Library Friends to honor Skinner
Page 2
Periauger has busy schedule
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Pirates defeat Columbia
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: April 12,2006
Vol. 74, No. 15 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 ^
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Trades program
helps youth find
skilled jobs
Just me and my pal
MARGARET FISHER
Four young people from
Perquimans County gradu
ated from a basic construc
tion skills program last
month. Three of them were
hired in the construction
field.
William Perry, Jaquan
Sutton, Issac White and
Joshua Felton graduated
from the NorthEastern
Workforce Proficiency
Institute’s Construction
Trades Program in
Elizabeth City.
The six-month program,
funded by the Workforce
Investment Act and private
donations, trains youth
ages 16 to 21 in construc
tion skills. Nine students
from Pasquotank, Chowan
and Perquimans counties
graduated from two ses
sions that ran throughout
last year beginning in
February. This was the first
graduating class in the pro
gram.
Seven of the students
found employment in the
construction field. The
other two graduates are
working on their G.E.D.,
said Sheryl Lange, youth
program manager.
“To see (the students’)
faces, to see what they
accomplished - they’re
really excited about going
to work,” Lange said.
Some of the students
began by qualifying for a
program offered by HOPE
Community Development
Corporation. That program
offers five weeks of train
ing for youth who are no
longer attending school,
whether or not they gradu
ated, and are unemployed.
These young people were
targeted to help them pick
up the pieces in their lives
and become employable.
The HOPE program,
funded by Workforce
Development through a
grant administered by
Perquimans County
Communities in Schools,
teaches youth basic skills,
such as how to fill out job
applications, dress for an
interview and converse
with potential job man
agers. They also learned
job skills and earned a pay-
check. From there, some of
Continued on page 9
Drop-out rates
down, but still
highest in area
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Rand Culver and his pal enjoyed a stroll through
Hertford recently courtesy of his grandmother, Gail
Culver.
MARGARET FISHER
While the dropout num
ber and rate for
Perquimans County High
School decreased in 2004-
2005 from the previous year,
the rate is the highest in
seven counties.
There were 36, or 5.92
percent, dropouts in the
reporting year, down from
46, or 7.34 percent, the pre
ceding school year.
Of six surrounding
counties, Currituck’s rate
came closest to Perquimans
at 5.84 percent. Pasquotank
County’s rate was 5.52 per
cent, Chowan County was
4.67 percent. Gates County
was 4.19 percent, Camden
County was 3.83 percent
and Dare County was low
est at 2.81 percent. The state
average was 4.74 percent.
Compared by numbers,
Perquimans ranks fifth out
of seven with Pasquotank
having the highest
drdpouts at 112 and
Camden the lowest at 20.
“The climate of caring
teachers and administra
tion had really paid off in
that we reduced our num
bers by 10,” said PCS Public
Information Officer Brenda
Lassiter.
Lassiter attributed the
high rate during 2003-2004
possibly to a new adminis
trative staff that year.
The majority of
dropouts were in their jun
ior year, while about one-
third of dropouts in the
state were in the ninth
grade and between the ages
of 16 and 19.
Statewide, dropout rates
for each minority group -
American Indian, Hispanic
and African-American -
were higher, respectively,
than the overall average for
the state, but the total rate
of the three groups
declined.
In Perquimans, the stu
dents who dropped out
were divided in half, male
and female. There were 29
whites and seven African-
Americans who dropped
out during the reporting
year. About 19 of them
dropped out because of low
attendance. Twelve
Continued on page 12
ECSU E-leaming workshops benefit elementary science
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Kindergarten teacher Michelle Aydiette uses methods
she learned as part of an Elizabeth City State
University E-learning program to teach science to her
students.
MARGARET FISHER
Science teachers at two
Perquimans schools are
learning how to teach
hands-on science projects
to other area teachers.
By participating in
Elizabeth City State
University’s E-Learning
Science Workshop, fifth
grade teacher Leslie Bell
and kindergarten teacher
Michele Aydiette have
become facilitators to their
peers and are earning
Continuing Education
Units, as well.
Claudia Twiford, direc
tor of instructional tech
nology at ECSU’s Division
of Education, said that
next year’s requirement to
test third, fifth and eighth
grade science has created a
need to focus on science
concepts.
"”ome of the principals
and superintendents want
ed us to come up with an
idea and design it,”
Twiford said.
The program that the
university designed has
been taught to core facilita
tors like Bell and Aydiette,
who are then teaching
other teachers how to
implement the ideas in
their classrooms.
The E-Learning pro
gram is privately funded by
an approximately $114,000
grant through the
University of North
Carolina providing about
$5,000 of science equip
ment per school. The grant
provides for hands-on sci
ence kits that each school
would have had to purchase
or do without because they
are expensive, Twiford
said.
Kits can be used to sup
plement textbooks. ECSU
purchased kits that have
not been purchased previ
ously by the participating
schools. Kits include prop
erties of objects for grades
K-2, soil and rocks for
grades 3-5 and landforms
for grade 5. Most of the kit
contents are reusable and
refills cost less than $50 per
grade level, Twiford said.
Teachers from
Perquimans, Gates and
Halifax counties, along
with a core of curriculum
specialists and instruction
al technical designers from
ECSU, College of The
Albemarle, Port Discover,
Museum of the Albemarle
and the Departement of
Public Instruction, devel
oped and collaborated on
the program' during the
fall.
They began implement
ing the program with their
peers in January through
an interactive video confer
ence on ECSU’s Blackboard
Internet software. Lead
teachers participating in
the program model their
facilitators and are then
teaching other teachers,
while implementing the
skills they learn in their
own classrooms. In turn,
those teachers can also
become lead teachers.
“Our goal is to reach 21
counties over a period of a
year and a half,” Twiford
said.
BeU is training and col
laborating with third
through fifth grade teach
Continued on page 9
Onley, Tilley are Democratic candidates forClerk of Superior Court
{Editor’s note: Each can
didate for a contested local
office was sent a question
naire asking them to discuss
their qualifications for and
knowledge about the office
which they seek. This week,
we begin with the Clerk of
Superior Court race.
Answers appear exactly as
submitted.)
Experience related to the
post which you seek:
Onley: Having worked
in the Clerk of Court’s
office for the past 15 years, I
have extensive training on
the day-to-day operations of
the office. I have the necess-
sary administrative skills
to lead the office as I was
assigned the task of being
in charge when the previ
ous Clerk of Court was out
of the office. I have
received training in aU the
different aspects of the
office through the
Administrative Office of
the Courts. This training
includes judgment
abstracting, jury payment,
financial management,
escheats, structured sen
tencing, and civil case pro
cessing systems, as well as
attending Assistant and
Deputy Clerks of Court
Conferences. Training con
ferences included the adop
tion process, estates,
guardianships, foreclo
sures, incompetencies,
juvenile cases and land par
titions.
Tilley: Deputy Clerk of
Superior Court (June 1989-
Dec. 1992), Magistrate (Jan.
1993-Aug. 2005), Clerk of
Superior Court (Sept. 2005-
present), Former member
Sheila H. Onley, 38
Presently Assistant Clerk
of Court
Family: Husband Aubrey
E. Onley Jr., children Ryan,
9, Darin, 6
Education: Graduated
Perquimans High School
1985 with academic
diploma, 3rd in class
Todd W. Tilley, 37
Presently Clerk of
Superior Court
Family: Single, custodial
guardian of niece, Bailey,
16
Education: Graduated
Perquimans High School,
Bachelor of Science in
Criminal Justice
of NC Judicial Council
Why are you running for
clerk of court?
Tilley: The Clerk of
Superior Court is a servant
of the people of
Perquimans County, and
serving the people of this
county is something I take
very seriously, something I
enjoy greatly and some
thing I have been doing my
entire life, both profession
ally and on a volunteer
basis. Holding the position
of Clerk of Superior Court
has been a goal of mine
since I started my career
with the courts in 1989, and
something I have worked
hard to prepare for during
my court career. I feel that
my experience, education
and commitment to serv
ing the citizens of this
community make me well
qualified to hold the posi
tion.
Continued on page 12
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 73, Low: 56
Isolated Tstorms
Friday
High: 76, Low: 60
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 82, Low: 61
Isolated Tstorms