THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140386
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
For left-handed students, trying to get comfortable in a right-handed desk is like trying to do calculus by counting only on your fingers.
But southpaws in Dare County won't have to struggle any longer.
Superintendent Leon Holleman said Tuesday night that the school system had ordered 50 left-handed desks at a cost of $85 each to make sure southpaws can write in comfort.
The shortage of left-handed desks in the school system came to the board's attention after the parent of a Manteo Middle School student approached Principal Bobby Hudspeth about the problem.
Hudspeth began an exhaustive systemwide search for a desk designed for lefties, but came up empty. The decision was then made to order the desks.
``The frustrating thing is that the desk companies wouldn't let us order just one desk,'' Holleman said. ``It won't happen overnight, but we'll have the desks as soon as they are shipped to us.''
School Board members praised the decision to order the desks.
``It would make sense to order left-handed desks based on the percentage of people in the population who are left-handed,'' said Donna Buxton. ``I think it was an error of omission on our part.''
Board Chairperson Virginia Tillett said that even though only one parent complained about the lack of southpaw seats, the 49 additional desks will get plenty of use.
``They will not go to waste,'' Tillett said.
Southpaws International in Birmingham, Ala., estimated that 12 percent of the population is left-handed. All of the members of the Dare County Board of Education are right-handed. by CNB