Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 17 No, 873
a .l h
% ‘ y
LOVE IS THE ANSWER
Guitarist Kenny Burrell
makes debut as songwriter * 1B
DidJJoseyteachersfearviolence?
BAnonymous letter
writer(s) complained
that students were in
control at T.W. Josey
before principal
switch.
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
A letter to school board offi
cials warned that T.W. Josey
High School could be the site of a
violent death if a strong male
administrator was not brought
in as soon as possible. The let-
Text of letter from Josey ‘Concerned Teachers’
From: T.W. Josey High School '
To: Dr. Charles Larke
Superintendent, Richmond County Board of Education '
(Stamped) Received August 10, 1998, Superintendent RCBE
Dear Dr. Larke:
As current and former con
cerned teachers at T.W. Josey
High School, we would like to
thank you for your efforts to pro
vide the type of supportive ad
ministration and environment
that would enable us to teach
effectively and for students to
fulfill their patentiphasdearners.
We understand, however, that
we may need to provide input so
that you will be able to garner
support for your plans. Often,
only those who ‘live’ with a situa
tion from dayto day can provide
the information' necessary to
make an accurate assessment of
FLORENCE GRIFFITH-JOYNER
fOl" I—IO, ']O'
.
Olympi
: By Janet M. Walker
SPECIAL TO AUGUSTA FOCUS :
AUGUSTA
September 21, the autumn equinox. Fall season.
Death. And Florence Griffith Joyner, 10 years ago
the world’s fastest woman, dies in her sleep from
what is being called a heart seizure.
"1 found out on the way to work; two of my co
workers casually flipped out the news to me. My
reaction wasimmediate and real: I inhaled sharply
and placed my hands over my face. “What’s wrong?”
one of them asked. “Give me a minute,” I said. I
needed to absorb the news. FloJo? Dead? I was
stunned.
In my head, dusty memory vaults broke open and
images surged to the surface of my mind: a light
‘brown African American woman in superb athletic
form, highly developed thigh and hip muscles, a
trim torso, powerful arms, stepping onto the world’s
m—md-field scene and causing a stir with her
flowing black hair; longy elaborately painted, se
quiped fingernails, and shocking, colorful, self-de
‘signed running wear; moying along the track like a
R woring. sikiregd et Map o facuirac
‘hairwa a
-any woman h:dmzrrdqm before, makeup still
‘intact but the ‘reeords :f‘?ndmm shat
‘tered to pieces. (Twoaf Flo’s own sprint records, ten
iyears llgal'lur 1988 Olynmipic triple victories, re
‘main unbroken.) .-
World: Liberians fire on U.S. embassy Page2d
Commentary: Youth and authority at Josey, Johnson Page 9
Senving Metm}& g};!uj%t&rfimd the Central Suvognuh Riverg
ter, dated August 10, was made
available to all school board mem
bers shortly after a vote not to
switch the principals at A.R.
Johnson and T.W. Josey at the
beginning of the school year. The
plain paper letter — without a
formal letterhead — was sent by
a person or group of persons
known simply as “Concerned
Teachers of T.W. Josey High
School.” No names were signed.
The letter writer sought to in
form the school board members
that school discipline had gotten
out of control under the adminis
tration of Vivian Pennamon. The
writer complained that Ms.
Pennamon and the other female
administrators were too tolerant
the circumstances. With inaccu
rate assessment, the solutions de
signed to address problems must,
by implication, be faulty, too. We
want to do our part by providing
information. Thisis what we know.
®Josey seems to have mere than
its share of students — male and
female — who respect strong, dis
ciplinary. images. only. Although
women are as equally intelligent
and as equally competent as men,
they donot project acomparatively
strong physical presence. As a
result, many of Josey’s students
feel that they can do whateverthey
want to, whenever they want to do
it without concern for repercus-
' . By e -
-
. L
";' N
Olympic athlete Florence Griffith-Joyner looks into the camera for a porirait at a high school
track near her Mission Viejo, Calif. home, in this May 28, 1996 photo. Joyner died Monday
Sept. 21, 1998 of an apparent heart seizure. She was 38. (AP Photo/Susan Sterner) :
ries, including a colorful head-and-shoulder shot of
Flo, ostensibly wearing running gear, enjoying wind
blown hair and sporting a milkstache — part of a
series of celebrity-endorsed magazine ads promot
ing milk; and the sophisticated black-and-white
Vidal Sassoon print ad of Flo and her husband, Al.
As soon as I knew of her death, I thought of him.
Flo brought to track and field what her contempo
rary and sister-in-law, Jackie Joyner- ;
Kersee, did not. While Joyner-Kersee, long, lean,
dark and unobtrusive, quietly went about the busi
ness of becoming the world’s greatest athlete,
Griffith Joyner pushed into the world’s face a funky,
urban, blatant style of femininity for which she
became as famous as she did for her incredible
SEPTEMBER 24 - 30,1998
of students who happened to be
behavior problems and did not
support the teachers. According
to the writer, “...the students are
in control. As a result, the Josey
family as a whole is in ever in
creasing jeopardy. At best, dis
ruptive behavior will continue to
escalate. There will be more fights
where five or more students gang
up on one student. To date, only
blood has been drawn. At worst,
someone may actually be killed in
confrontations because the pre
vailing notion among students is
that ‘anything goes.”
While the letter is making its
rounds among parents and stu
dents, school board officials say
the letter was not the overriding
sions. These attitudes and the
actions thag accompany them make
for a threatening, hostile, and un
safe environment for ALL constitu
ents at the school including admin
istrators, teachers, and students.
Although there have always been
disciplinary problems, they were
not allowed to proliferate due to
the presence of firm and effective
former assistants such as Mr. Joe
Scott and Mr: Jesse Chambers.
When that firm effectiveness was
coupled with fairness as it was in
Mr. Frank Sigriicns, M¥. Hopson,
and Mr. Motley, students and
teachers alike were better off and
better for it. During the last aca
demic year, had Mr. Motley’s deci
sions not been overturned on so
many occasions by Dr. Pennamon,
the environment would have been
much calmer. [t may be that some
factor in their decision to re
verse themselves on the issue of
switching then A.R. Johnson
High School principal Horace
Lamback and then T.W. Josey
principal Vivian Pennamon. 30
daysafter the letter was received
at the board of education, the
controversial administrative
switch was implemented, .
“The letter was not used as a
basis for making any decision,”
said Adna Stein, president of
the Richmond County board of
education. “The letter never
came up in any of the executive
sessions,” he said. “The thing
that concerned me was, they
wouldn't sign it.”
See JOSEY, page 7A
bad advice was being given to Dr.
Pennamon. We do not know.
Regardless, we had to pay be
cause of these decisions.
When behavioral problems are
brought to the attention of female
administrators — especially Dr.
Pennamon —in mostcases, teach
ers are condemned as the cul
prits. It is extremely disquieting
and dismaying to be placed in the
absurd pesition of having to de
fend one's actions — sometimes
in the presence of the offending
student — that were taken in
order to continue to teach those
students who want to learn. This
kind of action seriously compro
mises the ability of the teacher to
manage the classroom. Without
classroom management, there
See LETTER, Page 3A
woman had taken it before. The suits fit tightly,
hugging every ripple of her highly-toned body in a
sport where women were still expected to maintain
at least a measure of modesty. One of her more
daring designs featured one-legged tights, with the
bare leg exposed up to the hip. It was enough to
make usblush. = - . .
But the trim suits were also enough to give
Florence Griffith Joyner the minimal wind resis
tance needed to dash her way into Olympic-history
greatness — and into our hearts.
Tony Cornish remembers
Griffith-Jovner » 6A
N Y
o e e %«;g .
+ éj’ p fl\‘; i 4 ;
% ;z 5 ‘ : fi “ & ;
/ 2
President Clinton applauds South African President Neison
Mandela during a meeting with African American religious
ieaders in the East Room at the White House Tuesday Sept.
22, 1998. President Mandela told the crowd that the recep
tion President Clinton received at the United Nations made it
clear the United States was isolated on the question of the
president’s character. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson)
Blacks still
back Clinton
By Paul Shepard
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
WASHINGTOR
The controversy buffeting Presi
dent Clinton appears to havedone
nothing to weaken Hig relation
ship with black America.
“I see Clinton has brought in
more minorities and women than
anyone else,” said Charles
Wilkerson, a black radiology tech
nician, while eating lunch at a
downtown case. “This mess about
two consenting adults having sex
is another matter.”
Wilkerson’s views were typical
of many questioned. While no one
is excusing the president over the
Monica Lewinsky affair, many
blacks say Clinton’s urban policy,
focus on race relations, attention
to African affairs and his record
numbers of black federal appoint
ments trump his behavior.
Standing at a street stall brim
ming with colorful ties and crafts,
merchant Charles Odoi said his
See CLINTON, page 5A
Inside
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