A2
January 28, 2021
The Chronicle
WS/FCS installing new
virus-lighting air filtration system
Bohannon chosen to fill vacant
school board seat
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
To help slow the
spread of COVID-19 and
other viruses, Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County
Schools (WS/FCS) is in
the process of installing a
new cleaning and filtration
system known as Bipolar
Ionization at every school
in the district.
According to district
leaders, the process will
provide continuous disin
fection. The bipolar ion
ization process produces
positive and negative ions
that render any virus in
active. For the process
to work, small ionization
boxes have been integrat
ed into HVAC systems
across the district. Air is
drawn into the ionization
boxes and moved through
a filter before being sent
back out as clean air.
WS/FCS is the first
district in the state to im
plement the new air filtra
tion system.
Comfort food soothes the soul
BY MARTHA MURPHY
Nationally recognized
author Alan Wolfelt once
said: “Food is symbolic of
love when words are inad
equate.”
Food is shared accord
ing to complex social val
ues and structures. With
or without words, food is
a vehicle for expressing
friendship, concern, hap
piness, and love—as when
one gives or receives a
box of chocolates on Val
entine’s Day.
In the absence of so
cial connections during
the global pandemic, and
given how the pandemic
has disrupted food pro
duction systems, people
are finding unique ways to
connect to food sources,
especially local ones. A
new generation of home
cooks is emerging as evi
denced by empty spice
racks and baker’s yeast
boxes on grocery store
shelves.
One of the anticipated
outcomes of the pandemic
will likely be a renewed
commitment to support
ing local farmers and food
producers, a movement
that has already arrived in
Winston-Salem.
Recently, the Down-
town Winston-Salem
Partnership, at the sugges
tion of a local bartender,
started promoting support
of locally owned business
es, including restaurants,
through the “Take Out
Pledge WS” campaign.
The partnership is encour
aging residents to patron
ize a local business twice
a week.
As it turns out, Arbor
Acres in Winston-Salem
was ahead of this buy-
local curve when, during
the height of the pandemic
last year, the retirement
community’s Dining Arts
Department made a com
mitment to support local
food vendors and farmers.
Arbor Acres, as part of
Darrell Walker, WS/
FCS assistant superinten
dent of operations, said
other districts across the
state have reached out
with questions about the
process. He said the filtra
tion system will help fight
the spread of COVID-19,
as well as other viruses
like strains of the flu and
the common cold.
“We’ve actually been
looking for some process
es that we can put in place
to make our buildings
healthier for some time,
not just COVID-19, be
cause we have flu season
and allergies and all these
things that come along
that can create absentee
ism with our staff and
students,” Walker contin
ued. “A former employee
brought this to our atten
tion so we started doing
our research and we felt
like it was a good way to
lead into some support for
our classrooms.”
Ionization boxes have
been installed in every el
Submitted photo
Using bacon purchased front Heritage Farms in Golds
boro and smoked on site, Arbor Acres Executive Chef
Daryl Schembeck prepares Stuffed Shrimp & Crab.
its employee benefits pro
gram, provides employees
with a free lunch every
day. Starting last April,
Arbor Acres ordered in
special appreciation meals
each week from local res
taurants as a thank you to
employees. From Duck
Donuts to The Porch to
Taqueria Luciano’s Food
Truck, employees were
treated to delicious food
options from more than
15 area establishments
as a way to support local
businesses and show that
Arbor Acres cared about
them.
Response was so posi
tive that the Dining Arts
staff started searching for
ways to extend support of
local food vendors who
could also contribute to
the menu offerings avail
able to residents.
One of the first rela
tionships developed was
with Faith McKnight,
owner of Sweet Truth
Bakery & Catering in the
Thurmond Boston neigh
borhood of Winston-
Salem, right around the
corner from Arbor Acres.
Faith continues to bake
and deliver each week her
specialty “scratch” sea
sonal cakes and pies to the
delight of residents.
Based on enthusiastic
responses to Faith’s home-
cooked baked goods, Ar
bor Acres started search
ing for new opportunities
ementary school in the dis
trict and installation will
begin in middle and high
schools sometime this
week. Boxes have been in
stalled in COVID isolation
rooms at every school.
The district used fund
ing from its capital proj
ect ordinance and Federal
CARES funds to complete
the project. The Forsyth
County Board of Com
missioners provided an
additional $500,000 to
complete the installation
process.
“I’m really proud of
the commitment of those
who helped fund this proj
ect,” Walker said.
“That’s what made
this work. We had support
from our board, we’ve
had support from our
county commissioners and
then we’ve utilized some
CARES dollars. So we’ve
had kind of three differ
ent entities feed into this
opportunity, so I’m proud
of the fact that we had the
support to do this.”
to partner with local busi
nesses and develop long-
term relationships in sup
port of “Stay Local, Eat
Local.”
After a great deal of
research, phone calls and
socially distanced site
visits, Arbor Acres has
formalized relationships
with additional small busi
nesses. Camino Bakery
in Winston-Salem pro
vides baked goods, such
as cookies and quiche.
San Giuseppe’s Salami
Co. in Elon supplies cured
meats and ham. A variety
of cheeses are now com
ing from Fading D Farms
in Salisbury, Goat Lady
Cheese in Climax, Ashe
County Cheese in West
Jefferson, and Red Clay
Gourmet Cheese in Win
ston-Salem. Pork from
Heritage Farms in Golds
boro, chicken from Joyce
Farms in Winston-Salem,
and fresh vegetables from
Patterson Farms in Mount
Ulla and My Local Greens
in Burlington help round
out each meal.
In times of uncertainty,
we take comfort in know
ing that no matter from
where it comes, food has
the power to soothe the
soul.
Martha Murphy is the
marketing arts specialist
for Arbor Acres Retire
ment Community, www.
arboracres.org.
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Alex Bohannon has
been chosen to fill the va
cant seat on the Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County
Schools Board of Educa
tion.
Bohannon, a native of
Winston-Salem and prod
uct of the local school sys
tem, was one of eight can
didates who applied for the
vacant District 1 seat left
open by Barbara Burke,
who was elected to serve
on the Winston-Salem City
Council. Other candidates
included Chenita Barber
Johnson, Amaris Carr, Sta
ci Denton, Robert Durrah,
and Morticia “Tee-Tee”
Parmon. Two applicants
were not considered for
the vacancy because they
don’t live in District 1.
The number of can
didates was narrowed to
three ahead of the meeting
on Tuesday night, Bohan
non, Parmon and Carr, but
before long it became clear
that it would come down
to Bohannon and Parmon.
Before voting, board mem
bers had the opportunity to
openly discuss their choice
for the seat.
Board Chair Malis-
hai Woodbury, who is a
Democrat and the only
other representative for
District 1 on the board,
said Parmon would be the
best candidate to fill the
seat. She said Parmon is a
champion for the commu
nity who has shown com
mitment to working across
party lines. Parmon filled
the vacancy on the council
as representative for the
Northeast Ward after the
death of Councilmember
Vivian Burke last year.
Woodbury also dis
cussed Parmon’s efforts
to help establish learning
centers throughout the
community and other work
to uplift communities in
need. “I truly believe Mor
ticia Parmon could serve
on this board, work with
every last member in a
cooperative, fair-minded
ATTENTION
CONTRACTORS,
SUPPLIERS AND
BUSINESS OWNERS!
Participation goals have been
established to ensure that small
businesses owned and controlled by
social and economically disadvantaged
individuals have an opportunity to
participate in transportation-related
contracts in Winston-Salem and the
surrounding area.
The goals were set under the Disadvan
taged Business Enterprise program of
the U.S. Department ofTransportation
and will apply to all federally funded
transportation contracts for Winston-Salem,
the Winston-Salem Metropolitan
Planning Organization, and the
Winston-Salem Transit Authority.
Join an online meeting to learn more
about the goals and how you can
participate in the DBE program. You
can join the meeting on Mac, PC or
mobile device.
Submitted photo
Alex Bohannon
way, and I ask that this
board consider my advo
cacy as a District 1 repre
sentative, as someone who
lives in District 1,” she
said.
Elisabeth Motsinger,
who is also a Democrat
and the longest serving
member on the board, said
her vote was for Bohan
non. She said Bohannon
has shown just as much
commitment to the district
over the years as some
board members and that
he would bring a younger
voice to the board.
She also mentioned
Bohannon had gained the
support of longtime board
member Victor Johnson,
who died last week and
supported Bohannan when
he ran for the District 1 seat
in 2018. Johnson served on
the board for more than 20
years.
“Mr. Johnson was an
avid and strong supporter
of Mr. Bohannon,” Mots
inger continued. “Alex will
bring our board a younger
voice, a male voice. He
would be a good model for
our young boys ... and I
with whole heart and ab
solute support would hope
that the board Would elect
Alex Bohannon to serve
with us tonight.”
Although Woodbury’s
motion for Parmon did
Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise Stakeholder Meeting
Thursday, February 4,2021
10a.m. - Noon EST
This meeting will be held using
GoToWebinar.
A link to register for the meeting is
posted at tinyurl.com/DBEmeeting
If you have any questions or need
additional information, contact
Marlene Davis, DBE Liaison,
Title VI Coordinator at 336.747.6875
or marlenedg@cityofws.org
WliishiiiSaleni
gain some support from
the board, in the end Bo
hannon was chosen to fill
the seat.
Bohannon is a 2017
graduate of Elon Univer
sity. He currently works
as a diversity compliance
specialist for the City of
Winston-Salem. He unsuc
cessfully ran for the Dis
trict 1 seat on the school
board in 2018. He finished
with 17% of the vote,
which was good enough
for third behind Burke and
Woodbury.
When he was asked
about his plans if elected
to the board during his
campaign, Bohannon said
the first order of busi
ness would be “to focus
intensely on diversity, eq
uity, and inclusion.”
“A lot of times diver
sity isn’t just about race
and ethnicity, it also in
cludes ability, gender and
all these other identities,”
Bohannon continued.
“With the ability piece,
we have to ensure students
who learn differently from
the majority have as much
opportunity to be success
ful as other children.”
Bohannon is expected
to be sworn in during the
board work session on
Feb. 9.
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