Inside A8 Powhatan celebrates July 4
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Sloan named All-Metro Player of the Year
Vol. XXXVI No. o. 03
July 20, 2022
Board considers restricting student phone use By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County School Board is considering an update to the division’s Students Rights and Responsibilities that would restrict the use of any non-school issued electronic devices in school by students, including cell phones. During its meeting on Tuesday, July 12, the school board heard a presentation about the Student Rights and Responsibilities, which is reviewed each year to determine if any updates are needed. The document will be considered for approval at the August meeting. Among several proposed changes that Tracie Omohundro, assistant superintendent for instruction, presented to the board, the change to the policy regarding electronic devices drew the most discussion and seemed to have the overall support of the four board members present. James Taylor III, who represents District 4, was absent. The proposed change does not ban electronic devices from school but does require that they be put away and silenced for the entire school day, including in transition periods such as in the hallways and at
lunch. The one exception would be for school-issued Chromebooks. According to the proposed policy, “Students are provided school-issued electronic devices to access instructional content. At all levels, the use of personal electronic devices (including but not limited to, cell phones, blue tooth devices, cameras, electronic games, e-readers) during the school day is strictly prohibited. Students (middle and high) who bring cell phones to school for the purpose of communicating after school hours must keep them silenced and away (i.e. gym locker, bookbag, purse, out of sight).” If approved, the policy would represent the biggest change at Powhatan High School, where there have been some allowed uses, versus Powhatan Middle School, where they are already restricted, Omohundro said. Devices are not allowed at the elementary schools without special approval. In addition to use during non-instruction time, nonschool devices have been allowed by some teachers in certain instances at the high school. If the revised policy is adopted, those exceptions would no longer be allowed, Omohundro said. The recommendation to having devices silenced
and put away instead of turned off and put away is an acknowledgement of concerns some parents have about students being completely without the devices. “This is a pretty significant change at the high school level,” Omohundro said, which the board also acknowledged. In the discussion that followed, the school board members gave various reasons for seeing the change in a positive light, ranging from taking away distractions from learning to attempting to curb destructive behaviors such as the TikTok trend experienced last school year that saw students vandalizing school bathrooms. Chair Kim Hymel, District 5, said she had been contacted by many staff members and constituents about the distractions the devices represent from students’ education. “I am glad to see it personally.” Susan Smith, District 2, mentioned complaints from the company the school division contracts with for janitorial services about students filming instances of vandalism in the bathroom, saying she hopes the new restriction would eliminate those kinds of behaviors. “That is very alarming to me as a school board see PHONES, pg. 4
Powhatan couple endeavors Local families get to support Ukrainian war effort Christmas in July PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
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Since Russia invaded the Ukraine in February, Powhatan couple Troy and Mila Demchyk Savage have been doing what they can to support the Ukrainian war effort by collecting not only funds but basic items soldiers lack, ranging from boots and wool socks to helmets and body armor.
By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – In the face of war destroying a country they love, the Savage family knows being paralyzed by fear and worry does nothing to help. So they have turned to action instead. Although she has lived in the United States for many years, Mila Demchyk Savage’s native Ukraine will always be her homeland and also hold a special place in the heart of her American husband Troy Savage, whom she met and married when he was living there in 2008. So when Russia invaded the Ukraine on Feb. 24, in the midst of worries about friends and
family, they immediately began asking themselves what they could do to help. Mila said after the initial shock of an invasion that had been threatened for so long actually coming to fruition, she took a day off and launched a fundraiser calling for people to support the Ukraine’s effort to defend itself. “I don’t allow myself to be emotional because we have work to do. If I have a chance to present somewhere, I do it. If I sit in front of you crying, that doesn’t do anything,” Mila said earlier this month at the couple’s Powhatan home. Not content to send money and feel they had done their see UKRAINE, pg. 3
Contributed Report A gallon of milk has crested the $3 mark. A pound of butter has hit $5. Even eggs, which a year ago could be had for 65 cents, are currently selling for $1.89 or more a dozen. And these are the prices for generic groceries. The price of gas punched everyone in the wallet recently when it approached $4.99 a gallon. Everyone is noticing both grocery and gas bills climbing. Many are blessed to have room in the budget to accommodate these increases, no matter how unwelcome they may be. Others in the Powhatan community have no choice but to make due with less. The Powhatan Christmas Mother Everyday Committee (CEC) addressed this issue at a recent Executive Board meeting and wanted to do something to help. Their by-laws only allow that committee to make donations less than $1,000. They knew it would take more than $1,000 to help Christmas Mother clients, so a call for a special emergency meeting of all members was issued. The Powhatan Christmas Everyday Committee voted unanimously that it was high time for Christmas in July. Thanks to the generosity of donors and the high success of Decem-
ber’s Winter Wonderland Gala, the CEC was able to help by sending out a Christmas in July mailing of grocery and gas gift cards to those families who applied and were served by the 2021 program. Thank you notes from recipients are coming in, flooding the CEC mailbox. Dale Goodman, Christmas Mother 2021, has been stopped in the grocery and other local sites with smiles and words of extreme gratitude. Many notes speak of how timely the gift cards have been as families find it more and more difficult. “I’ve said all along “we are not seasonal,” Goodman said. “I am so proud of how our recipients are expressing their surprise and appreciation.” Many members of the CEC such as Carol Baltimore have shared how they appreciate the committee’s action. “I am so proud to belong to a group who gives without any consideration of ourselves,” she said. The Christmas Everyday Committee is so grateful to the generosity of the Powhatan community that either adopted families or made sizable donations last year; without that generosity the committee would not have been able to do this see CHRISTMAS, pg. 3
Powhatan County
Students in the Rockets and Robots Camp put on by Powhatan County Public Schools take turns showing off robots they built and then learned to maneuver through a maze using controllers and coding. PCPS offered several camps last week and wraps up their schedule this week. See photos page 6A.
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND