Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Oct. 1, 1998, edition 1 / Page 1
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October 1,1998 jTrrr f/ii . t PE«QUlM?NrC0UN?(7^p’’® *C20 W ACADEMY^ST^ HBRARy ^^RTFORD f4C 27944 The Perquima Vol. 66, No. 40 The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people Hertford, North Carolina 27944 Inside Even the library borrows l:^ks Page 2 School board considers drug policy By SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor They know they’re role models and they want to be positive ones — and that requires being drug free. That was the message stu dent athletes at Perquimans County High School conveyed to school board members Monday night as they endorsed implementation of a drug screening policy for stu dent athletes. “If you notice, there is a sign in front of our school that reads, ‘Drug Free School Zone,’ “ said Kim Stallings. “Is this statement true? Are the students, especially the ath letes representing our commu nity and our school proudly? No, they aren’t.’’ Stallings said student ath letes have stepped up in sup port of the drug testing because they realize they are role models, and there is a need for positive role models to help make a difference in the lives of younger children. Student athlete Shanita Bailey also encouraged the board to adopt the policy, end ing her speech with a poem she wrote about the fate of a young drug abuser. The policy, spearheaded by the student athletes and com posed with administrative assistance, states that drug use can be deterimental to the physical, emotional and med ical health of student athletes, can be dangerous, and creates a damaging stigma for athletes who are drug free. The purpose of the proposed testing is to identify those stu dent athletes in grades 7-12 who are using drugs so that assistance can be offered to them through counseling, edu cation, and treatment. Stallings told the board that the drug testing is supported by the SURGE team (Students Undertaking Responsible Guidelines for Educating Children), the SADD Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions), the Monogram Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Representatives of all the clubs were present at the meet ing. In addition, the program has been endorsed by the Perquimans County Athletic Boosters and both the sheriffs and Hertford Police depart ments. PCHS Athletic Director Harrell Thach said that the policy is an effort to help ath letes who are using drugs. Thach said tests run on ath letes around the country who appeared to be very healthy, but died during games and practices showed that many were on drugs, particularly steroids. The school board policy manual states that policies considered for inclusion in the manual must come before the board for first and second readings before a vote can be taken. Monday night was the furst reading for the drug test ing policy. The second reading will take place at the board’s October meeting, at which time a vote will be cast. Moving begins at HGS By SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor Students and teachers are spreading out at Hertford Grammar School, thanks to the temporary occupancy per mit on the school’s new build ing. The four classes assigned to the new building at the site have moved, and the multi purpose room was the venue for the school’s first PTA meet ing of the year last Thursday. M.B. Kahn Construction Company, Inc. Senior Site Manager Randy Range told school board members Monday night that kitchen equipment in the new cafete ria has been installed and test ed. Range anticipated final kitchen inspection on Tuesday, with the first meals being prepared and served on site on Wednesday. Until the opening of the kitchen facility, meals for Hertford Grammar School students have been pre pared at Central School and delivered to Hertford. Range said that contractors are taking care of a list of fmal items that must be completed inside of the building. Work will begin next on a list of exte rior items. With the new building almost complete, renovations on the other wings of the building will begin this week. Range said. The replacement windows are expected to be delivered Monday. Windows in all four older wings of the school win be replaced. -The area that has served as the kitchen and cafeteria/ auditorium will undergo reno vations to become the school’s media center. The present media center will become administrative and work areas. Range said the expected completion date for the reno vations is late November. Derek Faulkenberry, Kahn Project Engineer at Central School, said aU brick instatlla- tion, above ground plumbing rough-in, standing seam roof ing installation, and exterior window and glass installation are complete at that site. The first coat of paint is being applied in wing A, Faulkenberry said. Work at Central School is currently on schedule. The building is scheduled for com pletion in January. Undefeated PHOTO BY NORRIS GARDNER, THE DAILY ADVANCE The Lady Pirates volleyball team remains undefeated with four games left in the reguiar se£«on. Perquimans knocked off top Northeastern Aibemarle Athletic Conference rival Manteo twice iast week, the first time ih 12 years the Lady Pirates have defeated the squad from Dare County. Hopes are high that the team wili remain unbeaten, wiii stay tough during state play offs and earn a spot in the state championship tournament on Halloween. For a rundown of the team’s last three contests, please see page 6. Oct. 4-10 week is Fire Prevention Week Hertford Fire squad to sponsor town fire drill t By SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor When Hertford residents hear the fire siren go off next Wednesday, it will be a sugges tion from the Hertford Fire Department to practice escap ing from their homes in case of fure. Hertford Fire Chief Sid Eley said the department is spon soring the fire drill in conjunc tion with National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4-10. Eley said every home should have planned escape routes and practice those routes peri odically until every home occupant becomes familiar with the plan. According to State Fire Marshal and Insurance Commissioner Jim Long said that last year 13,000 fires occurred in North Carolina homes. Simple precautions can help reduce the risk of becoming a victim of fire. Long said. The first step to home safety is to install smoke detectors on every level of the home, espe cially near bedrooms, and test them once a month. However, smoke detectors’ early warn ing is only half the battle. The other half of the plan should involve a family escape route. Long said floor plans should be drawn of your home show ing two ways out of every room. An outside meeting place should also be noted on the plan. Each room should be examined carefully to deter mine that escape is easily accessible. Escape plans should be practiced at least twice each year. Long said. “Involving small children in this planning is extremely important because they are especially vulnerable during a fire,” Long said. “Many times children become so adraid that they attempt to hide from the fire instead of using the escape route.” The National Fire Protection Association, the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 70 years, developed this year’s Fire Prevention Week theme “The Great Escape” as a result of its 1997 Home Escape Survey. The results showed only 16 percent of respondents who had escape plans actually practiced them. This year’s national campaign is designed to teach children the impor tance of developing an escape plan adn practicing the plan with their families. The department and the state’s schools are working together to coordinate a fire safety education program in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week. Department Fire Education Specialists have been teaching lifesaving fire safety skills in the schools for nearly 20 years. All North Carolina fourth graders will receive fire pre vention checklists to share with their parents. The check lists outline important fire prevention activities for chil dren to complete with their parents. Children who bring completed checklists back to school will receive Junior Fire Marshal badges. The printing of the checklists and badges was made possible by a grant from the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina. In addition to smoke detec tors and escape plans, safety tips include not smoking in bed, using deep clean ashtrays, sleeping with bedroom doors closed, never entering a burn ing building for any reason, checking interior doors to make sure they’re not hot before opening, staying low to the ground to avoid smoke , dropping and rolling if cloth ing catches on fire, teaching children their address and directions to their home, post ing emergency numbers and directions to the home near the telephone, keeping a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and learning how to use it, never leaving cooking food unattended, proper placement of space heaters, and checking for frayed wiring. Policy would offer help to athletes testing positive By SUSAN R. HARRIS Student athletes testing pos itive for drugs would be offered help under the condi tions of the proposed random drug testing policy. Mandatory counseling and education are integral components of the plan. Under the terms of the poli cy being considered, all stu dent athletes planning to par ticipate in interscholastic sports would be tested each year, possibily as a part of the annual physical exam required by the state for ath letic participation. After all athletes are initial ly tested each year, a random digit table would be used to determine which student ath letes would be selected for ran dom testing. Ten percent of aU student athletes would be cho sen for testing. Any student not tested who subsequently joined a sports team would automatically be included in the next scheduled random testing. The policy would require written consent from both the student athlete and the ath lete’s parent prior to testing. Any student refusing to take part in the random test would immediately lose athletic eligi bility for the remainder of the school year. All testing would be done by number, not name, and would be handled through Coastal Carolina Family Practice. No school personnel would assist with testing or have access to test samples. Results would be kept in a locked cabinet with limited access. Any student athlete found to be positve for any drug in the screen would be notified, as would his or her parent(s). The athlete would be given the opportunity to take a retest within 48 hours. The policy would apply to coaches, coaching assistants and volunteer coaches. Refusal of a coaching staff member to participate would prevent him or her from serving on the coaching staff. A student testing positive for the first time would be notified with his/her parents and suspended from all sports for the remainder of that sport season or four weeks, whichever is longer. In addi tion, the athlete would under go at least 10 hours of counsel ing over a three-week period at the parent’s expense. The ath lete would then be retested. A negative result would allow athletic participation. A posi tive result or failure to be test ed or undergo counseling would be treated as a second positive result. Testing positive a second time would mean student and parent notification, suspen sion from athletics for 365 days and a minimmn of 20 hours of counseling. Retesting would take place before eligibility was restored. Refusal to follow the terms of the policy would be treated as a third positive. A third positive would result in suspension from ath letics for the remainder of his/her high school career.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1998, edition 1
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