WEDNESDAY
EYE ON GROWTH: Davidson
September 9, 2009
development agency gives update. 1B
125th year No. 252
HOLIDAY FATALITY: Driver dies in accident on Westchester Drive. 3A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: Wake Forest gears for Stanford. 1D
50 Cents Daily $1 Sundays
Importance of education
WHO’S NEWS
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Andrews students take in Obama speech, despite technical glitches AT A GLANCE
Inside...
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President’s plea inspires kids across the nation. 5A BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – T. Wingate Andrews High School student D.J. Tucker summed up his thoughts succinctly after hearing President Barack Obama’s national address to students beamed into his classroom Tuesday. “Education makes dreams come true,” Tucker said as he and his fellow students discussed the president’s address among themselves and with their teacher. Civics teacher John Shearin took advantage of the president’s speech – simulcast on the Internet as Obama appeared at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. – to teach his students about the duties and responsibilities of the nation’s highest office. Shearin used examples from the presidencies of Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to show how the White House can exercise influence in areas from diplomacy and economic strategy to the pardoning of prisoners and appointment of Cabinet officials. Though Obama’s speech was tinged by controversy, as conservative critics said the president aimed to indoctrinate students with liberal points of view, the
Parents of students in Guilford County Schools were given the option of allowing their children to opt out of President Barack Obama’s national education address Tuesday. The number of students who opted out ranged from a high of 49 at Monticello Brown Summit Elementary School to a low of no students skipping the speech at several schools, a school system public relations representative said. most pressing problem with his noontime speech involved technical glitches. The Internet video reception in the Andrews classroom was spotty at best, meaning that much of the time the 30 students took in the president’s remarks as an audio event only. After Obama’s speech, which focused on the importance of education and determination, the racially mixed class of white, black and Hispanic teenagers discussed what the president wanted to impart to them. With Shearin guiding them through questions, the students expressed what they gleaned from the president’s remarks – work hard and stay in school, finish academic assignments on time, learn from mistakes and don’t make excuses and fail to achieve.
INSIDE
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CORE CITY: Council discusses loan pool proposal. 1B OBITUARIES
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SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Following the class, Shearin said he thought the time was productive. “I definitely think it was an extraordinary experi-
BY DAVID NIVENS ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
GUILFORD COUNTY – School officials may have finished their budget talks Tuesday with a 9-2 vote on a $590.7 million budget for the 2009-10 school year. Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green offered a list of items to spend $4.9 million the Guil-
ence for them. The mes- your teachers and parents sage wasn’t anything new. have taught, it has a differBut when you’re a teen- ent tone,” Shearin said. ager, when you hear the president repeating what pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528
ford County Board of Education left on the table last month. Green wants to reinstate four administrators and to support for low-performing schools and maintenance. All the items were cut in earlier versions of the budget. Board members Darlene Garrett and Garth Hebert of High Point voted against the adjustments. With state cuts alone totaling $22
million, the final budget will drop from the $651 million package Green proposed in May to $590.7 million. For weeks, no final figure had been in sight as officials dealt with state budget cuts. Schools officials had planned for a state funding shortfall of more than
BUDGET, 2A
4-H transforms, moves into suburbs Before you read...
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Last in a four-part series.
BY VICKI KNOPFLER ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
GUILFORD COUNTY – Although the perception still is that 4-H clubs are farm and agriculture based, only about 5 percent of members in the state lives on farms and are able to rear livestock and raise crops. Most 4-H members live in small towns, cities and
suburbs, said Peggie Lewis, Guilford County extension agent. 4-H The new 4-H focus is Celebrating on personal a century of growth of change m e m b e r s , ■■ ■ ■■ and activities focus on leadership, life skills, community service, citizenship and critical thinking. Clubs no longer are in schools, and Lewis assumes that is responsible
Dorothy Bates, 89 Violee Fairley, 69 Sherry Helmick, 62 Charles Ingram, 98 Herbert Mainor, 79 James Meetze, 76 Ruth Miller, 92 Lucile Newlin, 92 Ancy Pearsall, 93 Iris Stone, 65 Gaither Winfree, 63 Obituaries, 2-3B
Students Kenquala Dunlap (front) and Fatisha Douglas (rear), along with teacher John Shearin, watch President Barack Obama’s speech at T. Wingate Andrews High School on Tuesday. Some students took notes on the address.
School board approves budget
AT A GLANCE The school board approved in May a $651 million budget that kept county operational support at $175 million. The district has been operating with an interim budget since June so school officials could pay the bills.
William J. Carpenter joined High Point University as director of the Writing Program. In his new role, Carpenter will work with the English department in designing, implementing and assessing the effectiveness of HPU’s composition courses.
for a drop in membership in the late 1980s. In about the past five years, membership has risen, and last year about 12,000 young people in Guilford County participated in 4-H. The recent increase in members may be due to extension agents collaborating with more outside agencies, Lewis said. Most recently, extension agents noticed an increased interest in gardening. “Maybe with the economy, people are going back to their roots,” Lewis said.
SERIES BREAKOUTS
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SUNDAY: Club celebrates 100 years in North Carolina MONDAY: Local physician attributes her career, sons’ success to 4-H
Mostly cloudy High 81, Low 60 6D
INDEX ADVICE 3B BUSINESS 5-6D CLASSIFIED 4-8C COMICS 5B CROSSWORD 2C DONOHUE 5B FUN & GAMES 2C LIFE&STYLE 1C LOCAL 2-3A, 1B, 3B LOTTERY 2A MOVIES 6B NEIGHBORS 4B NATION 5A, 8A NOTABLES 6B OBITUARIES 2-3B OPINION 6-7A SPORTS 1-4D STATE 2A, 3B STOCKS 5D TV 6B WEATHER 6D WORLD 4A
TUESDAY: Retired veterinarian, wife, met at 4-H dance
INFO TODAY: It’s no longer just about agriculture
4-H is particularly popular with home-schooled groups because it offers a good curriculum, she said. Rather than giving programs in classes, 4-H now
trains teachers, and all members of the extension service participate in youth development. vknopfler@hpe.com | 888-3601
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