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Wilkes Board of Education salutes first nationally certified counselor In Tuesday's meeting of the Wilkes County board of Education, two schools announced honors, the system's first nationally certified counselor was honored, and a principal announced his retirement after 34 years of service. Word was received late last week that both Washington-Wilkes Elementary and Primary schools have again been named Title 1 Distinguished Schools, Superintendent Joyce Williams announced. The primary school has been so named every year since the program's inception. It is the second year for the elementary school to be so honored. The Board and all present rose to honor the achievement of Debra Harper, guidance counselor at Washington-Wilkes Elementary School. Principal Wanda Jenkins announced that Harper had become the first nationally board certified guidance counselor in Wilkes County. "This is the pinnacle of her career, and we're all tremendously proud of her," Jenkins said. Harper, along with her husband and three children, were given a standing ovation from the assembled board and educators. High school Principal Andrew Jackson announced his retirement at the end of the school term. In his letter to the board, Jackson said that after 34 years, and taking the high school from the lows of the "Needs Improvement" list to the highs of both achieving AYP and winning the Governor's Cup for two years running, he felt that the timing for his retirement was good. "I feel that I am going out on top of things," he said. "Again, thank you for a wonderful career and for 34 years of working with the children of Wilkes County." In annual board business, Chairman Ricky Callaway asked Board members to elect a vice-chairman for 2007. Board member Kelly Powell nominated Vice-Chairman Bob Guin for another term. "He's doing a great job," she said. The other members concurred, electing Guin unanimously. In other business, Superintendent Williams said that after a thorough review of bids for the resurfacing of the high school tennis courts, she recommended that the Board accept the bid of Asphalt Athletic Surfaces to do an overlay on the courts, with a 3-year warranty, for $46,000. The company provided good references from nearby cities, she said. The Board accepted her recommendation. The meeting started off with a presentation by Coleen Leroy of the Toombs Judicial Circuit concerning the FAST START program. FAST START is an acronym for "Finding Alternatives for Safety and Treatment - Stabilization Through Assessment and Recommendations for Treatment." Its mission, Leroy said, is to implement a "communitybased risk-reduction program for the purpose of utilizing available community resources in assessment and intervention in cases of delinquency, deprivation, or unruliness." Leroy told Board members that the program is designed to give all community-based public and private child-service providers an opportunity to come to the table as a panel and address the problems of specific juveniles in the circuit, using parental and community resources. The panel evaluates juvenile cases to determine the root causes of the deprivation, delinquency, and/or unruliness and then recommends community based treatment alternatives to the court to alleviate or eliminate those problems. Leroy pointed out that the number of juvenile complaints in the five-county Toombs Judicial Circuit had increased from 598 in 2004 to 791 in 2005.
Chief Financial Officer Dean Ware brought the financial report to the Board, saying that the system had ended the year with money in the bank, despite a delay in the arrival of some state funds. Ware revealed to The News-Reporter after the meeting that this was his last meeting as CFO of the Wilkes Board. He said that he has taken a similar position with the Greene County school system. Ad advertisement in this issue seeks his replacement.
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