Senior notes
Page 5
Teachers assistants honored
Page?
Hoops updates
Pages 6 and 7
February 4 2004
Vol. 72, No. 5 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perqu
Weekly
RECEIVED
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
35 cents
Williams resigns; Aydiett goes to HGS
-
A*
ni.
Tim Aydiett
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A Perquimans County
Schools principal resigned
and an assistant principal
from another school has
been reassigned to fiU the
position for the duration of
the school year.
Hertford Grammar
School principal Edward J.
Williams resigned effective
Monday, according to
Schools Public Information
Officer Brenda Lassiter.
Tim Aydiett, assistant
principal at Perquimans
High School, has been reas
signed to the top post at
Hertford Grammar School
until the end of this school
year.
The personnel changes
were approved by the
school board in a special
session Monday night.
Administrators are in
the process of deciding
who will fill Aydlett’s posi
tion at Perquimans High,
but the announcement was
not made by press time
Tuesday.
Williams accepted the
principal’s job at Hertford
Grammar effective July 1,
1997, and stayed in that
position until his resigna-.
tion Monday.
Aydiett, who has been
assistant principal at the
high school for the past five
years, was unanimously
chosen by the board to fill
the post vacated by
Williams.
A veteran educator,
Aydiett has over 30 years’
experience as a teacher and
administrator. During his
tenure at Perquimans,
Aydlett’s primary duties
have included overseeing
discipline, safe schools pro-
cledures, athletic schedul
ing and guidelines and
school improvement.
Superintendent Ken
Wells met with faculty and
staff at Hertford Grammar
School Monday afternoon
to announce Williams’ res
ignation, and planned to
take Aydiett to meet the
staff and make the
announcement that he will
be the interim principal on
Tuesday afternoon. ’
Wells sent letters home
with students on Tuesday
to inform parents of the
change and ask for support
as Aydiett transitions into
his new role.
Aydiett is expected to
assume his duties this
week, after clearing his
schedule at the high school.
Aydiett said he would
work diligently to continue
the course to excellence for
Hertford Grammar School.
The school was cited as a
School of Distinction dur
ing the 2002-2003 school
year.
An Elizabeth City native
and resident, Aydiett holds
a bachelor’s degree from
Mars Hill College and a
master’s in administra
tion/supervision from East
Carolina University. He
served in leadership posi
tions in Hyde, Camden and
Pasquotank counties
before assuming his post in
Perquimans in 1998.
Brenda Lassiter
Lassiter
earns state
award
The Perquimans County
Schools website earned top hon
ors in the North Carolina School
Public Relations Association’s
Blue Ribbon Awards for Effective
Communications competition.
Public Information Officer
Brenda Lassiter, whose duties
include updating the site daily,
was notified recently of her win
ning entry.
The website provides students,
parents, staff, and the communi
ty with test scores, student/staff
calendars, current news, activi
ties, and policies/procedures of
the local school system. More
importantly, the homepage
accommodates an inotes email
system, improving
internal/external communica
tion with staff, students and par
ents.
Lassiter maintains the website
with daily news and announce
ments for the week. In addition, it
is updated monthly with news
from the Board of Education,
including agendas and highlights
of board meetings.
The targeted audience is all
stakeholders of the public school
system of Perquimans County.
“I encourage real estate agents
and families relocating to our
area to use the webpage for up-to-
date information on our local
schools and employment oppor
tunities,” Lassiter said. “I also
encourage parents to use the
webpage to communicate direct
ly with teachers and principals.
A listing of all employees and
their respective e-mail addresses
is available at
www.pcs.kl2.nc.us.”
Lassiter is a familiar face
throughout the school system,
community and faith communi
ties. She has been employed with
Perquimans County Schools for
12 years, having served as public
information officer for 5 years.
Lassiter will be recognized at
the North Carolina School Public
Relations Association ceremony
in Raleigh.
PCHS students learn about politics
throu^ PCHS social studies project
Students research
presidential
cajididates, hot
campaign issues
(q'I
S I
J
Democrats, Republicans, third
party candidates and Independents
... if they're running for President
in 2004 (or even thinking about run
ning), you can find information
about them plastered on the walls
of Perquimans High School in
Chuck Whedbee's classroom.
Let's face it, politics are confus
ing. S6metimes it's difficult to know
who to believe, who to listen to and
who to support. With only nine
months until Election Day 2004, stu
dents in Whedbee's Economic,
Legal and Political Systems class
were assigned potential presiden
tial candidates to research, includ
ing candidate's qualifications, vot
ing history, hot issues, virtues, and
biographies in the political world.
To culminate the Election Day
2004 Project, a Parent Forum was
held to discuss the upcoming elec
tion issues relating to abortion,
health care, gun control, death
, penalty, environmental issqes and
736-^
the economy.
Teenagers
and young
adults often
display apa
thy when it
comes to
political par
ties, presi
dential can
didates, and
issues sur-
r o u n d i n g
campaigns.
Whedbee's
desire is that
this project
helps stu-
dents
become
more
involved in
politics by
helping
them realize
how govern
ment influ
ences their
lives.
Whedbee
brought clo
sure to the Forum by saying, “I
have my own opinions on the issues
we discuss in class, but I will never
steer your child to embrace my
•  #iT7 Hi
PCHS social studies teacher Chuck Whedbee explains
the Election Day 2004 Project his classes are working
on to parents at a recent forum.
opinions. I will provide factual
information for your child to form
their own opinions by presenting
details that will strengthen or
weaken their opinions.”
HPS approves county for Greenway/Blueway help
Walking, running, bik
ing and paddling a canoe
or kayak through
unspoiled, open spaces
will become easier here if
the county and local agen
cies follow through with a
proposed greenway/blue-
way plan.
Perquimans is one of
12 communities and orga
nizations in the Southeast
— and the only one in
North Carolina — to
receive planning assis-.
tance in developing new
outdoor recreation oppor
tunities and preserving
important open spaces
from the National Park
Service through its
Rivers, Trails
Conservation Assistance
Program during this
grant cycle.
The project, a county
wide master
greenway/blueway plan,
will provide a system of
walking, biking, and
canoe/kayak trails
throughout the county.
‘The Perquimans
County Commissioners
and the County's
Economic Development
Commission see the
RTCA program as an
opportunity to help stim
ulate the county's econo
my by utilizing our exist
ing natural and cultural
assets,” said Assistant
County Manager Bobby
Darden. “They also view
this as an enhancement to
the quality of life for the
residents of
Perquimans.”
Bill Lane, a landscape
architect with the Atlanta
National Park Service
office, will assist the
county with public work
shops, developing educa
tional materials, identify
ing funding sources and
development of commu
nity-based visions and
realistic strategies for
new trails, greenways,
protected river corridors
and open space.
Lane has already visit
ed the county and is excit
ed about the project.
“The National Park
Service, through it's
Rivers, Trails and
Conservation Program,
works in communities
across the country, help
ing both large and small
preserve their local
resources and develop
close-to-home outdoor
recreation facilities,”
Lane said. “These facili
ties provide places for
families to spend more
quality time together, for
people to build daily exer
cise into a healthy
lifestyle, and for commu
nity economic develop
ment.”
Lane said among the
reasons Perquimans
County was selected to
participate in the pro
gram is because of its
commitment to quality
resource protection and
recreation resource devel
opment
In addition, NPS offi
cials noted Perquimans
County is a place “over
flowing with special nat
ural and cultural
resources,” and is com
mitted, along with its
local partners, to work
proactively through a
citzen-based planning
process and implementa
tion.
“It is an area of eastern
North Carolina htat has a
big community vision,
but just needs a little help
in bringing that vision to
reality,” Lane said.
Objectives of the pro
ject include developing
consensus among the
partners for trail location
and use; identifying
appropriate funding
sources for implementa
tion of the plan, becom
ing an East Coast
Greenway designation
and hosting a regional
Greenway/Blueway
forum.
Partners already , com
mitted to work with the
park service and the
county include the towns
of Winfall and Hertford,
the Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce,
Healthy Carolinians of
the Albemarle, Albemarle
Regional Health Services,
River City Cycle Club,
Start with your Heart
Program, Perquimans
County Restoration
Association, Hertford
Rotary Club, Albemarle
Resource Conservation
and Development Council
and Perquimans County
Schools.
A public meeting to dis
cuss the project will be
held on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m.
at the courthouse.
For information, call
Darden at 426-8484.
Schools
chief
discusses
NCLB
with'
county-
board
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Possibly the only
absolute about the land
mark No Child Left
Behind federal education
legislation is that there
seem to be no absolutes.
Schools
Superintendent Ken
Wells gave a brief
PowerPoint presentation
to the county commis
sioners Monday night,
outlining what the local
school district knows it
must do to comply with
the sweeping legislation,
and laying out possibili
ties that could be costly
for Perquimans County.
Themes of the new law
include accountability,
choice, information,
qualifications, flexibility
and consolidation,
according to a hand-out
prepared by the school
system.
Dramatic changes
have already occured in
teacher certification and
paraprofessional qualifi
cations, and changes just
as dramatic are expected
in private schools and
school safety and choice.
AU schools in the
Continued on page 8
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