Christy Adams Named Teacher Of The Year

By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
      From the moment Faye Browning opened the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Banquet on Thursday evening, Feb. 5, at Madison County High School, to the moment everyone stood in applause when the final nominee was announced, one theme dominated the occasion: The gift of a good teacher lasts a lifetime.
      Prior to the presentation ceremony, Lou Miller provided a warm invocation, which was followed by a delicious roast beef dinner with all the sides. The FCCLA Club provided table hosting and Lynn Sapp added an extraordinary touch with dinner music selections on piano.
      Last year’s District Teacher of the Year, Gail Washington, was slated to be the Mistress of Ceremonies. However, due to a bad bout of laryngitis, she passed the microphone to Vice President of MCFEE Tim Sanders. All agreed he served the evening very well.
      “I know how much goes into being a good teacher and how special all the nominees are to their students, their schools and the community,” Sanders noted.
      Browning and Sanders serve on the board of the Madison County Foundation for Excellence in Education as president and vice president, respectively.
      MCFEE organizes the annual Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Banquet, and serves as funding agent for the Take Stock in Children Scholarship program. The program currently has over 70 students under contract.
      “Faye Browning has done an exceptional job running the foundation and raising money for the Take Stock in Children program. She’s given so much of her time to serve,” Sanders added.
      Prior to announcing the nominees, Jo Willis stepped up briefly to discuss the status of the Take Stock In Children Program, as well as accept a $1,000 check on behalf of the program from long-time supporter Madison County Community Bank, which was presented by Ed Meggs. Other guest speakers included David Mica, representing the governor’s office.
      As the seven nominees were introduced, one from each school in the district (two from the Central School—one from elementary and one from middle), the excitement was growing rapidly. Comments like, “Oh, I really like her,” or “He’s done so much for that school,” could be heard around the room. It was evident that all nominees were already winners.
      Each District Teacher of the Year nominee was introduced by her student nominator, accompanied by a few words from their respective principal. The principal then took a moment to present a plaque to their school’s teacher of the year nominee, who then spoke a few words. By the time the last group left the podium, the air was really buzzing.
      The school, principal, student nominator, and the school’s teacher of the year were introduced as follows:
      Madison County Central School—Sam Stalnaker, Bailey McClellan and Christy Adams.
      Madison County Excel School—Elizabeth Hodge, Shaneika Bell and James Brown.
      Lee Elementary School—Jack McClellan, Laila Dickey and Kim Gurley.
      Madison County High School—Ben Killings-worth; Jeanine, Jeanille and Jeanelle Walker; and Ruth Latner.
      Madison County Central School—Sam Stalnaker, Coddrick Griffin and Elvira Miller.
      Greenville Elementary School—Clifford Cooks, Jameica Cobb and Rebecca Miller.
      Pinetta Elemen-tary—Beth Moore, Ceridwyn Griffin and Peggy Ross.
      With plenty of tears and cheers filling the room, the wall-to-wall crowd enjoyed a musical segue before the final announcement, as Mark Branham performed a moving arrangement of “You raise me up.” Braving a few words in spite of her sore throat, Gail Washington then whispered a few comments to Tim Sanders.
      Speaking on her behalf, Sanders then announced the 2010 District Teacher of the Year: “Christy Adams.”
      Approaching the microphone, her eyes filled with tears of joy—joy that comes from a deep spiritual devotion to purpose. Adams spoke only a few words. Referring to the song just heard, she stated, “That song is all about the Lord. It’s for Him and this is for Him.”
      Moved and proud of her, the audience greeted Adams with immense and well-deserved praise. MCFEE definitely delivered another successful milestone.
      Organizers also wanted to thank Progress Energy for being a Golden Apple of support for the activities of the Madison County Foundation for Excellence in Education and the Teacher of the Year Banquet.
      Additional thanks were extended to Bank of America, Wachovia Bank, Madison County Community Bank, North Florida Community College and Citizens State Bank.
Michael Curtis can be reached at michael@ greenepublishing.com.

Sex Offender Registers With Madison Address

By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
      A sex offender has registered with a Madison address.
      According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Michael Antyone Cooper registered with an address of 159 SW 1st Avenue on February 2.
      Cooper is a 31-year-old black male, who stands 6’1” tall and weighs 275 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. His qualifying offenses include a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 16 years of age and failure to register as a sex offender.
      The charges stem from Seminole and Volusia Counties.

ACLU Files Suit Against School Board

By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
      Among the rights and privileges the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) professes to defend and extend, school prayer is perhaps the most rejected and controversial. Good or bad, the battle has now come to the Madison County School District, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, considering tight budgets, tight workloads, and the potentially high cost of legal fees to defend.
      In a document titled, “PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS,” filed in the Third Judicial Court, the ACLU alleges the school district failed to comply with a public records request made by the ACLU back in November in a timely manner.
      School Board Attorney Tommy Reeves doesn’t agree with the assessment. In fact, some view it as a witch-hunt for the newly opened regional of fice. Still, this is not a trifling matter. Sadly, there are aspects of the ACLU that most citizens appreciate; however, this is not one of them.
      The nature of the suit is clear, and to many quite unnecessary, as everybody expects events throughout Madison County to open and/or close with prayer. To date, this reporter has not received, nor heard of, a single objection to the practice. On the contrary, it’s simply part of the rich spiritual fabric of the county and tradition among its leadership. Of course, no one is implying that county residents are immune to lapses in judgment; it’s simply that religious references are customary.
      The initial public records request asked for information dated July 1, 2005 to the present, including “flyers, pamphlets, programs, brochures or any other records associated with an induction, benediction, dedication, award (academic and non-academic), athletic, and graduation ceremony or event, and also includes field trips taken during school hours or if not during school hours, in connection with, or sponsored by any Madison County School.”
      The document later narrows the search. “The request specifically seeks policies and procedures that would apply to prayers, invocations, benedictions, blessings, devotions, bible readings and religious songs (collectively “prayers”).
      Basically, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida is asking the School Board to justify and reconcile its religious references and practices.
Florida statute requires the ACLU cover the copy and clerical expenses incurred by the district at 15 cents per page, and $11.00 per hour for clerical fees. At this point, the focus is on getting the ACLU the requested public records as deemed appropriate by the district and counsel. When that is concluded, however, the district may be defending its degree of separation between church and school.
      Michael Curtis can be reached at michael@greenepublishing.com.

Drugs And Contraband Found At Two Different Schools

      On the morning of Tuesday, February 3, members of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit and School Resource Officers Unit worked in conjunction with school administrators to conduct spot checks of school grounds for illegal contraband. K-9 Corporal Michael Maurice, K-9 Deputy Jason Whitfield, S.R.O. Sergeant Charlie Dickey, And S.R.O. Corporal Maurice Alexander along with Principal Ben Killingsworth of the High School, Principal Liz Hodge of the Excel School, and several other school staff members conducted the operation.
      During the operation, school administrators picked random rooms at the Madison County High School and the Madison County Excel School to be screened for illegal contraband. The school administrator locked the rooms down and removed the students to check each person for contraband. Once the rooms were empty, the Sheriff’s Office scanned the rooms and items with the K-9 teams.
      During the spot checks, they located contraband at both schools. At the high school, administrators located contraband tobacco and at the Excel School, K-9 team Jason Whitfield and “Nitro” located thirteen bags of marijuana packaged for resale after K-9 “Nitro” alerted on a classroom computer printer.
      The thirteen bags were found hidden inside the printer, which the students had access to. The bags had a total of 15.6 grams of marijuana with a resale value of $260.
      Sergeant Charlie Dickey is conducting an investigation into the marijuana and school administrators handled the tobacco in house.
      The Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit is developing a plan with the S.R.O. Unit and school administrators. The two will continue doing random spot checks of different schools for illegal contraband throughout the school year.

Sheriff’s Office Hosting Agricultural Info Meeting

By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
      The Madison County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Florida Department of Transportation, Office of Motor Carrier Compliance, Law Enforcement Operations; Madison County Farm Bureau; and Farmers Cooperative of Madison will be holding an informational meeting for local farmers. The meeting will include an overview of laws pertaining to the transportation of agriculture products, equipment, and fuel on local and state highways. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer period.
      Madison County Sheriff Ben Stewart noted the meeting was requested for the purpose of providing information for, and answering questions from, local farmers regarding the operation and transportation of their equipment and products. “There are new laws, as well as many exemptions, that concern only farmers that will be covered in the presentation. Colonel David Dees, Director; Captain Derek Barrs, Regional 6 Commander; and other representatives of the Office of Motor Carrier Compliance, Law Enforcement Operations, will give the presentation,” Stewart explained.
      The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Madison County Extension Office located at 184 College Loop, adjacent to the NFCC campus in Madison. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with supper provided by Madison County Farm Bureau and Farmers Cooperative of Madison. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and will conclude by 9 p.m. It is gratefully requested that those planning to attend please contact the Extension Office at (850) 973- 4138 to RSVP no later than Feb. 20, so organizers can plan for food and beverages.
      Michael Curtis can be reached at Michael@greenepublishing.com.

Newspapers Publishing Stingers

      The Madison County Carrier and The Madison Enterprise-Recorder is publishing in each edition,  “Stingers” sent in by our readers.
      “Stingers” are defined as pet peeves of our readers, and are general, rather than specific.  They are not meant to attack any individual nor institution, but rather to poke fun at the human condition. Our intention is to draw attention to situations by pointing out their comical aspects.
      The papers reserve to right not to print anything deemed offensive.
      “Stingers” can be emailed to Jacob Bembry, editor, at jacob@greenepublishing.com

Man Arrested For Drug Possession With Intent To Sell

By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
      Madison police arrested a man Friday, Feb. 6, for drug possession with intent to sell.
      According to a Madison Police Department report, Reserve Patrolman Ben Mabry initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle.
      When Mabry approached the driver, later identified as Kenneth Sermons, 41, of Valdosta, Ga., Sermons gave him a false name and date of birth.
      Once Sermons’ identification was discovered, it was confirmed through dispatch that his drivers’ license was suspended.
      When Sermons was asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle, he said that there was marijuana under the front seat of his vehicle.
Sermons was arrested for resisting without violence, driving while license suspended with knowledge and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to sell.