Dr. Larry Fields Community Advisement Board for Public Education. "A number of schools are totally out of line with the teaching-learning process," said former educator Virginia Newell, who helped to found the Advisement Board. "Some of the chil dren (in disadvantaged schools) are getting more money ... but yet, their scores are abominable... - * _ ' Photo h\ I .a via Farmer Commissioners listen during Tuesday's meeting. some of our schools are teaching children where less than 15 . percent of these chil dren pass the EOG (End of Grade tests) Funding for the school system has often been fun neled into the construction of new schools in suburban areas instead of being used to support the existing, inner-city schools that so desperately need them, said Linda Sutton, a longtime activist and member Of the Board of Elections "The County Commission has enabled the school system to treat the inner city schools as second class citizens^" declared Sutton, who brought her grandchildren, all students in the local system, along to drive her point home. "Year after year, we've watched this board give funding to the Board of Education to build new schools ... and because money is continu ously being spent on these (new) schools, the inner-city schools are becoming run down Accountability was the word of the day for Sutton and other members of the newly formed advisement board. "Education is a really importanLcomponent of any child's growth ? explained Bobby Wilson "We feel that we have not been accountable as citizens for the money that's been spent." Chairman David Plyler thanked all those present for their input. "You've been very help ful to us," the Commissioner said. "We'll take attxrf your concerns under considera tion." The Board agreed to con tinue budget talks at a subse quent meeting today (Thursday) at 2 p.m. Ceremony ?ffm page A1 "This has been good," commented the Rev. A.G. Parker just before giving the benediction near the end of the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Memorial Day Service. "This is what I've been needing, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way." The annual service, now in its 20th year, has become a tradition for many veterans and civilians in the local community. Gulf War veteran Gordon Black has been coming to the service for six years. Black, who served in the Army from 1991-1997, says he lost several friends in combat along the way. "I feel the need to honor fallen veterans," he said of his motivation to return to the service year after year. "There were a couple of guys in my unit who didn't make it back." The day has special sig nificance to Black, as the son of a veteran and some one who has seen firsthand the sacrifices soldiers must make. "I appreciate the cost of freedom, having paid it myself," he said. "...I had some good times, had some bad times, (but) I wouldn't trade it for the world." Lt. Mary Turner also wit nessed the price of freedom up close and personal. Turner, 78, served as an Air Force nurse during the Korean War. "It was really something I'll never forget," she relat ed. "The worst thing I had to do was fly on the ... planes with the wounded. That was the hardest thing I had to do." Despite their grave con dition, Turner said she was inspired by the soldiers' spirits. "They couldn't walk, but they always had that great smile on their faces," she recalled. "Flying back on the ... planes, I was the sad one; they weren't." Mayor Allen Joines said that protecting and caring for those who have served in the Armed Forces is an important manner of honor ing their sacrifices. "There are only 4 million World War II veterans left we must take good care of those and ... all vets," said Joines, who added that the city is planning to erect a homeless shelter for veter ans next year. "We must work to make our country a better place to live and remember that freedom is not free." Photos by Layla Farmer Mayor Allen Joines, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx and Ida Mae Neal say the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of Monday's ceremony. Gray Templeton salutes during Monday's ceremony. Retired Army logistics NCO Michael Black spent 20 years in the military, but says it wasn't until he returned to civilian life that he truly began to appreciate the meaning of the day. "The thing that drives it home is actually getting to know veterans that fought; then you get to appreciate it more." said Black, who recently joined the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Honor Guard. "When I was on active duty, I didn't real ly understand the signifi cance of (Memorial Day). Now I know how important it is." While some may lament the unending Memorial Day sales and cookouts that have become just as much of a Gordon Black Michael Black tradition for many as the remembrances, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx argued that the celebrations are also a tangible way to appreciate the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Armed Forces. "Some might not think that's a very good way to celebrate ... (but) 1 think the men and women who gave their lives would be pleased with that," remarked Foxx, who served as this year's keynote speaker. "They gave their lives to protect our freedom, but also to pro tect the everyday things that we do, because that's what America's all about." NFL from page A7 lete or not." The study appears in yes terday's Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Daniel Jones, a former American Heart Association president, said more favorable results on some measures "shouldn't be reassuring" because high blood pressure is so closely related to future heart problems. The research didn't look at actual heart disease, but a pre vious study found that retired NFL linemen faced increased chances of dying from heart problems compared with other players and the general popula tion. Justin Bannan, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, was among the study subjects. By standard criteria, he'd be con sidered obese with a BMI over 38. Other than that, Bannan said his results were "pretty normal" and he feels "pretty fit for the size 1 am." "The problem is when you're done playing, as a line man. you're going to have to make some changes" to avoid health risks, he said. The new study involved 504 players aged 27 on aver age, or about one-quarter of NFL players excluding rook ies. The group included almost 200 of the largest players ? offensive and defensive line men ? but also a sizable por tion of leaner players including nearly 100 quarterbacks, kick ers and wide receivers. Their 2007 health records were compared with data from almost 2,000 similar-aged non playing men in a different health study. Nearly 58 percent of the players had a body mass index of at least 30, in the obese range. But all 109 of the offen sive linemen were obese, ver sus 16 percent of the compari son group. The good news was that in both groups, only about one quarter had unhealthy levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, roughly 8 percent had high lev els of "bad" LDL cholesterol and about 1 3 percent had high triglyceride levels. And on average, only 7 percent of NFL players and 9 percent of the biggest ones had elevated blood sugar levels that increase chances of devel oping diabetes, versus 16 per cent of non-players. But 42 percent of the 109 biggest players had unhealthy levels of good cholesterol and almost 22 percent had high triglycerides. Dr. Andrew Tucker, the lead author and team physician for the Ravens, said the blood pressure results were unex pected. He said the league is investigating possible reasons, which might include diet, weightlifting and use of painkillers that have been linked with elevated blood pressure. Also, to avoid heat cramps, players are encouraged to get plenty of salt, which might be a culprit. Tucker said. Posada from page A4 At Mineral Springs, Posada has been the lead math teacher since 2004 and chair of the math department since 2003. She alsq served on the WS/FCS math textbook adoption commit tee in 2003-04 and the curricu lum planning committee from 1996 to 2000. "Her class room is a nurtur ing, caring envi rrvn m an( tKot pushes all stu Utlll^ IV tAvv 1 ? omv* I IUVJ Holder, an assistant principal at Mineral Springs. Posada says she wanted to be a teacher for as long as she could remember. She even used to use her elemen tary teachers' old workbooks and textbooks to create teaching materials for her younger sister. "I am guided by the firm belief that if students can hold it in their hands, they can hold it in their minds," she wrote of her educational philosophy in her applica tion. _In addition to her love of math, Posada also moved to a sixth-grade English-as-a Second Language team at Mineral Springs. "I have found that special place where my training in Don Martin Trurv cicmciiiui \ cuucu tion and my bilin gual background provide the support needed to transition our students, espe cially the Hispanic population. into successful middle schoolers^ with a respect for learn ing, a desire to suc ceed. and a solid mathematical foundation," she wrote. Posada was selected from among four finalists for the award. She will go on to the competition for regional Teacher of the Year The other finalists were Jennifer Garcia, a Spanish teacher at Rural Hall Elementary; Ruth Johnson, a language arts and social studies teacher at East Forsyth Middle; and Jessica Peele. a 3rd-grade teacher at Moore Magnet Elementary.