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.