Where stereotypes end

Local career center trains students for non-traditional roles

December 4, 2005

By JACKIE R. BROACH
Index-Journal staff writer

James Spikes is part of a growing trend at the G. Frank Russell Career Center in Greenwood.
The Ware Shoals High School senior is the only male student in his health science class. He’s also a tight end on the school’s football team and a member of the basketball and soccer teams, but that doesn’t stop his buddies from calling him “Nurse Spikes.”
“I don’t let it bother me too much because I know I’ll be making more money than all of them,” Spikes said. “And I’ll be helping people. That’s a cool thing to do.”
Spikes is one of about 30 “non-traditional” students at the career center this year. The title means that he’s enrolled in a course typically utilized by people of an opposite gender.
In Spikes’ case, because his health science class is mostly female, many people think of it as a nursing class. It’s not, Spikes points out. Health science is actually a basic training course for students getting ready to go into one of a large number of medical fields.
Spikes plans to become a chiropractor after earning a degree in biology from Coastal Carolina University.
His plans also reflect a growing number of students taking vocational courses who plan to enroll in a four-year college.
“It’s not just kids who will be going straight into work or two-year technical schools anymore,” said Chuck Graves, director of the career center. “We’re attracting a broader variety of students and many of them are well-rounded students.”
The number of non-traditional students at the career center increased steadily over the years, but saw “a big jump in the last year or two,” Graves said.
In the 2004-05 school year, there were no females in the carpentry or machine tools classes and one female was enrolled in the automotive technology class. This year, however, there are six females enrolled in automotive technology, six in carpentry and three in machine tools.
Three male students are enrolled in health science, up from one this past school year.
A likely reason for the increase is increased promotion of the career center and the skills it has to offer, Graves said. The career center was advertised on a billboard and in brochures this past school year. Officials also made visits to the county’s high schools and worked with counselors to make students aware of opportunities to be had at the career center.
Kristen Warner, a sophomore at Ninety Six High School, was one of the students who decided to take advantage of those opportunities.
Warner is enrolled in introduction to machine tools and automotive technology. She enrolled in the courses “just for fun,” she said, and has no problem keeping up with her male classmates.
Though she takes care in her appearance and enjoys competing in beauty pageants, she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty.
“Some of my friends think it’s kind of funny, but they don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” Warner said of her status as a non-traditional student. “There are a lot of (employers) looking for women who can do these kinds of jobs.”
Warner said she doesn’t get treated any differently than the male students in her class.
Neither do Sabrina Esco, Jamie Allison and Kasey McAllister, all of whom are in the same carpentry class at the career center. They do, however, feel a desire to try particularly hard in that class to prove themselves.
For Allison, it was a little daunting the first day of class, because she was the only female, she said. It got easier in the coming days when Esco and McAllister joined.
Samantha Funke, a senior at Greenwood High School, wants to be a Disney Imagineer, so she enrolled in engineering at the career center. She’s the only female in the course but that’s not an issue for her.
“Most people think its pretty cool and I enjoy being in this class,” Funke said. “Occasionally, it’s a little lonely, but I like working with these guys and I love the course work.”
When Tyson Griffin enrolled in an early childhood course, he said his friends teased him for weeks.
As one of only two male students in the county enrolled in that course, and the only one in his class, he said it made him feel awkward at first. He got used to it, though, and eventually so did his friends. Even if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t have made a difference, he said. He enjoys the class and already has learned quite a few childcare tricks and techniques that will help him in the future.
Griffin said he loves children and hopes to use his new skills to earn money while he’s working on a mechanical engineering degree. They’ll likely come in handy again when he decides to start a family, he said. For young men who would like to prepare themselves to be good fathers, he said taking the course is definitely a good idea.
Of 76 students enrolled in medical terminology, only three are male. Stephen Graves, a sophomore at Ninety Six High School, is one of them and is the only male in his first block medical terminology class.
It was strange at first, and Graves said he was nervous about what his friends would say. But he got used to being the only guy and he’s learning a lot from the class, he said.
Graves is taking the class in preparation to go into athletic training and sports medicine — a wise move, according to medical terminology teacher Shelley Hood.
“I encourage males to take this course for that reason and also if they’re planning to go into physical therapy, occupational therapy or even medical school,” Hood said.
Lindsey Quarles is enrolled in automotive technology and auto collision courses. The Greenwood High School freshman said she plans to work on cars for a living some day. Cars are a passion for her.
In class she’s treated “like one of the guys” and says she believes a woman can be just as good as a man at anything she wants to do. She’s proving that by outdoing many of the male students in her classes, said one of her teachers.
Non-traditional students, such as Quarles, likely will be the norm in the future, Charles Graves speculates. He said Perkins standards — federal requirements for career and technology centers — encourage the recruitment of non-traditional students and their numbers will continue to grow.
“Once the students are in these classes and they enjoy them, they get excited and realize that there can be a future for them in a non-traditional role,” Graves said. “That’s the most important thing, and it’s also our best recruitment tool.

Tecola Parks

PLUM BRANCH — Tecola Parks, 67, died Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 at the Windermere Nursing Home in Augusta, following an extended illness.
Born in McCormick, she was a daughter of the late Frank “Tig” Parks and Lottie Moragne Parks. She was a homemaker and a former member of Upper Mount Moriah Baptist Church, McCormick.
Survivors include two sons, Bruce Parks of Plum Branch and Darryl Parks of New Orleans; four sisters, Catherine DeLavelle of Pinesville, La., Gertrude Parks of Dallas, Arzella Freeman of McCormick and Carrie Lou Cunningham of Plum Branch; and seven grandchildren.
The family is at the home of her sister, Carrie Lou Cunningham, Route One, Plum Branch.
Services will be announced by Walker Funeral Home, McCormick.

From tragedy to triumph

GHS grad Blocker overcomes injury to help Furman reach quarterfinals

December 3, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

GREENVILLE — What could have been a disastrous year for Furman free safety and Greenwood High School graduate Jeremy Blocker has become a successful campaign.
Blocker, an exercise science major at Furman who graduated from Greenwood in 2002, enjoyed his best spring practice as a member of the Paladins. But in late May, shortly after the spring session ended, Blocker sustained a major injury.
While lifting weights, Blocker and several teammates were “maxing out” on the bench press.
Blocker said he had just pressed 350 pounds with relative ease, so he decided to go for 360.
“I got it halfway up and felt a tremendous amount of pain in my right pectoral muscle,” Blocker said. “Luckily, I was able to get the weight back up to the bar. If it had fallen, it would have come down right on my throat. If that had happened, I could have died. God was watching over me right then.”
Blocker had torn his right pectoral muscle completely off the bone. He described the pain as the most he has ever felt.
However, the hard-hitting defensive back knew he didn’t want to miss his junior season with the Paladins. The team, as predicted, has had a solid year, going 10-2 thus far and preparing for today’s second-round playoff game at Richmond. So, he began an intense period of surgery and rehabilitation.
“I had a fantastic surgeon, Dr. Tom Bumgarten,” Blocker said. “It couldn’t have gone better.”
Blocker worked out and rehabilitated all summer and into the early part of the season, missing the Paladins’ first two games. After getting back on the field, he made the most of the last 10 games.
Blocker made 38 tackles, intercepted two passes, and broke up another. He forms a hard-hitting duo at safety with 2004 Southern Conference freshman of the year Andrew Thacker. “I do what I have to do back there,” Blocker said.
“I love the game of football. I’ve had to split time at safety this year, but I don’t mind that at all. I’ll do whatever job the team needs me to do.”
In Richmond, the Paladins will be facing a more multi-dimensional team than they faced in Nicholls State a week ago.
Nicholls State ran the wishbone, a run-oriented offense.
Richmond, however, is known for putting the ball in the air. This could lead to a busy day for Blocker and his mates in the Furman defensive backfield.
“We’ve been watching film on them,” Blocker said. “Their quarterback is a weapon. They also have good receivers and backs. We will have to limit them.”
The quarterback Blocker spoke of is Richmond’s elusive Stacy Tutt. Tutt has passed for 2,006 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Blocker said he has enjoyed the playoff experience so far, and is looking forward to his first road playoff game.
“Virginia, Montana, we’ll go play wherever,” Blocker said. “Just put us on a field and we’re good to go.”
Blocker said one of his favorite aspects of playing in college has been the travel. He said there are few things he enjoys as much as being with his teammates and friends out on the road, and he will cherish those travels for the rest of this season and in his senior year.
After he graduates, Blocker said he might try his hand at pharmaceutical and bio-tech sales.
“It requires travel, which I like, and it requires good people skills, which I think I have,” Blocker said. “Also, you get to be your own boss in a way, which is something I find intriguing.”
Blocker credits the things he learned playing at Greenwood to his success at Furman. He said the coaching staff at Greenwood always stressed academics along with football, an aspect that has come in handy at academically stringent Furman.
As Furman gets set to take on Richmond, Blocker is looking pleased with where the Paladins are as a team.
“It’s been our goal to compete for a national title,” Blocker said. “Now we’ve put ourselves in a good position. That’s the great thing about Furman. If you come here, you’ll compete for a championship year in and year out.”

Too many Scrooges active when Christmas gets near

December 4, 2005

“Thou shalt not steal.” Everyone in South Carolina should recognize that as one of the Ten Commandments that came straight from God to Moses, and gave us a guide for living and treating each other according to the Golden Rule. If there’s anyone who doesn’t know what that rule is, it’s simply to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
That “do not steal” commandment, as everyone knows, is violated every day, all year long. When the Christmas season rolls around, though, it’s that much more of an affront to the Trinity ….. the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Many individuals are guilty of stealing from their fellowman, to be sure. It doesn’t stop there, however. There are organized groups that steal from the poor or anyone else they can defraud.

VERY OFTEN THEY TELL POTENTIAL victims how they can find that elusive pot of gold. They come up with some very imaginative reason to convince them to let go of their money. Anytime someone offers something for nothing, though, don’t believe it. There is no pie in the sky. Were that true, would anyone want to share it with total strangers?
Then, of course, there are organizations with official sounding names the public is asked to support. Sometimes they are legitimate. Often, though, they turn out to be less than what they advertise.
Considering how people prey on other people, it’s good that the South Carolina Secretary of State publicizes each year a list of Scrooges and Angels. The very mention of Scrooge is indicative of what the public should suspect, particularly now through Christmas.

SOME OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS have been known to collect a lot of money for a specific cause. However, that specific cause only receives a trifling amount and the organizations keep most of the money for themselves.
If there are suspicions, demand identification and proof of what is claimed in the pitch for contributions. If more information is needed, check with the Secretary of State’s office or local law enforcement agencies.
Most of the Scrooges are from out of state, to be sure. However, their domestic counterparts operate the same as the scam artists elsewhere.
Thieves are, unfortunately, more active at Christmastime, it seems, taking advantage of the needy and the gullible. It’s against the law ….. of man, of course. Worst, though, it’s against the laws of God, and that is a heavy guilt to bear ….. or should be.