August 29, 2011

In memory of Ladetra C. Martin (February 23, 1983 – August 21, 2011). Six years (6) in Pittsylvania County Schools (Chatham Elementary School). Joyful. Helpful. Respectful. Supportive. Caring. Considerate. Courageous. Humorous. Dedicated. Hopeful. Compassionate. Purposeful. Educator. Professional. Wife. Mother. Friend.

A specific safety response to Tuesday’s earthquake is not covered in the Crisis Management Quick Reference Guide or the Crisis Management Plan. Until Pittsylvania County Schools, in conjunction with the Office of Emergency Management, can develop protocols that meet the goal of ensuring that our schools and facilities have viable, effective crisis and emergency management plans, provisional guidelines have been shared with all building administrators. Please consult with your building administrator for more information regarding a response to an earthquake.

Pittsylvania County is pleased to announce that residents can now sign-up to receive severe weather alerts via the County’s enhanced self-registration online web page. The weather alerting feature automatically notifies registered individuals seconds after the National Weather Service (NWS) issues an alert. Individuals register to receive weather alerts via the Pittsylvania County enhanced online sign-up page by providing their address, phone number(s) and selecting the alerts they wish to receive: severe thunderstorm, flash flood and/or tornado.

How to Register:

• Visit http://www.pittgov.org/e911/ecns.htm and click on the Sign Up button.

• Create an account using an email address.

• Registrants enter their name, address and up to two phone numbers.

• Contact information is geo-coded on-the-fly and registrants will be asked to verify their plotted location on the map. If the plotted location is incorrect, registrants will be able to move the pin to the correct location on the map.

• Registrants can enter up to five additional contacts under their account, such as parents, siblings, or spouses.

• Residents select which weather alerts they’d like to receive. Choices are severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood warnings, and tornado warnings.

• Registrants can log in to the registration website at any time to add or update their contact information.
  

Pittsylvania County Schools’ elementary students have the opportunity to participate in a reading challenge. The Martinsville Speedway is sponsoring a Read Your Way to the Race challenge for students in Pre-K to fifth grade. The challenge begins August 22, 2011, and continues for five weeks, ending on September 23, 2011. Students are challenged to read 15 books or 15 chapters. All students achieving the goal will receive a FREE ticket to the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on October 29, 2011, OR to the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on October 30, 2011. Parents may purchase tickets at a reduced price with a coupon.

The Virginia Retirement System is pleased to share the link to the summer issue of Member News. The Web address for the newsletter is www.varetire.org/MNews. This notification gives members the opportunity to read about benefit changes, updates and the latest news as soon as the newsletter is posted.