? i . he ft? THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY Volume 36, No. 20 USPS 428 080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, May 15, 1980 20 CENTS , Time for a 'Fling! ' A rip-roaring celebration of the arts called Spring Fling is only two days away, and the Perquimans County Arts Council in cooperation with the county recreation department, has organized an event that can best be described in one three letter ^ word ? FUN. The two day event kicks off on Saturday, with an American Legion fish fry. Council chairman Billy Wooten said he hopes that fish fry fans will take their dinners across the street to the Academy Street park and participate in or watch races ? endgames for youngsters. The fish fry is scheduled from 4:30 to 6:30 and the races from 6:30 to 8:30. Then, as darkness falls over the park, get out the lawn chairs and blankets for sit-in (as opposed to drive-in) movies. If you've never had the chance to have your funny bone tickled by the Three Stooges, here's your big chance, as the projector starts rolling with HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL. Anyone who has seen the trio in action knows how funny their fumbling, bumbling antics can be. The mood will shift abruptly for the next film, and only the stout-hearted are advised to stick around for Vincent Price's HOUSE OF WAX, a classic horror film guaranteed to provide late night chills and thrills. Just keep telling yourselfs it's only a movie. Sunday, though, is the big day, as an Albemarle-wide collection of some 20 artists and craftsmen are expected to converge on Hertford to display and demonstrate their talents from 1 to 6 p.m., as well as offer the products of their efforts for sale to the public. The performing arts will also make their presence felt, with entertainment on the hour throughout the day. Groups appearing will in clude: Claymon Sawyer and the Carolina Cut-ups, a blue grass band from Elizabeth City; school bands; the high school chorus; and area School request up The Perquimans County Board of Education, in its , tentative working budget, is seeking increases of some 22 percent in local funding for the 1980-81 fiscal year. Schools superintendent Pat Harrell said that the board's joint current expense-capital outlay working budget totals some 1950,000, a (165,000 in crease over the $785,000 1979 1980 fiscal year budget. f The board of education and the county commissioners discussed the request at a meeting last Tuesday night. "Our budgetary needs were reviewed and discussed with the commissioners without speeific decisions being reached as to funding levels for a 1980-81 fiscal year budget," Harrell said. ? The next step, he said, is for the commissioners to take the schools budget request and those of other county agencies to arrive at a total county budget. Harrell described the current expense portion if the budget as "basically hold the line." ? He said the request, ad justed 18 per cent for inflation, would essentially fund the same level of operation as the current year's budget. Major increases in the current expense portion of the budget are raises of 12.5 per cent for certified and 10 per cent for non-certificated in structors funded locally, and projected jumps in the system's fuel oil and elec tricity bills. Salary increases are tied to action by the General Assembly, as the school system is required to pay locally funded positions on the same scale as state funded positions. Increases of 12.5 per cent for certified teachers are being sought on the state level, but the figure is expected to be .trimmed down to 10 per cent by the General Assembly. Under the capital outlay portion of the budget, the board of education is seeking funding for several facility improvements, with increases totaling some 26 per cent. Projects include a, new fieldhouse and restrooms at ther Perquimans High School athletic complex, a new vocational shop to begin a construction program at the high school, and a rennovated science laboratory. At Perquimans Union, funding to enlarge the kitchen cafeteria area is included. The Application in for rec grant The Perquimans County Recreation Department has applied for a $41,652 Young Adult Conservation Corps grant that would get work underway on a recreational complex iB the Parkville Township near Winfall. s If approved, the grant would Vfty for four young adult workers between the ages of 16 and 23 and a supervisor, along with some supplies and equipment. The grant requires no local match. Workers would be responsible for clearing the picnic-playground and parking areas, as well as j&aking out and laying off the ' oftball fields, said recreation director Billy Wooten. Heritage Conservation funds that may have paid for fencing, and lighting of the complex, however, are currently frozen, and could delay the project, Wooten ?aid. governing bodies. Perquimans County donated a 13.8 acre tract of land for construction of a recreational complex in November. In an October meeting, Wooten had told the county board of commissioners that the land could probably be used as a match for state and federal grant monies. Tbe facility was projected to include two lighted softball fields with portable fences that could be moved for football and soccer games, and a refreshment stand restroom building. Drawings recently com pleted by the Regional Development Institute at East Carolina University in Greenville show a playground area, and a picnic area by a board is also seeking funding to continue energy con servation measures at all of the system's four schools. In the area of furnishing and equipment, some new fur niture is included at each school (worn out furniture is replaced at all of the schools each year), along with in structional equipment for the school bands and music departments, new bleachers at the high school, and a boiler at the King Street building. Harrell said that the budget is too tenuous at present to reyeal project by project costs. "In reality, we won't be able to do all those things," he said. "We realize we may not be able to initiate all of the projects we'd like to. You take what you'd like to have and what you can agree on and prioritize," said Harrell of the budget making process." square dance groups. Perquimans High School art classes and the art club, under the direction of John Lavezzo, will also display their work. The Perquimans County Rescue Squad will sell homemade ice cream and take blood pressure, and the Memory Lane Senior Citizens Club will hold a bake sale, and open the senior center to in terested persons. Hie Arts Council will staff an information booth that will provide a history of the organization and sign up new members, and will have concessions for sale. According to Wooten, the Spring Fling is the initial "big event" of the young council, which has been in existance for about a year and a half. All events are free, and the public is cordially invited to attend. Tugo' war Friday's Field Day at Perquimans Central Elementary School in Winfall generated en thusiasm for both students and teachers alike. Here student teams pull for all they are worth in the Tug of War portion of the com petition. But the teachers also got a chance to get in on the act, and as they struggled through running, walking, frisbee tossing and the like, their students cheered wildly on the sidelines. The annual event, coordinated by physical education in structor Billy Stallings, is one that is eagarly an ticpated at the school. (Photos by Mike McLaughlin) Bike-a-thon Pedal power rides again The Perquimans County Jaycees' second annual Bike A-Thon for cystic fibrosis will get rolling on Sunday, June 1, with registration beginning at 1 p.m. at Harris Shopping Center in Hertford. Registration forms are now available at all Perquimans County schools, the Bank of N.C., and Peoples Bank. Prizes for the event will include a ten-speed bicycle for whoever nets the most money; a 9-inch black and white television for second place; a watch for third; and cash for fourth and fifth places. All entrants riding at least $25 worth will recieve a free t shirt. Last year's Bike-A-Thon netted more money per capita than any other county in the state. Proceeds from the funding effort will go not only toward helping to eliminate cystic fibrosis, but also toward the Heart Fund, the Cancer Society, and the March of Dimes. A rain date is set for June 22. County eyes alternative ed project The Perquimans County School System, in conjunction with Gates County and Edenton? Chowan Schools, is seeking $851,679 in federal funding far a two-year project designed to aid students who are prone to failure in regular academic settings. The proposal, entitled "Tri County Project CONCERNS.'' (aa acronym for Cooperative Organisation to meet the Needs of Children Educationally and Render Necessary Services) seeks to offer a combination of the alternative approaches that lMa*iktiv av{(4 in artkfwl fncwiu) pajm in eaCIl srmx): lystea, in addition to providing complimentary Nnfcfcr 4$ ?; ris Kor County CONCERNS coo tact person, the three-county cooperation is necessary in order to realize a comprehensive program that would otherwise be economically unfeasible within one small school sy Sit rn . At present, each county otters a different program geared toward motivating potential failures or drop-oats. Under Project CONCERNS, each of these programs would be available to students between the ages of 12 and II, and implemented in all three One of these programs, presently in operation in Perquimans County, la Positive Growth Counseling, munication and social skills, and improved atademic performance for grades six through nine. The counseling seeks to foster positive per sonal, social, and academic growth before the experience of prolonged failure leads to a crisis situation. Another program, presently in operation in Gates County, is called Shaping Positive Attitodes Challenges Everyone (for grades 8 through 12). SPACE is essentially an in-school suspension designed to minimise non-productive social behavior through the pro vlsie? of an alternative environment for temporary placement. Its purpose is not to punish, hot to help those ?1L ! -1 wiin Denaviorai (iimcuiues that could possibly result in suspensions. Another program, presently underway in Chowan County, is an Alternative School for 7 through 12th graders who are current or potential failures not only academically, but socially as well. This program is designed for those who have been determined as unsuitable for the traditional educational process, and for which an alternatiave setting is the only appropriate means for mainstreaming them into society. An alternative ap proach would include the creation of a night school for those students who find it necessary to work during traditional school hours. In addttion to the im* n1 ? M nrlt a tffti nf tk i> m AMiiiaul piemeniauuo ui owse existing programs in all three coun ties, Project CONCERNS fvould provide School Psychological Services, Staff Development and Retraining Services, and Business Industry Coordination, which would assist working-age pupils in securing em ployment and on-the-job training. A goals statement prepared by the Project CONCERNS committee proposes that 24 months after implementation in the three counties, a 25 percent reduction would occur in the following area*: un derachievement, negative attitudes, lack of career preparation, lumber of ab senteeism and truancy, number ^^^eBSio>>' of non-promotions, and the number of juvenile court cases. Kornegay admitted that such goals may be considered "lofty," but he added that an implementation of such alternatives was a very necessary addition to the present school system. "There are many kids who have problems at home, are forced to work, and that find for many reasons it is difficult to attted a structured school," said Kornegay, "and so one of the things we're striving for is a program to decrease drop outs, truancy, expulsion, and things of thi* nature." The grant was submitted to the Law Enforcement (Coatiagcdoopage ti ? ?? \ . II.

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