Meet your back-to-school neighbors What do prekindergarten students expect of school?
Inside • Teacher appreciation breakfast set for Aug. 24 — page 5 • Archdale police investigates string of thefts from vehicles — page 14 Church news......5 Obituaries..............8 Classifieds........13 Police report........14 Fire report..........3 Sheriff’s report.......3
Page 9 A back-to-school guide for local schools is on pages 6-7. Thursday, August 19, 2010
Archdale-Trinity News w w w. a r c h d a l e t r i n i t y n e w s . n e t
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Local schools continue to show growth
Cool fling Kids at Trindale Swim Club enjoy a cool fling before the start of school on Aug. 25. In the photo right, Shae Trogdon holds onto Kelsey Baker. Jason Hamby, pictured below, styles his own dive, the ‘ham it up’ type. The membership pool closes Aug. 29. For more information, visit trindaleswimclub.com.
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f the nine Archdale-Trinity schools, only two — ArchdaleTrinity Middle School and Wheatmore High School — failed to make AYP for the 2009-2010 school year. All but one, John Lawrence Elementary, met expected growth as determined by the state’s ABCs of Public Education — but Lawrence still experienced significant gains.
Photos by Debbie Hightower
BY ROBYN HANKINS Adequate Yearly Progress, which is mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law, ensures that each student group in a school achieves grade-level performance. The state sets eight to 29 targets, depending on the diversity of the student body. North Carolina’s ABCs of Public Education measures school achievement through academic growth; composite scores, which show the percentage of students who perform at or above grade level; and AYP results. “While AYP measures the progress of certain groups within the school, the ABCs measure growth and performance,” explained Dr. Sharon Johnson, director of testing and accountability for Randolph
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County Schools. AYP RESULTS Among the 31 schools in the Randolph County school system, 11 failed to make AYP goals, compared to five that failed to make AYP goals for 2008-2009. In the Archdale-Trinity district, only ArchdaleTrinity Middle School and Wheatmore High School schools failed to meet their AYP goals. ATMS didn’t miss AYP by much, said Principal Andrea Haynes. “We made 15 out of 17 goals,” she explained. “We will definitely make that a focus next year.” Wheatmore’s failure to make AYP was expected, said Johnson. New schools often need a year to adjust and make the appropriate transitions. Providence Grove High School, which opened for the 20082009 school year, also failed to make AYP its first year, but did make goal in 20092010. Trinity High School, which failed to make AYP by 0.999 percent in 2008-2009, made goal for 2009-2010. Other Randolph County schools that failed to make AYP are Eastern Randolph, Randleman and Southwestern Randolph high schools; Northeastern Randolph and Southeastern Randolph middle schools; and Coleridge, Liberty, New Market and Southmont elementary schools. SEE SCHOOL TESTING ON PAGE 12
Practice caution on Creekside greenway
ust be aware when walking the greenway at Creekside Park — snakes are sometimes sighted. A woman reported a snake bite Sunday.
BY DEBBIE HIGHTOWER According to Archdale police, the snake bite occurred about 8:18 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15. The walker and a dog were on the bridge beside the recreation center, said Shirley Dunkley, records clerk at the department. A tributary of Muddy Creek flows through the park. The bridge leads to a subdivision. The woman identified the snake as a copperhead. She told police that she had
been bitten through her shoe, but declined to be transported to a medical facility. Copperheads are moderately-sized snakes, normally reaching 2 to 4 feet in length with thick, heavy bodies. Skin may vary from pinkish to a bright yellow color, but the head is a copper color, which led to the species’ name. They are found in woodland and forest areas, but occasionally near homes. North Carolina is the foremost of all 50 states for snakebite occurrences, said Dick Thomas, executive director and naturalist for Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point. The majority of these bites are from copperheads. The copperhead bite is not usually fatal in adults, but is very painful. Thomas should know. In June 2009 he
spent three days in the hospital after being bitten on the finger. Thomas cautioned that the copperhead is frequently misidentified. “Folks will tell us that they brought in a copperhead. For every true copperhead that is brought in, there are probably 20 nonvenomous snakes brought in here.” The population fluctuates from year to year. Copperheads are not among the most common of the 21 species of snakes that occur in the Piedmont. Two venomous snakes are found in the Piedmont area — the copperhead and the timber rattlesnake, which is even less common than the copperhead. “The best policy is to avoid contact with any type of snake,” said Thomas. Archdale City Manager Jerry Yarborough agrees because Creekside Park is
Photo couresty of Piedmont Environmental Center
Copperheads range in color from pinkish to bright yellow. maintained as naturally as possible. “You will have creatures,” he said. Snakes can easily conceal themselves in the vegetation and can even appear as a stick on the black asphalt walking path. “At the end of the day, just be aware,” said Yarborough. “If it happens, report it to park staff and seek assistance immediately.”
Bush Hill festival offers lots of fun for kids
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he 25th annual Bush Hill Heritage Festival, Sept. 10-11, includes two new events for children — CastingKids and a bicycle rodeo, both held on Bush Hill Eve. That’s in addition to Friday’s Big Wheel race and Saturday’s lineup of amusements and entertainment. BY ROBYN HANKINS The Festival, founded in 1986 by the Archdale-Trinity Chamber of Commerce, will be held on N.C. 62 and several of its side streets. Bush Hill Eve, which begins at 6 p.m., will be held on Bonnie Place. CastingKids is sponsored by Archdale Bass Club. The fishing
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game teaches young, aspirwill be taught the appropriate hand signals while riding a ing anglers one of the most bike. important things — how to “The overall purpose of cast that line. According to Bill FraGraphic by MartyDesigns.com the bike rodeo is to educate children and parents about zier of Archdale Bass Club, More about the Bush Hill bicycle safety,” Cox said. “We the challenge of the game is to Heritage Festival on page 10. cover topics such as bike safety flip, pitch and cast a line with rules, the correct way to wear a accuracy. Mastering these three dolph County and Crumley Robhelmet and bike hand signals, all techniques will give any angler the skills they need to present erts. Children should bring bicy- while having fun and interacting cles and safety helmets. with the kids.” lures and catch bass. “With all the donations the kids Cox said they had no plans to “The kids will be casting at targets,” Frazier said. “We’ll have will each probably get a helmet, break those participating into age two lanes going and all they need but they should definitely bring groups, but might consider doing their own to the rodeo,” said Zeb so if there is a large turnout. to do is show up.” The Friday night fun includes Trophies will be awarded to Holden, code enforcement officer first, second and third place win- for the city of Archdale (a Gold pizza by Domino’s Pizza in Hillsners in each age group. A fishing Level sponsor) and Festival com- ville and food by Bluff Mountain, rod will be presented to the top mittee member. as well as other food vendors. According to Shea Cox with angler in each category. Children will enjoy a perennial “We just want to get kids inter- Safe Kids Randolph County, the favorite, the Big Wheel Race, sponcourse includes riding in a straight sored by Allred and Co. Realtors. ested in fishing,” Frazier added. Also new to the Festival is a line, doing a figure eight and goThe race is free and open to bicycle rodeo by Safe Kids Ran- ing in and out of cones. Children boys and girls ages 3 to 6, but
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boys and girls race separately in their age groups. More information about the race is included on page 10. The big event on Saturday also offers fun for kids. From puppets to gooey experiments to martial arts exhibitions, the little ones will be wowed by the children’s stage, which includes long-time favorites such as Mountain Marionettes, Ronald McDonald, Sam the Magic Man, Mad Science and Bryan Hebert’s Ju-Jitsu. The Friday night event isn’t just for kids. Adults will enjoy a concert by Nash Vegas, a band sponsored by the Archdale-Trinity Merchants Alliance.
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For more about our services or to find a physician, call 336-472-2000 or visit www.ThomasvilleMedicalCenter.org