Volume 125 © Issue 35 ¢ Wednes
X Piibci
ay, August 28, 2013 * 75¢
Dilling
Seventh and eight graders pour into the cafeteria during th
JA
e year’s first class change on Monday at the Kings Mountain Middle School. Students across the
Cleveland County School System returned to rhythm of homework, bus rides, P.E. and tests this week.
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
School bells ring in new year
+ DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
Under a cloudless summer sky
students across Cleveland County
filed into classrooms Monday to kick
off a new school year. :
Administrators balanced the high
energy of the day with planning and
a sense of order as nearly 15,000
kids filled up classrooms, hallways
and libraries across the district’s 29
schools.
“Great start so far,” said Kings
Mountain Middle School Principal
Mickey Morehead, as he observed
seventh graders find their way to
classrooms in a schoolhouse still
mostly unfamiliar to them.
Along the hallway, seventh
graders practiced their locker combi-
nations under the supervision of 7th
grade social studies teacher David
McDonald. “They’ll spend all day
kind of orienting themselves,” Mc-
Donald said, adding that lockers and
fussy combinations can be stressful
to beginners. ;
Superintendent Dr. Bruce Boyles
visited every school in the system on:
the big day and said he was delighted
with the smooth procession of
things. “We had a good day,” he said.
“A lot of excitement and a lot of
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Armed
robbery
Police hunt for suspect
Police are looking for a
white female they say pointed
a gun at a Family Dollar
cashier and made off with an
undisclosed amount of money
on Saturday evening.
No one was hurt in the
crime, which Kings Mountain
police say happened around
8:30 p.m. at the 110 E. King
St. retail store.
Employees of Family Dol-
lar told police that the woman
entered the store dressed in a
dark-colored shirt and an or-
ange FDNY or NYPD base-
ball cap. Police say the suspect
is approximately 5’5” in
height and weighs about 170
pounds.
Authorities are continuing
to gather evidence and de-
velop more leads in the case.
The woman, who appeared
to be operating alone, was re-
portedly driving a grey Dodge
Quad cab pickup truck.
Anyone with any informa-
tion regarding this incident is
encouraged to contact Detec-
tive Corporal J.T. McDougal
with the Kings Mountain Po-
lice Department at (704) 734-
0444.
Downtown to shine this holiday season
i= DAVE BLANTON
= dave.kmheraid@gmail.com
The electronics wizard behind
one of the area’s most dazzling
Christmas light shows is bringing
his talents to downtown Kings
Mountain for this year’s holiday
season. :
Donnie Beard has spent most of
professional life tinkering with
computers and electronics. It was
five years ago that he festooned his
Oak Grove home with tens of thou-
sands of lights and amazed his
neighbors with a light show set to
music he broadcast himself over the
radio.
“We’re gonna blow downtown
wide open,” said Scott Neisler, who
had the idea of bringing Beard and
the city together for the rhythmic
light spectacular. “It will draw a lot
of people.”
Beard said he’ll run the light
show from the day before Thanks-
giving through Jan. 1. It’s set to be
located between the Joy Perform-
ance Theater and Patriots Park. The
plan is to illuminate eight trees on
Railroad Ave. and many of the
block’s buildings for the pulsing
light show.
“Our goal is to put smiles on
See DOWNTOWN, 6A
MS ite
Organizers use a hoom lift to hang
Beard’s house in the Oak Grove area
17 Ea
a star as they help prepare Donnie
for last year’s Christmas light show.
Beard is bringing his popular project -- and the 60,000-plus light that go
with it -- to downtown this year.
County’s top educators honored
Cleveland County Schools’ top
educators were recognized at the
Wells Fargo Outstanding Educators
Breakfast Friday at the LeGrand
Center in Shelby.
Nominated teachers and teacher
assistants were honored for their se-
lection as a school-level Teacher of
the Year and Teacher Assistant of
the Year. After a rigorous selection
process, the district Teacher of the
Year and Teacher Assistant of the
Year were announced; a Principal
98525700200
of the Year was also honored.
Lawson Propst, a fifth-grade sci-
ence teacher at Fallston Elemen-
tary, will serve as the Cleveland
County Schools’ Teacher of the
Year. Joreka Bess of Burns High
will serve as the Teacher Assistant
of the Year. Jennifer Wampler of
Bethware Elementary, will repre-
sent the district as the Principal of
the Year.
All three will receive monetary
awards from Wells Fargo for their
professional development in addi-
tion to glass apples handcrafted by
N.C. artist Robert Levin. Mr. Propst
will have the opportunity to attend
the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta
courtesy of Laughlin Furniture and
the CCS Educational Foundation
and is to receive a $100 gift certifi-
cate from the Cleveland County
unit of the NCAE. In addition,
Bess received gifts from the Cleve-
land County Association of Teacher
Assistants.
Propst and Wampler will con-
tinue in their respective teacher and
principal of the year regional com-
petitions sponsored by the N.C.
Dept. of Public Instruction.
A graduate of Appalachian State
University, Lawson Propst earned a
bachelor’s degree in K-6 Elemen-
tary Education with a concentration
in mathematics. Propst is entering
his 10th year of teaching and enjoys
cooking, singing, outdoor activities,
working with the school’s robotics
team and spending time with his
family. ;
See HONORED, 6A
Junior Firemen
learning the ropes
——
Kings Mountain Firefighter/Engineer Rocky Pack brushes up on his
rapelling skills at a Shelby training facility. Pack leads a group of
young men and women who are eyeing a career in professional fire-
fighting.
The Kings Mountain Fire De-
partment likes to start them off
young.
That’s the idea behind the Jun-
ior Firemen program, which
starts youngsters on the path to
becoming professional firefight-
ers...
Any male or female in the
community aged 15-18 is eligible
to apply to the program, where
the would-be firefighters learn
some of the fundamentals about
firehouse duties, the equipment
relating to the job, and fire safety.
“It’s a lot of good in-house
training,” said Rocky Pack, the
engineer/firefighter who leads the
program. “But they’ll be getting
rappelling three weeks from now
at a training facility in Shelby.”
Pack said some of his young
firefighters already have some
experience in the rappelling arts,
but most will be new to it.
“All our Junior Firemen be-
come leaders,” he said. “That’s
what this program is designed to
do ... to make them leaders.”
CPR and other life-saving
training is also part of the train-
ing.
“It gets you ready,” Pack said.
“So you’re not lost.”
Volunteering their time to
good causes is also emphasized.
The teens pitch in for the an-
nual Relay for Life event, which
raises money to fight cancer.
They also help out at Red Cross
functions, such as blood drives
and fundraisers. And they volun-
teer at the Kings Mountain BBQ
cook-off every April.
* We’ve got nine in the program
right now,” Pack said. “We had
12, but they progressed to (volun-
teer firefighters). That’s what our
program is designed to do.”
Some members of the group
take additional training upon
leaving the Junior Firemen pro-
gram and become volunteer fire-
fighters, usually taking posts at
one of the three major volunteer
departments in the area — Oak
Grove, Grover or Bethlehem.
Those wanting to make firefight-
ing a full-time career must attend
fire academy, which is a nine-
week school where they’re im-
mersed in all the aspects of the
job.
“We’ve had good participation
— it’s a great program to be a part
of,” Pack said. :
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