Thursday, November 23, 1978, Vo!. 25, No. 5 15 cents per copy Second ciass postage patd tBtack Mountatn. * Black Mountain *Swannanoa * Montreat ^ Ridgecrest Bee Tree fish kill studied Modern day Piigrims and Indian /rom a speciai Thanksgiving program at Swannanoa bchooi. by DM Ward Laboratory testing con tinues into the source % contamination that killed an estimated 6000 fish in Bee Tree Creek and the Swan nanoa River November 18 and 19. According to Mike Parker, who investigated the kili for the Environmental Management Division of the Department of Natural Resources, the results of an investigation completed by him and of testing to be dote in Raleigh will be present*^) the EnviroMHsa#^l Management Con * * apon to ^any fine.yiUbei the contamination. Parker said Ms testing has * determined the cause of dea# and source of the pollution, b)A that results cannot be released ^except by the commission after it has met on the in ' cident That meeting may be more than a month from now because of a backlog of analylses in Raleigh. A possibte source of the contamination is Chem tronics, Inc., wMch, along with Winston Mills and Owen Manufacturing, is located upstream of dte MU -near Warren WUson College. In a statement released by Tom Hildebrand, president of Chemtronics, It was noted that an accidental spill of a portion of 360 gallons of sulfuric add occurred at the plant November 10, and was discovered later that day. According to Hildebrand, settling in a holding tank for the add indicated that a capadty for an additional 1000 gallons existed, when it did not. Some add transferred to the tank Satsrday overflowed from the and leached into canstt, where employees some fish had been silled. A? emergency dam was buiit^ contain the runoff and stateitnd local authorities were contacted that day, he aid . Tests of ate water in Bee free Creak Sunday indicated that todp ievds of sulfuric add did not exist in the creek then, dte statement read. According to Parker, OS per cent of the fish killed were rough fish, while 5 per cent were brim and bass. He said reports that many catfish were killed were incorrect. The kill is the second in the Swannanoa River in four Ho/MMfeers—^oo J pro b/ems by Dan Ward If the drawbacks to using parent volunteers in public schools came close at all to outweighing the advantages, it is doubtful that volun teerism would be so heavily pushed by the governor's office. Governor Jim Hunt, himself, works for a few hours each week as a volunteer reading aid in Raleigh Public Schools - and uses every opportunity to encourage others to do the same. The disadvantages, however, do exist. The greatest qualm about parent volunteers , as seen by principals and volunteers in valley schools, comes from the teachers. Teachers, especially those who have Seen the sole authority in a ciassroom for years, sometimes worry that volunteer parents are evaluating their performance * placing them on a stage. According to valley prin cipals, such fears have little effect in schools here. In all the classes where we have volunteers working with teachers, I've never heard of a problem, "said Gene Dellinger ef Black Mountain Grammar School. Jerry Green of Black Mountain Primary School said the feeling of being evaluated has been voiced, but that a realization by parents that teachers are human, too 'has lessened the discomfort and opened communications. wannanoa School Principal Btll Williams said he has only once had to move a parent volunteer to a non-classroom position because of conflicts with a teacher. "Before we start a new person, I'll talk to the voiunteers as f wouid sub stitute teachers and teU them to treat their own children and neighbors professionally,'' Williams said. "Aid: of principals would consider parents coming in as med dling - not so here. " Carver School takes an unusual approach in that parents are encouraged to work in their own children's classes, and criticism of the teachers is expected. "It's encouraged, "said one volunteer "It's constructive criticism. You've got to remember, also, that the evaluation works both ways. The teacher gets a better idea of what sort of family iife this child comes from. " Volunteers at Carver pointed out suggestions and criticism, when offered on a daily bads, do not amount to the crisis situation that might develop when a parent only teams how the child is doing at report card time. "You become friends with the teachers - you're com municating. It's not a one-day judgement, "one said. Another problem, but one that all principals said did not exist in schools here, is a reluctance on the part of administrators and teachers to have outsiders'' viewing procedures at their schools. Williams summed up the general attitude by saying, "If we re doing something wrong, we'd change it - but we re not going to hide it." Bossy or overprotective parents have never existed in voiunteer programs in the schoois here, aii said. The advantages of voiun teerism go beyond supplying heipers to teachers, although that is the primary purpose. "Volunteers can work with individual reading groups or slow learners. They get a lot of individual attention that way - especially children who need it, "said Marie Kaplan, a volunteer at Carver. Most volunteers in the valley work with small reading groups, working on specific reading deficiencies. While individualised teaching is an obvious advantage, the volunteers provide a bonus in morale. "1 feel one of the greatest contributions a volunteer makes is his or her attitude. It" s usually optimistic and en couraging. Their presence brings a really uplifted ap preciation to staff as well as students,"' said Betty Budd, principal and teacher at Carver "The student being tutored is eager to please the volun teers and makes an extra effort as a result, "she added. The morale boost works both ways. "!t" s an exciting thing, seeing a child improve as a result of your help," ' said Landy Qualls, a Carver volunteer and former teacher "They are always doing a lot of fun things here ! always feel 1 don't want to miss being here." Parents, too. learn by teaching "By getting mothers to come and work with the children, they can better understand the program,' ' according to Deilinger. A more unique case of a parent teaming by teaching occurred at Black Mountain Primary School, where Great said one mother once taught reading and improved her own reading ability in the process. Green said the moraie aspect is very important in volunteer help "The kids eat up hearing someone say. You read that good, "he said. The role of volunteer itself makes volunteers a whole different aspect of education. Ali principals agreed that volunteers do not represent authority as much as a "grown-up helper' ' to the children "We are more iike buddies," said one Carver volunteer. She explained that volunteers work under the instructions of the teacher, who diplomatically guides volunteers and students into a relationship that is not quite teacher-student nor parent child. Both parent and teacher qualities are called for. "Sometimes all you have to do is pat them on the hand or sit down beside them to relieve their frustrations,"said one Carver volunteer of her rapport with the children. At Carver, where volun teerism is integral to the teaching system used, another Cent- on page 9 A vo!unteer /rom Owen High Schooi reads to youngsters at Biach Mountain Primary Schooi. fDan Ward) man ms. A spiU of industrial cleaner killed approximately 225 brown trout, moot of them stocked only the day before, la the Swannanoa River in Black Mountain August 14. Max Haner, a chemist with the Environmental Management Division, said (hat the MM waa apparently caused by a detergent washed into CM Blade Mountain storm aewera by Black Mountain firemen and rain after a drum of the chemical spilled in a truck on Richardaon Boulevard. No Hnea were imposed in that incident because the source could not be verified, nor blam6 established in the incident, be said. Fines by the commission consist only of the cost of restoring the river and restocking fish killed, if the incident is determined to be accidental, Haner said. Lahe Susan was owes again a crater !ast weeh whew it was drained to repiace /H! that had washed out at the base o/ the dam. The contractor who repaired the dam iast year repiaced dirt /ii! with ciay at no cost to the Mountain Retreat Association. (Dan Ward) Acre by Dan Ward Black Mountain and Montreat water supplies remain critically abort, but appear to be at almost the same level as last week, following moderate raina rriday. According to Black Mountain Town Manager Mack Kirkpatrick, the water level at the reservoir is down U feet, almost a foot below last week. He said the level may drop as low as IS feet before It could no longer be used. Progress on a new well at the golf course was set back when the drill struck rock early this week, he said. However, as of Tuesday, the drill was past rock and down to 200 feet. Although Black ABC profits down 13! % Following an unexplainabie slump in saies for October, the Black Mountain ABC board once again discussed the possibility at converting to a aeif-eervice operation. W.L. Wheeion, manager of the store, toid the board that sales for last month were down 12 to 13 per cent from the year before. Since the opening of 1-40, and previous to last month, sales averaged 5 to 7 per cent beiow last year, he said. Wheeion said that there is a possibility that he will obtain estimates at the beginning of neat year to find the coat of converting the misting stare to seUrsarvtee. He said reports from existing self service store! in North Carolina indicate sales couid increase by IS to 20 per cent Wheelon said he couid not explain the October slump, but said that business for November has been bach at the previous norm The board will meet next on December 20 at 4 p.m at the store. Mountain haa not begun using Asheville water, that possibility may not be far off, he said. "If we don't hit water over there (at the new weli) soon, or get more rain, weTi have to,' 'Kirkpatrick said. "The rain Friday helped ua a littie, but not as much as a person might think." John Lewis, superintendent for the Mountain Retreat Association water system, said streams feeding the water system remain at the same ievei as last week. "The rain helped over the weekend when we had a crowd up here, but we' re back to where we were now. "Folks seem to be cooperating, but we've still got a few carwashers,"Lewis said. He said some people have been individually asked to cut back on water use. Despite little rainfall over the past four months, Ridgecrest, supplied by wells at the Ridgecrest Assembly, has not suffered critical water shortages Sorry—we re closed The o/fice /or the Biach Mountain News wiii be cioeed aii day Thursday /or Thanhsgiving. News and advertising oniy wiii be tahen Friday, November M, /rom 9 a m. untii noon. Normai o/fice hours o/9a.m. to 5 p.m. wiii resume on Monday.

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