rPre-season high school football practices ofcially under way. rPost 137 blasts Randolph. rHigh school football to have three rule changes in 2012. Sports See page 1-B. ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Tursday forReporter the County of Columbus and her people. Tursday, August 2, 2012 Common Core will impact local schools Volume 122, Number 10 By FULLER ROYAL share experiences and best practices within and which covers the other subject areas including sci- Whiteville, North Carolina Staff Writer across states. ence, the arts, technology, and social studies. McLam said that Common Core began when McLam explained that the biggest complaint the The new Common Core Standards adopted by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 75 Cents North Carolina could produce the most far-reaching National Governors Association worked together to was receiving from colleges and universities was changes the state’s education system has seen in “our students are not ready.” three or more decades. “What we were teaching wasn’t what they need- Inside Today That was the message offered to the Whiteville ed,” he said. “What and how we were teaching was City Schools Board of Education during its annual not what students needed for jobs or college.” 3-A planning retreat last Friday. He said that for too long, the curriculum had been rEmergency director The messenger was the system’s new director of too wide and too shallow. curriculum and instruction, Thomas McLam. He said Common Core and Essential Standards position sparks McLam began his presentation by telling the are more about the “depth of knowledge” and less interest nationwide. group that Common Core’s assessments were going about the “breadth of knowledge.” to “blow people’s minds.” McLam said that North Carolina Education Re- rTax bills are in mail. Common Core, adopted by 45 states so far, is a set determine what was needed to best prepare students gion 4, of which the city and county school systems of English language arts and math standards that all for college. He said they pulled standards from every are members, is the only region in the state to have 4-A participating states agree to use so students receive state. comprehensive pacing and course alignment guides rLocal youth a consistent level of education from school to school “Common Core has been in development for for Common Core in place. and state to state. years,” he said. “We did not do this in isolation,” he said. “Some gets prison for Common Core provides more opportunities to The state has also adopted Essential Standards, See Common Core, page 2-A statutory rape. DIDYOB? Businesses DSS running out Did you observe ... gear up for of candidates Columbus County RSVP volunteers tax free for director’s job visiting with Presi- weekend By NICOLE CARTRETTE dent Jimmy Carter Staff Writer By JEFFERSON WEAVER in Plains, Ga.?... Jan Staff Writer A lengthy hiring, interview, and reference Palmer fnding a tiny process has led to a limited pool of qualified With the start of the public candidates for the Columbus County Depart- feather in her daugh- school year just weeks away, ment of Social Services’ director position. ter’s chicken nuggets? local businesses are gearing up DSS Board Chairman Michael Lewis said for the annual sales tax holiday Wednesday that the board was now looking She did not know if this weekend. at the third and fourth candidates qualified she should be upset “We always have good deals, by the state. but we’ll be having some good Only six were qualified by the state. or glad that it was sales this weekend,” said Jo- “We are looking at a couple right now,” an indication they seph Stanley of All Tied Up in See DSS, page 7-A were made of real See Tax free, page 9-A chicken… SCC Stu- dent Activities Direc- CRHS frst in CPR training is tor Barbara Campbell requesting a video for state to ofer new graduation the college through 3D digital inter-library loan, mammograms requirement and her daughter, nLocal rescue officials applaud new More than 226,000 women law. Gabrielle, a student will be diagnosed with breast working in the ECU cancer this year in America. By NICOLE CARTRETTE Columbus Regional Health- Staff Writer library, receiving and care, with the help of many fulflling the request, generous donors, has advanced Students who graduate from North Caroli- the fight against breast cancer not initially real- Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist na high schools beginning in the 2014-15 school by installing a new 3D digital year may be prepared to save lives. izing that it was for mammography system. CRH Banner up A new state law requires North Carolina her mother 140 miles is the first hospital in the state Brett Gore of Whiteville takes a measurement on a Take the Lake high students to take CPR training offered with the system. banner on Dale’s Restaurant at the Lake Wednesday. Organizers are through their school in order to graduate. away. ... Only recently approved by Students will also receive Heimlich maneuver the FDA, breast tomosynthesis paying tribute to teachers this year, and are asking Lake residents to decorate their yards with education icons. More than 150 people have training to deal with choking situations. creates a 3D image that allows The legislation mandates “hands-on train- doctors to see tissue in a way registered for the Labor Day weekend ftness event at Takethelake.org. County Deaths See story page 12-A. See Digital, page 9-A See CPR, page 6-A Whiteville James B. “J.B.” Davis Frances Sellers Clifon Charles Burris Clemmons wounded on his mother’s birthday Mack Odell White nUnit had been finding caches of Russian originally stationed at Cu Chi near Saigon. Tabor City AK-47s, still wrapped in cosmoline. Saw Rice Bowl Euclid Soles He began his Vietnam tour as a radio-telephone- Hallsboro By BOB HIGH operator for his platoon leader, and toured the Rice Staff Writer Bowl area of South Vietnam and Michelin rubber Edwin Imm Jr. plantations, plus visited what became known as the Bolton It’s been hotter than usual here this summer, but Mi- Iron Triangle, and the Bo Loy and Ho Bo Woods areas. Ronald Ray Mills chael Curtis Clemmons, 66, of Whiteville, says it not as “We’d go into a village area or in the field by helicop- Fair Bluf hot as Vietnam. He and many other Columbus County ter. There was usu- Daphne Pridgen Wilson veterans remember the intense heat that pumped ther- ally 150 to 200 guys mometers to 120 degrees, plus the humidity, particularly in a search-and-de- during the monsoon season. stroy mission, most “The heat here is nothing to compare to ‘Nam,” of them near the Index Clemmons noted. He also remembers the leeches that Oriental River that would attach themselves to his body as he lay in a rice separates Vietnam Editorials ......... 10-A from Cambodia,” Obituaries ......... 8-A paddy or crossed a stream. Clemmons volunteered in October 1965 to become Clemmons stated. Sports ................ 1-B an Army infantryman. He arrived in South Vietnam in The day Clemmons was wounded he and his fellow Clemmons is framed by fellow 27th In- Crime ................ 4-A April 1966 as a “grunt” in Company C, 2nd Battalion, soldiers found large caches of Russian-made AK-47s, fantry veterans, Stan White on the left, Living ................ 1-C 27th Infantry of the 25th Infantry Division. He was See Clemmons, page 7-A and Jim Jenkins. 2-A – The News Reporter, Thursday, August 2, 2012 Common Core Continued from page 1-A systems have not done any of Superintendent Thomas this.” Hager said because multiple McLam said that there will choice state-level tests have be more local input on the been the norm since the early assessment process and that 1980s, today’s generation the teaching process must be of parents have never seen developed at the local level. anything like the new assess- He said the current culture ments heading their way. of looking at overall averages DiMuzio said the board of student performance does will depend heavily on the lo- students a disservice. cal newspaper to get the word “We have to start looking out to parents. at every single child individu- “There will be a shock ally,” he said. “With Common when those first test scores Core, you can’t go by averages come back,” he said. anymore.” McLam said the school McLam said it is vital that system has a core group of teachers assess for learning. teachers who have been work- He said it has been a tough sell ing on Common Core for six for teachers to give students months. assessments for what has not He said that instead of yet been taught. sending administrators to the “We need to know what stu- state workshops and training dents already know,” he said. sites, the actual teachers have “We don’t need a child sitting been attending. through nine weeks of some- Hewett, directing his com- thing they already know.” ments to the system’s princi- “This will make individ- pals, said “You leaders will ual instruction imperative,” have to get really excited board member Carlton Prince about this and sell it.” said. “This will require teach- Hager said that Moore and ers to know what skills each Cumberland counties as well student has.” as the Whiteville system are “With Common Core, stu- among the state’s leaders in dent instruction must be in- developing the local aspects dividualized,” McLam said.