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Sunday, October 17, 2010
ISSN 1086-9360 PUBLISHED EACH DAY In The Vicksburg Post Building 1601-F North Frontage Road Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180 News, Sports, Advertising, Business: 601-636-4545 Circulation: 601-636-4545 Fax: 601-634-0897 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION By Carrier Seven Days Per Week $14 per month Six Days Per Week (Monday-Saturday) $11.25 per month Fri., Sat., Sun. & Mon. $10.75 per month Advance payments of two months or more should be paid to The Vicksburg Post for proper credit. All carriers are independent contractors, not employees. By Mail (Paid In Advance) Seven Days Per Week $77.25/3 months Sunday Only $47.25/3 months DELIVERY INFORMATION To report delivery problems, call 601-636-4545: Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday: 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Holidays: 7 a.m.-9 a.m. Member Of The Associated Press
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Swinford Continued from Page A1. teacher, I thought it would be nice to be dean of students or maybe assistant principal, but not principal. I just never thought I’d want to do that.” But she climbed the ladder, at each rung thinking along the same lines — contented, but maybe, at some point, the next higher job might be interesting to tackle. “I always thought about what would be the next position in order to continue growing professionally,” she said. “Unless you have goals and keep moving forward, you stop learning.” Others were looking at her potential for professional growth, too. After moving to California for several years, Swinford, by then divorced, took “a leap of faith” and returned to the South, without a job, but with two high-school-aged children. They lived temporarily with her sister on the Gulf Coast, and she applied for the principalship at C.E. Byrd High School, a science and mathematics magnet school in Caddo Parish, La. Instead of hiring her as principal, though, the superintendent chose Swinford to be director of certified personnel for the 42,000-student district. She remained for two years, moving in 2003 to the East Baton Rouge Parish School System to become associate superintendent for human resources for seven years and to be closer to her mother and sister. “Dr. Swinford has been the consummate professional,” EBR school board member Noel Hammatt said shortly after Swinford was chosen as VWSD’s new superintendent.
KATIE CARTER•The Vicksburg Post
Dr. Elizabeth Duran Swinford in her office at the school district’s headquarters on Mission 66 “She was unwavering in her support of policies, procedures and practices that supported the best interests of the students.” VWSD’s board members were split 3-2 on hiring Swinford as the district’s fifth superintendent, but offered her a two-year contract at $125,000 annually. Small steps, from a private school classroom to head of a 9,000-student district. “I’ve had great mentors along the way,” Swinford said. “They all polished me and they knew I was superintendent material before I did.” Now, she said, she’s not looking for the next rung on the ladder. “I’m looking for a place to call home,” she said. In 2009, the VWSD was rated At Risk of Failure by the Mississippi Department of Education, a rating that was repeated in 2010, shortly after Swinford’s arrival. Most of the schools had shown improvement, however, and five had moved up. The two top goals trustees set for
Swinford as she took office were bring up test scores and improving the district’s image — goals she also had set for herself. “I did my homework,” she told a Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce luncheon in September, a meeting more heavily attended than usual by business and community leaders. “But little did I know, what I thought I was getting into, I wasn’t. It’s a whole lot better.” Since taking office, Swinford has visited schools and classrooms, studied organizational charts and met with staff. At September’s board meeting, she won approval from trustees to create a curriculum and instruction department and hire a firm to plan and coordinate professional development, steps she says are necessary to achieve her vision. “Two years is a very short timeline, but I see us moving out of At Risk of Failure,” she said. “I see children who are behind catching up. I see us
The Vicksburg Post being able to provide more options to over-age kids. Graduation rates will start to improve.” She has found the elementary schools to be in good shape in curriculum pacing, periodic skills testing and using class- and research-derived data to drive teaching. “Every time I step into a classroom, I’m very impressed with what I find,” she said. She carries a standard rubric or chart as she observes teachers and reviews her findings and comments with principals, leaving a copy with them so the teachers also can see them. Much of Swinford’s longer-term efforts are beginning to localize in the junior high schools, she said, where the results will take a little longer to gauge. But in five years, she believes, other school districts will be coming here for advice and guidance. “I see us being a model school district,” Swinford said. “We didn’t get to where we are overnight. No one should expect us to get out overnight, either.” Even while moving inexorably toward her goals, Swinford’s feet are firmly in the present. She sometimes tell visitors to her office to ignore noises from her two cell phones — one business, one personal — because they’re scores or sports news updates from ESPN. She’s a “big-time Mets fan” who is rooting for the Giants in the playoffs. In football she loves the Saints, the New York Giants and LSU, and is a fan of “the other” football, as well, especially with Spain, “the mother country,” reigning World Cup soccer champion. In an instant she can also
community calendar CHURCHES
Ridgeway Baptist — Revival, 11 today and 6 tonight; 7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; evangelist Danny Long; 4684 Redwood Road. Morning Star Seventh Day Adventist — Revelation of Hope, 7 tonight-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday; Darron George, pastor; 1954 Sky Farm Ave. Triumphant Baptist — Coat, clothes and blanket drive; noon-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 224 R.L. Chase Circle; 601-6344788; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays; multipurpose building, 74 Scenic Drive; 601-638-8072. Christ Episcopal — Spiritual education for ages 6-10 and junior youth programs for ages 11-14; 4-5 p.m. Tuesdays; co-sponsored by Baha’is of Vicksburg. Jeanine Hensley, 601-415-3253; Alma Smith, 601-636-8628; Sunday school building two doors down from church at 1115 Main St.; youth. educ@gmail.com. Shady Grove Baptist — Harvest Drive through Oct. 31; nonperishable items; 61 Shady Grove Circle.
CLUBS
Rosa A. Temple Class of 1966 Reunion — 3 today; reunion planning; Calvary Baptist Church, 1350 East Ave.; 601415-0512 or 601-218-1355. Letitia Street Reunion — 4 today; planning meeting; Ameristar’s Heritage Buffet; 601-218-3869. Exchange Club — 12:30 p.m. Monday; Hibachi Grill. Vicksburg Kiwanis — Noon Tuesday, Jacques’ Cafe. Openwood Garden — 7 p.m. Tuesday; 5 Beauguard Drive. Lions Club —Noon Wednesday; Larry Pharr, Batesville Casket Co., speaker; Jacques’ Cafe. Port City Kiwanis — 7 a.m. Thursday; Georgia Lynn, speaker, animal cruelty laws. Vicksburg Toastmasters Club 2052 — Noon Thursday; Toney’s, 1903 Mission 66; Jeff Hensley, 601-634-4596.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Haunted Vicksburg Tours — Thursday-Sundays in October; for times and fees, visit www. hauntedvicksburg.com; Bazsinsky House, 1022 Monroe St.
Senior Center — Monday: 9 a.m., Curtis bridge; 10, chair exercises; 1 p.m., card games. Free Hunter Safety Course — 6-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; Social Security number and all three nights mandatory; minimum age 10 in calendar year; Lonnie Friar, 601636-8883; Hinds Community College, Mississippi 27. Public Library — 10:30 a.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; story time for preschool and toddlers; 10:30 Thursday; day-care
correction
groups; 700 Veto St. Tuesday Vicksburg AlAnon — Noon Tuesday; second floor, First Presbyterian Church, 1501 Cherry St.; 601634-0152. Serenity Overeaters Anonymous — 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Bowmar Baptist Church, Room 102C; 601-638-0011. Vicksburg Al-anon — 8 p.m. Wednesday; family, friends of alcoholics, addicts; 502 Dabney Avenue; 601-636-1134.
NEW HEALTH CHIROPRACTIC CENTER 1825 N. Frontage Rd. Suite D. Vicksburg, MS 39180
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601-218-2185
For Dr. Houseal Call:
601-634-1600
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find the nearest Starbucks and pull up her latest family photos on her phone, including one of her son and her daughter-in-law. She is hoping their first child will be born on Nov. 24 — her birthday. It will be the third grandchild for Swinford and her husband, Darren, 52. The couple is completing the move to Vicksburg this weekend, and Darren Swinford, former wide-area network manager for the EBR school district, will start job hunting — another leap of faith. The two are known by friends to sit side-by-side at night, in a loveseat recliner in front of a television — each working on a laptop. Swinford’s 91-year-old mother also lives with the couple, though she has been hospitalized recently after falling and breaking her hip. “I am in love with this city,” Swinford said of Vicksburg. “Certainly I’ve had my drama moments — my mother broke her hip, my dog died — but I’ve had a big segment of this community come and help me. They’ve sent plants, flowers, cards. There’s been an outpouring of support. I’ve read every one of those cards to my mother.” She hopes one day to take her dream cruise to Alaska, one of those trips where passengers can get off the boat and, safari-style, check out the polar bears, which have held a fascination for her since she was a teenager. At home, Swinford has a collection of the bears in figurines, key chains, framed artwork and stuffed animals, but still her vision is to see them in the wild. After all, Swinford takes on only the living.
Mount Carmel Ministries activities listed in Saturday’s Religion section were incorrect. Services at the 2015 Grove St. church begin at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday school. Worship is at 11, with Communion each first Sunday. Musicians rehearse at 5 p.m. Mondays, and praise and worship choir at 5 p.m. Wednesdays. Bible study is at 7 p.m. Wednesdays; men’s fellowship is at 7
p.m. Thursdays; and exercise class is at 8 a.m. Saturdays. Monya Williams will preach an initial sermon at 3 p.m. today. Hallelujah Night is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 30, and the Harvest Ball for 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at City Auditorium. •
The Vicksburg Post attempts to report information accurately. To report an error, call 601-636-4545, ext. 123 or 137.
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Dr. Thomas’ Dental Update NUTRITION AND OBESITY
The increasing incidence of obesity in this country has many people concerned, and none more so than parents of overweight children. As it turns out, the dentist may help parents educate themselves and their children about the role that nutrition plays in attaining normal weight. Researchers have found that among young children between ages two and five years, poor nutrition may be the common denominator that links obesity and tooth decay. In fact, 28 percent of young children in this age group, who have decay serious enough to require anesthesia for treatment in an operating room, had a “body mass index” (BMI) that indicated they were overweight or obese. Better nutrition may help avert both obesity and severe tooth decay. Our dental team is in the forefront in promoting good nutri-
tion for general and oral health by informing parents about the importance of integrating healthful snack and meal patterns into oral hygiene practices. Maintaining good oral hygiene, eliminating periodontal (gum) disease and scheduling regular professional cleanings are essential to excellent dental health. Please call the office of BRENT THOMAS, DMD, PA, to schedule an appointment. You will receive a professional oral dental exam to detect and address any existing or imminent oral health problems. P.S. Processed snacking foods not only tend to be highly caloric, but they are often made of sticky sugars and carbohydrates that adhere to teeth and contribute to tooth decay.
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