Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1152209
AUGUST 7-13, 2019 UCW 51 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views Henrietta Jutson NEWS Britt's Jutson competing for large cash prize by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Swimmers advised to be careful after Fantasy Lake tragedy by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Henrietta Jutson has been a member of the faculty at Jack Britt High School since it opened its doors in 2000. Now she's one of 50 final- ists for a cash prize awarded by Harbor Freight Tools to teachers like her who spe- cialize in the area of skilled trades. Called the Prize for Teaching Excellence, the contest will award 18 teach- ers prizes ranging from $100,000 for first place to $50,000 for second place. Each winner will get a share of the prize money with a share also going to the school where they work. Jutson was one of some 700 teachers nation- ally who entered the competition. She teaches integrated systems technology at Jack Britt, which she called a concept of using all types of technology in a manufacturing environment. As she put it, it's when the various elements of technol- ogy begin walking and talking together. Her students work with such things as robotics, programmable logic control, hydraulics, pneumatics, plas- tics and some computerized controls. "They learn all that and it all starts to work together,'' she said. "Then they put large projects together.'' Jutson said the best part of her job is her students, most of whom are part of Jack Britt's Integrated and Systems Technology and Applied Engineering Academy. "They are interested in what we are doing,'' she said. "Each of the three classes has its own capstone project they work toward. They really drive their own project. That's the easiest part.'' The problem is that not everyone works at the same speeds or at the same time, so it can be a challenge to get all the parts of the project to come together. "It's all about students doing what they want to do because everybody is doing something different at the same time,'' Jutson said. Jutson is bracing for the next round of the competition, which will require her to write essays in response to a series of questions. "You want to answer them as clearly and suc- cinctly as you can,'' she said. "You want to give them some wow factor and you want it heart- felt and to do a good job writing it,'' she said. She praised the people with Harbor Freight Tools for recognizing the work teachers like her do by putting some serious prize money in the contest. "I think it's wonderful they've shone a spot- light on it,'' she said. In the wake of the tragic death of a swimmer at nearby Fantasy Lake just outside of Hope Mills, Town Manager Melissa Adams released a statement to Up & Coming Weekly. Although the lake is located just a short dis- tance from the Hope Mills Town Hall complex on Rockfish Road, it is not within the jurisdic- tion of the town and is not connected with near- by Hope Mills Lake. However, the proximity of the lake to Hope Mills and the loss of life that resulted there prompted town officials to make citizens aware of precautions needed when swimming in warm bodies of freshwater during the summer months. Here is Adams' statement : First and foremost the Town of Hope Mills would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family of Eddie Gray, the individual who contracted an infection due to Naegleria fowleri and recently passed away. Infection due to Naegleria fowleri is rare, as evidenced by the reporting of only five cases in the state of North Carolina between 1962 and 2018. The Town of Hope Mills would like to echo the advisory of the Cumberland County Health Department and would encourage everyone to use precaution when swimming, diving or water-skiing in warm, freshwater lakes. The amoeba cannot be eliminated from fresh- water lakes because it is naturally occurring, but the following precautions are recommended. • Limit the amount of water going up your nose. Hold your nose shut, use nose clips or keep your head above water when taking part in warm freshwater-related activities. • Avoid water-related activates in warm fresh- water during periods of high water temperatures and low water levels. • Avoid digging in, or stirring up, the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas. For more information about Naegleria fowleri and primary amebic meningoencephalitis, visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/. If you have questions or concerns, you may contact the Cumberland County Department of Public Health at 910-433-3645 or 910-433-3655. Computer-generated representation of Naegleria fowleri in its ameboid trophozoite stage, in its flagellated stage, and in its cyst stage.