'
Taxes and
turkeys
See Opinion/Forum pages on A8&9*
• See Sports on page B1 •
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C
Volume 44, Number 10
THURSDAY, November 9, 2017
Nurse-Family
Partnership to expand
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Now in its fifth year,
the Nurse-Family
Partnership has secured
permanent funding and is
looking to expand its effort
to improve pregnancy out
comes.
The Nurse-Family
Partnership is an initiative
of the Forsyth County
Health Department follow
ing a national model in
which nurses visit the
homes of vulnerable first
time mothers living in
poverty. The visits start
early in pregnancy and
Q -Family
^^Partnership
continue until the child’s
second birthday, with the
goal of improving preg
nancy outcomes, child
health and development
and family self-sufficiency.
'unter
The program, which
has reduced preventable
deaths and improved
health outcomes in both
mothers and their children,
celebrated its fifth anniver
sary yesterday with a pro
gram at Forsyth Medical
Center. Since 2012, the
program has received over
1,200 referrals, conducted
more than 7,400 visits and
helped 271 participants.
Currently, the program
has five nurses that can
serve 125 mothers at a
time. The program will be
adding three more nurses
that’ll be able to serve 75
more mothers, which will
clear or reduce the pro
gram’s waiting list.
“It’s great because we
do have this great commu
nity need and with this new
expansion we’ll be able to
serve more families,” said
Nurse-Family Supervisor
Christine Wanous.
See Expand on A7
Photo by Tevin Stinson
N.C. Rep. Evelyn Terry sits down with teacher Jeffery Shu to discuss the Every Student Succeeds Act dur
ing the legislature forum hosted by the Forsyth County Association of Educators on Thursday, Nov. 2.
‘We have to be deliberate
about closing these gaps’
Rep. Terry analyzes state
of education at forum
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Rep. Evelyn Terry has never been
one to pull punches when sharing her
opinion, and last week was no differ
ent when she sat down with local
educators to discuss their concerns
with the future of public education in
N.C.
In Dec. 2015 Every Student
Succeeds Act was passed to modify
provisions related to standardized
testing in grades K-12. While the law
signed by President Barack Obama
was designed to put less emphasis on
standardized testing and give more
power to state education boards, stu
dents in N.C. will continue to be
judged by how well they perform on
a test.
During the open forum hosted by
the Forsyth County Association of
Educators, moderator Jeffery Shu,
eighth-grade teacher at Kemersville
Middle School, asked Rep. Terry to
share her thoughts on ESSA and the
state board's decision to “double
down” on testing.
She said in N.C. we must do a
better job of bridging the gap for stu
dents with a learning deficiency.
“For ESSA to be successful, we
have to analyze the data and make
sure we are using all of the metrics
and applying them where they are
needed rather than places where peo
ple are looking to enhance their dis
tricts. Rather than seeing urban ver
sus rural fights, seeing where chil
dren need the assistance,” she said.
“For example, right here in Forsyth
County, 25 percent of our population
is living below the poverty level, and
that says it all to me.”
Rep. Terry, who serves the 71st
District in Forsyth County, said it is
detrimental that we find a better way
to integrate schools and ensure teach
ers are trained to teach students from
different environments and cultures.
‘Take a percentage of the stu
dents out of Forest Park and send
them to Whitaker or Sherwood Forest
and then track that data to see what
See Gaps on A7
Gov. Cooper
signs order to
help minority
biz contractors
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE ■
Keeping yet another campaign promise from his
2016 candidacy, Gov. Roy Cooper last week issued and
signed Executive Order #25 “... to create jobs and
expand economic opportunity for historical^ underuti
lized businesses in North Carolina.”
The governor also used the Nov. 2 occasion to
announce members of his new Governor’s Advisory
Council on Historically Underutilized Businesses, with
appointments from the Triangle to the Piedmont, and
beyond.
“Diverse businesses are engines for our economy
and we need to encourage their growth and develop
ment,” Governor Cooper said. “We have minority busi
ness owners to thank for creating thousands of new jobs
in communities both urban
and rural, and we must
nurture their success.”
Governor Cooper had
proclaimed October,
“Minority Enterprise
Development Month,”
paying tribute to business
es, corporations and finan
cial institutions owned and
operated by people of
color and women
statewide, for their contri
butions and achievements
in the face of daunting Gov. Cooper
odds and barriers.
According to the U.S. Departmentof Commerce’s
Minority Business Development Agency, there are
approximately 183,000 businesses owned and operated
by people of color and women across North Carolina.
They account for over $16.1 billion in sales revenue, and
employ over 129,000 North Carolinians annually.
In turn, the N.C. Department of Administration’s
Office of Historically Underutilized-Businesses (HUB)
is the agency that seeks out and promotes black, women
owned and other businesses of color in the state, to busi
ness with state government in terms of procurement of
goods and services. The “HUB” Office, as it’s commonly
known, works to make sure that qualifying businesses
meet state requirements to contract with state agencies
for a variety of needs.
“Investing in the growth and development of small
and minority owned businesses creates opportunities for
See Contracts on A7
SALEM. NC 27101-2755 60
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