Career Academy To Highlight Programs At Northview, Other Schools
January 13, 2009
The School District’s Workforce Education Department will conduct a Career Academy Fair tonight, and Northview’s Building Trades and Construction program will be one of the highlighted courses of study.
The career academy is for current 8th and 9th graders throughout the district today from 6:00 until 7:30 p.m. in room 160 of the JE Hall Center, 30 E. Texar Drive in Pensacola. Students and parents will have an opportunity to explore the many offerings available throughout the District and career academy instructors, business partners, and students will be present to answer questions.
The Career Academy will highlight the programs available at six of the seven public high schools in the District. The West Florida High School for Advanced Technology conducts its own open house and lottery for student selection. The programs available at the traditional high schools include:
- Escambia—Engineering
- Northview—Building Trades & Construction
- Pensacola—Health Professions; Law & Public Service; Computer-Aided Drafting
- Pine Forest—Culinary Arts; Early Childhood Education; Design Services (Fashion/Interior Design); New Media (Digital Video Editing)
- Tate—Early Childhood Education; Game, Simulation & Animation; Multimedia (TV Production, Photojournalism, Investigative Reporting)
- Washington—Future Educator; Health Science; Early Childhood Education; E-Commerce Marketing; E-Commerce Web Design; Web Design
For more information, contact Cynthia Miller, workforce education specialist, at 469-5358.
Ball Season: Time To Register
January 13, 2009
It’s that time of the year again in North Escambia…time to register at area ballparks.
Saturday morning on NorthEscambia.com, we will have complete registration information, including some exciting and important changes at two area parks. One has an entirely new league, and another has new, lower registration fees.
We will have complete details Saturday morning on NorthEscambia.com.
Century Chamber President Resigns
January 12, 2009
The president of the Century Chamber of Commerce has submitted his resignation, effective immediately.
Benny Barnes said submitted his resignation to the chamber’s board of directors to spend more time in his role of pastor at the Community of Christ Church in Atmore.
“I feel that I am called to devote more time to witnessing for Jesus Christ to the people in that city and that will require more of my time,” Barnes said. “It has been a great travel in my life to work with the chamber and each of you.”
Barnes, who once served as Century’s mayor, played in instrumental role in the location of the Century Correctional Institution and the town’s industrial park.
“I am willing to help the chamber however I can,” Barnes said. “I know there is much yet to do in this organization.”
Current Century Mayor Freddie McCall has been named as the chamber’s new president.
Pictured above: Benny Barnes (left) presents the Century Outstanding Business of the Year award to Terry Sanders of the Country Bumpkin at the Flomaton and Century Joint Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet last February. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Panhandle Equine Rescue Names New 2009 Officers
January 12, 2009
Panhandle Equine Rescue has named officers for 2009, including several people that are new to the PER board.
Diane Lowery was named as PER’s returning president.
Jolee Josephs has been named as the group’s new vice president, Lindley Barden as the new secretary, and Michelle McKee as treasurer.
Rose Marie Winchester has returned to the PER board of directors. New board members include Mimi McClelland, Michelle Phillips, April Violette, and Vickie Bell.
New Vice President Josephs has excellent credentials and is very qualified for the job. She is a new PER member, has been known to the group since 2005 when she adopted their second rescue, Sky.
She is currently foster coordinator for PER, handles the sponsorship program, serves webmaster, created all the videos on the website and is currently training to become an investigator. Josephs is also taking on the Education Program when schools request someone to come in and talk with the students.
She has done site inspections and has transported horses for PER and is also currently fostering one of the horse rescues. She has been involved with Habitat For Horses; a huge rescue in Texas and she has adopted three horses from them. She is in the process of building a boarding facility off of Quintette Road that is named after the horse she adopted from PER, Forever Sky Ranch.
“She has the passion and heart for the horses and for horse rescue,” said Lowery.
Barden, the new secretary, has adopted two horses from PER. She was interested in adopting those horses that “nobody else wanted”. She also rescues greyhounds and provides a forever retirement home for many of those special dogs. Her and her husband, John, have been members of PER for the past two years.
“The other board members have been very active in helping the organization and we feel that they all will be a huge asset to PER,” Lowery added.
Panhandle Equine Rescue is non-profit organization with the mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and provide adoption services for abused, neglected, and abandoned equines. PER is authorized by the by the court system in Escambia County to investigate equines in trouble.
Pictured are new PER officers and directors (L-R) April Violette, Diane Lowery, Mimi McClelland, Michelle Phillips, Rose Marie Winchester, Jolee Josephs, Michelle McKee, Vickie Bell and Lindley Barden. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Carver/Century’s ‘B’ Grade Really A ‘D’ Without The Benefit Of State Rule
January 12, 2009
Carver/Century K-8 School’s grade improved only due to the use of district averages rather than the school’s actual FCAT scores.
NorthEscambia.com has learned that while the Florida Department of Education awarded the school “B” status last school year, that grade would have actually been a “D” if it were not for a little known rule that allows a district average to be used at a school where less than 30 students are tested.
“In writing and science, Carver received the district average because there were less than 20 students tested,” Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas (pictured left) said.
Carver/Century’s weighted district average score in writing was 82 percent, when only 25 percent of the students actually passed the writing FCAT given to fourth and eighth graders. Only five of 20 students that took the writing FCAT at the Century school met state standards.
On the science FCAT given to students in fifth and eighth grades, Carver/Century received a 42 percentile score, the district average. In reality, the school’s actual score would have been a 24 if it were not for the 30 student rule. Of the 25 students taking the science FCAT at Carver/Century, only six passed.
“Without the group size restrictions, Carver’s school grade would have been a ‘D’,” Thomas said. Carver/Century scored a “D” in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and an “F” in 2007 before receiving the weighted “B” score in 2008.
Thomas has cited the poor school grades as just one reason why he will recommend to the Escambia County School Board that Carver/Century K-8 School be closed at the end of this school year. Students will redistricted to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School. Both schools have been “A” rated schools for the past several years.
Bratt Elementary has been ranked as an “A” school each year from 2004 to 2008. Ernest Ward was a “C” school in 2004 and a “B” school in 2005. From 2006 to 2008, Ernest Ward has been ranked as an “A” school by the Florida Department of Education.
“I am going to send them to the number one school in the entire county,” Thomas said of the students moving from Carver/Century to Bratt. Bratt was ranked this past school year as Escambia County’s best overall school.
Senator Found Dead On Hunting Trip
January 12, 2009
An Alabama state senator was found dead Sunday morning while on a hunting trip.
Seven-term Alabama state Sen. W.H. “Pat” Lindsey, 72, was discovered dead in his bed on the hunting trip while staying with friends in Boligee in west Alabama.
Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., and State Senator Roger Bedford were also on the trip and among those in the group that discovered Lindsey. He was discovered as the group was getting ready to leave the home friends where they had been hunting.
Lindsey’s senate district included Escambia County in Alabama. Other counties in the district are Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Elderly Couple Dies In House Fire
January 11, 2009
(Updated) An elderly couple died in a northern Escambia County house fire in the Cottage Hill area Saturday morning.
Their names have not been officially released pending the results of an autopsy, but neighbors identified the couple as William and Frances Boyle.
A neighbor reported the fire was at 2010 Cedar Point Road about 7:50 Saturday morning. Cedar Point is located off Cedar Tree Lane between Highway 29 and Highway 95A. That neighbor, Richard Morris, tried to save the couple, was unable to enter the house due to the heat from the fire.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they reported that about two thirds of the small wood frame house was in flames. The elderly couple was found dead in their front bedroom.
Fire departments from across the North Escambia area, including Molino, McDavid and Cantonment, responded to the blaze.
The state fire marshal has been called to the scene to investigate. Authorities would not speculate on the cause of the fire.
Vehicle/Structure Fire Near Molino
January 11, 2009
Firefighters from across the area were dispatched a vehicle fire inside of a structure on Country Hills Drive near Molino Sunday morning.
The fire was reported just after 6:30 Sunday morning in the 1400 block of Country Hills Drive, just off Shifko Road near Molino. The caller reported a vehicle on fire inside a structure. Molino firefighters quickly brought the fire under control and canceled the response of neighboring departments.
Units from Molino, McDavid, Century, Cantonment and Beulah were originally dispatched to the fire.
There were no injuries reported.
Northview Freshman Recovering Well From Brain Surgery, Headed Back To Class This Week
January 11, 2009
Northview High School freshman Nathan Therrell is continuing to improve following brain surgery back in November, and if all goes as planned, he will be back in class Monday morning.
On November 19, Nathan underwent brain surgery at the Miami Children’s Hospital to remove something the size of a grain of rice that has caused years of problems for him. It’s called a hypothalamic hamartoma, also called an “HH”. The HH is not a tumor, nor is it a cancer; it is a tissue growth.
Nathan’s aunt, Kelly Sims, said Nathan has done well since the surgery. Best of all, he has been seizure-free since the surgery. He was back in school for one day when it resumed Tuesday after Christmas break, but he missed the rest of the week to once again travel to Miami. This time, the trip to Miami was for a checkup, and Nathan received an “all clear” from his doctor.
“Nathan has recovered from the surgery far better than expected. He seems like a total different kid,” Sims said of her nephew. “God does answer prayers and Nathan’s family would like to thank everyone that helped during the time of fund raisers and for any donations that were given.”
“The family is very thankful for everything including the prayers that were sent out for Nate,” she added.
If all goes as plans, Nathan will return to Northview as a fulltime student beginning Monday.
A typical HH like the one removed from Nathan’s brain causes seizures, a problem Nathan has had for four years. They were originally controlled by medication, but the medicines failed to work, his mother Tina Therrell said. They’ve tried radiation and laser treatments. None have worked. That led the family to decide to have the surgery to remove the HH from the middle of his brain.
Pictured above: Nathan Therrell watches a Northview football game last season. He served as the team’s waterboy. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
NHS Student Kills Big Rattlesnake In Bogia
January 11, 2009
Seth Leonard, a junior at Northview High School, ran over and killed this large rattlenake Saturday night. Leonard, who is 5-foot 11-inches tall, is pictured hold the snake that he ran over on Bogia Road while returning to his home from Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.