News-Record.com

.....ok

Now, that the BOE has reached a turning point, they can turn toward a slightly harder challenge of actually educating the students in that school. Sorry, Joe, celebrating the naming of a school for something other than a direction is not cause for celebration when the achievement level of that schools' students is putrid, at best.

Clarification is in order here. I did not mean to imply that the students' achievement of the that particular school is putrid, specifically, but rather a generic comment on the school system at large. When the naming of a school is your highest level of success, things are seriously in distress.

I was at the meeting Joe is referring to above, and the only board member who seemed like he had no clue what was going on was Garth Hebert! While folks were talking of how much Mr. Pearce meant to the community, Hebert hid behind a wall of ignorance, "Well, I'm not from around here, so I'll vote for Ron McNair"! What a joke. Never thought I'd see someone equal or even exceed the ignorance scale of Susan Mendenhall, but Hebert has done it. McNair never attended public schools in Guilford County, but he did attend A & T. They have many things named in his memory already, but of course, Hebert wouldn't know that either.

If a person had to have attended Guilford County public schools, we would not have had Dudley, Washington, Lincoln, Kernodle, and so on. Ron McNair was a great role model. Far superior to Hariston and Faulkner. If you don't like my names, why don't you put in your names. Some of the good things in life cost nothing. If we can't have excellance in the classrooms, why can't we have an excellant name. Does it hurt anyone. Think positive.

What's in a name? I don't know.

I couldn't tell you who Grimsley,Page, Andrews, Ferndale or Kiser or many of the other people were whose schools bear their names.

I graduated from one of the 'directional' schools and can honestly say it had no bearing on my sense of school spirit, identity, etc.

In many settings, buildings are simply named for the person who gave a big bundle of money for naming rights.

How about "Fed Ex Elementary School"

Joe,
My point is that we replaced a useless school board member with another "useless" board member. Susan Mendenhall couldn't find her own anal "cay-nal" without a roadmap and now we have Garth Hebert who, for the record, is not from around these parts, illustrating his ignorance!

E. P. Pearce Elementary School will be a wonderful name for our newest school. Mr. Pearce made a difference by guiding a system through desegregation without incident. I lived through the time period, albeit in another city. Mr. Pearce's accomplishments deserve remembering.

Joe, I am also in favor of naming a school after Edward R. Murrow, as you have mentioned many times. My advice to you, is for you to focus on one name rather than running around with "Dolley Madison" then "Edward R. Murrow" then someone else etc. As far as Ron McNair, his memorial was created at A&T and needs no further GCS name. I would also support a "Rabbi Fred Guttman" school or a "Richardson Preyer" school as these two men worked hard on behalf of education in Guilford County!

DD, I am a very good friend of Garth's. He is a sucessful business man who have decided to dedicate a lot of his precious time to the education of our children. He is not perfect but the world needs more Garth Heberts and less DD's. Go back into your hole and stay there or be brave like Garth and get involved instead of standing by the sidelines throwing stones.

BOooooooooooooooooooo!

My objective is the elevate the discourse on naming of schools. Edward R. Murrow is a great name but so is E. P. Pearce. Ron McNair has several things in the US named after him. My objective is to always have some great names in play so the BOE will not fall for names like "Triangle Lake" or "Millas Road". I have found that good names attract more good names.
Fred Guttman is a great guy. The problem is that he is still living. I am opposed to naming any school after a living person. You evaluate the whole life and Rabbi Guttman's life is not over.

nolies,
I don't care if you are MARRIED to Garth Hebert, he is a blowhard who stood on the sidelines and threw stones to get elected and now is a huge disappointment. He's certainly making Susan Mendenhall feel better!
Oh, and on the "successful business man" stuff....He's told everyone in town 'HOW' successful he is, but unfortunately none of that translates into being a good school board member. He thought he could stir things up, but he found out he hit his high water mark with the folks affected by the now defunct High Point Plan.

P.S. I can also assure you, I am NEVER on the sidelines.

Never, Poooooooooooooo!

Garth is out there for better or for worse. Ready to take the criticism, the good with the bad. He WILL make an impact. Thank god for Garth!

I know your type. Monday morning quarterback. Leave the real doers alone and shut up!

Demon,

So, you are never on the sidelines, huh? Then, tell us what you do to make a difference in the schools and where. I think that you are a lot more talk than action. Garth, and, at at least Susan Mendenhall put it on the line, and like all public figures, they get their share of critics.

Also, why are you so distrubed by Garth's presence on the board? He has hardly been there long enough to create such ire from anyone. It sounds like you have a grudge that's been working for a long time against Garth. Why don't you tell us about it?

Garth is off to a slow start. This would not be unusual except that he said in his campaign that he know what ails the system and he would try to fix it immediately. He has never explained his change of heart. I suspect he is trying to go with the flow to gain support or bold initiaties later. Lets hope so.