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. January 15, 2003
Vol. 71, No, 3 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
P6/C5***********5-DIGIT 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
Perql
WeekC?
1/13/2003.
:m-L
Mixon
first N.C.
detention
Teaeher
of Year
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Teaching is a challeng
ing job, and no teacher
faces more challenges than
Mark Mixon, a teacher at
Perquimans Juvenile
Detention Center.
Mixon’s sknis in helping
his troubled charges
earned him the 2002
Detention Center Teacher
of the Year. He is the first to
receive the honor imple
mented by the Departmetn
of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention to
recognize those teachers
who excel in the detention
center setting.
1 try to take
them from
where they
are as far as
possible.
Mark Mixon
Teacher, -
Perquimans
. " ' Juvenile
Detention Center
“Teachers in detention
centers face the unique
challenge of a classroom of
students of widely varying
ages and abilities,” said
DJJDP Superintendent
Jane D. Young. “Students
may be in the class for only
a few days and may be anx
ious about their situation.
Mr. Mixon exemplifies the
characteristics needed to
help students focus and
make progress in school
while they are in detention.
He is dedicated to ensuring
that students’ individual
differences are recognized.
His leadership and skill are
truly worth of recogni
tion.”
Mixon, who is in his
fourth year with the deten
tion center, spent 18 years
in the military — eight of
them as a logistics instruc
tor — before becoming a
teacher. He earned his
degree from Virginia State.
He retired to Columbia
and accepted a position
with Washington County
Schools as a teacher in an
alternative program funded
by a grant. When funds ran
out at the end of the school
year, he spent two years
with the Department of
Corrections before accept
ing the teaching position at
the detentioh center.
Mixon has an average of
13 to 14 students each day,
generally aged 12-15,
although he has had stu
dents as young as 11. He
teaches all subjects, and
this is not always an easy
task as the students come
from different schools and
backgrounds and are in
Continued on page 10
About 175 people were on hand at the Hertford Fire Department Saturday to observe the Remembrance Day
for the Winslow Oil Company fire, which blazed on Jan. 10, 1978. The department held the observance to
remember and show appreciation to those who fought fire, rescue and law enforcement personnel, and vol
unteers who provided dry socks, food and a break from the bitter cold.
Firefighters remember
Winslow Oil Company fire
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Firefighters with soot-
blackened faces. Fireballs
rolling through a bright
blue sky. The variety of col
ored hats signifying differ
ent fire departments. Water
lines snaking along Covent
Garden. Ice coating budd
ings and trees. Even icycles
hanging from the hats of
firefighters.
These were the images
projected on the screen
Saturday as the Hertford
Fire Department showed
slides of the Winslow OU
Company fire on Jan. 10,
1978 during a 25th anniver
sary Remembrance Day
observance.
Firefighter Sid Eley, who
was a lieutenant in the
department on the day of
the oil company Are, later
served as chief and stUl an
active firefighter, narrated
the slide show. The presen
tation took the approxi
mately 175 people on hand
through the day of the fure
and the day after, and ended
with scenes of ttie fire site
after clean-up.
Eley said it was evident
that God was in control of
the event, as there was only
one serious injury and
damage, although heavy for
Winslow Oil Company and
Farmer’s Feed and Seed,
was so much lighter than it
could have been with a fire
of that magnitude.
Charles Skinner, chief of
the department at the time
of the fire, discussed the
response to the fire from
the beginning to its end. He
said the department’s pre
planning and training for a
possible fire at the site
where three oil companies
once stood just feet apart
got people on the scene and
fighting the fire immediate
ly. Once help arrived, those
departments were quickly
dispatched to fiU in where
needed.
Guests at Saturday’s
observance were served
homemade soup and sand
wiches, the same meals
brought to them by volun
teers on the day of the fire.
(Part two of a series.
Next week: Glimpses of the
fire through the eyes of fire
fighters on the scene.)
Parking problems
Vanscoy reports
on speeding study
4^'
'm-
Parking on the wrong side of the street in front of the
Hertford Municipal Building causes traffic congestion
at the post office to get even worse, according to
Hertford Police Chief Dale Vanscoy. The town recently
installed three signs that state "No parking left side,"
but as this picture clearly shows, drivers are not read
ing the signs. Officers are often stopping to talk to dri
vers when they see violators at present, but drivers
failing to abide by the parking rules are subject to a
traffic citation and a fine.
SUSAN R HARRIS
Speeding on Church and
Market streets was again a
topic at the Hertford Town
Council meeting Monday
night.
Town Manager John
Christensen said Tuesday
that Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy gave a report to
council Monday night on
speed on the two streets.
The information was taken
from the speed trailer
which is used in different
places around town at
intervals. The trailer is
equipped with electronic
mechanisms which record
the number of vehicles that
pass and their speeds.
The trailer was sited on
Church Street to record
traffic as it entered town
over the S-bridge for two
full days. During that time,
2,252 cars came into town,
with 90 percent of those
vehicles averaging 29.7
miles per hour in the 25
mile per hour zone. The
fastest recorded speed was
39 miles per hour.
Christensen said he
pointed out that most law
enforcement officers do not
issue tickets unless vehi
cles are traveling about 10
miles per hour or more
over the speed limit. With
that criterion in mind,
Christensen said the infor
mation from the speed trail
er indicated that only about
six tickets would have been
issued over the two-day
period.
One problem on Church
Street, Christensen said, is
that the houses are so close
to the street, it may sound
and look as if vehicles are
speeding when in fact they
are not. The blind curve
coming off the bridge adds
to the problem, he said.
On Market Street, 552
vehicles passed the trailer
over a two-day period. As
on Church Street, about 90
percent of those who
passed were driving within
10 miles per hour of the
speed limit.
There was discussion of
putting speed bumps on
streets to slow down traffic.
Christensen will contact
DOT and review the possi
bility of adding speed
bumps with them and
report back to council with
his findings.
200afi4
school
calendar
proposed
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Students will start
school next year on Aug. 6 if
the hoard of education
approves the 2003-04 calen
dar presented for consider
ation in December at its
Jan. 27 meeting. The last
student day on the pro- *
posed calendar is May 25.
The calendar allows stu
dents to complete the first
semester and high school
students to take exams
before the Christmas break.
The proposed calendar
was put together by a com
mittee composed of teach
ers, administrators and
parents.
If approved, students
wni be scheduled to be off
on work days on Sept. 12,
Oct. 10 and 13, Nov. 26, Dec.
19, Jan. 2, Feb. 6 and 9, and
March 11 and 12. Students
will not be in school
Wednesday-Friday of
Thanksgiving week. At
Christmas, the last day for
students, except those who
need to retake exams or
end-of-course tests at the
high school, would be Dec.
18. Students will return on
Jan. 5. Spring break is
scheduled for April 9-16.
Faculty and staff who do
not work on a 12-month
schedule would return
from the summer break as
early as July 31, which is an
optional work day, as is
Aug. 1. AU faculty and staff
would report on Aug. 4 and
5, which are required work
days.
Other optional work
days are Sept. 12, Oct. 13,
Nov. 26, Dec. 19, Jan. 2, Feb.
6, March 12, and June 1-2.
Required work days are
Aug. 4 and 5, Oct. 10, Feb. 9,
March 11 and May 26-28.
Because of exams, the high
school has a required work
day on Dec. 19 and an
optional day on May 28.
Dec. 22 and 23, Dec. 29-31,
and Jan. 12-16 are annual
leave days for staff.
Days chosen as make-up
days in the event of
inclement weather include
Sept. 12, Oct. 13, Feb. 6,
March 12 and May 26.
The state has several
requirements for a school
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 41
Low: 26
Mostly Cloudy
Friday
High:39
Low: 22
Rain to Snow
Saturday
High: 40
Low: 22
Partly Cloudy