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Germantown Weekly Germantown
City rethinks exams, sick day Policies for staf, students examined By Jennifer Pignolet pignolet@commercialappeal.com 901-529-2372
PHOTOS BY JIM WEBER/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Eager to get started, Levi the weenie dog jumps the gun Saturday afternoon, wriggling away from Amber Hammond as she struggles with her other dog, Wrangler, during a fun run after the oicial Running of the Weenies at the annual Germantown Festival. A dachshund named Eleanor Rigby won.
Germantown festival
Winning weenies Festival continues longtime tradition of dachshund race
By Katie Fretland fretland@commercialappeal.com 901-529-2785
Charlene Fitzgerald adopted Dusty, a 7-year-old black-andbrown short-haired dachshund, after his back legs became paralyzed in an accident. Last Saturday, during the irst day of the 43rd annual Germantown Festival, the pair scooted across the arena with Dusty’s back legs in the wheelchair he uses. He won the award for best costume, dressed up as a train. “I adore him,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m proud of him. I think he knew he was doing something that was awesome.” It was part of a wet opening day
Hannah Gardner (left), Emily Gardner and Kendall Morgan along with dachshunds dressed as a scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion. Romy Morgan (right) fans the group to keep them cool.
for an event that has grown into a major regional festival, drawing as many as 50,000 for its weekendlong run each year. Food, vendors
and all sorts of crafts and entertainment were found by crowds
Students at Houston High School may soon have to earn a grade of 93 instead of a 90 — but will not have an attendance requirement — to be exempt from a inal exam. The proposed change will come before the Ger- Jason mantown Mu- Manuel nicipal School Board in the coming weeks. The board debated the idea in a work session last Wednesday. Supt. Jason Manuel said the current policy, which allows students three absences, encourages students to bank their days and essentially take the entire last week of school. He said students also came to school sick because they wanted to hang on to the days for the end of the year. “The high school administration has said, ‘This has become a problem in the school,’ ” Manuel said. The change from a 90 to a 93 represents a jump from a “B” to a solid “A” grade, Manuel said, and relects a level of comprehension throughout a semester that shows a inal exam would not help a student further. The policy was designed, Manuel said, to encourage attendance, but the question is whether it really had the reverse efect. The board also debated attendance and sick leave policies for personnel.
See FESTIVAL, 3 See EXAMS, 2
Inside the Edition
collierville
HANDS-ON STUDY
‘Best Main Street’ award presented
St. George’s Science and Innovation Lab open for students at Germantown campus.
Parade magazine reps come to town
SCHOOLS, 4
Main Street” crown. Parade Magazine editors narrowed down the ield to the top 16, and each town faced of in an NCAA-style tournament and winners were determined by online voting. The inal results were announced mid-August. Two other Mid-South cities, Corinth, Miss., and Siloam Springs, Ark., also made the list. Collierville reached the inals by defeating Greenville, S.C.; DeLand, Fla; and Ellicott City, Md. In the inals, Collierville beat out the wine-country town of McMinnville, Ore., located about 45 miles southwest of Portland. Vice Mayor Maureen
By Matt Woo woo@commercialappeal.com 901-529-6453
BOOKS FROM BIRTH Crissy Haslam will visit the Collierville library as part of a bus tour for the 10th anniversary of Imagination Library. NEWS, 8
PREP FOOTBALL The fans saw a good game Friday between the Devils and Dragons. SPORTS, 10 The Commercial Appeal © Copyright 2014
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During Monday night’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, Maggie Murphy and Kevin Craig with Parade Magazine presented a plaque to Collierville town leaders for winning the 2014 “Best Main Street in America” contest. Earlier this summer, Collierville was chosen from thousands of submissions from readers to compete for the “Best
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A special reception was held in celebration of winning Parade Magazine’s “Best Main Street in America” title. Mayor Stan Joyner (second from left) and Sen. Mark Norris (third from left) spoke with Parade Magazine’s Maggie Murphy and Kevin Craig.
Fraser said the town is still buzzing with excitement after taking the top spot. “Everyone is still smiling,” Fraser said. Along with being named “Best Main Street,” Collierville and the Historic Town Square were featured with four-photo, full-page cover story in the Aug. 17 edition of Parade Magazine, which
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is a supplement in Sunday editions of The Commercial Appeal. A short story about the town also was included. It read, in part, “In the summer, neighbors gather on the Collierville square, a picturesque park at the heart of the community, See MAIN, 2
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