2A ©©O
NEWSAE^e Charlotte ^o2
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Garinger High volunteers
learn value of time and effort
Continued from page 1A
thinking, “What am I going to do when I grad
uate?’ said Ellerbe. “It teaches them a variety
of job skills...and they've learned budgets, and
how to balance checking accounts...life skills,
basically They've learned to do things they
(could not) imagine they (could) do.”
Senior Timmy Green, who has been with the
occupational course lor three years, admits
lhat in the beginning he didn't quite under
stand what it was all about.
‘Without this, I probably wouldn’t have had
any experience at all',” he said. “It’s given me a
sense of hope that I can do something.”
Green said he’s learned how to dress profes
sionally match colors appropriately and what
skills he may be good at. He’s enjoyed all the
volunteer work and student mentoring they've
done, but his favorite project was setting up for
the school fashion show, making flyers and sell
ing tickets. Green not only has a sense of pride
fioin volunteering and working with the eldei’-
ly but his efforts paid off He’s held a job for
seven months at Food Lion, and hopes to be a
restaurant manager in the future.
The students’ voliuiteer work with the elder
ly fits into thdr graduation requirements, yet
this school year alone they sorted items for the
Elves for the Elderly piuject, wi-apped silver
ware for senior nutrition sites, made gi*eeting
cards for homebound seniors, and created
Cupids using water bottles for Valentine’s Day
EUerbe came across the program via the
internet, looking for volunteer work the stu
dents could do at school.
“I was just stressing to them the importance
of giving back to the commimity” she said.
‘Tersonally for me, I think it’s important to see
our Afiican Ameiican stud^ts giving back.
You see us in the news all the time, and hear
aU the negative out there. This shows there is
some good coming out of Gaiinger.and it gives
these kids a chance to give back.”
Lorenzo Broome, a junior, wants to go to bar
ber college where he can continue to do what
he’s learned he’s good at - cutting hair.
‘What I think is good is that us young people
have something to do to stay out of trouble,”
said Broome. “I’m the type of pereon who does
n’t mind helping people, and I really like going
off campus to do that.”
After working at Bryant Park clearir^ bush
es, the students returned to finish then.' latest
project, stuffing 200 bags for an event for
seniors sponsored by Mecklenburg County
Department of Social Services. As they finished
packing and roUhig the last 20 b^s that con
tain water bottles, magazines, toiletries and
books, there was a sense of achievement in the
luom.
“I’m getting a lot of good experience, of help
ing people who need help,” said junior
LaPoishua Graham, who aspires to work in a
nursing home.
“One of our students with a walker puts mei'-
•chandise in a basket draped on the walker...
and she gets out and works, and does every
thing the other students do,” said Ellerbe.
“This really is a goodprogi’am.”
‘We just like to work,” said Green. ‘We like
to prove to people we can do it, even though we
might do it a little bit slower than others, we
can do it at oiu* pace. And we are doing it well.
One day we are going to get old. I’d love it if
someone helped us the way we are helping the
elderly”
®njune4t
a
Parents sue over school segregation
By Sommer Brokaw
WE TRIASGLE 'IWBLSE
DURHAM - More than 50
years after Brown v. Board of
Education outlawed segre
gated schools, Durham par
ents involved in a dass-action
lawsuit believe it still exists.
Earlier this year, attorney
Frances P. Solari distributed
flyers with the words ‘End
Apartheid in Durham Public
Schools” printed in bold let
ters at the mini-mart on
Magnum Street in a ques
tionnaire seeking informa
tion fiom parents whose chil
dren have been suspended or
expelled in the past three
years.
On March 24, 2006, Solari
filed a dass action lawsuit
against Durham Public
Schools seeking $10,000 in
compensatory damages for
unjust treatment by school
board membei's and repre
sentatives of the sheriff’s
department, immediate read-
mission of every minority stu
dent who was imconstitution-
ally expelled since September
2003, and a written retrac
tion for every student accused
of gang membership.
Since then, representatives
of the sheriff’s department
have filed a motion to dis
miss. A healing vrili be held
May 30. The Dm'ham School
Board filed for an extension
imtil June 3 to investigate
the allegations-
(Tliuck Kitch^, an attorney
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