ART EXHIBITION Gallery Flux displays works by Dan Bartges PAGE
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Vol. 3 No. 32 | Richmond Suburban News | March 21, 2018
All four high schools join in nationwide walkout By Jim Ridolphi for The Hanover Local ASHLAND -- A small group of adults braved a brisk breeze as they stood across the road from the front entrance of Lee-Davis High School at 10 a.m. last Wednesday in anticipation of a student walkout to honor victims of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. Despite warnings from Hanover County Public Schools officials, some students had expressed their intentions to meet at the flagpole in front of the Mechanicsville campus for a 17-minute vigil, a remem-
brance celebrated by students across the nation designed to protest current gun safety laws. But the top of the hour came and left without a single student visible, leaving the group consisting of parents and members of the media wondering where the students were. So, did walkouts occur in Hanover County schools despite the guidelines issues last week by school superintendent Michael Gill? According to various reports, walkouts did take place at several county campuses, the largest contingent estimated at
about 250 students at Patrick Henry High School. In a letter issued last week, Gill outlined various methods for students to express support for the victims short of infringing on instructional time. “Student safety is always our first priority; we are entrusted with this responsibility every day and we take it seriously,” Gill said. “We worked well in advance with our school administrators to develop a safety plan for each building. This included identifying safe areas at each school where students could peacefully assemble and express
themselves if demonstrations occurred,” he added. Gill said the students’ right to express opinions on important issues also was a priority for school administrators. “Part of this involved working with student leaders to find non-disruptive alternatives to allow them to show their support while also preserving the integrity of the instructional day,” Gill said. HCPS public information officer Chris Whitley summaNick Liberante for The Hanover Local rized what actually occurred on Wednesday in a written About 250 Patrick Henry High School students left class last Wednesday to take part in the nationwide walkout to express statement: “Students par- support for the victims of recent school shootings, including the see WALKOUT, pg. 7
Feb. 14 incident in Parkland, Florida.
Supervisors pay tribute to late colleague by naming park By Jim Ridolphi for The Mechanicsville Local HANOVER — Less than three months after the passing of longtime Hanover County Board of Supervisors member Elton Wade, Cold Harbor District, his fellow supervisors took action that will permanently honor his name in the county. A new park planned for eastern Hanover County will be called Elton Wade Sr. Park at Cold Harbor, a gesture endorsed by all of his former colleagues. Parks and Recreation director Greg Sager said the naming process began more than a year ago when his department
initiated an effort to name a new park planned for a site off Cold Harbor Road. “Requests for naming a park are submitted to the Recreation Advisory Committee and those members discuss the names to determine if they meet the criteria,” Sager said. Public suggestions also were accepted during the year-long process facilitated by online surveys, public forums and even a questionairre distributed at the Hanover Tomato Festival. In addition, Sager met with neighbors in the area to gather
Jim Ridolphi for The Local
their input on the park. Five names made the early cut. At its January meeting, the Hanover County Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission unanimously approved a motion to recom-
Greg Sager, photo at left, director of Hanover County Parks and Recreation, presented three names to the Hanover County Board of Supervisors for consideration in naming of the new eastern Hanover Park. Supervisors, from left, Aubrey “Bucky” Stanley, Canova Peterson, chairman Sean Davis and Scott Wyatt joined in agreeing to the name Elton J. Wade Sr. Park.
mend three names for consideration. They included Ellison Park, Rock Hill Park and Elton J. Wade Sr. Park.
Those three names were submitted to the board by Sager at last week’s meeting, but it seemed one stood out as
the obvious choice. “Considering the life of Mr. Wade and how he gave back see PARK, pg. 16