tHE ONLY NEWSPAPER FOR AND ABOUT PERQUIMANS COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE Oi r.,
Lady Pirates win tournament
page 6
May busy at PCMS
page?
THF
April 27, 2000
Vol. 68, No. 17 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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PERQUIMAi>
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School board sets high local standards
ANNA GOODWIN MCCARTHY
Correspondent
Local student accountability
standards have increased for
Perquimans County students.
The Perquimans County
Board of Education proposed a
new set of student accountabil
ity standards that will access
the performance of students at
each grade level.
“1 think that it's good that
we have our own gateways,”
said school board member
Majorie Rayburn.
Students in grades three
through eight wiU be tested in
reading, writing and math,
said Superintendent Gregory
Todd.
High school students will
have to perform at grade level
for courses with end-of-grade
tests, as weU as passing the
high school exit exam, said
Todd.
State standards require that
testing be conducted at grades
three, five and eight.
Students wiU continue to be
held responsible for state
accountability standards in
addition to the local standards.
The new accountability
standards will include inter
vention strategies and an
HHBA HOSTS
ANNUAL Easter
ACTIVITIES
Saturday's cool breeze which threat
ened rain didn't keep all the boys
and girls away from Historic
Hertford Business Association's
annual Easter activities. The
Hertford turtle donned an Easter
bonnet and enjoyed breakfast on
the courthouse lawn with friends.
Then children searched the court
house lawn for colorful Easter eggs,
earning prizes for finding the most.
Relay gets underway Friday afternoon
For Harrell,
Relay is very
personal
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
For Jennifer Harrell, Relay
for Life is not just a communi
ty service project or a chance
to get together with friends to
have a good time while doing
something worthwhile.
Jennifer will go the the
junior-senior prom on May 6.
She’ll graduate with honors
from PCHS on June 9 after
enjoying full years of learning
and extra-curricular activities
at both the middle and high
school levels.
That doesn’t seem special at
ail until you realize that a num
ber of years ago, Jennifer’s
name would probably appear
•on the graduation program
with “in memory of our class
mate” written beside it. You
see, Jennifer, at the tender age
of 17, is a cancer survivor.
Please see RELAY, page 8
,
Cancer survivor Jennifer Harrell is proud of the money her fellow students at Perquimans
High School have raised for this weekend's Relay for Life. Harrell looks over the thousands
of chain links sold to students, faculty and staff to raise over $800 for cancer research and
education. A team of students from the school, coordinated through the SADD Club with
assistance from advisors Carolyn Rogers and Margaret Brothers, will walk this weekend.
The Perquimans Weekly is the group's business partner in the Relay.
appeals process, said Todd.
“Each school wUl have to
write an intervention plan”"
said Todd.
Todd said the new local
accountability standards will
be listed in each school's stu
dent handbook that is passed
out to students.
Rayburn said she thought
the language explaining the
accountability standards was
somewhat overwhelming.
School board member
Charles Cheezum said a synop
sis should be included that
summarizes the key points of
the new standards.
Hertford named
Main Street
4
community
Hertford was selected to par
ticipate in the North Carolina
Main Street Program.
The town was one of four
chosen to join 45 previously
designated commimities.
Main Street is a downtown
revitalization program for
smaller towns based on eco-
n 0 m i c
develop
m e n t
at tha ci^^pidiise
to discuss
the program.
withint
the con
text of
historic
preserva
tion. The
North
Carolina
Main
Street
Program, which provides tech
nical assistance to its commu
nities, is part of the
Department of Commerce’s
Division of Community
Assistance.
North Carolina’s Main
Street cities have achieved a
great deal of success in their
downtowns. Since 1980, there
have been more than 1,900
building renovations. Jobs cre
ated during this period exceed
15,000 and more than 4,300 new
businesses have opened. Total
investment in these down
towns has been $540 million
since 1980.
Begun by the Nationsd Trust
for Historic Preservation as a
demonstration program in
three Midwestern towns in
1977, Main Street expanded to
a state demonstration program
in 1980. Thirty-eight states
applied to participate and
North Carolina was one of six
chosen.
There will be a
on
The National Trust’s Main'
Street model is based on the,
Fourt Point Approach to down-;
town revitalization and^
emphasizes organization,^
design, promotion, and eco
nomic restructuring. It is this
balanced approach to down
town revitalization that suc
ceeds where others have failed.
New commu-.
nities are
selected
through a com
petitive appli
cation process
approximately
every 2 years.
Main Street
participation is
open to any
community
with a certified population of
less than 50,000. Eligible com
munities must commit to hir
ing a full-time downtown man
ager and funding the program
for an initial 3-year period.
Towns under 5,000 may hire a
part-time manager.
There has been a big push
for downtown revitalization in
Hertford, especially since
Hertford was designated the
Heritage Tourism
Development pilot community
in the eastern part of the state.
Already, entrepreneurs have
breathed new life into some
buildings. Several new small
businesses have located in the
downtown area.
On May 4 at 7 p.m., the town
of Hertford is holding a town
meeting at the courthouse so
that the public may learn more
about heritage tourism, the
Main Street Program, and
other events and initiatives in
the community.
Local voters will seat three school board members
Perquimans voters will
choose three school board
members during Tuesday’s pri
mary election.
Seeking office are William
Byrum, Iris Byrne, Ramona
Murphy, Thomas Riddick and
Helen Shaw. Riddick apd Shaw
are the encumbents in the non
partisan race. Those elected
will be seated in June.
^ Each candidate was mailed
a questionnaire asking them to
discuss issues in education.
The.i answers of Byrne,
Murphy and Shaw were pub
lished last week. Byrum did
not submit his answers.
Riddick’s appear below exactly
as they were submitted.
What talents/abilities/
experiences/training quali
fy you to sit on the school
board?
32 years working experience
•in administration and manage-
Thomas Riddick
ment, working for and with the
public, elected to the
Perquimans County School
Board in 1996, currently serv
ing as vice chairman having
served almost 4 years. I have
gained valuable experience
that will be very helpful if
elected to another term.
What is your interest in
the school system?
Being a part of a team
whose interest is working
toward goals that will provide
the children of Perquimans
Coimty an opportunity to get
the best possible education
Why are you running for
school board?
Because of my concern that
children are afforded an oppor
tunity of the best in education.
Children are our most valuable
asset, they wiU be our future
leaders.
What is the greatest chal
lenge facing Perquimans
County Schools? What can
the school board do to meet
this challenge?
There are many challenges
facing our school system. We
have a high percentage of low
performing students Level I
and Level II. Social promotions
are out. Children must be
taught and they must learn.
The board believes that stu
dents should progress to the
next level of study only after
they are proficient in their
knowledge and application of
the current curriculum level.
End of grade testing, even
though we know it isn’t perfect
it does provide us with a mea
suring tool that helps us see a
students progress and the edu
cational progress we are mak
ing. We have many exceUerat-
ed students that we can’t forget
or loose because of so much
attention being devoted to low
performance. The exceUerated
student must be provided a
curriculum and programs that
wUl keep them in an exceUerat
ed mode. Education is a team
effort of board, administra
tors, teachers, parents, commu
nity and students. We must
educate the parents on expecta
tions and keep them informed
on their chUd’s performance.
FacUities need - New high
school. Plan now and work
toward project getting imder-
way as soon as WinfaU Central
debt is paid off.
Budget - seems to get smaU-
er each year. The board and
administration must look and
develop ways of being more
efficient.
I coiUd go on, there is and
wUl be a fuU plate of issues and
chaUenges.
The school board recently
chose not to pass a resolu
tion requesting taxing
authority from the state.
Discuss that action.
Please see ELECT, page 8
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 65
Low. 48
Scattered Showers
Friday
High: 68
Low. 51
Scattered Showers
Saturday
High: 74
Low: 52
Partly Cloudy
Sunday
High: 76
Low. 54
Partly Cloudy