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VOLUME 94. NUMBER 57
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20. 1981
KINGS MOUNTAIN. NORTH CAROLINA
They’re Off And Running
In City Commissioner Race
V
O.C. KISER
Kiser
, Operator
Of Year
O.C. Kiser, chief operator of
the T.J. Ellison Water Plant on
Moss Lake, hs been named Class
B Water Plant Operator of the
Y ear in North Carolina.
He is the first Kings Mountain
_ operator to be chosen for the
• honor.
He received the award two
weeks ago at a meeting of the
North Carolina Water Works
Society in Chapel Hill. Until the
announcement was made, he
was not aware he was being con
sidered for the honor.
“In most cases,” he said, “you
don’t know you have been
. nominated until you are
G chosen.”
Kiser, a Dixon School Road
resident, has been employed by
the city for six years. Prior to
that, he spent most of his work
ing years in the automotive in
dustry on the west coast.
Selection is made by judging a
person's ability to run a plant
and implement new ideas. Kiser
^ and Walt Ollis, City Water
Superintendent, have im
plemented a number of new
ideas over the past several years.
Turn To Page 3-A
Four persons-including one
incumbent-have filed thus far
for the upcoming Kings Moun
tain Board of Commissioners
race, but to date only one race is
developing.
Incumbent District Sue com
missioner Jim Dickey, who filed
for re-election last Saturday, is
facing a challenge from Jan
Deaton, who also filed Saturday,
and Johnnie Caldwell, who filed
late Tuesday.
The only other person to file
thus far has been Curt Gaffney,
who filed at 12:15 p.m. Friday-
just 15 minutes after the filing
period began-for the District
Five seat currently held by Com
missioner Bill Grissom.
In addition to the two seats
mentioned above, the District
Two seat, currently held by
Commissioner Humes Houston,
will also be up for grabs in the
October 6 election. Houston and
Grissom have not yet announc
ed whether or not they will seek
re-election.
Candidates may file for office
through Luther Bennett, Elec
tions Board Chairman, until
noon September 4.
Deadline for registering to
vote in the October 6 election is
September 7. In the case of a
runoff, which would be held on
November 3, citizens registering
by October 5 would be eligible to
vote.
Citizens may register to vote
at any time at the Cleveland
County Board of Elections office
in Shelby, or they may register in
Kings Mountain by contacting
the registrar in their voting
precinct.
Persons filing for office will be
required to pay a $5 filing fee.
The three commissioner seats are
for four-year terms.
• * *
Dickey is completing his third
term in city government. He
served two two-year terms and is
on his first four-year term.
I
/
T'i
/
lAMES J. DICKEY
He said his proudest moment
as a city commissioner came dur
ing one of his two-year terms
when the city constructed Moss
Lake. ‘The lake has done a lot
for Kings Mountain and
Cleveland County,” he said.
IAN DEATON
His priorities, if re-elected,
would be utilities and roads, he
said.
“1 would like to see that we
keep our utilities-gas, electricity,
water and sewer-in A-1 shape,”
he said. “And we need to im-
lOHNNIE CALDVIfELL
prove our streets. They’re get
ting sort of rough.’
Dickey and his wife, Audrey,
reside on Phifer Road and are
the parents of two children, Jim
my and Robin. They are active
in Central United Methodist
CURT GAFFNEY
Church.
Dickey has been in the textile
business in Kings Mountain for
over 30 years, having served
most of that time as vice presi-
Turn To Page S-A
School Bells Ring Monday
Home Savings Plan
To Get Federal Charter
Home Savings and Loan
Association of Kings Mountain
will hold a meeting of
stockholders next Wednesday at
10 a.m. at the Savings and Loan
offices on West King Street to
vote on the possibility of becom
ing a federal savings and loan.
^ Tom Tate, president of Home
® Savings, said the proposal has
already gotten state and federal
approval. If the stockholders ap
prove the idea, the institution
will apply for a federal charter
through the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Atlanta.
Tate said a federal charter is
an advantage because “it cuts
out one audit and gives us the
opportunity to do things that
federal savings and loans can do
without waiting for slate ap
proval.” Home is currently a
state<hartered institution.
‘The way things are changing
now, we need the advantages of
a federal savings and loan,” he
said.
Tate said the operation of the
business and personnel will re
main the same as it is now.
If a federal charter is granted,
the name of the business will
change to Home Federal Savings
and Loan.
School bells will ring for over
4,000 Kings Mountain District
students Monday morning.
The new year will present new
programs for students, reinstate
ment of book fees and higher
lunch prices.
The 493 employees of the
school system and guests official
ly kicked off the school year at a
back to school breakfast Mon
day morning at the Kings Moun
tain High School cafeteria.
Teachers have been busy all
week getting their materials and
classrooms in order, and par
ticipating in workshops
throughout the school district.
Superintendent William
Davis, who was featured speaker
for the occasion, was presented a
certificate by the NCAE for his
20-plus years of service as a
school superintendent. The
Kings Mountain Herald was
presented a plaque of apprecia
tion by the School District for its
news coverage and support of
public education.
System-wide, 4,236 students
are anticipated for this school
year. Principals at all schools will
remain the same, except at Cen
tral, where Richard Greene
returns as principal after taking a
year’s leave of absence. Mrs.
Glenda O’Shields, who was ac
ting principal last year in
Greene’s absence, will return to
her post of assistant principal.
Jerry Hoyle, who was acting
assistant principal at Central last
year, has assumed duties as assis
tant principal at Kings Moun
tain Junior High School.
Principals of other schools in
clude Ronald Nanney,
Bethware; Jim Scruggs, Grover;
Joe Hedden, West; C.A. Allison,
North; Mrs. Cozelle Vance,
East; Fred Withers, Kings
Mountain Junior High; and Bob
McRae, Kings Mountain Senior
High.
Parents will pay 10 cents more
per plate for their children’s lun
ches. Elementary lunches will
cost 80 cents, grades 6-12 85
cents and adults lunches $1.25.
Another increase is anticipated
later in the school year.
Book fees will be reinstated
after two years of a no-fee
policy. TTiat move was necessary
after the system did not receive
the full amount of money it re
quested from the county com
missioners for its 1981-82
budget.
New programs include the
Tachomatic reading progrtun for
grades four and five. It involves
the use of a Tachomatic
projector-type machine which
Turn To Page 7-A
f -
READING WORKSHOP - lim Eaker. left,
representative of Trmac. an educational
materials company, explains the use of the
Tachomatic reading machine to fourth and
Photo by Gary Stewart
fifth grade teachers during a two-day
workshop this week at North School. All five
elementary grades will be using the machine
this year.
Parent Support Helps The Learning Process
By R. HOWARD BRYANT
Asst. Supt.
Educators, generally, believe
that parents do the best they can
to help their children do well in
school. Administrators, general
ly, believe that teachers do the
test they can to teach their
students. Most teachers, general
ly, believe their students do the
test they can to learn. The big
question then is “Why don’t all
students do well in school?” The
answer so this may be as variable
as the number of students so let
us look from the approach of
why students of some teachers,
and children of some parents do
well in school.
The health of the child has
been cared for since conception
with pre-natal care, then since
birth with balanced diet,
teaching of good sleep and rest
habits, teaching how to play
with toys and with people, set
ting a good example of speech
and reading to the child. A child
needs to know that he can talk
to his parents about anything
but he also needs to learn that
anything cannot be talked about
anywhere or with anyone. The
child is taught to speak clearly,
not to mumble or point or shout
when he wants something or
wants to tell something.
Parents realize that every
child has strengths and
weaknesses and that every child
is different. They cooperate with
the school in helping to over
come weaknesses and develop
strengths. Parents do not push
their child to read but rather en
courage by example and having
time to read when the child is
ready. The happy child will do
his best at whatever job is put in
front of him. Before he comes to
school he will have had many ex
periences of doing tasks he can
do and do well.
Parents do not teach their
child to read but they do
cooperate with the school by
reading to or listening to the
child read or by calling out
words, drilling vocabulary or
mathematics facts or other ac-
tivites the teacher may assign for
homework.
As a child who does will in
school moves into middle grades
(4,5,6) his parents continue to
help him keep his good health
habits and near-perfect atten
dance record. The parents sup
port the child in out-of-school
work also like church groups.
Scouting, or other organized ac
tivity groups. The conversations
between parent and child con
tinue and the child is given more
opportunities for decision mak
ing. If a “no” is necessary the
child understands and gracefully
accepts the decision of authority.
Many children who move into
grades seven, eight, or nine con
tinue to do well in school.
Parents of these children con
tinue to show interest through
friendly conversation, restate
ment of purpose and expecta
tion, and helping their child set
new goals for the future. Parents
“understand” the child’s new in
terest in clothing, hair, music,
and activities. Parents also find
that at times they must “pull
rank” on their child and require
that things be done. The exam
ple of the quality of living set by
the parents has more influence
than most things the parents say.
Family finances do not need to
be totally revealed to the teen-
aged child but the child should
be aware of the value of money
and limitations of it. The respon
sibility of the parents to en
courage perfect attendance and
completion of school work on
the test level that the child can
do is no less important than it
was in earlier grades. Parent-
teacher communication is still
needed even though several
teachers may be a part of the
child’s life.
Support of parents to suc
cessful high school students
reaches a much more adult level.
The parent-child conversations
may become more fleeting
because of the child’s busy
schedule. The parent is careful to
keep time open for conversation
and any other genuine assistance
that he can give the child.
Budget frequently becomes a
problem because of the high cost
of maintaining the high school
life.
The child understands his/her
responsibility to live within the
available funds and to contribute
to the funds with outside work if
necessary. The parent does not
support the child in wrongdoing
neither does he condemn the
child for making a mistake. The
parent does not assume the
child’s responsibility but helps
the child to be responsible. Most
successful students participate in
one or more extra-curricula
school activities. Studies on why
students drop out of high school
show that a student who is not
active in a club, does not play on
an athletic team, or is not work
ing on an extra project is the stu
dent who will most likelv
. become a drop-out. Parents go
the “extra mile” in supftorting
their child in the extra<urricula
activities. They help their child
with the feeling of belonging by
using “our school,” “our team,”
etc.
At any grade level wise
parents show love for their child.
They expect their child to do his
best. They help their child to be
responsible for personal care,
personal property, and personal
assignments. They supply the
child’s needs (pencils, paper,
books, etc.) but do not “hand
out” unneeded extra money.
They keep fairly close contact
with the school and the in
dividual teachers. They know,
generally, what the child is stu
dying. They set an example of
good quality in their own lives.
“We can’t all be perfect but we
can do our test” should be a
philosophy to live by at school.