The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 6

2 THE COURIER-JOURNAL MONDAY, MAY 3, 1999 schoolin ripledl i sluice 1991 ghas state Oversight, standards are minimal Associated Press year, a threefold increase since 1991. This school year, the number of children being home-schooled increased about 10 percent continuing an upward trend that has existed since 1991-92, when the state started tracking the number, according to the most recent figures from the Kentucky Department of Education. "I'm not surprised at the increase," said Martin Cothran, a home-schooling advocate from Danville. "This is becoming a viable option for people who do it as much for religious reasons as for academic ones." monds, director of pupil personnel in Garrard County. "We developed red flags that the home-school people could support." Under state law, local districts have the right to investigate the paperwork of any home school or private school.

"We're very happy with the best practices," said David Lanier, former president of the Kentucky Home Educators Association. "It has reduced complaints about home schools, and it has created lines of communications between home schools and pupil-personnel folks so that problems can be dealt with." home-school statistics for the state Education Department, said parents with little or no formal education may withdraw a student from school and say they will teach the child. "There's a concern about this, but the question is whether we can do anything about it without legislative action," he said. Several legislators proposed laws last year to require more oversight of home schools, but they were defeated by colleagues who feared the political might of several Christian and home-schooling groups. One bill would have required home-school teachers to have with other people," Catherine John said, and "scripturally, it was our duty to take care of it." It doesn't surprise her that a few months ago a national researcher who studied 20,760 home-schooled children around the country found they scored on average above their peers on standardized tests.

The study was paid for by the Home School Legal Defense Association in Purcellville, which estimates that between 1.5 million and 1.7 million students nationwide are home-schooled. In Kentucky, the number of students educated by their parents grew to nearly 10,000 last But Cothran thinks the actual number of students is even larger than the report indicates. Local school districts keep records only of students who leave public school to be educated privately or at home. "More and more people have never been in public schools, and don't know they're supposed to report to a local school district," he said. The increase in home-schooled students has triggered concern about the lack of information about the home schools and the absence of standards to ensure they provide quality education.

Joe Clark, who oversees high school diplomas. The year before, however, the two largest home-school groups, the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky and the Kentucky Home Educators Association, agreed to work with local districts on a set of "best practices" to identify problem home schools. If, for example, a parent decided to start home-schooling his child the day before the child was brought up on truancy charges, the home school should be checked, the groups agreed. "We agreed that most people are doing a good job, but there are abuses, said Louie Ham LEXINGTON, Ky. For Catherine and Bill John, the decision to educate their seven children at home was made for academic as well as religious reasons.

"Basically, we felt like they needed to be with us more than If VMv a i )), WP-S -o 'in a to; -r i Gary, police Officer Selita Augusta recently underwent training to become a helicopter pilot. She has escaped poverty and domestic violence in her first marriage. Faith in herself lifted Hoosier from poverty Augusta talked to a resident near the end of a double shift. Her five children. husband often works a different shift at a steel mill so that one barely provided for Augusta.

By 16, Augusta was helping to support the family. One younger brother called her "Mom." She married young, only to become a victim of domestic violence, and she soon found herself struggling as a single parent to raise her two oldest children. More recently her younger daughter died of complications from cerebral palsy. ALL OF that might have made a weaker person turn to self-pity. Not Augusta.

Being a single parent on welfare at age 25 "was the hardest thing for me to do," she said. It was a meager existence. "I can remember having one slice of bologna in the refrigerator and wondering how I was going to feed my children. I would sit and pray; it would be late at night. Then one of my brothers or sisters would just stop by, and I got the help I needed, even if it was just a couple of dollars," she said.

"It was living day to day." In 1989, Augusta moved from New Orleans to northwestern Indiana. She worked various jobs, one at a Merrillville restaurant and then as a security guard. One a if" 9: i' do. She has five happy children and a supportive husband. "I know what I was put here for, what God had in mind for me, and that's what I'm doing," she said.

What she does is live for her children and reach out to others who need her. Police spokesman Cpl. Alan Ross was one of Augusta's field training officers during her first year on the job. Later, when the department launched its full-time bike patrol downtown in 1996, the two were partners. "It was clear from the beginning she had a lot of life experiences to bring to the job that really helped her deal with people, Ross said.

"She always presents a very professional demeanor. She couldn't wait to get going every day, and she wanted to go all the time. She was gung-ho from the get go." Distributed by the Associated Press Augusta, now on the force five years, initially failed the running test. "So there I was, running up and down the sidewalk in front of my house until I got better and better." Around Kentucky Police officer now spreads hope to others By LORI CALDWELL The (Gary) Post-Tribune GARY, Ind. Selita Augusta easily could have been a failure.

A nobody, in jail or on welfare. Maybe even dead. The oldest daughter of nine children spent her formative years in New Orleans' public housing, hearing her mother tell her she'd never amount to anything. But Augusta didn't listen. Instead, she listened to the voices inside her, saying she could succeed and be happy.

Today she's a mother, a wife, a police officer. To her five children, she's a friend, their driving force. To other young people she comes across, she is a mentor, a counselor, an example. "I always just kept a positive attitude. I told myself, 'I'm going to be somebody when I grow Augusta said.

It wasn't easy. Her mother favored her other children and SADIEVILLE Police-chief charges dismissed Wanton-endangerment charges against Police Chief Mike Mizell have been dismissed. Mizell, who was named police chief earlier this year, was charged with three counts of second-degree wanton endan-germent almost two years ago when he was an officer. Lou Etta Wigglesworth alleged Mizell endangered her son and two other boys when he pointed his gun at her dog. But last week, Scott District Judge Mary Jane Phelps dismissed the charges with prejudice after finding the facts of the case didn't warrant the charges.

HARRODSBURG Slain officer to be honored The first female police officer killed in the line of duty in Kentucky will be honored in state and national ceremonies this month. Harrodsburg Patrolman Regi-na Nickles was shot to death while responding to a call on Oct. 14, 1998. Nickles will be honored in ceremonies to mark National Police Week May 9-15 and Na ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS of them can be with the per month of my house until I got better and better," she said. Finally she was hired in 1994.

She worked the front desk until she qualified with firearms. She was eager to get on the street but was stuck inside. "I learned a lot about writing reports, handling prisoners, dealing with a lot or different people and problems," she said. Now she's passing on her life's lessons to her children and to other young people she talks to. "You don't have to be like your situation.

You can be better," she said. "My sisters and brothers did that. They blame my mother, or things that happened in our childhood. But you have to get past that." AUGUSTA, NOW a helicopter pilot for the Gary Police Department, is celebrating her five-year anniversary doing the job she had always wanted to program and director of the Percussion Ensemble. To be shipped as luggage, each piece must be weighed and measured, and Northwest Airlines must be given a detailed description, Oddis said.

The tour will be centered in Beijing, with concerts in various halls, schools and universities. Seventy musicians and three faculty conductors leave May 12. FRANKFORT State takes part in export showcase A food export showcase that opened yesterday in Chicago included seven companies from Kentucky. The state Department of Agriculture provided a pavilion and assisted with expenses at the exhibition hall, McCormick Place, a department statement said. Moonlite Bar-B-Q of Owens-boro; Purnell Old Folks Sausage of Simpsonville; Kentucky Distillers Association of Springfield; Greenwell Farms or Mor-ganfield; and Algood Foods, Sour Mash Bourbon Bread Co.

and Robin's Nest all of Louisville, participated. The showcase had 1,200 exhibitors attracting 6,500 international buyers and generating $40 million in export contracts in 1998, the statement said. don't have to be like your situation. You can be better," Selita Augusta, a police officer in Gary, Ind. day she saw a notice on the municipal channel saying Gary was accepting applications for police officers.

It was a struggle. SHE PASSED all the examinations, written and physical, except the running test. "So there I was, running up and down the sidewalk in front hoisted a banner near the festival grounds urgiwg the festival-goers to worship "the Lord your God" and offering to introduce them to Jesus Christ. Cletus Shrout, 72, of Dennis-ton, said he'd like the pagans to embrace Christianity and "get saved." But Chris Florence, 32, a University of Kentucky alumnus who majored in religion, said he's tired of people trying to convert him. "You feel like people are always trying to shove their religion down your throat," he said.

Originally, the festival was going to be a clothing-optional event, but that idea was dropped after local residents complained. Festival-goers said they plan additional events. MOREHEAD Students build cases for tour instruments For a two-week concert tour in China, Morehead State University's Symphony Band and Percussion Ensemble needed an extensive repertoire: Berlioz, Big Band basic carpentry. Two tons of equipment, primarily percussion instruments, must be shipped. To do that, students are building special cases for the equipment, said Frank Oddis, coordinator of the percussion flnnnrt tional Peace Officers Memorial Day May 15.

Her name will be read at the 11th annual Candlelight Vigil May 13 at Judiciary Square in Washington. Nickles also will be honored Friday in Frankfort at a memorial service for Kentucky police officers who died last year in the line of duty or of natural causes, said Mary Ellen Blakely of the Fraternal Order of Police. After the service, a procession will go from Capital City Christian Church to the Law Enforcement Peace Officers Memorial. Nickles and Michael Partin, a Covington police officer who also was killed in the line of duty last year, will be honored, along with 24 officers who died of natural causes. DENNISTON Christians greet pagan revelers About 75 pagan May Day revelers danced, beat drums, chanted and meditated at a hilltop Menifee County farm over the weekend.

The festival-goers were greeted Saturday by about a dozen Christians who offered free food, soft drinks and a message to repent. Members of Louisville's Evangel Christian Life Center uu Subscription benefits: Sign up for as little as $9.95 a month FREE Netscape Navigator Software FREE Netscape Mail software Multiple e-mail addresses available 24-hour FREE technical support 13,000 newsgroups No start-up fees No cancellation fees; cancel anytime A local call in 78 U.S. cities Tlug-and-play" installation disks Call today 1-800-391-8745 a CDTMBTiM! All-you-can-surf access to the internet for only The Courier-Journal lnttrnt $1 S.K tor non-lubicrttMrt and SI 7.96 for 7-dy C-J tubicntort onty. you ik 7y all M2-221 i mi wbtcrir lorjiyt.