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Who owns Christmas?
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AEMC toy drive a success
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PCHS basketball update
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FERQUIMAHS' ilBSART
110 7» ACADEKT ST ly/i3/^005
HERTFORD, HC 27944-1^06
December 14, 2005
Vol. 73, No. 50 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Weekly"
Schools join
with COA to
recoup
dropouts
MARGARET FISHER
A national program partnering seven
county school systems with College of
The Albemarle will allow some
Perquimans dropouts to finish their
high school education while earning a
college degree.
The Gateway to College program,
funded by a $300,000 grant from Portland
Community College in Oregon, wiU give
high school dropouts and those on the
brink of dropping out a second chance
to earn their high school diploma.
“The beauty of this program is that
this program is designed to recover stu
dents that have dropped out,” said
Perquimans County Schools
Superintendent Kenneth WeUs.
COA is one of four commrmity col
leges that has been selected to replicate
the flagship program already begun in
Portland. Because of the enthusiasm of
COA’s vice president of instruction,
Althea Riddick, and the support of
seven school superintendents, COA
qualified as the first rural site accepted
into the program to replicate the
Portland program.
“There aren’t enough students in
Perquimans County to qualify for the
program, but there are enough in the
seven-county area,” WeUs said.
The program is planned to begin in
the fall of 2006. Students will be referred
to Gateway by their school district, com
munity agencies or themselves. They
will be admitted to the program after
meeting specific requirements and, at
the same time, will be re-enrolled in
their home high school.
“It targets students who are no longer
in high school for a variety of reasons,”
Wells said.
There is no stereot5q)ical dropout and
not all students who drop out have
behavior problems or can’t perform aca
demically, Wells said.
“This program is not designed to be
the answer for all dropouts,” he said.
“But it is the answer for a significant
number of them. If we capture five or
six of them from Perquimans, then it’s
well worth it. It’s not going to cost any
more money.”
Funding wUl be provided by the grant
for the first three years. In addition,
state funding normally paid to schools
per student wiU be re-captured by the
home school and a portion of it will be
used by COA as long as the student con-
. tinues in the high school program.
Wells said that the program differs
from a GED program because students
will earn their high school diploma.
Having a diploma could also mean the
Continued on page 8
Four indicted for arson
MARGARET FISHER
Four individuals were indicted by a
grand jury on Monday for breaking out win
dows of a New Hope home under construc
tion, burning a shed and stealing.
Brandon Callahan, Robert Jake
Matthews, Jerod Winslow and A.J.
Overman, all from Perquimans County,
were charged with burning a dwelling and
breaking, entering and larceny
On Oct. 22, a call was made to central
communications that a shed located on Lots
2 and 3 on Rocky Street off of Muddy Creek
Road had been burned down. The property
is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Calderwood of
Connecticut.
The shed, which also doubled as an apart
ment, was burned down when Fire Chief
Jimmy Spivey of the Durants Neck Fire
Department and Fire Marshall John Long
arrived.
“As a result of the investigation, there
were four people indicted for various
charges,” said Perquimans County Sheriff
Eric Tilley.
The Sheriff’s Office wiU be serving the
indictments to the four individuals.
Rockin reindeer
Every second grader per
formed in "The Day The
Reindeer Rocked,"
Central School's
Christmas program, which
was staged by
Perquimans' first Regional
Teacher of the Year
Finalist, Michelle White.
There was standing-room
only for the performance.
Fire destroys mobile home
MARGARET FISHER
A fire in a Belvidere mobile home com
pletely destroyed the residence of a couple
and their son on Sunday.
At about 12:40 p.m., a call came in to cen
tral communications that a mobile home
was on fire. New Land Fire Department in
Pasquotank County was the first to respond.
Belvidere Fire Department also arrived
and Winfall and Hertford fire departments
were called in as backups to provide tankers,
said Fire Marshall John Long.
The home, located on Craney Island Road,
is owned by Robert and Eva Hurdle. Robert
Hurdle, a native of Perquimans County, was
Continued on page 7
Program
offers
HOPE to
youth
MARGARET FISHER
In 1999, Ann and Willie Vaughn had a
vision of hope for the less fortunate in
Perquimans County, and that vision
turned into reality
The couple created Helping Ordinary
People Excel Community Development
Corporation, a nonprofit outreach pro
gram that began with providing food,
clothing and monthly care packages to
families.
HOPE CDC also offered transporta
tion and weekend supplemental work for
men and utility assistance and medica
tion for the elderly in the community.
Their efforts began to focus on the needs
of migrant workers, as well.
After the program began to take
shape, chief executive officer Willie
Vaughn’s brother, Gilbert Vaughn, chief
operator officer, joined the couple in
2003. Gilbert Vaughn brought with him
about 25 years of experience working in
a similar program in Detroit, Mich.
While the program still supports
those early needs, the focus has shifted
to youth more recently This year, HOPE
gathered up a group of about 13 way
ward boys, some dropouts or graduates
and others not allowed to retimn to high
school.
With a Northeastern Workforce-
Investment Act grant provided through
Communities in Schools, HOPE was
able to offer a five-week program to help
the youth get started on putting together
the pieces of their fragmented lives.
Males were targeted at first because
they ultimately become the caretakers of
the home, Ann Vaughn said.
“If we help them, they will help oth
ers,” she said. “And hopefully, it will be a
better community.”
The first group moved on to a pro
gram in Elizabeth City, the Workforce
Proficiency Institute. This program
teaches construction and computer
skills. Youth ages 16 — 21 are paid small
stipends for the construction work that
they do assisting local contractors while
learning life skills, said the' agency’s
president, Harold Barnes. The year-old
program is funded by Workforce
Investment Act funds and private dona
tions, he said.
Barnes said that following up with
HOPE’S program is a natural fit because
HOPE provides a foundation for the
youth, though it is not long enough for
them to learn the necessary skills to suc
ceed.
“I’ve known of the good work (HOPE
has) done, generally, with the school sys-
Contirvuecfon page 8
PQ solicits top-quality teachers even with shortage
MARGARET FISHER
There was a time in the
1970s when qualified teach
ers had a hard time finding
a job. That’s not true any
more with today’s national
teacher shortage. And yet,
it’s stUl the goal of schools
to find the most qualifted
instructors to help shape
their youth into productive
workers and leaders of the
future.
Candidates who are look
ing for teaching positions
still have to be qualified
and present their best
attributes when applying
for a job at Perquimans
County Schools, said
Brenda Dail, director of
personnel. The same is true
for other types of positions
at the schools.
“I want everyone to be a
serious applicant, but we
only want to keep the best,”
Dail said.
To be a serious applicant
means, among other things,
to be aware of how the hir
ing process works in order
to be considered for a posi
tion.
One of the most obvious
steps in the process - turn
ing in a job application - is
sometimes avoided or the
application is not updated.
Potential applicants may
tell a school board member
or school employee of their
interest in working for the
school system, and then
think that their word of
mouth is a substitute for an
application. However, no
one is considered for hiring
without an application.
Dail said.
In addition to filling out
the application, candidates
should include a resume
and cover letter. A compact
disk resume package is wel
comed. AU the information
should be filled in, accurate
and legible. The writing
section should be written
using excellent penman
ship following standard
grammar and sentence
structure.
By In addition, pertinent
information such as phone
numbers, addresses and
current employment
should be kept current, and
a new application should be
submitted each year.
Applications are cross-ref
erenced so that a teacher
who doesn’t get hired may
be hired as a teacher assis
tant, for example.
PCS follows the Equal
Employment Opportunity
laws, not discriminating on
the basis of race, color, reli
gion, sex and national ori
gin. PCS’s first male ele
mentary teacher works at
Hertford Grammar, Dail
said.
“When we get an applica
tion, we don’t know
whether you’re male or
female,” she said.
“...Gender equality is very
important in our system.”
The school system pro
motes its job openings
through more than 10 job
fairs a year, the Internet
and in-house and outside
advertising, which
includes targeting minpri-
ties. A position cannot be
advertised until a letter of
resignation is submitted.
Rather than hiring peo
ple on the spot at job fairs,
each applicant is taken
through a hiring process
based on his or her creden
tials. Contrary to what
many people have been
taught, getting a particular
position at PCS is not easi
er if you already work
there, Imow someone who
works there or live in the
neighborhood, Dail said.
“We don’t always hire
within the system,” she
said. “We don’t always hire
local. We hire the best.”
Applicants should meet
the qualifications specified
for the position they are
seeking, or be able to meet
them according to state
requirements.
Continued on page 8
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 58, Low: 41
Rain
Friday
High: 54, Low: 34
AM clouds/pm sun
Saturday
High:51, Low: 39
Mostly Cloudy