Collins
from page A6
Charlie Wilson, Kern,
Tyler Perry, John Legend
and Robin Thicke.
Known as the
"Ultimate Party With A
Purpose," the Tom Joyner
Foundation Fantastic
Voyage is the signature
fundraiser benefitting the
Tom Joyner Foundation,
which provides scholar
ships to help students
attending historically
black colleges and uni
versities. Since 2002,
Denny's has supported
more than 300 students
and contributed more
than $525,000 to the Tom
Joyner Foundation's pro
grams and scholarship
funds. This year, through
its Hungry for Education
program, Denny's will be
awarding more than
$200,000 in deserving
high school and college
students.
For more information
on Denny's Hungry for
Education program or to
apply for a scholarship,
visit www.dennyshungry
foreducation .com.
Joyner
Richardson
from page A4
too, always emphasizing
the importance of teaching
in a way that makes stu
dents love what they are
learning. It worked.
"He taught me how to
teach science," McGregor
said. "Our scores skyrock
eted."
Benika Thompson, the
school system's program
manager for science, said
Richardson is a strong
believer is students' ability
to achieve.
"Through the spirit of
professionalism, he
reminds us all to allow stu
dents the opportunities to
learn science and demon
strate what they 'know,
understand, and are able to
do,"' she said.
Earlier this school year,
Steve Overholt became the
school system's second
elementary science coach,
and, in the months since,
Overholt has been learning
as much as he can from
Richardson. What makes
Richardson good at what
he does?
"It is his passion - a
passion for science and a
passion for the kids,"
Overholt said. "I'm trying
to be as much of a sponge
as I can."
Richardson, who will
turn 64 in April, grew up in
Winston-Salem. His father,
also named Alexander,
inspected tobacco for R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co.,
and, his mother, Mary,
took care of the house and
family. Richardson was
one of 11 children.
Growing up, space was so
t'ght his older siblings told
him that there was a time
when he slept in a dresser
drawer.
He is not the only edu
cator in the family. His
older sister Annie Hairston
went on to become an
assistant superintendent.
His sister Modine R. Shaw
retired from the school sys
tem as a teacher at Philo
Middle School. His brother
Willie was the assistant
principal at Kernersville
Elementary School when
he retired. Another sister
taught in New York.
Richardson graduated
from Anderson High
School in 1968. At
Winston-Salem State
University, he earned a
bachelor's degree in ele
mentary education. For a
while after graduating in
1973, though, he resisted
his calling to go into edu
cation. With those older
siblings already teachers,
he said to himself, "1 don't
want to do what they're
doing."
Instead, he sold life
insurance. After about a
year, he thought, "I didn't
go to school for this."
When he started teach
ing, he made a point to get
to know the students as
people. He would find out
what they liked and what
was going on in their lives.
He would visit the families
at their homes to make sure
he made a connection with
the parents and developed
a good sense of what life
was like for the students.
"I pride myself on hav
ing a great relationship
with my parents and my
students," he said.
Richardson is known
for dressing well. His habit
of dressing smartly comes
partly from his father, who
put on a tie every day
before heading to work,
and partly from wanting to
set an example for stu
dents. Richardson is also
known for using his hands
as he talks. At a recent
workshop for teachers on
the ways to teach weather,
his hands vividly illustrat
ed water vapor rising from
the ground and returning to
the ground as rain.
"If somebody tied my
hands, I wouldn't be able
to talk about what 1 am
talking about," he said.
Richardson and his
wife, Vera, have been mar
ried for 32 years. They
have two children -
Alexander, 30, and Alisha.
25. He has much to keep
him busy in retirement At
Mount Zion, he is a mem
ber of the Deacon Board,
Male Chorus and a church
bus driver. He also won't
give up teaching altogeth
er. He will continue tutor
ing students in science and
expects to be back in
schools as a volunteer.
Have a
Story
Idea?
Let us Know
wschronickm
UNCG alumnus in Best Picture-winning film
SPECIAL TO THE CHKONICLE
The film "Twelve Years A Slave"
received the Best Picture award at the
2014 Academy Awards
Sunday evening.
Chris Chalk, a 2001
alumnus of UNCG
Theatre, is featured in |j
the film.
He plays the char
acter Clemens Ray,
who was included in a
clip compilation of
great movie scenes
about an hour into the
telecast.
The actor spoke of
some ot his gut
wrenching "Twelve Years a Slave"
scenes in a recent LA Times article.
Chalk's screen acting career so far
has included such productions as
Showtime's "Homeland," HBO's
"The Newsroom" and the film "Rent."
He won a Theatre World Award for
his Broadway debut in "Fences."
Chalk
He returns to UNCG on occasion
to conduct master classes and speak
with students.
UNCG Theatre Professor Michael
Flannerv - who as a
UNCG graduate student
was a cast mate of
Chalk's and later taught
him in a class - was
pulling hard for his fellow
alumnus and the film. He
explains that Chalk was
"such a vital part of the
theatre department when
he was in school." He
adds that in the years
since, "He's been a great
friend to the school."
The Oscar-winning movie is
based on the historical 1853 narrative
"Twelve Years a Slave," which UNCG
professor Dr. Noelle Morrissette
spoke about in a recent article. In the
narrative, Solomon Northup writes of
being a ftee man from New York state
taken hostage and sold into slavery,
I ?? ?? I
where he labors and survives under
brutal conditions for 12 years in
Louisiana. His freedom is finally
restored.
Teachers
from page AI
performance evaluations)
to receive $500 per year
raises for the next four
years in exchange for
ending their tenure early
and signing a four-year
contract. After the fou
years, school districts
would have to cover the
pay increases themselves
or return teachers to their
pre-contract pay level.
School boards across
the state are struggling
with how to fairly select
teachers for the raises;
some - including the
Guilford County and
Durham County boards of
education - have refused
to comply altogether and
are readying legal chal
lenges.
"It's not a good way to
enact the change," said
WS/FCS Superintendent
Dr. Beverly Emory.
The WS/FC Board of
Education passed a reso
lution expressing to the
General Assembly its
opposition to having to
pick the top 25 percent of
teachers and urging legis
latures to come up with a
better way to pick educa
tors.
While Emory said she
applauded Guilford
County's move, she
didn't want to devote the
school system's money
and resources to a law
suit. Instead she came up
with a proposal, passed
unanimously by the
school board last week, to
offer all the 2,500 teach
ers in the county who
qualify an opportunity to
receive the raise. If more
than 625 - or 25 percent -
of them accept the money
and contract, then a lot
tery system will be used
to offer the contracts.
Emory said from what
she's been hearing from
teachers, she expects
most will not accept the
offer. Tenure means job
security for teachers.
Those with it can't be dis
missed without due
process.
"In exchange for not
being able to pay teachers
the salary of most profes
sions in the private sec
tors, they had a little more
job security," said Emory,
describing the history of
teacher tenure.
Many Republican
lawmakers believe that
tenure is the reason why
bad teachers remain on
the payroll. Emory said
she's never seen a prob
lem with holding teachers
accountable, even those
with tenure protections.
"I worked in the state
as a teacher and then
returned as an administra
tor and have never felt
that the tenure laws in
North Carolina made it
difficult to get rid of
someone who wasn't
doing the job," she said.
School Board member
Elisabeth Motsinger is
concerned that the state
won't be able to maintain
its commitment to teach
ers who do accept the
offer. Funding for the
raises has only been
approved for the first
year. If legislators refuse
to fund the program in
future sessions, local
school systems will be
left to foot the bill, said
Motsinger, who called the
law divisive and badly
written.
She is urging teachers
not to accept the raises.
"1 personally think it's
terrible for us to pick and
choose teachers consider
ing they're supposed to be
working together in a col
laborative way," said
Motsinger, who is also
opposed to ending tenure.
School board vice
chair John Davenport Jr.
does support the eventual
end of tenure, saying he
believes it will help
administrators get who
they need in the class
room. He doesn't think
the end of tenure will lead
to the arbitrary firing of
teachers.
Davenport doesn't
like the roll-out of the
plan. He said forcing
school districts to single
out their "best" teachers
is not ideal.
"I don't feel like that's
the best way to end
teacher tenure ... there
are some very valid ques
tions raised about how
you determine who's the
best and who's not the
best," he said.
Forsyth County
Association of Educators
President Ann Petitjean
said that the implementa
tion of the policy by the
board was the "least
harmful way" to do it,
since selecting the top 25
percent would have pitted
teachers against one
another. She will be turn
ing down the offer and
will urge all teachers to
do the same. The FCAE
opposes the end of tenure,
as does its parent organi
zation, the North Carolina
Association of Educators,
which has filed a lawsuit
to halt the plan.
"There's certain
things we say, 'OK, we'll
do this job for less money
than our education would
warrant necessarily in
order to have certain
guarantees,"' she said.
"We want to be able to
stand up when we see
something is wrong in our
classroom or in the school
district; if we need to
stand up for the kids or
for other educators, we
don't want to get fired for
that."
Petitjean said she
believes the state will lose
more teachers if it ends
tenure and fewer will
consider entering the
field.
Mot singer
Emory
FORETH INKERS:
% THE FVOKITIOMOF MATH BEYOND, EQyATIOJMS &..SOI UTIONS J
A . *\ V U '
Saturday, March 22, 2014 111:30-2^)0 pm
SG Atkins Community Development Center
1922 S Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
* a:.
General AdmlMlon Tickets $50 Student Tickets $2S Purchase tickets by March 5y 2CTV4
?*V: r" '
To purchase tickets, call office phone 336-750-2442 or email washingtontMrwssu.edu
Dr. Sandria Kerr
Dr. Merdis McCarter
i- '
Dr. Virginia Newell
?: y< . -Mr ?
Dr. Nathan F. Sim'tns, Jr.
. M.' ' W * >??>? Ml f$.
Dr. Martha Rosa itch
'Jtj!.* .v ?' i :m ?'
Ms. Mary Jane Williams
join the pioneers of the WSSU Mathematics Department for food, fun and lively
conversation as they discuss the "good old days at TC." Proceeds of the
I luncheon will benefit the WSSU Friends of the Library and CO O'Kelly Library.
| *, *
. -r
H i Presented by The WSSU Friends of the Ubrary
ft SIC
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