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

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