THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507200203
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 53 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
CHARLES WHITE'S office is cluttered, as usual. But today, at least, you can catch glimpses of the desk, and there's a place to put your feet.
The ``Procrastinator's Creed'' poster, the stuffed Opus penguin atop the portable stereo and the reams upon reams of files and brochures and publications are still scrunched in the walk-in-closet-sized room.
A guy with a dozen jobs has to put his stuff somewhere.
As director of school-community relations for the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools, White wears more hats than a baseball team.
Among other tasks, he puts out all the district's publications, handbooks, brochures and press releases; takes calls from the media and from parents; organizes districtwide receptions and celebrations; serves as staff liaison to business and parent groups; oversees an after-school enrichment program; and does ``whatever duties the superintendent decides to assign me.''
The chores all fall under the amorphous school-community relations position, which White says was created in the 1970s and has taken on a different meaning in every district in the state.
When he was hired more than five years ago, for instance, White was immediately assigned to organize the schools' fall convocation at Northeastern High School.
That included preparing the meal.
``My first real duty on this job was making cinnamon rolls in the kitchen,'' White says.
He's come a long way since then. His newest hat, donned last month, is that of the president of the North Carolina School Public Relations Association.
White had been elected vice president of the 170-member group of superintendents and community relations officials. But the president-elect resigned for a job in the private sector.
Now White, while juggling his duties on the home front, will guide the state group through a transitional year that includes the downsizing of its major supporting body - the Department of Public Instruction.
White, who has worked in the media as well as with it, isn't any stranger to leadership positions.
``I've always believed in being active in one's professional organizations,'' says White, who has served as president of such groups as the Radio/Television News Directors Association of the Carolinas and the North Carolina Press Club.
Kirk Puckett, White's counterpart with the Alamance County Schools and president of the school public relations association for the last two years, says his friend is up to the task.
``The one thing that stands out about Charles,'' Puckett says, ``is he does make a conscientious effort to add that special touch to anything he's working on.''
White was the primary impetus behind an association publication that has received national recognition for its design.
``Charles really took several pieces of paper and made them into an extremely attractive document,'' Puckett says.
It's the designing and the community involvement aspects of his job that White says he likes best. His interests in designing, public relations and education suit him nicely in his role in the school system.
White, 41, grew up in Elizabeth City. He earned his bachelor's degree in English education at Elizabeth City State University and spent about 12 years working in local radio. After stints writing for The Virginian-Pilot and The Daily Advance, he took the public schools job.
``I like doing things that help make the school district more accessible to the public,'' White says. ``We have tried very hard to break down barriers between the schools and the community. I've tried to soften the language and reduce the language that is used by the folks in education so that everyone can understand.
``There are always frustrations,'' White says. ``Sometimes you develop something that you think is going to do the job, and you get more questions than understanding.''
But White plugs away at his multitude of tasks - meeting with an enrichment program staffer, setting up a promotion with a TV reporter, handling a call from a parent, ticking off press releases and explaining his job - all in the course of an hour.
``Maybe the biggest disappointment is from the standpoint of time,'' White says. ``I'd really like to be able to accomplish more than I get accomplished.
``You can't let anything run itself.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
As director of school-community relations for the Elizabeth
City-Pasquotank Schools, Charles White wears more hats than a
baseball team.
by CNB