The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people
Miss Relay for Life crowned
Page 6
Winter sports stand-outs honored
Rage?
Childcare center earns award
Pages
Perqu
013165 110101 01 *#0001
PEROUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
10 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
May 24, 2001
Vol. 69, No. 21 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
KLY
Wells is new superintendent
Dare assistant
accepts local
school post
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Kenneth Wells said he is
ready to come to
Perquimans County
The present assistant
superintendent of Dare
County Schools was offi
cially appointed superin
tendent in Perquimans
Monday night. He will
assume his new duties July
1.
Wells was obviously
excited about his appoint
ment, staying he was look
ing forward to coming to he
area. He said he had
learned a lot about the com
munity through his appli
cation and interview
process, and liked what he
found.
“I am truly anticipating
July 1,” he said.
The 1997 University of
North Carolina graduate
praised the school board
for its superintendent
search process. He said he
was impressed with the
depth of the questions
asked during his inter
views, the fact that the
entire board was involved
in the interview process,
and that the board chose to
include administrators and
community residents in the
process.
“You obviosly make good
decisions because I think
this was a good one (hiring
me),” Wells said with a
smile to sum up his com
ments after being appoint
ed, bringing laughter from
board members and those
in the audience.
WeUs earned his BA in
education from UNC, then
worked as a teacher and
assistant principal at
Windsor Park Elementary
School from 1978-1983. The
next school year, he taught
seventh grade at a
Charlotte middle school.
During this time, WeUs
earned his masters of edu
cation from UNC-Charlotte.
In 1984, Wells was named
assistant principal at East
Mecklenburg High School.
He served as a junior high
school principal at two
sites from 1986-1991. Then,
he moved to South
Mecklenburg High, where
he was principal until
January 1996. At that time.
Wells became executive
director of secondary edu
cation of Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools.
In August 1996, Wells
moved to Manteo upon
accepting the position of
assistant superintendent
for Dare Courity Schools.
He also served as interim
superintendent there from
Nov. 1999 —June 2000.
He is presently doing
doctoral work in education
al leadership at East
Carolina University with
an expected completion
date of 2002.
WeUs’ wife, Donna, was
with him Monday night
when the board made its
official appointment.
The WeUs have two chU-
dren, Meredith, 17, and
Taylor, 14. WeUs said his
daughter will finish her
senior year at Manteo High
School.
“I promised her she
covUd finish high school in
Manteo when we moved
here,” WeUs said from his
Manteo office Tuesday.
Continued on page 10
^ )
Kenneth Wells speaks to
the school board after
being named superin
tendent Monday night.
He will assume his duties
July 1.
Cole
ROBERT SHILES
The Daily Advance
Janice McKenzie Cole
was elected Saturday as the
Democratic Party’s chair
man for the state’s 3rd
Congressional District.
Cole,
who last
month
resigned as
US. attor
ney for the
Eastern
District of
North
Carolina,
was the top
choice for
the leader
ship position. She was one
of approximately 200 party
delegates who attended the
18-county 3rd District
Convention held in
Kinston. She defeated two
other candidates for the
job, Chris Hardee, the cur
rent 3rd District chairman
from Dare County, and
Mary Swartz, a delegate
from Craven County.
A prominent figure in
the Albemarle area. Cole
was the first black woman
elected as a district court
judge in the 1st Judicial
District — a position she
held for 3 years, before
being appointed US. attor
ney by former President
Bill Clinton in February
1994.
She recently opened a
law office in Perquimans
County, and is involved in
superior court mediation
work and family law.
In her first comments to
the delegates as party
chairman. Cole stressed
the importance of
Democrats understanding
what their party stands for.
She also noted that com
munication between coun
ties in the district needs to
improve.
“We have not communi
cated weU, and we have not
been organized,” she said.
“I think communication is
very important. We have
many Democrats that are
swing voters and do vote
Republican at times. We
need to make them under
stand that their vote is not
just for a representative,
but also for the party plat
form.”
Continued on page 10
Spring
Weekend
draws
crowds
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Beautiful weather and
friendly people combined
for a successful annual
Perquimans Spring
Weekend.
Activities began Friday
evening with barbecued
pork and entertainment
on the courthouse lawn.
“It just seems to be get
ting better every year,”
said Mary White of The
Wishing WeU. White is a
member of Historic
Hertford Business
Association, sponsors of
the event.
White said more local
businesses contributed to
the evening. The band.
Silver Spurs, donated
their time, also. Proceeds
from the dinner go to the
4th of July fireworks.
Those whose tastes run
to antiques and col
lectibles were in heaven
Saturday during the
Antique Dealers
Association of
Perqumans County show
and sale at the high
school. A variety of items
to suit many tastes were
on display
Proceeds from the
event will benefit the
Hertford Main Street
Program.
Spring Weekend activi
ties were capped with the
ever-popular Perquimans
County 'Restoration
Association Garden Party
Held this year on the
waterfront back lawn of
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Earl
Lane in WinfaU, the ele-
V-\
4
4
The Perqumans County
Restoration
Association's annual
garden party (above)
and pig out on the
green (right) were two
of the three events
featured Friday and
Saturday for
Perqumans Spring
Weekend. An antiques
show and sale
Saturday rounded out
the activities.
gant evening affair drew
175 guests.
“It was a great suc
cess,” and LuAnne
Pendergraft, state
Development Officer with
PCRA. “It was one of the
largest in history. Thanks
to the volunteers who
made the food and decora
tions, we made over
$3,000.”
The garden party,
which has grown more
and more popular every
year, is now the premiere
fund raiser for the
M
**’4"
mm
restoration group. This
year’s gala served as part
of PCRA’s 30th anniver
sary celebration and as an
opportunity to present
two PCRA awards.
Original board members
Albert Eure and Doris
Nixon joined the event.
Ann Jones earned the
Lucille Winslow Award
for outstanding service,
while Perquimans County
and the Town of Hertford
were presented with the
William and Catherine
Nixon Award for out
standing support.
PCRA operates the
Newbold-White House on
Harvey Point Road, the
oldest brick house in the
state. The group is dedi
cated to preserving and
promoting the cultural
heritage of Perquimans
County.
PCRA membership
ranges from $5 to $250.
CaH 426-7567 for informa
tion.
Town adopts drug, alcohol, safe work policy
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The Town of Hertford
adopted a policy on drugs,
alcohol and safe work dur
ing its regular session in
May.
Town Manager John
Christensen said the town
needed to add the safe
workplace component to its
policy manual.
In addition to defining
drug use, the policy states
that town employees may
be subject to random drug
and/or alcohol tests or may
be tested when there is rea
sonable suspicion that they
may be under the influence
of illegal drugs or alcohol.
Employees involved in an
accident while operating
town equipment while at
work or on town business
will be subject to drug and
alcohol testing. Failure to
submit to the test may
result in disciplinary
action, including termina
tion.
The policy requires any
employee charged or con
victed of a criminal drug
law violation to notify his
or her supervisor in writ
ing no later than 5 calendar
days after the charge and
within 5 calendar days fol
lowing disposition by the
court.
Further, the policy states
that employees are expect
ed to inform supervisors of
the use of prescription or
over-the-counter medica
tions that might adversely
affect the safe and reliable
performance of their work.
All employees who
Writing
scores
are up
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Writing scores continue
to rise in Perquimans
County Schools, with 2001
results showing significant
increases since 1998.
Fourth graders moved
from 55.3 percent proficien
cy last year to 71.9 percent
in 2001. In 1998, 35.2 per
cent of fourth graders in
Perquimans tested profi
cient. That number moved
up slightly to 38.6 in 1999.
Regionally, fourth graders
scored at 54.3 percent profi
cient.
The school hired a writ
ing facilitator to work with
students and teachers on
writing. Classroom teach
ers also incorporated more
writing into the curricu
lum.
“We are extremely
pleaesd with our writing
scores at Hertford
Grammar School,” said
Edward J. WUliams, princi
pal. “All of our staff has
been listening, facilitating,
teaching and reinforcing
the proper writing skiUs to
our students. Over the past
two years, we have seem
tremendous growth in
writing proficiency.”
At the middle school,
efforts over the past 2 years
are paying off, also. About
half of aU seventh graders
were deemed proficient in
1998 and 1999.
Continued on page 10
observe conduct that indi
cates a possible violation of
the policy “shall” report
the observation to a super
visor.
Compliance with the
safe workplace policy is a
condition of employment
for town employees.
Violations may result in
severe disciplinary action,
including termination.
The policy states that the
town manager is responsi
ble for interpreting and
ensuring compliance with
the policy.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 75
Low: 56
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 70
Low: 58
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 72
Low: 58
Partly Cloudy