The Piedmont Journal - 11/6/13

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xxxx PES FIFTH GRADERS WILL HONOR VETERANS FRIDAY AT 9 AM IN CAFETERIA RECIPES / COMMUNITY, 4

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS / SPORTS, 8

DANCE TEACHER BRINGS TALENT TO PIEDMONT

BULLDOGS OPEN AT HOME IN 3A PLAYOFFS

The Piedmont Journal www.thepiedmontjournal.com

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WEDNESDAY // NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Harper named to City Council council moving in the right direction,” Harper said. “I’m excited about it.” He said he decided to seek the position at the urging of friends, and he hopes to work with the council to bring work and revenue to the city. “I think it’s easy to say that but we’re going to have to actually probably look at ways to get that accomplished.” Harper also said he plans to be a one-term council member, and added that he wouldn’t have sought office during an election year. The remainder of his term will last about three years. “I think he’s committed to the city and I think he’ll work hard to make good things happen for the city,” Baker said. Baker added that he thinks Harper’s professional experience will help him fulfill his responsibility for the city.

LAURA GADDY Consolidated News Service Piedmont resident Mark Harper, 49, was appointed to the Piedmont City Council at Tuesday night’s meeting The vote was a surprise because the council had indicated it would wait until later to select a new person to fill the District 6 seat, which was vacated by Bill Baker, who became mayor in early October when former mayor Rick Freeman stepped down because of health reasons.. Harper, a Piedmont native, is married to, Angie Harper, a Piedmont Elementary School teacher. They have two daughters who attend college at Auburn University. Harper, who works an area circulation manager for The Birmingham News, is new to politics. “I want to work with the council we have and get the

“I think he has a good business background,” Baker said. “I think he has some good financial knowledge.” Piedmont residents Kevin Farmer and Jay Wilson also applied for the position. Four of the five attending members at the council meeting voted in favor of Harper. One dissenting member, Terry Kiser, nominated Kevin Farmer. When the council began seeking a candidate to fill the District 6 seat on Oct. 16, it planned to wait until Nov. 19 to vote to give members time to learn about each candidate. That plan changed Tuesday when Councilman Ben Keller made a motion to select a new member, a move that Baker wasn’t expecting. Keller said he wanted to move forward with the vote to help the city. “We needed to go on and get this over with,” Keller said. “We were just standing still.”

Northeast Alabama teachers meet at Piedmont High

HALLOWEEN

DOWNTOWN FUN

27 educators swap tips LAURA GADDY Consolidated News Service

Doug Borden

The streets of Piedmont were alive on Halloween with children of all ages collecting treats. Most were adorned in costumes ranging from whimsical to scary.

Twenty-seven teachers of gifted students from across northeastern Alabama crowded into a cinder-block room at Piedmont High School on Friday to swap teaching tips. The annual meeting, known as the Gifted Share Fair, is an informal gathering for teachers who work with students who excel in scholastics, leadership or the arts. Teachers began the Fair Share about 20 years ago and today the meeting serves as one of few professional development opportunities for gifted instruction in Alabama, the educators said. “It’s just nice to be around other people who understand what you do,” said Cindy Lynch, a teacher of gifted students at C. E. Hanna Elementary School in Oxford. Some instructors of the gifted work alone in a school system, traveling from school to school to work with children. Others work alone in a school, teaching children in various grades. Some work in small teams. “I don’t have other teachers to bounce ideas off of,” said Dianna Hardy, a Cleburne

County educator. “This helps me tremendously.” This year a Piedmont teacher co-hosted the event with a teacher from Oneonta City Schools. The Oneonta teacher collected the $25 fee for attending, and helped administer the funds for the event. During the day-long session, each of the teachers presented one lesson from the school year, and provided demonstrations and handouts. The handouts were collected, placed into binders and given to teachers. “If I didn’t have them to give me ideas, I would try to do everything around what I like,” said Christy Crosson, a Piedmont teacher who helped organize the event. In addition, instructors of gifted students don’t have a curriculum to follow, which gives them flexibility. In turn, it puts the onus on them to come up with creative lessons that supplement typical instruction. “Gifted, that’s where it’s at,” said John Moore, the lone male in the group of educators. “That’s where you can actually do some teaching.” Moore, a teacher of gifted students in Calhoun County, shared how he uses small Lego

■ See TEACHERS, page 7

JOURNAL FEATURE

Alfa Insurance agent is Baptist preacher Ashley Penton worked at SCT

Anita Kilgore

Ashley Penton at his church, Goshen Valley Baptist.

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Ashley Penton, a Jacksonville native who now lives in Piedmont, always admired his father, Wayne, who sold insurance most of his life. Ashley worked at a number of jobs before he finally found his niche - selling insurance, like his father. Penton, 43, was born and reared in the Roy Webb and Pleasant Valley areas. During the summers, while he was attending Pleasant Valley School, he helped build houses. When he graduated from Pleasant Valley, he went to work in the spinning department at Standard-Coosa-Thatcher Mill in Piedmont. He worked there from 1989-92. He left SCT to work with his father in the insur-

ance business for the next two years. He thought he’d like to go back to building houses, so for the next three years, that’s what he did. He wasn’t satisfied though. He felt he wasn’t where he needed or wanted to be. “I was looking for a career change,” he said. “My sister-in-law, Sandy Parker, gave me a name to call about selling insurance. It was J. C. Ralph, area manager of Alfa. It just took off from there.” Ralph interviewed Penton, had him take a test and hired him. ■ See PENTON, page 7

THE PEIDMONT JOURNEL

VOLUME 32 | NO. 45

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OBITUARIES See page 3.

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