SPORTS Durham Striders take 6 titles at Junior Olympics VOLUME 13 NO. 37 WE WEEKEKOF OF AUGU ST7,2011ST7,2011 ONE DOLLAR THE TRIANGLE’S CHOICE FOR THE BLACK VOICE ChapelHillblackstudents KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR ahead of pack on testing By Sommer Brokaw Rodney Trice, executive director of THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE curriculum and instruction, said a cou- ple of initiatives have contributed to CHAPEL HILL - Five years after math the progress in test scores. First, he scores dropped due to more rigorous pointed out the professional learning tests, black students’ proficiency rates community teams. in math have climbed back to where “These teams basically try to break they were before 2006. down time-honored traditions of “We’ve gotten back up,” said Diane teachers working in isolation and look- Villwock, executive director of testing ing at test data by putting them into and program evaluation at Chapel Hill- teams that teach the same grade lev- Carrboro City Schools. “The drop hap- el,” he said. “That way they are shar- pened and each of the last five years ing some of the best practices and cur- we’ve climbed, and we’ve now gotten riculum resources. It has been very back to where we were.” fruitful in creating engaging lessons Villwock said that even though the that contributes to an increase in test tougher standards affected all stu- scores.” dents, blacks were affected more dra- Second, he said they have content matically because their average test curriculum teams in the district clar- scores were near standard level before ifying state and national standards for the dip, while white students’ test English, math and social studies, so scores were in the upper range. teachers can put them to use with ease. In reading, black students have had They have also expanded technolo- three years to rebound. “We’re com- gy use with wireless capabilities in PHOTO/BRICKLE ing up on a nice steep amplitude, but each of the schools. Middle school we haven’t regained where we were,” teachers will receive laptops this year, she said. and once all teachers have one, offi- The Rev. Phillip Brickle (center) holds service wherever the spirit leads. Preliminary test results for 2010-11 cials will consider whether student show that black students’ proficiency should receive one as well. rates in mathematics were 82.8 per- “Our board of education has made cent and 68.1 percent in reading. In technology one of their five goals to Ministering in time of need 2006, it was 46.4 percent in math; in track this year, and with that, we will 2008, it was 38.6 percent in reading. be looking at funding and providing White students’ proficiency rates in equity in resources across the district math were 98.1 percent and 96.4 per- - not only school by school but class- Raleigh preacher helps addicts who’ve hit rock bottom cent in reading. room by classroom,” Trice said. By Sommer Brokaw That was the turning point of my life. THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE “He spoke to my heart: to go feed the home- less, go back to some people who were broken and struggling with some of the things I was Know Your Neighbor is a monthly feature that broken and struggling with in a way, and show Churchcommunityrallies highlights the extraordinary deeds of ordinary them that they don’t have to live like this. There people. is hope and there is a way out.” Brickle started feeding the homeless with chili RALEIGH - The Rev. Phillip Brickle struggled in Moore Square Park in November 1996. He behind new Wake school with heroine addiction for 20 years. Now, he’s also joined Elevation Baptist Church in Raleigh trying to help others overcome their addictions and began directing their Ray of Hope Outreach for a better life. Ministry to the homeless. By Sommer Brokaw A native of New Rochelle, N.Y., Brickle started While he was at Elevation, he started work- THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE experimenting with marijuana before college. ing with his dad on a landscaping business to He attended Johnson C. Smith University in help ex-felons obtain work. He said they threw RALEIGH - Walnut Creek Elementary, Charlotte on a football scholarship, but the drug around some names, and “Lost Sheep Lawn a Wake County public school created use progressed. He dropped out after three years Service” came out of something that was said, through the new assignment policy, and moved back to New York in 1976. Then, he which was “All of us are lost and sheep eat up is projected to draw 780 students started hanging with the wrong crowd. a lot of grass.” from Southeast Raleigh, with 80 per- “They were friends of mine. I can’t say that Years later, while searching for a name of a cent being low income and 50 percent they were bad people. That was the season we ministry incorporated in 2005, the vote, Lost low performing. were in. We were experimenting with some things Sheep Outreach Ministry, was unanimous. The newly built school will open on and ended up using drugs,” he said. Through the ministry, Brickle connects one Aug. 25 with Corey Moore, a former At one point, he separated from his wife and on one with people in the neighborhood in need assistant principal at Middle Creek son, and, at age 40 and unable to pay his bills, of an encouraging word or referral to services. High and a former teacher at Wake he moved in with his parents. “It was horrible. He also works to organize several events like Forest-Rolesville High, as its princi- It was devastating,” he said. “Any addiction is their Christmas celebration, where they wrap pal. Moore could not be reached for devastating because it just completely robs you over 4,000 gifts for the needy, and their comment. Moore of life itself, because everything you do is affil- Thanksgiving dinner for hundreds of people. “Many of the children that live in iated with drugs.” Cheri Bradford said he helped her and her this neighborhood - the Riverbrook said in a released statement. “I know He said he hit rock bottom 15 years ago, but husband, Clarence, when they were living on neighborhood, the Sunnybrook neigh- that we are getting fine families that through the grace of God he was able to change the streets, by taking them to Bible study where borhood - around and where our are going to be a part of our school, his life. “I had an encounter with the Lord,” he Clarence would play the drums. He also picked school is located, I have interacted and I am looking forward to partner- said. “I was in tears and really wanted to take them up to help wrap Christmas presents. with them and have educated them in ing with them, with their younger chil- my life, and I got touched that night, and when my role as assistant principal at he touched me, I actually got up off the floor. See MINISTERING/2A Middle Creek High,” Moore recently See CHURCH/2A Recession increased child poverty in N.C. Youth Villages receives grant Effects of national economic downturn Funds will help expand transitional living for older teens on children is likely to linger for a while STAFF REPORTS STAFF REPORTS portionately affected. RALEIGH - Children in N.C. “Children depend on a net- CHARLOTTE - Youth Villages has received a $42 mil- were hurt by increased hous- work of critical supports to lion legacy challenge grant from the Day Foundation to ing foreclosures, rising un- help them successfully tran- help expand the organization’s transitional living pro- sition into adulthood,” said employment and increased gram that helps older foster children become success- child poverty during the re- Laila Bell, director of re- search and data at Action for ful adults. cession, according to a re- It is the largest single grant ever awarded to Youth port by Action for Children Children and the primary au- N.C. Due to the sluggish re- thor of the report. “This re- Villages and one of the largest ever to a social services covery and reductions in cession has stymied chil- organization. Philanthropist Clarence Day, who began state-funded supports, the dren’s progress by causing the foundation, was a longtime Youth Villages support- state’s children will feel the family economic hardship, er, donating more than $14 million to the organization impact of the recession for reducing children’s access before his death in 2009. years to come. The report to stable housing and limit- Because the transitional living program is funded most- ing the quality of their edu- comes out on the heels of a ly through private donations, the grant is crucial in help- national Pew Research cational opportunities.” Key findings from the re- ing Youth Villages maintain and expand the TL program. Center report detailing the While the organization is helping 1,452 young adults effect of the recession on port include: wealth gaps among African- • More families face eco- this year through the program in N.C. and seven other Americans, whites and nomic insecurity in the wake states, thousands more are in need. Each year, as many Latinos. of the recession. More than as 30,000 children will turn 18 and “age out” of state Action for Children N.C., a one in five children now custody, being left on their own to make their way in leading statewide nonparti- lives in poverty. As unem- life as an adult. san, nonprofit child research ployment rose across the Prior funding from the Day Foundation allowed Youth state, the number of chil- and advocacy group, found Villages to begin offering transitional living services in that child poverty, a major dren living in families where Moseline was removed from her mother’s home at age no parent had full-time, reg- N.C.