THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606280180
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 187 lines
On behalf of the Park View-West Park View Reunion committee, I want to express our appreciation to you for the accurate account of our recent two-day event.
Dawson Mills surely covered our reunion with color, charm and attention to the feeling of the neighborhood's return to memory lane.
Your timely publication of the article with the accompanying picture by Gary Knapp has been met with positive comments.
Virginia Murden
Reunion committee
June 13, 1996 More harm than help
In late May, I returned from college to hear that my sister, a rising senior at Churchland High School, was really enjoying the block scheduling implemented by Churchland High School this year.
The system seems to be working well for all involved, including students, staff and faculty. I was, however, surprised when I heard that my sister, a junior at the time, did not have to take any final exams whatsoever. Her grades and her attendance record was in a condition so that she was able to avoid taking any exams.
When I graduated from Churchland last year, the system was set up so that primarily seniors with an ``A'' average could be exempt from taking final exams. Now, it seems that a student can be a freshman with a ``B'' average in a class and not have to deal with the toils of studying for that final exam.
I do realize that this new exemption policy was enacted as a conciliatory measure to sway people to block scheduling and to encourage attendance, but I feel that it truly harms more than helps the high school student. I recently completed my freshman year at Salem College and there were no exemptions.
I strongly believe that our Churchland students are missing out on the important skill of preparing for a final exam, especially the freshmen who will be in this system for their entire high school careers. Final exam exemptions are rare and few in college, as I have found out.
Perhaps this policy was only for the first year of block scheduling or maybe it will last longer, but in my opinion this ``slack'' exemption policy must be altered so that we can properly prepare our Churchland students for all aspects of college, including final exams, regardless if you have a ``B'' or have missed only one day in a class.
My sister and my other high school friends may not appreciate my point of view, but I am only giving my honest opinion after the rigors of college exams, and I do not know how I could have passed my exams without taking various exams in high school prior to college.
I hope that this policy will not affect the exam-taking skills of the recently graduated class of 1996. I only recommend that the standards are raised and exam-taking is looked upon as important to success in college.
Clare C. Seagraves
Thornwood Street
June 18, 1996
Disagreeing with Trumble
After reading Vanee Vines' article (``Portsmouth schools clean up testing'') in The Virginian-Pilot June 18, the I.C. Norcom High School Alumni Association must express its disagreement with some of the allegations made by Dr. Richard Trumble, superintendent of the Portsmouth School District.
Three investigations were conducted to unearth the truth about this situation. The results of these investigations have not been released because, we believe, they will show that there were no wrongdoings involved in this situation. Dr. Trumble, as he stated, made his decisions based upon his beliefs and not upon facts.
Dr. Trumble will not permit the findings to be released, hiding under the guise that this information is confidential. Because of this, he could not release the names of those persons receiving disciplinary action. If those persons are transferred or fired as Dr. Trumble stated in the article, it will be obvious who they are.
Also, if they are transferred or fired, it will imply that they are guilty of some wrongdoings. Their supposed guilt cannot be sustained by Dr. Trumble's beliefs or gut feelings but only by the facts in the case. Give those facts to the public and give those accused persons the opportunity to defend themselves.
There have been other alleged irregularities at other schools in the Portsmouth School District and you have never been told the magnitude of those irregularities, some much more involved than the alleged irregularities at Norcom. We ask Dr. Trumble to produce the disciplinary action taken, if any, in those situations. The answer is probably none. Why? Because they did not happen at Norcom High School.
We ask the Portsmouth School Board to become involved in this situation to ensure the citizens of Portsmouth that justice has or has not been done in the decisions rendered by the superintendent. The School Board owes this to people they serve. The careers of those teachers involved could be ruined by unproven allegations.
David C. Sanford
President
I.C. Norcom Alumni Association
June 18, 1996
Many others contributed
The article in the June 21 issue of The Currents on the reopening of Port Norfolk's Foundation Park was nice, but it did lack a few important facts. There were numerous monetary contributions made to the park in late 1995 from community businesses and organizations that got the ball rolling to make the June 22 dedication a reality. Without the contributions made by them, the dedication most certainly would not have happened as soon as it did.
I would like to acknowledge all of these businesses and organizations who believed in our commitment to make Port Norfolk a better place to live. Monetary contributors were Earl Industries, Ceres Marine Terminals Inc., Doughties, Jimmy's Market, Pam's Hairstyling, Iota Eta Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi and Food Lion.
There was also a raffle held, with many items donated by businesses and persons. Raffle contributions were: Copi-ez of Chesapeake, Holiday Inn Portsmouth Waterfront, The Circle Restaurant, Commodore Theatre, Portsmouth Floral, Scale 'O De Whale, Mom's Deli, Pam's Hairstyling, Jazzercise at Taylor Road, Wal-Mart, Coppertone and West End Shell.
I felt it necessary to acknowledge these businesses and individuals because without their contributions, the park would not be what it is today. Please remember, this is an ongoing project with much more money needed to purchase a large piece of play equipment a true ``playground'' needs. It took the civic league 10 months to raise $3,000.
In conclusion, I challenge not only the citizens of Port Norfolk but all the citizens of Portsmouth to make a contribution to further the efforts of this cause. Contributions may be sent to P.O. Box 7114, Portsmouth, Va. 23707.
Melissa Hutchins
Port Norfolk
June 24, 1996 Insects are everywhere
The insects are very bad in Cavalier Manor at night. I called the city, and I was told they would send someone out, but unless the person comes at night, there's no way they can check it out.
The city used to spray around the residences with insecticide in the evenings, but the last time they sprayed it was weak. It used to be strong. If you sit under a tree, insects fall from the tree, and you can't enjoy your porch for the pests.
Christine Waters
Tazewell Street
June 25, 1996
Young ballplayers cheated
On June 19, I rushed home from work in Norfolk to get my 5-year-old son, Mikey, and myself ready to go to the Olive Branch Little League for a scheduled T-ball game. When we arrived, another mother came up to me and said that the game was canceled. After a little while, some more kids and mothers showed up and then the coach.
Nobody knew that the game was canceled; then we found out that the remainder of the scheduled games were also canceled. They only had two more games and some makeup games due to rain. Apparently, there was a board meeting the night before and they canceled our games. Our coach knew nothing of the meeting; therefore, he showed up Wednesday, too. I don't believe a reasonable explanation was ever given regarding the cancellation.
I paid $50 to register my child for a full season of T-ball, and I feel my child deserves to have his full season or else Olive Branch can reimburse me for the games missed. We all know that won't happen. In addition to the $50, I paid money for drinks after every game, pictures, trophy, end-of-the-season party and on a few occasions, I brought snacks for the kids, as did other parents. There was also an added expense for cleats, glove and socks.
Also, Mikey's father helped out whenever he was available.
One day a board member pulled him off the field during a game and made him pay $5 for insurance purposes so he could go on the field. There was no new equipment or uniforms. The baseball pants and stirrups given my son had been altered many times and the T-ball field was in terrible shape, sometimes not mowed.
Also, when our team was the visiting team, we had to cross through a huge muddy area to get to and from the bleachers to the concession stand or to go up to see our child bat. A couple of bags of rocks could have fixed the problem.
Where did my $50 go? Perhaps, it went to all the expense for the field that's been fixed up for the all-star tournament. That seems to be the only thing the Olive Branch Board is really interested in.
I feel Olive Branch should hold a meeting for all the parents of the broken-hearted children whose ``insignificant'' season was canceled and let the parents voice their opinions and the board provide us an explanation.
Also, I feel they should provide us with an accounting of where all our money has gone. As I understand it, Olive Branch has been unable to provide an accounting of the league for the last several years. This isn't good. I would like to think that Olive Branch will be around for my children until they are in senior and big league, as it was when Mikey's father and I were growing up, but some changes will have to be made in order for that to happen. I am sure there are rules they have to follow, plus they need to think about the children. Parents are paying a lot of money to have their kids in this organization.
Whatever happened to the men and women who ran Olive Branch Little League in the '70s and '80s? Olive Branch was ``the league'' in those days. We desperately need those people back!
Kim Fowler
Jacquelyn Drive
June 24, 1996 by CNB