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WED

THU

56/45

49/27

33/22

Thompsons
46 sets
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Finding a
workout
balance

SPORTS 1C

HEALTH 1D

Breaking news at limaohio.com

Issue 33, Volume 132

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 $1

Cruz tops GOP; Clinton, Sanders tight

TOP OF THE NEWS

Uniteds new policy lets

families board early

By Julie Pace
and Catherine Lucey

NEW YORK (AP)

United Airlines is trying to
bring back a bit of the friendly
skies, allowing families with
young children to board early.
The move, which takes
effect Feb. 15., lets families
with children age two and
under get settled in their seats
before the rush of other passengers clamoring for overhead bin
space.
United was the last holdout.
It has forced families to board
with everybody else since it
revamped its boarding process in
April 2012.
Policies vary from airline
to airline. Some let families
skip in front of everybody while
others let the first class and
elite passengers onto the plane
first, then give families a head
start on the rest of the passengers.
Its a delicate balance.
The airlines want to board
passengers as fast as possible
and take most of the pain out
of the process. However, they
also want to reward elite members by letting them settle in
early.

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a
fiery conservative loathed
by his own partys leaders,
swept to victory in Iowas
Republican caucuses Monday, overcoming billionaire
Donald Trump and Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio. Among
Democrats, Hillary Clinton
and Bernie Sanders were
deadlocked in a tight race.
Cruzs victory over Trump
was a testament to his massive get-out-the-vote operation in Iowa and the months
he spent wooing the states

influential conservative and

evangelical leaders. It was
also a harsh blow to Trump,
the supremely confident
real estate mogul who has
riled the Republican field for
months with controversial
statements about women
and minorities.
Trump sounded humble
in defeat, saying he was
honored by the support
of Iowans. And he vowed
to keep up his fight for the
Republican nomination.
We will go on to easily
beat Hillary or Bernie or
whoever the hell they throw
up, Trump told cheering
supporters.
Rubio, a favorite of more

mainstream Republicans,
was challenging Trump for
second place and cast his
stronger-than-expected finish as a victory.
We have taken the first
step, but an important step,
to winning the nomination,
Rubio said at a campaign
rally in Des Moines. He congratulated Cruz, saying hed
earned his victory.
The Iowa caucuses kicked
off voting in the 2016 presidential race, a tumultuous
contest with unexpected
candidates challenging both
the Republican and Democratic establishments.
Iowa has decidedly mixed
results in picking eventual

nominees. The past two

Republican caucus winners
former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee and former
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum faded as the race
stretched on. But Obamas
unexpected 2008 victory
was instrumental in his path
to the Democratic nomination, easing the anxieties
of those who worried the
young black senator would
struggle to win white voters.
For Clinton supporters, the
exceedingly tight race with
Sanders was sure to bring
back painful memories of her
loss to Obama in 2008. Her
See cruz |8A

Making the grade

TALKING POINTS

Zika virus spreads

GENEVA (AP) The World
Health Organization declared a
global emergency over the explosive spread of the Zika virus, calling it an extraordinary event
that poses a public health threat
to the world.
Page 1B

DeHaven trial
LIMA The trial of a local
businessman suing a doctor blaming him for amputations following
heart surgery began its second
week Monday with the doctor
presenting his defense.
Page 1B

GET THIS

Police arrest man with

38 phones in pants

Craig Orosz | The Lima News

Bryan Miller, director of Lima schools Closing the Achievement Gap program, explains a quote on the whiteboard, Road to manhood is a toll road that
is always under constructions. CTAG, an initiative originally designed in 2007 for black males at risk of not graduating high school, expanded to help any
at-risk student. When the program started, only 47 to 48 percent of black males were graduating from Lima schools. Since implementing CTAG eight years
ago, that number has averaged 78 percent.

LONDON (AP) British

police have arrested a suspected
thief with 38 mobile phones
stuffed down his trousers.
West Midlands Police say
they believe the man stole
the phones from concertgoers
at a show by band The Libertines
in Birmingham, central
England.
The 30-year-old and a second
man, who was also arrested, were
spotted at the venue with their
trousers taped closed at the bottom. Police were on the lookout
after reports of phone thefts
during an earlier Libertines gig
in the northwest England city of
Manchester.
Police Inspector Gareth Morris said Thursday that anyone
whose phone was taken during
Wednesdays show should contact
officers.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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One hurdle after

another as schools
deal with poverty
By John Bush

jbush@civitasmedia.com

CMYK / .eps

Whats your take on

todays news? Go to
limaohio.com and visit
us at facebook to share
your thoughts.

CIVITAS MEDIA

2016 Published at Lima, Ohio

24 pages, 4 sections

A NEWS
People
& More: 2A
Nation: 3A
Editorial: 6A
Weather: 8A

LIMA LaShonda Gurleys

parents moved to Lima during the
second Great Migration, a period
when more than 5 million blacks
moved from the South to the North,
West and Midwest. The couple
wished for a better life than they
had in the South, where racial segregation continued in all aspects of
life, including the school system.
They were marginalized in
regards to education, Gurley said.
Based on their experience, they
wanted my sibling and I to make
sure that we were afforded the
opportunities they were not.
Born and raised in Lima, Gurley
attended Lima schools and graduated from Lima Senior High School.

Facebook f Logo

CMYK / .eps

B REGION
& OHIO
High School:
Standings:
NFL:
Business:

C SPORTS
Business: 6C
Classified: 7C

If you have a
family that is
economically
challenged, you
might have a
parent working
two or three jobs
just to put food on the table.
That parent may not show
up to that parent-teacher
conference, not because they
dont care, but because they
dont want to risk calling off
and losing their job.

LaShonda Gurley
Director of multicultural
development at Ohio Northern
University, graduate of Lima Senior

She went on to obtain a bachelors

degree in communication, a masters
degree in education and is currently
pursing a doctorate degree. She is
See GRADE |7A

D HEALTH
& FITNESS
Comics: 2D
Puzzles: 4D
TV: 4D

Lottery

DAILY (Monday)
Pick 3: 4-3-7 day, 5-0-5
night
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Rolling Cash 5: 1-5-12-24-33

LIMA

in black and white

About this series:

Lima in Black and White is an eight-day
series that begins a discussion about the
stark differences between Limas black
and white populations when it comes to
income levels, jobless rates, poverty levels,
crime rates and education attainment.
The disparities were cited last fall in a
study done by 24/7 Wall St., an internet
financial research company. It rated Lima
No. 7 among the Top 10 worst cities for
blacks.
The series looks at why the disparities
exist and what can be done about them.
Sunday, Jan. 31: The gap
Monday: The job market
TODAY: Challenges facing schools
Wednesday: Police and trust
Thursday: Who are leaders?
Friday: Entertainment vacuum
Saturday: Young and black
Sunday: Midwest new South

CLASSIC (Monday): 1-39-13-16-36

KICKER: 028821
Jackpot: $2.4 million
LUCKY FOR LIFE
(Thursday): 1-14-24-3543
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20-28-49-51-52
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Jackpot: $63 million

LOCAL

The Lima News

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 7A

LIMA

in black and white

Need for black teachers

School officials, students divided on importance

be even be more difficult
to bring black teachers
to Lima because of cold
weather and a nightlife
LIMA Kaleb Russell has had less than five that does not compare
black teachers in his near- to larger cities such as
ly 12 years as a student in Toledo or Dayton.
Rev. Ronald Fails, presiLima schools.
dent of the Lima NAACP,
He believes a bond
said Limas lack of nightforms when you have a
life is not an excuse for
teacher that looks like
yourself. It gives students the districts inability to
hire more black teachers.
a potential role model
Its not an issue for
they can look up to, he
single, white professionsaid.
als who go off to school
It may be discouragand come back here to
ing to people who look
at someone and cant see work in the district, so
why wouldnt they move
themselves doing what
to another city if its all
they do because they
about nightlife? Fails
cant relate as much,
asked. Many white eduRussell said. Its very
cators come back because
important we have a
its home, its family, its
diverse group of role
models to follow and peo- where they were raised.
African-Americans are
ple we can look up to.
the same way.
Of the 616 contracted
Bryan Miller is director
staff members at Lima
of the CTAG program,
schools, just under 50
which works with at-risk
are minorities. Of those,
students. He is a former
just 26 are black teachpresident of the Lima
ers, administrators or
chapter of the NAACP
part of a Lima Schools
and has had children of
program called Closing
the Achievement Gap, or his own in Lima schools.
He too says its important
CTAG.
to have black teachers,
Lima schools Superbut noted Lima schools
intendent Jill Ackerman
has white staff members
said finding black teachwho give their hearts to
ers is difficult because
these kids, and that is just
they simply are not out
as effective as if we have
there. The problem
a black staff member.
extends nationally, but
Lima Senior student
Ackerman said it may

By John Bush

jbush@civitasmedia.com

Grade
From page 1A

also the director of multicultural development at

Ohio Northern University.
Education was always
promoted in our household, so it wasnt a matter
of if I was going to college, it was a matter of
what Im going to major
in and where Im going to
go, she said.
Gurley said she was
fortunate to have parents
who encouraged her academic pursuits and to be
put in a situation where
going to college was more
an inevitability than a
pipe dream.
For many black students in Lima schools,
however, lack of parental
involvement, poverty
and other socioeconomic
factors hinder their ability to even graduate from
high school. For those
students, college can
seem even more out of
reach.
Overcoming barriers
While poverty is
perhaps the largest barrier for black students to
overcome, school administrators say it is just one
socioeconomic factor
keeping some blacks from
graduating and pursuing
a college degree.
Bryan Miller is the
director of a Lima
schools program called
Closing the Achievement
Gap, an initiative originally designed for black
males at risk of not graduating high school. Since
its inception in 2007, the
program has expanded to
help any at-risk student,
regardless of race or gender.
Miller is part of a sixperson team working
with these students every
school day, addressing
any issues they might
have at home or school
that could be preventing

Jaytoria McWay agreed.

She only had two or three
black teachers in her 11
years of schooling, but
that doesnt bother her
much.
As long as theyre
helping me get good
grades, Im OK, McWay
said.
Miller said Lima
Senior graduates who
pursue an education
degree often do not
return to Lima.
If youre 22 and
youre going to college in
Toledo, are you going to
stay there because theres
so many things to do, or
are you gonna come back
to a rural, almost farming
community like Lima?
he asked. Then you combat that with the social
issues in Lima, especially
for blacks. It gets hard to
recruit people here.
Ackerman speaks to
students at local universities such as Ohio StateLima and attends career
fairs in order to recruit
teachers, both black and
white. She said she also
keeps in touch with Lima
Senior graduates pursuing education, sometimes
bringing them back for
student-teaching jobs.
Though she recognizes
the importance of minority teachers, Ackerman
said she wont hire some-

one just because theyre a

minority.
Yes, of course were
interested in AfricanAmerican candidates, but
if you cant be a part of
our culture and truly be
invested, you wont be
successful here regardless
of race, she said.
Ackerman also said
that when she looks over
a teachers resume, she
does not know if they are
black or white. She said
she is pursing teachers
based solely on merit and
their ability to become
part of the culture of
Lima schools.
Fails said the fact that
Ackerman does not try to
determine an applicants
race when checking their
resume is part of the
problem in hiring more
black teachers.
Youll never achieve
diversity if you dont have
a system to measure who
is applying, he said. If
Im Jill Ackerman and I
say I want diversity in
my institution, Im at
least going to interview
(minorities) to see if they
have the qualities Im
looking for.
Im not saying to
hire people who are not
qualified, but to not seek
minority applicants or
provide opportunities
for interviews while at

Submitted photo

Jill Ackerman, superintendent of Lima schools, sitting with students,

says she understands the importance of recruiting African-American
teachers. Finding them, she said, is difficult because they simply are
not out there.
Youll never
achieve diversity
if you dont have
a system to
measure who is
applying.
Rev. Ronald
Fails. Lima NAACP Fails

McWay

As long as
theyre helping
me get good
grades, Im OK.
Jaytoria
McWay,
concerning
teachers

the same time saying,

I want diversity, thats
ignorant.
At Bluffton and Ohio
Northern universities,
administrators said
black students pursuing
education are few and
far between. They could
not determine an exact
cause, but said it may be
that more black students
are pursuing degrees that
lead to higher-paying jobs
such as law and medicine.
LaShonda Gurley, the
director of multicultural
development at Ohio
Northern, said the more
black teachers a school

has now, the more success it will have in

recruiting more in the
future.
When you come into
a classroom and you can
identify with whos at the
helm, whether thats a
student-teacher, teacher
or principal, thats helpful, she said. That way,
you can ask them how
they got to where they
are, and that educator can
share their experience,
both challenges and successes.

gave up, got pregnant and

dropped out, McWay
said. School is really
hard, and if your parents
arent there to guide you,
you can basically do whatever you want.
Lack of parental
involvement may not
stem solely from apathy,
however. Gurley argues
some parents arent as
John Bush | The Lima News
involved in their chilParental
involvement
Tyson Goings, director of multicultural affairs at Bluffton University,
drens academics because
Many at-risk students
said, I was one of those students who didnt qualify for most
they are busy trying to
universities at first, but I had people go to bat for me in order to get lack parental guidance
me here. Now look at me. I broke the cycle.
provide for their family.
when it comes to acaIf you have a family
demics. With little to
Beyond the report card
that is economically chalthem from succeeding
no involvement from
Data from the 2014-15 parents, educators say
lenged, you might have
academically.
school year for the Lima
a parent working two or
While Miller admits
this can lead students to
schools shows four-year
dropout rates continue
becoming apathetic to the three jobs just to put food
graduation rates fell to 65 importance of education
on the table, Gurley said.
to be a problem at Lima
percent for all students,
That parent may not
schools, he said the
and the belief they canand five-year graduaCTAG program has
not attain success in their show up to that parenttion rates went from 81
teacher conference, not
helped dozens of black,
professional lives.
percent in 2013-14 to 75
at-risk students obtain
Tyson Goings, director because they dont care
percent in 2014-15. Both of multicultural affairs
but because they dont
their diplomas. He said
scores again earned the
want to risk calling off
that when the program
at Bluffton University
district an F grade.
and losing their job.
started, only 47 to 48
and former counselor at
The percentage of
percent of black males
Lima schools, said a lack
blacks graduating from
were graduating. Since
of parental involvement
Keeping students in school
Lima schools in 2014-15
implementing CTAG,
while he was in school
Along with CTAG,
has not been released by
Miller said that number
was something he experi- Lima schools offers an
the Ohio Department of
has averaged out to 78
enced firsthand.
alternative program for
percent in the eight years Education. In 2013-14,
Growing up, Goings
students who are strugthe black graduation rate said academics were not
since the program took
gling academically.
was 69 percent.
effect.
important to his father,
According to school
Administrators argue
Every year, our
and he was essentially on officials, the program prograduation rates improve these type of statistics
his own when it came to
vides smaller class sizes
do not reflect the strides making good grades. If it that allow more personalbecause of CTAG, he
theyve made to ensure
said.
wasnt for the support of ized instruction. Each
more students obtain
Miller believes the
his teachers, coaches and student has an individual
most effective part of the their diplomas.
peers, he said he wasnt
plan they helped create
When I looked at
program is the ability to
sure if he would have
to get them to graduaget to know students on a scores on grade cards
made it to college.
tion. Based on individual
from 2002 to now, there
more personal level.
I was one of those stu- needs, students are able
were significant gains in
Honestly, what were
dents who didnt qualify
to take classes online or
every area, but it doesnt for most universities at
doing is addressing
in the evenings.
matter because they
interpersonal skills,
first, but I had people
Students recommended
(Ohio Department of
personal issues, social
go to bat for me in order for expulsion are also
Education) change the
issues, Miller said. We
to get me here, Goings
placed in the alternative
rules all the time, said
address those emotional
said. Now look at me. I
program in most cases.
Jill Ackerman, superinneeds that havent been
broke the cycle.
We dont believe kicktendent of Lima schools.
addressed before.
Lima Senior student
ing kids out is going to
Miller believes having a Every time we make the Jaytoria McWay said shes make them successful,
support system at school, mark, the bar is raised.
known several black stuAckerman said. You have
especially when a student Its like youre a gerbil
dents whose parents were to get to the root of why
running around in a
is experiencing trauma
not involved in their chil- theyre reacting, rather
at home, can make all the circle.
drens academics. Though than kicking them out.
To further address
difference in whether or
McWay said her parents
Ackerman said many
graduation rates, Lima
not they graduate.
are always pushing her
former dropouts end up
schools implemented an
Even the simplest
to get good grades, one
graduating through the
early warning program
things we take for grantof her classmates did not alternative program, but
ed, like why its important this year. Ackerman said have the same guidance
the states report card
to want to learn, we have this system can identify
from her parents.
does not reflect this.
students who are at risk
to address with some of
They didnt really care
Even if we have a kid
of dropping out of school what she did, so she just
these kids, he said.
who wants to get a GED,

thats still a dropout for

us even if they successfully get their GED, Ackerman said. Its another
thing we do that doesnt
reflect on the state report
card.

as early as third grade.

We now have a system
in place where we can
have early interventions
for at-risk students,
and we can follow them
through high school, she
said. It doesnt help the
immediate issue, but certainly it can help in the
future.

Reach John Bush at 567-242-0456 or

on Twitter @bush_lima

Higher education
For black students who
are able to overcome
socioeconomic barriers
and neglect, attending
college after they graduate high school may still
seem out of reach.
Many are first-generation college students
whose families are
unfamiliar with the college application process.
Goings said hes worked
with several of these students, helping them fill
out financial aid forms
and register for classes.
I was a first-generation
college student, so I know
firsthand how challenging
it can be, Goings said.
Thats why I take them
step by step through the
process to make sure
theyre doing everything
theyre supposed to.
For people growing up
in poverty, finances can
be a strong deterrent in
their ability to attend college.
Goings said there are
a substantial amount of
scholarships available for
minorities with the desire
to attend college. He said
many of these scholarships go untouched
because students dont
know where to look.
As multicultural affairs
directors, Goings and
Gurley said they try to
educate students and
their families about
available scholarships
and other ways to save
money on the high cost of
tuition.
If you have the desire
to go, there are plenty of
funding opportunities out
there, Gurley said. We
can get you on a college
campus.
Reach John Bush at 567-242-0456
or on Twitter @bush_lima