By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Plans are under way for the relocation of students in grades 8 and 9 while a new Forrest City Junior High building is under construction.
"We've got the new building planning going on, and at the same time there is the 'what-do-we-do-in-the-meantime' planning," said Pat Flanagin, finance director of the Forrest City School District.
In a press release, Flanagin said Resun of Memphis received a contract for temporary buildings. Three 28 feet by 60 feet units, with restrooms, were ordered, two for the high school and one for Stewart Elementary. The price on each is $2,670 set up and delivery, $555 monthly rental and about $2,000 for pick up and removal.
Each unit will have operable restrooms, Flanagin said.
"The buildings we're going to use are currently down in Greenwood, Miss.," said Flanagin. "They are going to start dismantling them later this week, and probably have them here the next week."
The Title I building at the existing junior high must also be moved, according to Flanagin.
"The old Title I building, next to the cafeteria, was put there on a permanent foundation," he said. "But it's sitting right in the middle of where the new band hall and auditorium are going to be, so it has to go. We're going to move it down to the old Stewart campus."
He said one thing the school district is looking for is a new location for the Rivendell Alternative School Program.
"I've contacted two or three landlords and agents about buildings in Forrest City," said Flanagin, "and that's moving a little slower than I'd like. But there's some empty space in buildings in Forrest City and some of it's not in the prime real estate market. So I'm hopeful we can get something that's relatively inexpensive."
He said as a backup plan, the school district could acquire additional temporary buildings from Resun, to be located where the old superintendent's office was.
The fiber optics for the temporary buildings will be installed by school employees.
"The fiber optic system will be placed by our own people, Rudy Beede and Tom Darnell," said Flanagin. "That could have been very costly if we did not have our own technology department and qualified technical personnel. It would have cost us thousands more to make sure the temporary classrooms are in the local network for instructional purposes, as well as grade reporting and administration purposes."
Flanagin also reported that the two-classroom "Teacher Center" at Old Stewart is being relocated to the ABC School (the old Primary School). Room is being made there by consolidating and relocating special services staff and Great Rivers Cooperative programs.
East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City has announced the opening of a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program on the college's campus. The classes in military science will begin this fall.
The program offers the first two of the four-year ROTC curriculum which prepares a student for a career with the United States Military. Students may participate in the ROTC program at EACC without obligation to the military. After completion of the first two years at EACC, the students will have the option of transferring to a college or university to complete the four-year curriculum. Arkansas State University currently offers the four-year program on its campus. EACC students will have the option of transferring to ASU upon completion of the local two-year curriculum.
"This program has the potential to impact our entire community," said Jan Haven, EACC vice president for academic affairs. "The positive results of this type of ROTC program have been observed at both the high school and college level all over the United States. The leadership and teamwork skills that are stressed in the curriculum benefit the students in all aspects of their lives. We are very pleased to be involved in starting this program at EACC."
Lt. Nick Hutchins, Senior Military Science Instructor/Coordinator of the ROTC program at the Forrest City High School, has also been instrumental in the development of the program at EACC.
"The ROTC program is designed to teach teamwork and leadership," said Hutchins. "Both are essential in the business world regardless of whether you join the military or not. As the students progress through the introductory courses they will be placed in leadership positions to practice what they have learned by leading junior cadets in drill and physical fitness exercises," Hutchins said. "Whether the students plan to transfer to ASU or another college, or to pursue the military as a career, they will be a better person overall in any capacity they serve in the future. The ROTC program better equips the students with the essential tools they need to work productively and efficiently in a challenging world with a diverse group of people."
"This is a project that will strengthen the relationship between Forrest City Public Schools, EACC and ASU," said Dr. Coy Grace, EACC president. "I think it's a wonderful thing. This program will add a dimension to our campus that is not there already."
EACC courses will include introduction to ROTC, introduction to leadership, self/team development, individual/team military tactics, basic camp, and military science history.
For more information regarding the ROTC program at EACC, contact the ROTC program coordinator, Lt. Nick Hutchins, or advisor Cedric Macklin at 633-4480 or toll free 1-877-797-EACC.
A murder suspect has turned himself in.
Markcus Greer, 18, 816 E. Broadway, was arrested at the St. Francis County Jail just after 9 p.m. Monday.
Greer is a suspect in the weekend shooting death of Arthur Lee Humphrey, 41, 461 Sunrise Dr., Forrest City. Humphrey was shot following an alleged argument with Greer Friday afternoon outside a pool hall near Caldwell.
St. Francis County Chief Criminal Investigator Glenn Ramsey said Greer was escorted to the jail by his mother and other family members, but did not given a reason as to why he decided to turn himself in.
Greer is charged with first-degree murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Forrest City Municipal Court Wednesday afternoon.
A Forrest City boy is hospitalized today following a game of hide-and-go-seek that took an unexpected turn.
The Forrest City Police Department reports Joseph Marc Bonds, 10, was playing the game with his sister and a cousin about 7:30 p.m. Monday when his hiding place was discovered and he started running. Police said the boy ran into the street and into a 1995 Chevrolet Blazer driven by Kenneth E. Gahr, 57, 420 Tennessee St., Forrest City.
Bonds' six-year-old sister told police she found her brother and was chasing him. She said he was looking behind himself at her when he ran into the street and into Gahr's truck. The cousin said he didn't see the accident happen.
Bonds was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City by his parents and later transferred to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. Police said the child received facial injuries. A Le Bonheur spokesperson this morning said Bonds is doing fine and listed in satisfactory condition.