Martinsville Schools to Unveil New Website Kim Barto Meeks up the School Sites,” She Said

Saturday, October 19, 2019 Vol. 1 No. 8 (USPS-6) www.henrycountyenterprise.com • $1.00 City positioned for development with new tourism zone designation Kim Barto Meeks velopers as part of the city’s pending on the size of the Staff writer enterprise zone, “but the big project. incentive is ‘gap financing.’ A There is no “one size fits The entire city of Mar- developer of a tourism project all” list of incentives because tinsville is now officially a can have difficulty obtaining the ordinance is designed to tourism zone, in a move city that last half a million dollars allow the city to customize leaders hope will attract new in funding through the con- the economic incentive pack- development. ventional financing market. age for each project, Monday At its Oct. 8 meeting, The Virginia Department of said. This could include mea- Martinsville City Council Tourism will underwrite that sures to streamline the pro- approved an ordinance on funding at a significantly cess, waiver of some permits, second reading that estab- lower interest rate, but it has and limited tax incentives. lishes the city as a tourism to be in a locality that’s cre- Martinsville’s ordinance zone as allowed by the code ated a tourism zone before is modelled after those in Paint the Town 5k of Virginia. The designation they will make that funding Staunton, Fredericksburg, allows local governments to available.” and Lynchburg. Monday said offer economic incentives Funding is intended for this funding was “instrumen- and makes it easier for devel- new, tourism-related devel- tal” in developing Staunton’s held to benefit CHILL opers to obtain state funding opments that range from Stonewall Jackson Hotel, a for large-scale building proj- millions to tens of millions of big parking garage, and other Runners and walkers of all tinsville and Henry County that ects, such as new hotels or dollars in cost, Monday said. projects that have taken its ages were showered in color- promotes healthy lifestyle choic- restaurants. These can include lodging, downtown business district ful powder on Saturday, Oct. es, such as saying no to drugs Assistant City Manager restaurants, and retail. Coun- from “dead as a doornail” to 12 during the ValleyStar Paint and alcohol. Participants went Eric Monday explained dur- cilman Jim Woods asked if “very vibrant.” the Town 5k. Th e annual race through four color stations as ing the meeting that many it could be used for cultural Also during the Oct. 8 benefi ts CHILL (Communities they circled Lake Lanier in Mar- of these economic incentives amenities, such as theaters. Helping Improve Local Lives), tinsville and a fi nal color blast at are already available to de- Monday answered yes, de- See Tourism Zone, page 3 a teen leadership group in Mar- the fi nish line on Indian Trail. Students from New Epoch School in Beijing visit area, hosted by Carlisle School Students from Beijing, China attended a welcome ceremony at Carlisle School. The 10 middle- school students spent two-weeks in Henry County. Ten middle school students can college or university. braces guests from other cul- from New Epoch School in On their first day at Carl- tures. Our Cultural Exchange Beijing, China, were two- isle School, the visitors from Camps are offered to help week guests at Carlisle School Beijing introduced themselves international students get to experience American cul- at a middle school assembly to know our school and the ture and plan for their fu- and then performed a tradi- greater community.” tures through Carlisle’s Cul- tional Chinese song for their During their stay, they tural Exchange Camp. The peers in celebration of Chi- participated in daily middle students hope to attend an nese National Day. school lessons, experienced American school like Carlisle According to Sandy Bai- special events like Home- in the future to help them bet- ley, Carlisle’s Director of See Culture Exchange, page 5 ter transition into an Ameri- Admissions, “Carlisle em- See Paint the Town for more photos, page 3 Martinsville schools to unveil new website Kim Barto Meeks up the school sites,” she said. Staff writer The site is responsive, meaning it will adapt to fit on the screen if Martinsville City Schools will be viewed on a phone or other mobile ready to roll out a new website as device. The homepage features “hot soon as next Thursday, school board links” with icons of pages used fre- members learned at their Oct. 14 quently by students and parents, meeting. such as access to student grades, im- The school system’s current web- portant announcements and a calen- site is about six years old and lacks dar of events. Each school website some functionality, especially when features a consistent look but is cus- viewed on a mobile device. tomized with the colors and popular Beth Deatherage of Momenta, the links tailored to each school, Death- company building the website, pre- erage said. Magna Vista High School student Kennedy Coleman is pictured with brothers G. sented the new design to the board Sarah Byrd, the division’s Director Rodney Young and Terry Young, whose family sponsored a scholarship for Coleman and described some of the features. of Human Resources, Communica- to attend a three-week American Shakespeare Center theater workshop in Staunton “It’s all been built. Now we’re just this summer. Coleman and the Youngs were recognized by the Henry County School fine-tuning the content and filling See New Website, page 2 Board at their regular Oct. 3 meeting. School board awards contract for elevator project at F-C Middle School Kim Barto Meeks the school. Without the ties Act (ADA), Hatch- Staff writer elevator, someone who ett said. However, the cannot climb the stairs school system identified The Henry County “would have to go all the the elevator as a need to School Board on Oct. way around to the back make the building more 3 approved awarding a of the building just to accessible to those with $309,000 contract to get upstairs,” said school wheelchairs and limited Frith Construction of division spokesperson mobility. Ridgeway to install an Monica Hatchett. This is “Equity is one of our elevator at Fieldale-Col- a particular problem in focal points, and we linsville Middle School. extreme weather, such as want to make sure every- Frith was one of two rain or cold, she said. one has the same oppor- vendors submitting a Because the school proposal. building was built in See Award, page 5 The elevator is needed 1965, it is “grandfa- The new website for Martinsville City Schools will be ready next week. The to help students and visi- thered in” on certain current website, pictured here, is about six years old and outdated in terms of tors with disabilities ac- requirements of the web technology. cess the second floor of Americans with Disabili- 0 51497 10908 0 Page 2 • Saturday, October 19, 2019 • Henry County Enterprise• www.henrycountyenterprise.com Local schools among New Website from page 1 grant winners for educational projects Schools in Henry and Patrick grams from schools across the com- counties are among those in 38 Vir- monwealth,” said Tammy Maxey, ginia localities to receive grants from Virginia AITC senior education Virginia Agriculture in the Class- manager. “These schools and 4-H room. chapters will start gardens, provide The program awarded 62 grants nutrition and culinary experiences, to for the 2019-2020 school year, begin school farms and create agri- including those to Axton Elemen- culture leadership opportunities. We tary School and Career Academy in look forward to visiting these grant Henry County and Blue Ridge El- sites and watching students learn.” ementary School in Patrick County. Agriculture in the Classroom is a na- The funds are allocated to provide tional program that promotes greater 25,000 youth with agriculture expe- understanding of agriculture through riences related to gardening, animal education. Th e Virginia Foundation for agriculture, health and nutrition and Agriculture in the Classroom is a non- leadership development. profi t organization that receives fi nancial “This year we had an outpouring and administrative support from Virginia Student members of Martinsville High School’s new anti-bullying committee address of grant applicants reflecting pre-K Farm Bureau Federation. For more infor- the Martinsville School Board during its Oct. 14 meeting. through 12th grade education pro- mation visit AgInTh eClass.org. tions, and Community school-based programs the chance to pick up Outreach, said the di- against bullying and a “grab and go” break- vision revised its mis- praised the schools for fast from a kiosk in the sion, vision, goals, and their efforts. “We’re not school commons be- logo last year. Materials going to tolerate bully- tween first and second NCI Announces Cyber with the old logo are be- ing in school,” she said. blocks. ing phased out, and the In addition, the Approved the consent redesigned website will school board: agenda, including the feature the new brand- Heard from School minutes from the Sept. Security Speaker Series ing. Nutrition Director 9 school board meet- Also during the meet- Sheilah Williams that ing and financial report ing, the school board three schools have once through Sept. 30. for Inaugural Event heard from students at again received the state Received an up- each school about anti- Fresh Fruit and Vegeta- date on the new Eng- bullying efforts taking ble Grant. Albert Har- NCI announced the Come hear from local fice. lish textbook adoption place throughout Octo- ris Elementary, Patrick fall line-up of speak- businesses, experts, and Dec. 4 (All Day) - process from Assistant ber for National Bully- Henry Elementary, and ers and topics for the government represen- Computer Forensics Superintendent Ang- ing Prevention Month.

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