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: https://www.epageflip.net/i/680793
4 MAY 18-24, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Cumberland County Schools have been in the headlines quite a bit over the past two weeks. Some of it was good, some of it was not so good. In the interest of fair play, let's start with the good news. The really bad news story will follow. Late last week, Melody Chalmers, the principal at E.E. Smith High School was named the North Carolina Principal of the Year. Wow! Now that's a pretty big deal and says great things not only about Chalmers, but also about her school and Cumberland County education as a whole. Chalmers is a hands-on principal. She spends as much time on administrative duties as she does working with teachers and her students, all of whom turned out to surprise her last week at a pep rally to congratulate her on the award, which was presented on Thursday in Cary by State School Superintendent June Atkinson. Chalmers works hard to inspire success in her teachers, but even more importantly, in her students. She has created a culture of high expectations and high performance at her school. Her goal is to not only see her students graduate, but also seek higher education and gain success. She knows the struggles they will face. She knows the long road that many of her students have already traveled, and she keeps pushing them to succeed. Chalmers, and the passion, care and dedication she brings to her job and to her students, are what is good about Cumberland County Schools. She is not alone in caring for her students and in seeking their success. Those same traits exist in educators throughout Cumberland County. As a mother of a teenager in the system, I see this every day. I have seen teachers go the extra mile to ensure my child's success not only academically, but socially as well. Teachers and coaches, too many to mention by �ame, have poured themselves into him. They have taught him, encouraged him, disciplined him when it was necessary and worked with me every step of the way. They are, also, part of what is good about Cumberland County Schools. My son attends Gray's Creek High School. It is a big school. But even at that, kids are not numbers, they are individuals. The teachers, coaches and administrators see them that way. They treat them that way. Among those administrators is Vernon Aldridge, the principal at Gray's Creek High School. Mr. Aldridge has been in the headlines recently — not necessarily in the way he would have wanted to be. Aldridge is a consummate professional. He, like Chalmers, takes care of his teachers and students. He encourages them and sets a good example for them. He expects them to do their very best. He knows his students by name. And, there's a lot of them. I walked up one day to speak with him and began to introduce myself. He stopped me. He knew who I was. He knew my son and he knew that he played baseball and football. But he knows that about all of them. Aldridge doesn't stay in his office. He is in the halls. He talks to his students. You could say, he mentors them — all of them. Not just the high performers. Not just the girls or boys or the white ones or African-American ones — all of them. That's why the recent news concerning his appointment to Activities Director for Cumberland County Schools was so upsetting to many people — myself included. This is where I get to the bad news. It is a shame and a disgrace that in 2016, a good man, a great educator, a caring man like Vernon Aldridge was judged and found lacking not because of his talent or character, but because of the color of his skin. Cumberland County School Board members Carrie Sutton and Judy Musgrave should be ashamed. Yes, I know he got the job, but the fact that an educator who has poured himself into the lives of thousands of children in our school system was subjected to the kind of misguided racist treatment by our elected school board officials is a crying shame. In the week that has passed, we have heard many lame excuses from people at all levels trying to justify those inappropriate statements and walk them back. No need. It doesn't matter now. The two board members that voted against Aldridge and the one that abstained because it was politically correct should all be censored. That is not the attitude or style of leadership that motivates, educates, encourages or develops our young people. Their character is surely being judged now. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN The Best and The Worst of Cumberland County Education by JANICE BURTON STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomin- gweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publica- tion with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/ Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publi- cation consideration, but assumes no responsibil- ity for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without per- mis- sion is strictly prohibited. Vernon Aldridge, principle at Gray's Creek High School. June Atkinson, School Superintendent. Melody Chalmers, recipient of the North Carolina Principal of the Year award. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910-354-1679 for more info. May 19 Mostly Cloudy May 20 Mostly Cloudy May 21 Partly Cloudy May 22 Partly Cloudy May 23 Partly Cloudy May 24 Mostly Cloudy THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 88 HIGH 79 HIGH 82 HIGH 87 HIGH 89 HIGH 90 LOW 69 LOW 57 LOW 60 LOW 65 LOW 69 LOW 70 JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? Edi- tor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.