Rotary Hears Gardening Is About Soil

Thursday the Windsor Rotary heard about gardening and the soil it needs from Jacob Searcy of the North Carolina Extension Service. Jacob did his presentation on a report called "Understanding the soil test report" published by the N.C. Department of Agriculture.





Rotary also honored the recipient of the Rick Woodard Memorial Scholarship, presented to Kimberly Askew (above left) by Rotary President Collins Cooper (above right). The presentation included one of the clubs special honorary metallic blue coffee cups with its gold seal and lettering.

It was another great meeting for the rapidly growing Windsor Rotary club.

Bertie High School Becomes ‘Umbrella’

by Thadd White - July 23rd, 2008 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

Those entering ninth grade in 2008-09 will have three options. They can attend the traditional Bertie High School, the Early College High School which will stress agricultural science, or the Bertie County School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

“I think we need to start thinking of Bertie High School in a different way,” Dr. Zullinger said. “I think now the school becomes an umbrella under which we operate.”

Umbrella for excellence, competition and options. Our school system is making giant strides at creating an exciting learning environment for our kids. Long term this is guaranteed to help some of our students get a much better education. Each child who excels becomes another productive citizen who attains their life's dream. That is the goal. Let all who are willing to work at it gain their own version of the American dream. Not the dream of someone else. Their dream. That is what competition allows. Each success becomes the model for others to join them.

Bertie DSS in New Home

Morris Rascoe, Director of Social Services for Bertie County is really proud of the new building the department just moved into. He is really proud of how the people in the department have taken this as their own. The move is described in the News-Herald article here.

When you approach the building off Alternate U.S. 17, just past the hospital, you will see the new sign to guide you. It is not there yet but it is coming soon. Hopefully it will be here before the dedication ceremony on August 4th, 2008 at 3:00 PM. At 2:00 PM on that same day the new road leading to the building, named for our great former commissioner Jasper Bazemore will also be dedicated.




The building is an attractive modern design at the end of the street. It was built by Ellis-Walker Builders of Fayetteville, NC from designs by DKWA Architects of Rocky Mount, NC. Bobby Clark was the Construction Superintendent and Richard Andrews was the Architect.




The entrance (shown below) has a button on the left so that those in wheel chairs can enter without assistance.




The reception area is spacious and has leads to the check in counter.




Each client will be greeted at the door to the left of check in and taken back to the office of the individual they are there to see. Morris had a couple of things to do when we got to his office and he got them out of the way while we waited for Jay Jenkins to join us.




One of the first things Morris showed us was the greatly improved security of the building . . . which allows for careful monitoring of everyone who enters.




Since client files are critical to service, the new filing system is a great improvement, using sliding files that are easily accessible but take up little space.




Morris (below) showed us how easy it was to find any file that was needed.




All of the people who handle clients now have their own offices. Below Ms. Mizelle shows her office.




There is also a new training facility, that uses a sliding wall to expand the area to even include the lobby when a really large space is needed.




The new building is impressive, and Morris is looking forward to the dedication ceremony when the public will get a chance to see this new capability to serve our residents. His pride is justified.

Teacher Academy Will Brighten Future

by Thadd White - July 21st, 2008 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

As many as 20 Bertie High School graduates can become Shaw University cadets in August. Those who become cadets will have the opportunity to work for Bertie County Schools during the day while attending school at night to obtain a degree in education.

“We haven’t worked out the specifics of what they will be doing,” Dr. Zullinger said of the daytime duties of these college students. “More than likely it will not be in the traditional teacher assistant role.

“We want them in contact with great teachers early on and we have great teachers,” he said.

Bertie County is about to obtain its first University Campus with the opening of the Shaw University campus next month. This is an exciting program, and just the first start in a great new future for education in Bertie County. If this works out, not only will we soon have a University campus with 80 students studying to become our teachers of the future. We will have the seeds for expansion of Shaw's program into other areas that will offer our kids a brighter future.

This is an incredibly exciting time for Bertie education thanks to some really hard work by Dr. Chip Zullinger and our entire Board of Education. Congratulations to them all for a job well done.

Emma Johnson For Board Of Education

The Bertie County Patriot supports Emma Johnson for the Board of Education. I met with Emma yesterday afternoon, in her beautiful home in Aulander, to talk about her first year in the position. She was appointed last June and much has happened in the interim. My impressions follow.

When you talk to Emma Johnson you understand why she was a great educator for 30 years. Her voice has a very calming effect, and the questions that float on it are asked in a way that makes you want to answer them correctly. She knows the local history and struggles of our educational efforts.

This day I was impressed with her answer to the first question, "What is your primary goal on the board of education?"

"Dean, I dream big dreams. I want to stay focused on a vision for Bertie County schools that will make us the best school system in North Carolina. Our kids deserve it."

Certainly her efforts to date are consistent with this. As she discusses things that have happened she says, "The night I was appointed to the Board of Education, I met with the finalist for Superintendent that had been found in our previous search efforts to that point. He was a fine man, but I was concerned about his vision. It was not going to take us where I felt we had to go. We started a new search, and until we met Dr. Chip Zullinger, we were not impressed. Here was a man with an impressive track record and a great vision. He had done more research about our Bertie County situation than anyone else we interviewed. He understood how much we were in trouble, and how little we had, but he was looking for a challenge so it didn't bother him. It was not about how much money we could pay him, but what could he do for our kids. I love that."

Emma spent some time summarizing a long list of actions that are in process by our school system. It is an amazing list. The Board of Education and our Superintendent Dr. Zullinger: have arranged for the first College in Bertie County, a Shaw University campus (the Grow Your Own Teachers Program) at the old Southwestern School in Windsor (Shaw is Emma's Alma Mater and this is an effort Emma helped set up) to work on degrees for Bertie kids who want to be teachers; a new Agri-Science High School (and early college) is about to open in the fall, a joint effort between, NC State University, Shaw and Bertie County which will be a unique school in North Carolina; a unique and amazing $5 million Biofuels Research Lab, a joint effort between Shaw University, NC State and the Agri-Science High School, which will work on efforts to develop a practical process of salvaging grease and oils from our school kitchens to create biodiesel to fuel our school buses (the materials for the lab have just been delivered and this is aggressively moving forward); "More at Four" pre kindergarden schools in Powellsville at the old C.G. White School and at the abandoned Askewville School to prepare Bertie County children for success; and a 9th Grade Academy to resolve the issues associated with transition from Middle School to High School. The "More at Four" has been an exciting effort since it will reinvigorate the two communities.

Emma says other discussion are under way to find people and companies who will help to recondition the vandalized J.P. Law school down in Merry Hill so that it too can be made a part of the "More at Four" program, and other uses can be found to help revitalize that community.

Discussion are also underway to create a "Vocational High School" which will focus on job training for high paid non college careers. An example of the value is that companies in the community have claimed they need more than 15 new welders each year. These are high paid jobs, with experience paying as much as $100,000 a year, available right here in Eastern North Carolina. Currently these jobs are going to people who move in to our area, rather than our own people. We need to prepare local students to fill these jobs.

Emma's comments on every occasion when I have talked with her convince me she will continue to be a great champion for the students and teachers who are the core of the education apple. She has helped build bridges in our county. She continues to use them to explain to different constituencies why focusing on the student in the classroom is where all our efforts to change and improve education must start.

In short, Mrs. Emma (as some of us like to affectionately call her) is going to finalize the bridge to unanimity on public education in our county. That is a bridge we have been looking for, for quite some time. She has done an excellent job in her first year and deserves our support.

Emma Johnson Bio

Emma Johnson grew up in Roxobel, Bertie County, North Carolina. The first thing Emma says about Roxobel is that the teachers she had in school were excellent and she received a good education growing up there.

That led her to attend Shaw University in Raleigh, where she received a BA in English and French. She taught high school English and French for several years, before returning to college at ECU, where she received her MS in Library Science. Like our President's wife Laura Bush, she served as a librarian during the balance of her education career, a career that spanned more than 30 years.

Emma Johnson has felt for some time that our Board of Education (BOE) needed a change in direction, and she ran for the BOE a few years ago. She has not lost that passion to make a difference in the quality of our children's education and was the first applicant to file for the position being vacated by Mike Bracy.

Emma has long been active in the Democratic Party and formerly served on the Board of Elections for Bertie County.

Emma attends Sandy Branch Baptist Church where she is on the Board of Trustees. Emma is also involved in the civic organization "Exodus for Youth", where she serves as Secretary and Treasurer. She is a long time member of the professional womens group, Delta Sigma Theta. She is also Treasurer for the Shaw University Alumni Association.

Emma was married for 47 years to Freddie Johnson until his death two years ago. Many people know Freddie Johnson who was the principal at Aulander Elementary for 25 years. The family is very education oriented.

Emma and Freddie had three children who grew up in our area. Her son is now a Dentist in Memphis, and her two daughters are in education, one as an Assistant Principal at Hertford Middle School and one who is a Special Education Teacher in Northampton County.

Emma has lived in Aulander for many years.

Online Education Is The Future

The Windsor Rotary was given an impressive update on the state of online education in America by our own Lisa Harrell (shown below). Lisa has a both a Doctorate in Physical Training and a Masters in Education and uses these talents in the leading edge field of education in America. She works for four different colleges at the current time, teaching students from all over the world . . . and does it all from her home here in Bertie County through online distance learning technology.





Yesterday Rotary got a tutorial in how this is done, as Lisa gave her presentation totally through online techniques.






Using avatars (computer characters) for herself and a hypotethical student (today the avatar was a cute Parrot), Lisa used taped and computer generated voices, slides, animations and graphics to make her presentation. Only the introduction to the session and her question and answer period were live.




One of the things she talked about was the growing recognition that online sessions can dramatically enhance the effectiveness of training in regular classrooms. Lisa is in discussions with Dr. Chip Zullinger to help with the Algebra One problem here in Bertie County by use of her online teaching talents to excite the students about the subject of Algebra. No easy task.




Lisa received her cobalt blue coffee mug with gold lettering and seal from Windsor Rotary President Collins Cooper (on right above). At today's session it was also announced that Collins will be taking over as the Director of the Windsor - Bertie County Chamber of Commerce also. Congratulations Collins!

Rotary Golf Tournament Is Great Success

Thursday was the annual Windsor Rotary Golf Tournament, an event that is growing in popularity each year. The event is growing just as fast as the Windsor Rotary Club is growing! There is nothing like doing good works for the community and having fun too. As I arrived, some of the Rotary volunteers were getting ready for the dinner that was to be held after the tournament (shown from left), Jerry Davis, Jody Rhea, Henry Graham, Ron Wesson, Carl Bryant and Robert Hoggard, by preparing the food that would be one highlight of the day.

Ron Freeman (shown below left), Lynette Mallery (middle below) and a regular visitor to Windsor, Jock Scarsborough, were registering the teams as they checked in.




Team cards were handed out as the start time was near.





Ali Van Norman (shown below) was helping out this day by driving the FREE BEER cart.





First Tee Pro Shop Team heads out for the shotgun start (shown below from left), Chad Sary, Jerry Sary, Jean Miller and Randy Crabtree.





The team that won 1st place - Gross was Bertie Ambulance Service (shown below), Carol Forehand, Gerald Abrams, Jerry Little and Jimmy Miller




The team that won 2nd place - Gross was Hammerhead's Oyster Bar (shown below), Kent Williford, Randy Russell, Lewis Hoggard and Kyle Williford.




The team that won 1st place - Net was Triple A Real Estate (shown below), Jamie Harmon, Bobby Harmon, Millard Lewis and Howard Harmon.




The team that won 2nd place - Net was Bertie Memorial (shown below), David Bunch, Ducie Mizelle, Jerry Davis and Kelvin Waters.




Other teams included, Tommy Davis Nationwide Insurance (shown below), Tommy Davis, Will Davis, Conley Davis, and Red Price.




Cooper Hazelgrove Realty (shown below), Collins Cooper, Lacy Harrell, Carl Bryant and Russ Russell.




Walker and Car Quest (shown below), Jack Ellis, Mike Searcy, Joe Rhea and Ron Wesson.




Chester Johnson Construction (shown below), Truett Miller, Roy Briling, Bill Price and Chester Johnson.




Pittmans and Pittmans (shown below), Mike Ordnug, Jimmy Liverman, Billy Smithwick and Joe Alexander.




Southern Bank (shown below), Crystal Cobb, Chad Cobb, Ernie Hoggard and Tim Ivey.




I missed getting team photos of 2 teams; Powell and Stokes, Jammie Forehand, Chris Cobb, Brad Leggett and Tom Cooper; and Pritchett and Burch, Joey Braggett, Bill White, Andy Lee and Jonathan Huddleston.




A few of the volunteer workers who made the day a great success (shown below), Ali Van Norman, Kelly Taylor, Bob Brown, Jody Rhea and Ron Freeman.




I got some good candid photos of a few of the golfers. They showed great form.








There was one really lucky golfer, David Bunch (shown below). If you doubt it was his lucky day, just ask him.




As the teams finished golfing, they headed for the clubhouse and the best part of the day, socializing, drinking and eating!








Dr. Chip Zullinger (left below) missed the golf but stopped by to say hi and chat with people, here talking with Lisa Harrell (right below).





It was a great day, for a worthy cause, funding the Windsor Rotary civic and scholarship activities. Thanks to all who made it a success.

Candidates File For Board Of Education

Yesterday was the closing date for filing to run as a candidate in the Non Partisan Elections which will be held in conjunction with the November General Elections. Of course the most important positions for Bertie County that will be filled in the Non Partisan Elections are the Board of Education positions. 3 Board of Education positions are on the ballot this time, one to fill the balance of the time for the District 3 seat currently held by Emma Johnson (Emma replaced Mike Bracy ), as well as the regular cycle election for District 1 and District 5. All incumbents have filed and all have at least one person who has filed against them. The three positions being contested are:

District 1 - Seat currently held by Melinda Eure
Pamela Chamblee and Dallis Godard have also filed.

District 3 - Seat currently held by Emma Johnson
Curtis E. Bryan and Seaton Poe Fairless Jr. have also filed.

District 5 - Seat currently held by Gloria C. Lee
George W. Drake has also filed.

With the excellent job of focusing on our kids that has occurred recently by the current board, I believe there would have to be a powerful reason for making any changes to the Board makeup. We are in the process of getting a college campus, one of the nation's first Agri-Science high schools in generations, a restoration of vocational training, a Bio-Fuels Research Center that will be unique in America (and will put our county on the map) and a focus on our kid's education that is a delight to behold. These things are happening because of the hard work of BOE Chairman Rickey Freeman and the other board members. I extend them all my personal thanks for caring about the kids more than about the issues that have sometimes distracted us.

High Self-Esteem, Low Test Scores

by Burt Prelutsky - July 7th, 2008 - Townhall.com

There are new studies and new polls that strongly suggest that we are breeding increasingly stupid kids here in America. Like our tasteless tomatoes, they merely look good and healthy.

[snip]

What makes the situation even more pathetic is that these kids, for the most part, have a terrifically high opinion of themselves. To be fair, nothing much has ever been asked of them, let alone demanded, and yet they are constantly being told how special they are.

I agree that our kids are less knowledgeable and more arrogant than earlier generations. However I reject the idea that the current generation is any less intelligent. They have simply been denied a good education due to the focus of education unions on what is good for teachers instead of what is good for our kids. That has to change. If we return to the idea of expecting kids to do well and requiring them to work hard for success, the current generation will do as well as we have always done throughout our history.