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Our dads are to be commended. I have seen many dads at Florence Elementary volunteer in various ways. "Donuts for Dad" during the Scholastic Book Fair is always a hit with our dads.

Thanks for posting this, Bruce.

Brian Walker, 4th grade teacher, and the Morehead Men's Committee need credit for maintaining the enthusiasm at their school for male involvement. Gregg Shlaudecker is leading the charge at Florence Elementary to get more dads and other men involved. Please pray for these schools and all of our schools in Guilford County to be able to motivate, recruit, and engage more men in improving the lives of our students.

I think what is important to mention is that many of these dads take time from their jobs to volunteer (some moms do too), but is really great to see the dads at school. There are so many young male students that need to experience a positive male role model in their life. I've see many boys light up when a dad just takes time to tutor them in reading. The dads are lots of fun at the end of the year on field day too. It brings a lot of balance to our schools.

Morehead is a neighborhood school. I wonder if the same sorts of celebrations would be occurring if the kids were being bused in from all over the city.

I just saw my shadow! Sorry folks, that's 6 more weeks of redistricting for you.

quest,

Heck No. Us dads are busy enough with our jobs, traveling, helping at home, doing petitions for redistricting, going to meetings, etc., etc. etc. I wouldn't have time to participate if I had to put in any more driving time. Plus I am tired of paying these gasoline prices.

It's just like the movie "Ground Hog Day". Redistricting is playing over and over and over again. Each year we get better at this. But this is one movie I wish would end.

"Too often, women have to carry the burden of being school volunteers" (Bruce B.)

To actually make a comment on the original topic of this thread-- That sentence above stands out at me for some reason...

Volunteering at your child's school should not be a "burden" to begin with. But with the current gerry-mandered maps that are to be soon voted on, WILL create a burden where possibly there was none in the first place.

Since the "women" of this system seem to be the majority of the volunteers, you would think that before making chaotic changes to districts, the Board of Education might actually listen to what these volunteers have to say about it.

In fact, I would wager a guess that most speakers at the recent forums, those speakers that are practically on their knees begging for "neighborhood" schools, I would bet that they are the very volunteers that you speak of. I would also wager to guess that many will STOP being so generous with their free time if their child is redistricted to a school on the other side of town.

The bottom line: the BOE is creating the burden.

It's not that we won't volunteer, it's that our kids probably won't go there anyway. That's what I keep trying to tell the board. If B* or C are implemented my daughter would go to Welborn Middle with maybe 3 other kids from our neighborhood. I'm not against her going to Welborn, but I am against her going by herself. They all have plans for private school/home school if just our neighborhood goes from this area. The school board needs to vote map D, then if redistricting is a must, at least they could take their time and think these types of things through. At the very least, and I mean the very least, map A sends the whole Florence attendance zone to Welborn/Andrews. Not just little pockets of kids being swapped.

Volunteer, I can see your point. But there is a bigger issue. Whether one small pocket of kids is sent to Andrews or bus loads, there are still unresolved problems over there.

Andrews is one of the LOWEST PERFORMING SCHOOLS IN THE ENTIRE STATE! NO child should be forced to go there until the board of education can get a plan in place and get that school out of the gutter!

No map in the world is going to change what is or is not going on inside that school! Do you see any members of the board of education sending their kids over there? NO.

I blame the board of education, the Superintendent and the administration for any faiiling schools in this county, NOT the children that go there. So the problems must be solved by these people, NOT by the students!

Hear Hear! Now, if someone on the school board would just listen....

I'm trying to find out even what the school board is in favor of, and so far I can't get any reply one way or another. If anybody out there knows how each board member is leaning, please share!
Meanwhile, I'll keep my appointment to tour Welborn tomorrow and see how it goes.

Hey hokie aka volunteer,

Map A is the most illogical, and EXPENSIVE option out there. That map affects me and I can tell you for sure that my neighbors and I will head for northern ground should it pass.

Flaco, I'm glad to hear that the men are getting involved at Florence, too. That's great news.

Hairston Middle started an annual Men's Breakfast a couple of years ago and it's been a big success, too. Hairston's school social worker Duane Lewis organized it.

Hey, this is such a good idea, I wish every school in Guilford County would copy it.

Bruce,

I agree. I also wish every school in Guilford County could be a neighborhood school - think how much the community would contribute to the well-being of each.

Beware of clowns bearing messages!

Question for the School board or mr.grier.....

Who in the HELL is in charge of our School System???????????

After reading about the most recent " Gang Violence " in our schools,,, it makes me wonder if GCS policies on education, center around the worst students in the county.

It seems as though the " Gang Members " are setting the standard of how every child,,,good or bad,,,is to be educated in Guilford County.

Why not remove the Hoodlums from the general population of students in GCS???????

How about a Magnet School for students who do behave?????? One STRIKE and your out...

I have been a Proponent to " Get Terry Grier Outta Here ",,,but of late I have been rethinking that position.

Why, you must ask?????

mr. grier has done nothing but allow some on our school board to send our system in to a Tailspin.

All this time,,,his Resumes continue to go out ,,,looking for his next big Pay Day...

My thought now is to extend his contract and Force the Sorry Ass to stay and FIX the Cluster F%*$#K that he has created during his " REIGN of TERROR ".

SUGGESTION:

Remove Problem Students From the Schools....Start a BIG Magnet School for GANG MEMBERS,,,,locate it,,,hmmmm,,,,maybe Downtown at the JAIL....

Then and Only Then will you have an Environment that is Conducive to Learning....

Gerry M, did you say that no child should be forced to go to Andrews?? No matter which map is adopted, someone's children will have to go there. How do we decide who that is? Everyone is not able to home school, and some people cannot afford private school.

Why not make Andrews a Weaver-type school?

There are men's breakfasts and other men's initiatives at Archer Elementary, Browns Summit Middle, Florence Elementary, Hairston Middle, Morehead Elementary, Triangle Lake Montessori, and Vandalia Elementary. Does anyone know of others ?

If Andrews became a Weaver-type school, where will all of the students currently assigned to Andrews go to school?

Take out the gangs EVERYWHERE and there will be plenty of room for students that want to learn.

Redhead,
I just got the High Point Christian packet today. They encourage you to apply for scholarship/tuition aid money. It might not be what you want, but there are options out there.

Terp!
What do you mean northern ground? As in Northwest Guilford county, or back to Maryland? My sister lives in MD and they have such great schools. She can't believe what we are going through! She's in Bel Air and they plan ahead, buy land, hold it, if it's not used right then they use it as parks/rec until needed. Go figure! Maybe I should head north back to Virginia.

If the gang problem is so bad in High Point so that the schools in this part of the county have to be treated differently than the schools in the other parts of the county, I think we definitely need to let the furniture market visitors know.

I have lots of time on my hands. Anybody know how to get the word out to the most people? Should I email furniture companies? Should I place flyers on cars parked in lots where the shuttles run? Hold a sign in downtown High Point once the next market is in full swing?

I would love to hear some advice.

volunteer and terp,

You don't have to go all the way to virginia or Maryland to find a competent school distict that doesn't abuse its students, parents, and taxpayers like Guilford County does. Just think about 10 miles to the west.

Flaco,

I believe that there is a men's group at Lincoln Academy, also.

I have heard that Emorywood parents have been instructed to do an e-mail and phone calling blitz by a certain public official because there are too many gangs at Central. It is always about saving Central. Gangs are to be "diluted" throughout the city.

To "I will spread the word", call eagle. Plan 921 is waiting for action depending on which way to go. Eagle will know. There's no stopping the train now if the parents of High Point are not treated fairly in these maps.

Thanks 921. The donations that were going to the erection site will now go toward a full page ad in the paper during the next market. We also have a few students who have agreed to hand out flyers downtown and maybe perform a few gang-related skits. The flyers will have copies of recent newspaper articles addressing gangs in High Point. They will explain that it is a "county" school system but that all the gangs are in High Point. We will even try to incorporate some quotes from our lovely Mayor explaining why HP is so much worse than the neighboring cities. It's all coming together.

Do you remember the "Welcome Home, Market Friends" signs that were plastered all over town during last market? We have ordered slipcovers to slide right over the top of those illegally placed signs advising our market friends to call the High Point Chamber of Commerce for a bullet proof vest while visiting the downtown area. We even have our sites on the perfect billboard.

Bruce,
We need an article about all the efforts to get more men involved in Guilford County Schools.
You have a good list of schools from which to start in these comments. Are you attending the Morehead Men's Breakfast tomorrow ?

Yea, good idea Flaco. Let's start with the TOP man, Terry Grier.

THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!!!

FELLOW CITIZENS.
In a county-wide school system we cannot allow rogue individual schoolboard members to unilaterally decide that their alma mater or municipality has an unfavorable demographic and plunder other schools in the county to correct this, even ones that are absolute models of diversity, and do it over the objections of the parents of these children.

IF WE ALLOW FORCED DEMOGRAPHIC BUSING, if we give license to boardmembers to do this, where will it end? So maybe next year any boardmmeber doesn't like what they see at thier old school, they can go someplace else and take what they want, as if these parents and children exist only in so much as they can serve as donors to feed these boardmembers' delusions and desires? WHERE WILL IT END?

IT WILL END in the complete isolation, alienation of parents and students. It will destroy faith and participation in public education and cause untold damage to certain municipalities which will will become isolated pariahs of forced busing. It will eventuate a true caste system where all children of means will leave the community or matriculate to private school.

THEY MUST BE STOPPED

C. BOY

Right on C Boy!

Yes 11 people can potentially pick what children they want in "their" schools; what GANGS they DO NOT want in their schools. Put Juanita Hills here, we will take the Blood, you take the Crypts.
Would you like metal detectors thrown in a as a bonus. We can apply for federal grants for metal detectors.

WHEN WILL THIS NONSENSE END!

Power corrupts and absolute power correpts absolutely!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Do the right thing for once and SCRAP THE MAPS!

The matriculation has already begun C. Boy!

Get on the matriculation bus! It's a ride that will make you feel guilty you didn't do it sooner!

WHOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! What fun!