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Volume 128, No. 45 2 Sect! one 16 Pages Wednesday, Nov. 10, 1999 so Coats m. Georgia Mg National VairH The Crossroailor^ This J5K' Week Middle School PTO meets Nov. 15 Members of the Perry Middle School PTO will meet Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. The sixth grade band will present a concert. The January Open House will be the main topic of the evening. All parents of Perry Middle School students are encouraged to attend. Following the PTO meeting, Band Boosters will meet. Book week celebration planned Nov. 15-19 Children's Book Week will be celebrated Nov. 15-19 at the Perry Pub lic Library. Storytimes and Toddler Times will be held all week. Evening Story Time will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Movies will be shown at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. For more information, call 987- 3050. Royal roundtable set at Matt Arthur School Matt Arthur Elemen tary’s Royal Roundtable will host the Disco Knights. Nov. 11, 6-8 p.m. Admission is $.50. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Matt Arthur parent night is Nov. 16 Matt Arthur will have a Parent Night Nov. 16, until 7 p.m. This is in conjunction with the Nov. 15, 8-4 p.m. Book Fair. Students will be able to buy books for them selves and for their classrooms. Books can be donated to the new library in honor or memory of someone. Lunches for Houston County Schools Milk is served with every meal. Breakfast features fresh fruit or fruit juice; cereal and toast are a daily break fast choice. Lunches offer a variety of fruits and vegetables daily. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always on the menu. Nov. 11- Breakfast- Pigs in a Blanket. Lunch- Cheeseburger or Southern Chicken w/roll or sub-munch able. Manager’s Choice dessert. Nov. 12- Breakfast- Manager’s choice. Lunch- Chicken fried steak w/gravy and roll or pizza. Apple sauce cake. (See FOOD, Page SA) Houston Contact: the Home Journal Contact the Houston Home journal: Voice (912)987-1823 Fax (912) ‘>BB-1181 email Mail PO. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry, 31069 Veterans salute Letter includes poem saluting all veterans for their efforts to preserve American way of life. Editorial, Page 4A Houston Home Jamal j Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia BOE says students fighting at public schools face risk of police fines By Torey Jolley Home Jourwai. State lighting in school has always been against the rules, but now it can cost a student more than just detention. Members of the Houston Coun ty Board of Education passed a new policy concerning fighting in schools during the Nov. 9 meet ing. According to the new policy, students who fight in school, on the way to or from school, or at school sponsored functions, will find themselves with a citation from the appropriate local law enforcement agency. To prepare for this policy ■Mp 11 , ' iWr j|p v ;?”w I dW Mr ** F JJJ (jpr in yJt PP HpPIflRp 7 * -w* m. _jK Home Journal Photo by Rob Mead THE NEW QUEEN Cody Giles smiles as she wears the crown oj the Westfield Homecoming Queen. Giles, a senior, was introduced during halftime festivities at the Nov. 5 Westfield football game. Veterans’ Day celebration at Rozar Park Nov. 11 Veterans’ Day will be observed in Perry at 10:45 a.m., Nov. 11, at the Rozar Park Recreation Center. Col. Duane A. Jones, comman der of the 93 Logistics Group. 93 Air Control Wing at Robins Air Force Base, will be the guest speaker. Barnes to cut city birthday cake From Staff Reports uov. koy A. Barnes will be on hand for the celebration of Perry’s 175th Birthday Nov. 19. According to Mayor Jim Wor rall, the governor will give a brief talk and will cut the birthday cake. The Perry High School Band will provide the music. On the program for the special event, which will begin at 2 p.m. at City Hall, will be Councilman Bobby Glover, Mayor Worrall and Rep. Larry Walker. The Old Reliable, Serving Houston County Since Dec, 17, 1870 change, a new definition of fight ing was approved by the Board. It reads, “Fighting is defined as a physical struggle or a physical anu confrontation wherein blows ot the list, arms, legs or feet are intended to hit or do in fact hit any other student or any other person while a student is going to or from school, during the school day. or at any school related function.” The policy further states any student in grades 6-12 who is engaged in a fight shall be report ed to the appropriate law enforce ment officer or agency. Houston County Board of Edu cation attorney Billy Jerles said. The Perry High School Band will play. Hayley Greene and Christie Hawley will sing, and the colors will be presented by the Perry High J.R.O.T.C. Color Guard. Rozar Park is at 1060 Keith Drive in Perry. The Houston Home Journal is preparing a souvenir publication for the event, which will include highlights of Perry's history and reminiscences about past times. This 175th birthday publication will be included in the Nov. 17 issue of the paper, and will also be available at the program. Members of the Perry City Council are serving as hosts for the occasion. A large sheet cake is being prepared for the occasion. The ceremony will be held out side. Worrall reported. County champs! Perry Middle School Seventh Grade Panthers down T& for 1999 football champ! rr onship. Story, pa Houston County public schools earn good scores in ‘report card’ ranking O -** -- - HF- O By Jj JOHNSON Home Journal Editor Houston County public schools fared well in a report of the Georgia school sys tem released Nov. 9. The rating of the school systems and individual schools was sponsored through the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Among elementary schools in the state, Houston County schools ranked as high as 174 (Perdue Elementary) and as low as 934 (Lindsey Elementary).Some 1,065 Georgia elementary schools were assessed. Of the 410 middle schools given a grade, Houston County schools ranged from 25th in the state by Feagin Mill Middle School to as low as 257 by Tabor Middle School. Scores attained by students taking the lowa Test of Basic Skills during 1998 were used to rank elementary and middle schools. Scores in two basic areas, reading and math, were used for the evaluation. Houston County high schools ranged from 42nd for Houston County High to 105 for Perry High, (see county scores on page S A) A different test, the Georgia High School Graduation Test, was used for ranking the 319 high schools in Georgia. Students are required to pass the Grad uation Test as part of the requirements for "Fighting will be reported to law enforcement and it will be han dled like it would be at any other place.” The courts have indicated that students found guilty of fighting and/or disorderly conduct will receive a citation. This would cost students, or their parents, SSO for the first offense and SIOO for the second. The fine would be payable to the court, not the School Board. The policy change states, “On appeal, the Houston County Board of Education shall only review the record and shall ren- See FIGHTING. Page 5A Home Journal photo by Jj John son LETTING HER HAIR FLY This majorette in the Perry High School Pride of the Crossroads band lets her hair fly during the halftime peiformance at the Panther Pit Nov. 5. After using the con test show as the main halftime show during the first seven PHS games, band director Joe Hutcheson provid ed a completely new show for band mem bers. Day at Tucker Take a look at a fall festival at school nf IK-; oor*rp r*ftn T rcT a kinder tk» 1 r tr>or v os page IB Defi ni t ion of Fighting o o Fighting is defined as a physical struggle or a physical and confronta tion wherein blows of the fist, arms, legs or feet are intended to hit or do in fact hit any other stu dent or any other person while a student is going to or from school, during the school day, or at any school related function. a diploma. The test evaluates basic skills in several academic areas. Also factored in for the ranking were the average 1999 Scholastic Aptitude Test scores among students enrolled in a college prep program and the school graduation rate. By way of comparison, Houston County and Feagin Mill recorded the highest scores among midstate schools in their respective divisions of ranking. All Houston County high schools fin ished among the top one-third in the state. The test scores are useful to school administrators in comparing various schools against others around the state. For parents, the scores indicate the type of education available in the schools to which their children are assigned. There are several organizations which rank public schools in Georgia. Some include other criteria such as the number of students at the poverty level in making the ranking. This ranking does not com pensate for high poverty rates. Georgia Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization in the state. The organization also tracks pub lic opinion and information concerning other government issues in the state. } *'' , <j % l vVf iQi ' HUHmKrylk