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Wednesday Dec. I(>, 1998 Volume 127, \o. ~>o 2 Si t turns lo l’ijes I () Cents ■ I Iloinc ol the l.rorU' i m \iliontl trtirgropiuh ■ and \j>monk‘t ■ : •’ TV * : • • . . ' rwJ7 ■ - At the * Crossroads This Week Santa letter deadline is Dec. 19 at 5 p.rn. The Houston Times- Joumal has seen many, many letters from Pcrryans to Santa. We’ve got a hunch of them ready for publication. But there’s room for more. The deadline for Santa let ters is 5 p.rn. Dec. 18. Letters can go to the Perry Post Office or to the Times-Joumal at 807 Carroll St. But hurry. 5 p.m. Friday is the deadline. All letters to Santa will he published in the Dec. 23 issue of the Times-Joumal Get holiday lights listed this week This is the final week to list outstanding holiday light displays in the Perry area Call the Times-Joumal at 987-1823. fax us at 988-1181 or email us at timesjm@hom.net and we ll list your holiday display next week. Christmas on the menu at school Here are menus for Houston County public schools for the final three days of school before holi days. Dec. 16 Breakfast is breakfast pizza or cereal and toast, fruit or fruit juice and milk. Lunch is hot dogs or sloppy joes or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The other choice is a baked potato with hot toppings. Dessert is a brownie Dec. 17 Breakfast is a sausage biscuit or cereal and toast with fresh fruit or fruit juice and milk. Lunch is a Christmas dinner which may vary by location. Dec. 18 Breakfast is manager’s choice or cereal and toast with fruit or fruit juice and milk. Lunch is pizza or manager’s choice or PBJ sandwich or manager’s choice, and applesauce cake Time*-journal Photo by Jj Johnson DOWNTOWN LIGHTS Downtown Perry, the entire business district, is aglow in a bath of white Christmas lights. This is the fourth year Perry has decorated using the white light idea. Check out the business district while inspecting Christmas lights around town. ttastan Contact the Times- Journal Contact the Houston Times- Journal: Voice (912)V0. .023 Fax (912)988-1181 email timesjm@hom.net Mail P.O. Drawer M. Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St„ Perry, 31069. Friends gather for a jghjfrx ' j.'.i • • -A~ . * . iiHHBHhAhhhmhbdJHHHHH Houston Times -Journal 0 Sign up day for cheap kids health insurance arrives Low cost Peach Care program effective Jan. 1 Fkom Staff Reports ______ The chance to buy health insurance for kids for $7.50 per month comes Friday. Pojents interested in Peach Care for Kids, the new statewide program which offers low-cost health insurance for children, arc encouraged to visit the Perry Hospital on Dec. 18 from 10 a m. until 2 p.m. This is anew program, offering a full range of health care for low cost. The program was created specifically for working-class Georgia families: par ents who are independent and self-sufficient, but who cannot afford to purchase private insurance for their children. Peach Care for Kids representatives will he on hand at the hospital to answer questions about the program and to assist parents in completing the one page application. Peach Care for Kids becomes effective on Jan. I, 1999. and offers the same range of services as many private insurance plans, including doctors’ visits, eye and dental exams and accident coverage. The cost is $7.50 per month per child with a max imum of sls per family. Children under six are cov ered free, .and there are no deductibles or co-pay ments. Parents may choose from more than 4,000 Georgia Better Health Care program physicians throughout the state or a physician can be assigned to Land acquisition to begin for South Perry Parkway By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-Journm. Staff A learn of city, county and state officials have set a timetable for for right of way acquisition along the future path of the long-await ed South Perry Parkway. The new four lane road will extend from Ga. 127 (the Marshallville Road) through farmland to U.S. 41, crossing over 1-75 at the interchange cur rently under construction. From that point it will extend <4 I / . jmßbk l ; "% & ' r I ' ' Bite .•“raarfKl'. -:• P ■ f ?Vi...::, „r Moving day arrives soon for Perry Middle students By STACIE M. VU Times-Journal Staff Santa Claus is bringing more than toys to Perry Middle School students and facul ty this year. He’s bringing anew, 159,000 square-foot school. During the holiday break which begins Dec. 18, workers will complete the task of moving the students and faculty into the new Perry Middle School building located at 1090 North Perry Parkway near U.S. 41. The new middle school, which has been under construction for the past 18 months, will be ready for occupancy Jan. 4 when students return to school. Each grade level has its own wing and an exploratory wing located across the back Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia to Limerock Road. The highway construction will require obtaining land from about 15 property owners, including Georgia Power and the Georgia Agriculture Exposition Authority as well as a few owners of homes and farmlands, according to infor mation released at a joint meeting of the Houston County Commissioners and Perry City Council and Mayor Dec. 15. An informational presentation was given at the meeting by of the school. All of the desks, lockers, and tables are new equipment. The computers that are to be used in the school will be transferred from the old campus. “We’ve bonded together to purchase items for the new school," said Thomas Gupton, Perry Middle School Principal. “I’m very excited for the parents and the fac ulty. It’s well worth giving up my vacation.” Students at Perry Middle will participat ing in a tour of the school this week. During the tour of the new school, lockers, which are located inside the classrooms, will be assigned and students have been instructed to leave their books. The students are expected to spend a couple of hours at the school during the tour according to Gupton. Set \ ino Houston ( oml\ Siiit t lK t I 170 them when they enroll. Once enrolled, parents will be issued a Peach Care for Kids insurance card, which they should present at the doctor's office at the time of service. To qualify for the program, families can earn up to twice the Federal poverty level. For example, a family of four is eligible with an annual income of approximately $32,000 or less. Depending on the number of family members working, as well as other family expenses, the eligibility maximum amount may be higher. “Approximately 14 percent of the residents of Houston County arc uninsured and children make up a large portion of that number, “ said Skip McDannald, CEO of the Houston Healthcare Complex. “We are pleased that the state has recog nized this issue, and we encourage parents to enroll their children in Peach Care so that they will have medical benefits.” There will also be a sign-up at the Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins on Dec. 17 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m For more information, please call 542-7991. Application forms arc also immediately available by calling toll-free. 1-877-GA PEACH (1-877-427- 3224). In addition, parents may pick application up at other locations, such as the county health depart ment. Nancy Jones, a right of way spe cialist with the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Houston County Engineer Tommy Stalnaker. “Items for Action” presented by Stalnaker and Jones included a Dec. 30 deadline for preliminary title preparation, the scheduling of an informational meeting for property owners in a month’s time and a July!-Aug. 1, 1999, dead (See ROAI), Page SA) Perryan Demis gjf Hooper has ideas * Details, page 4B i ! ilSLrl um - wsd ■ Time* journal Photo by Jj Johnson FESTIVE WINDOWS Holiday decorations mark the spot of store front windows along Carroll Street in downtown Perry. This view is along the north side of the 900 block. PHS undergoes evaluation By STACIE M. VII Times-JoeawAL Staft Perry High School is undergo ing an evaluation process known as “School Renewal.” The process is a systematic, organized approach to analyzing a school's strengths and weakness es: predicting future needs, and planning improvements to serve students better. The process is designed to ensure the school meets the stan dards of performance set forth by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and permits the granting of accreditation. “We look at what wc are doing and see how wc can improve on what we arc doing,” said PHS Instructional Coordinator Wayne Murphy. The evaluation is made up of three phases including a self-study. The self-study includes a total school program assessment by . i ■ ■ ■■■ —i , i y;a- v , . , READY FOR OCCUPANCY The new Perry Middle School (left) is almost ready for students and faculty. In fact, students will leave books at the school during the holidays. Inside (above) wide, briaht hallways are just part of the huge new building which replaces me old structure. The new school has separate wings for each of the three grades at the school. Parents will be able to drop-off students on the west side (facing the school, to the right) of the school. After dropping off stu dents, parents can then make a loop around the parking lot and exit back onto U.S. 41. Bus drop-off will be located on the East side (left facing the school) of the new school. “They will enter off the Perry Parkway, and loop around and enter back onto the Parkway," said Bill Loudcrmilk, Director of Facilities. An open house ceremony will be held Jan. 6, 1999, in front of the new school at 9 a.m. Parents are invited to attend the cere mony. An open house will be held Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. A barbecue will take place the same day at 5 p.m. at the school and parents teachers, administrators, students and parents. Also included is an evaluation of a visiting committee of peers and professional educa tors who provide an unbiased opinion to the self-study. The third phase is involvement and utilization of data gathered through the self-study and the vis iting committee evaluation to develop a school improvement plan to be implemented by the local school community. Murphy said the process includes two visits by the visiting committee in five- year intervals. The first visit will be in March 1999 with the second visit coming five years later. The purpose of the visits is to ensure the carrying out of the three phases of the School Renewal process. Within the self-study five areas will be looked at including: (See STUDY, Page SA) Timet-Journal Photos by Stacie VSi will be able to tour the building at the open house ceremony. The school must be out of their present building on Dec. 21. Workers have started moving equipment and supplies to the new building. Teachers can enter the building Dec. 28-30 to prepare for students to arrive. The phone numbers for the school will remain the same as they are now. Part of the old PMS building will be used as a technology center according U> Loudermilk. Charles Holloway, Houston County School Superintendent, said part of the old school will be used for staff devel opment and computer training. The porta bles at the school will be moved throughout the county as they are needed.