Thomasville prepares for Friday night’s game against A.L. Brown.
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THOMASVILLE
Guest Columnist Marilyn Taylor discusses the benefits of emotional intelligence.
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Thursday, September 3, 2009
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Programs aimed at improving reading
Library encourages patrons to sign-up BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer
BY ELIOT DUKE
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and the Davidson County Public Library System has begun its annual celebration. “We try to highlight some of our resources that we have here in the library, and try to invite people in and make sure they come by,” said Sarah Hudson, the Thomasville branch librarian. The Davidson County Public Library is featuring a presentation titled Resources 2009 for library card holders. In addition, patrons who have lost their library card can get a replacement at no charge this month. Normally, there is a $3 fee, but the library is trying to make sure that everyone in Davidon County owns a card. “We also are playing a game called Library Bingo, where you can win some prizes,” Hudson said. “It gives you a chance to learn about some of the things we have here in the library.” Anyone with a Davidson County Public Library card can play Library Bingo. The Bingo card is made up of numbered squares with activities to be completed, including a free space for the library card. Players can present the Bingo card for a stamp from the library when an activity is completed, and the player will be handed a Bingo square review to rate the activity. Complet-
Staff Writer
COURTESY PHOTO
Gary Sink (right) presents Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia with a sample of locally grown Canola Seed and a sample of first biodiesel made in the state from locally grown, crushed and refined Canola Seed.
See LIBRARY, Page 6
Fueling the Future Local businessman joins efforts to produce biodiesel BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer Local businessman Gary Sink never thought of himself as an environmentalist, but lately he has found a passion for developing cleaner-burning biodiesel in a sustainable way. It all started when Dean Price, Sink’s soon-to-be partner, ran out of fuel after Hurricane Katrina hit and couldn’t refill his tank because the supply lines were cut off. To ensure that this problem never happened again, he decided to investigate making his own fuel.
Price asked Sink, a Davidson County resident retired from 34 years in sales, to come on board to help promote the new company. Price already owned two Red Birch truck stops in Virginia — one in Ridgeway and one in Bassett. They began to add on to the Bassett facility with the aim of producing biodiesel. “What we ended up creating is this nation’s first and only farmto-fuel closed loop system,” Sink said. “We go all the way from the farm to the fuel pump.” Sink said that normally, there are five separate links in the chain of production. A grower sells seed to a broker, who then sells it to a big conglomerate to be crushed. The resulting oil will then be sold to a refiner, who converts it into fuel and sells it to a “jobber,” who blends it with diesel and takes it to a fuel station. “We contract with farmers to
grow canola seed,” Sink said. “Then, we bring them to the plant and we crush it there, and we sell the meal back to farms for animal feed. We take the oil and refine it into biodiesel, blend it with diesel and sell it next door at our truck stop.” Because canola grows in the winter, this operation gives farmers a cash crop to produce instead of simply planting ground cover, Sink said. The feed meal that comes out of the crushing process is high in protein and nutritious for farm animals. Red Birch Energy is now a year old, and it sells a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent standard diesel at the Bassett truck stop. It collects rainwater for use in processing, and Sink hopes to equip it to produce its
See FUTURE, Page 6
Local principals laid out their goals for the near future at the Thomasville City Schools meeting Tuesday night. While some of the initiatives varied, there seemed to be a solidarity amongst the schools when it comes to students following a common vision as they make their way through the system, particularly when it comes to reading. Thomasville Middle School, Thomasville Primary School and Liberty Drive Elementary have all implemented new reading initiatives that are designed to both encourage students to read while also recognizing where the child is in terms of reading comprehension. “We’re working hard to make sure we’re all speaking the same language,” TPS Principal Paula Gaylord said. Georgia Marshall, TMS principal, told board members that she met with a team at the end of the last school year to try and figure out why the accelerated reader program wasn’t working as well as it could. Marshall’s team came back with a new reading initiative called “We’re Into Reading Every Day” (WIRED). The new initiative is more teacher and student friendly and promotes a love of reading. The hopes are the program will increase End of Class scores while also getting students to enjoy
See READING, Page 6
City Schools opens doors to new Alternative Learning Center BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
Thomasville City Schools had to do some scrambling when Mills Home said it needed the building that was home to the Alternative Learning Center for the past 15 years. What started out as chaos eventually all worked out for the best as the new and improved ALC opened in time for the 2009-10 school year at 19 E. Guilford St. The Alternative Learning Center is a school for students with behavior problems who have trouble succeeding in traditional settings. “This is a very good thing for
our school system,” TCS Superintendent Keith Tobin said. “It helps keep a child in school rather than out on the streets. It has a great success rate, both academically and behaviorwise, and we’re really proud of it.” Once the site was selected, contractors started working on the project on June 15. TCS used the same architect who worked on the renovations at both the high school and primary school. Initial estimates said the renovation would take six weeks, but there were a few minor delays. The doors opened for teachers to move in on Aug. 19, and ALC Princi-
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pal Terrell Scott said the new building has been a huge lift in terms of morale. “It’s just such a beautiful place,” said Scott. “It’s really going great. Our old facility wasn’t nearly as nice as this. It’s so bright and new, we just love it. It was really a rush job. A lot of people worked very hard to make this happen. It’s such a relief.” The ALC currently has six students there, but Scott said enrollment often picks up as the school year gets into full swing. The facility can hold up to 30 students, who often come
TIMES PHOTO/LISA WALL
From left, ALC students Shemar Anderson ad Dee Kirkland talk with
See CENTER, Page 6 on of the teachers from the newly opened school.
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