WASHINGTON — More than perhaps anyone else in America, David Blankenhorn personifies the struggle so many have experienced over same-sex marriage.

First he was agnostic, then he was against it, now he’s for it.

This is to say that Blankenhorn — a long-standing opponent of same-sex marriage — has shifted his energies to saving the institution of marriage, regardless of whom one chooses as a mate.

If you’re unfamiliar with Blankenhorn, it is because he hasn’t been barking his positions on television the way so many ideologues do. And this may be because he is not strictly an ideologue but one of those rare people who agonize in search of the right thing.

As creator of the Institute for American Values, Blankenhorn initially sought to avoid the gay marriage issue altogether because it was so divisive — and because opposition necessarily meant hurting friends and often, family. Eventually, he wrote a book against same-sex marriage and testified against it as California’s Proposition 8 was challenged in court.

Then, last summer he changed his mind.

Tuesday, Blankenhorn and more than 70 diverse signatories released a letter urging Americans to end the gay-marriage war and change the question from “Should gays marry?” to “How can we save marriage?”

Joining Blankenhorn are scholars, law professors, theologians and journalists, notably his former arch-rival Jonathan Rauch. Whether one is straight or gay, they say, the challenge is to figure out how to strengthen marriage for the broader benefit to society.

Blankenhorn’s journey through the marriage minefield parallels that of many Americans who, though they held no animosity toward gays, weren’t sure that changing the institution of marriage was in the best interest of society.

Like Blankenhorn, my greatest concern has been the effect on our nation’s children. The operative questions, posed so well by traditional marriage warrior Maggie Gallagher, were: Do we want to codify the notion that one parent, either the mother or father, is dispensable? And, what effect might this have?

We have witnessed the fallout from broken families in the past several decades, during which divorce and out-of-wedlock births have skyrocketed. These trends have been wrought not by expanding the definition of marriage but by a general lowering of respect for the institution. Blankenhorn’s group suggests that given Americans’ evolving acceptance of same-sex marriage, we should refocus our energies on a goal that transcends sexual orientation.

His group’s focus is on the disintegration of marriage in the middle and lower classes, which, they say, is creating a new underclass of inequality. As it happens, well-educated people tend to stay married in greater numbers, while the less educated — high school and no college — are becoming a subculture of economically depressed, single-parent families. Studies no longer need to be cited to convince us of what we know: Children from such homes have a lousy shot at the pursuit of happiness.

Blankenhorn still believes, as do most Americans, that a child benefits most from a loving mother and father committed in marriage. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child even has designated this arrangement as a right. “Marriage,” Blankenhorn has written, “is a gift that society bestows on its children.”

But this gift has been badly damaged or, too often these days, withheld. Moreover, many same-sex couples today also have children. It is simply not possible to justify offering societal protections to only certain children. As Blankenhorn has recognized, it is in everyone’s best interest that all children in all families have the security of parents committed through marriage with all its attendant rights and responsibilities.

In an op-ed last summer, Blankenhorn expanded on his vision:

“Once we accept gay marriage, might we also agree that marrying before having children is a vital cultural value that all of us should do more to embrace?” he asked. “Can we agree that, for all lovers who want their love to last, marriage is preferable to cohabitation?

“Can we discuss whether both gays and straight people should think twice before denying children born through artificial reproductive technology the right to know and be known by their biological parents?”

Now there’s a feast for thought.

Blankenhorn’s personal transformation has resulted in a welcome shift in the public debate. How clever of him to recognize that his allies in strengthening marriage are the very people who for so long have been excluded.

Kathleen Parker writes this column for the Washington Post Writers Group. Readers can reach her via email at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Over 60 years ago, Dad was stationed with the Air Wing at El Toro in California. His squadron flew transports, mostly R4Ds.

We lived in a rural area around Costa Mesa where I went to fifth and sixth grades. Across the street from our home was a huge expanse of open grassland populated by tumbleweeds, an occasional pheasant and not a few jackrabbits.

In the far distance at the edge of this sea of brown grass sat a huge hangar which was the LTA base. Those letters stand for “Lighter than Air” which meant — and still means — “blimps.”

That big field was our playground where we hunted with BB guns, built forts, explored fault cracks in the land and where I learned to smoke like Humphrey Bogart. The blimp hangar was our “Area 51,” a mysterious place where giant airships silently cruised into their berths.

Micro memories of those days still flash through my mind whenever I see Marine Corps or Navy squadron designations spelled out. They begin with the letter “V” which means “Heavier than Air,” a throwback to those old days when blimps were quite common.

Hydrogen-filled airships once ran intercontinental passenger service but the explosion of the Hindenburg in 1937 pretty much derailed that German effort. They didn’t have access to large quantities of helium; therefore, all of their ships were bombs.

It’s amazing how much difference just adding one tiny neutron and electron to a hydrogen atom makes. However, helium production isn’t always benign. Some methods can make cities disappear.

Remember the Cold War?

Let us mention the gas also makes grown men talk like one of the Chipmunks. Sometimes Mother Nature definitely shows a twisted sense of humor.

So what brought me to this particular subject was recent news about high-tech airships now being developed in California, not all that far from where we lived. Applying new space-age materials, composites along with propulsion and aerodynamic efficiencies lead some entrepreneurs to believe they can move cargo cost effectively.

This commercial adaptation of LTA ships has been tried before with limited successes. Of course we’re all familiar with the Goodyear blimp and its messaging during ball games.

This time around, developers are focusing on prodigious tonnage they intend to move around the planet. I’m skeptical that even with astronomical lifting capabilities, dodging weather and moving at bicycle speeds might be a crippling economic albatross around their bulging necks.

Whatever happens, it’ll be interesting to watch. Lately, we humans have been expanding travel imaginations from both ends. Spanning the spectrum from lumbering behemoths to private-enterprise space vehicles, there’s amazing new stuff in the pipeline.

For the present, I’m looking forward to seeing how these new LTA ships work out. I’ve seen pictures of one ship under construction and it appears quite sleek. But, of course, there’s a limit to just how sleek any air bag can be.

At the official unveiling, I imagine Elton John singing “The Blimp Is Back!” That seems appropriate.

Otis Gardner’s column appears here weekly. He can be reached at ogardner@embarqmail.com.

Over the past couple of years folks in North Carolina have become painfully aware of the governing body of college athletics, an organization known as the NCAA. Its investigative work into alleged malfeasance on university campuses is legendary, sometimes questionable but often on target. It has cheerleaders and detractors. It can be picky, but its work often provides a swinging door into the sordid world of big-time athletics on the collegiate level.

And given the well-known problems of college sports — where money and influence peddling corrupt the world of student-athletes — a referee of some kind is needed to set and enforce fair rules.

The NCAA has tried to fulfill that role for decades. At times the organization has done its job well when it has delivered swift justice, most recently when it came down hard on Penn State University’s football program for the cover-up of the Jerry Sandusky pedophile scandal. On the other hand, its investigation of problems in the University of North Carolina football program dragged on far too long before finding a disturbing pattern of problems that led to changes at UNC and the ouster of coach Butch Davis.

And then there’s the Frank Haith matter. It’s another study in interminable investigations.

The NCAA for more than 18 months has been investigating Haith as part of a larger probe of irregularities in the University of Miami football and basketball programs. We take note because Haith is a native North Carolinian, an Elon University alum and basketball coach with successful stops as an assistant at Wake Forest and as the head coach at Miami. He is now in his second year coaching at the University of Missouri, a Top 25 program.

The probe has been unconscionably long. And last week the NCAA admitted that the investigation itself had been tainted by how its enforcement division had collected some evidence about the Haith matter.

The NCAA’s mistake undercut its credibility and has placed Haith in the unenviable position of having alleged problems from a previous job hover ominously where he is today.

But pulling the plug on the Haith probe would go too far. If the NCAA has enough evidence gained through legitimate means to raise questions about his actions at Miami, the charges should be made, giving Haith a chance to defend himself. It’s not fair to Haith to have this bubble he has no means of fighting.

The NCAA does its job imperfectly — as do too many universities that are supposed to be looking out for the welfare of student-athletes. The NCAA must continue trying to rein in the excesses that plague college sports, but it must do so with higher ethical behavior.

NEW BERN — Families have an opportunity to enjoy the Governor’s Palace, learn about cooking in the 1770s, mingle with Gov. Tryon’s Craven Militia, make a clay bowl and other activities at today’s annual Free Day at Tryon Palace.

It is from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and offers tours and events based around the theme “Fresh from the Past: Food and Culture in Eastern North Carolina.”

Funded by a grant from the Harold H. Bate Foundation, Free Day ensures that families living in Eastern North Carolina have an opportunity to visit the state’s first capitol at no charge.

In addition to free tours and events at the historic site, a special discounted Galleries Pass— $10 for adults, $3 for students — will also be available for admittance into the Pepsi Family Center, Regional History Museum and Duffy Gallery.

Tryon Palace welcomed more than 2,500 visitors to Free Day in 2012 and has a goal of 3,000 this year by offering a new program of guided tours, art of tea presentations, craft demonstrations, take-home crafts, period cooking, a colonial militia encampment, a statewide scavenger hunt and other attractions.

“We are very fortunate to have the support of the Harold H. Bate Foundation to provide free, fun and engaging history education to everyone who visits Tryon Palace on Free Day,” said Brandon Anderson, director of education for Tryon Palace. “Our hope is that anyone planning on coming to Free Day will tell their friends and bring the entire family along. Everywhere you turn there will be a different experience to enjoy and to make cherished memories.”

“Fresh from the Past: Food and Culture in Eastern North Carolina” is a theme that’s woven throughout the events scheduled at Tryon Palace this year. Whether it’s visiting the Governor’s Kitchen Office for a glimpse of the latest in kitchen gadgets for 1770, enjoying a sample of a popular colonial hot chocolate drink or a look at what Tryon’s Craven Militia is cooking over the fire, all visitors are invited to become immersed in history and explore the food culture of Eastern North Carolina’s past.

Call 252-639-3500 for more information. A printable map with a full list of the day’s activities is available on the web at tryonpalace.org/pdfs/free_day_map.pdf.

About 21 school-age children wore brighter smiles by the end of the day Friday when they left Kinston Community Health Center’s dental clinic.

The children were patients of the 10th annual “Give Kids a Smile Day,” a program launched annually on Feb. 1 nationwide by the American Dental Association since 2003.

Melanie Gallardo, 10, of La Grange said she wanted her teeth to be “clean and pretty.”

She said she felt “good” about going to the dentist because if you don’t, “then your teeth are going to get nasty, they’re going to get off of your mouth because their going to get rotten.”

Her father, Pablo Gallardo, put it a different way.

“It’s good because, right now,” he said, “they’re giving me the opportunity to keep our kids healthy, you know, in the mouth.”

He said his children’s school called and told him about the opportunity to get free dental care for his children. It had been a long while since they had dental care and Pablo Gallardo’s reaction was, “Wow!”

His son, Orlando Gallardo, 11, was getting two cavities filled in his front teeth. His dentist, Dr. Joey Pesicek, said he was being a great patient.

Pablo Gallardo’s daughter had a space maintainer, or retainer, removed. A retainer is attached to the teeth if a child’s baby teeth come in early, but should be removed when the permanent teeth start to come in, Dr. Brandon Nicholson said.

The Health Center began performing the free dental care on Give Kids a Smile Day when it began 10 years ago. Nicholson was instrumental in bringing the community program back to the center last year and organized it again this year. The emphasis these two years has been on teaching the parents about good dental hygiene habits, he said.

“As a Christian and follower of Jesus,” Nicholson said, “we were taught to use our gifts and talents to serve others and to help the needy. That’s what we’re doing here”

Some of the children, ages 5-11, have never seen a dentist, including Layla Whitfield, 6. She was beginning to get a cavity filled and was doing her best to be good so she would get a prize once the procedure was done.

“I’ve been doing very good, so far,” Whitfield said, sporting bright pink butterfly glasses.

Her mother, Angela Lewis of La Grange, said she wouldn’t have been able to take her daughter to the dentist unless it was an emergency. The cavity, small then, would only get worse, she said.

“It helped me out a lot,” Lewis said about the free dental care, “because (Whitfield) doesn’t have any dental insurance.”

Corey Chen, 10, hadn’t ever seen a dentist in the U.S., nor during his trips to China.

“They cleaned my teeth,” he said. “It feels good afterwards.” He got a squishy jelly-like worm as a prize.

His father, Min Chen of Kinston, said he received a call from the school, made an appointment and was told his son should get his teeth checked every six months.

“It’s been very good help,” he said about the free cleaning.

Fern Martin, office manager from Kinston Dental Association, was volunteering at the check-in desk. She said Feb. 1 is a day to take care of all elementary school-age children who fall in the gap between Medicaid and what a parent can afford.

Dr. Junius Rose Jr., who was instrumental in the clinics’ founding, has volunteered once a week since he retired. He said the clinic wouldn’t be nearly as large without the support of legendary local philanthropist Felix Harvey, who donated the downtown building and raised $100,000 to renovate it 15 years ago.

“It’s a two-way street,” he said about the benefits of Give Kids a Smile Day. “I get as much as the patient.”

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.

While Wall Street celebrates the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s highest close since 2007, job growth isn’t keeping pace with stock prices.

The county breakdown of December unemployment rates in North Carolina released this week show a continued trend of job losses in the area. Lenoir County’s not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose half a percent to 10.2 and Greene County came in at 9.6 percent. Jones County proved to be an outlier as the only county in the entire state to see its unemployment rate drop — down one-fifth of a percent to 9 percent.

“We’ve had a lot of people who lost jobs in the month of December and have not gone back to work,” said Jamie Wallace, N.C. Division of Workforce Solutions manager for Lenoir and Greene counties. “Claims are still up — we have numerous people taking claims by phone and by Internet. We can’t really put our finger on one particular thing. I’ve noticed too, the numbers have gone up in surrounding counties. Don’t know what to attribute to that.”

After a long trend in gradual job growth, the last four months of data go the other direction. Lenoir is up 0.5 percent from September, Greene is up 0.6 percent and Jones is up 0.3 percent. For the people who lose jobs, there don’t appear to be new positions available.

“In this area, Sanderson Farms has probably been the biggest employer of most of LenoirCountyfolks who are looking for employment. As far as the other manufacturing companies, work has been stable,” Wallace said. “There hasn’t been a lot of turnover — haven’t been a lot of people in looking for jobs (who worked for those companies).

“And, there are a lot of people working at those companies that when they get in, they stay. Generally, those companies don’t advertise postings, because they keep employees. There are several other manufacturing and industrial companies in LenoirCounty— I think there’s a smorgasbord of them around here. But they’re just not advertising any positions right now.”

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.

Breakout Box

Not Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

December 2012

Lenoir County: 10.2 percent (up 0.5)

Greene County: 9.6 percent (up 0.3)

Jones County: 9 percent (down 0.2)

The Lenoir Community College curriculum enrollment drop isn’t what it seems.

The numbers declined 12.6 percent in the fall and 10 percent in the spring, but LCC President Brantley Briley said more students can enroll before the number is finalized.

“Spring opportunities are not over,” he said on Friday, mentioning late start classes. “So we think we are closing the gap.”

The traditional college pathway at LCC is dropping because, hopefully, more area residents are getting trained and into the workforce, Briley said.

“When we say, ‘we’re down,’ we’re down from that bubble we experienced when we had unemployment,” he said. “We’re down from the peak.”

While the numbers fall in the curriculum education arena at LCC, the college’s Continuing Education enrollment has increased by 18 percent this year.

Jay Carraway, vice president of Continuing Education, reported LCC has the second highest enrollment in the 58 schools of the North Carolina Community College System behind Fayetteville Technical Community College.

The program served more than 15,000 students last year.

“The numbers are climbing,” Carraway said. “We try to be as mobile and responsive … as we possibly can. We’re strong in online programs and we have a lot of outreach with our programs.”

Continued Education courses are designed for people who want a jumpstart into the workforce. Carraway said, depending on someone’s personal situation, prospective students may not have time to spend two years on an associate’s degree.

Programs include cosmetology, aerospace, welding, and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). Carraway announced at this week’s Board of Trustees meeting the school will get a new certified telecommunication program featuring a medic responder dispatch service.  

He said Briley’s support in finding more funds if he exhausts the budget drives Continuing Education to success.

“This is expanding exponentially, which is unlike most community colleges,” Briley said. “They’re not seeing that type of growth. I think that speaks volumes for … Lenoir Community College meeting the need, and then secondly, the quality of instruction we deliver.”

The Spanish Cosmetology class taught through the Continuing Education curriculum is the only one of its kind east of I-95, attracting students from as far as Winston-Salem for the two-day course.

“When you have loyalty, they’ll travel,” Continuing Education Director Carlos Cotto said. “I did not advertise this class — they came by word of mouth.”

Mitzi Arteaga, 19, used to go to school in Lillington before discovering the cosmetology class at LCC. The closer campus made her Goldsboro commute easier.

“I used to have to drive all the way to Lillington,” she said. “I’m going to get (two) licenses in June.”

She started a year ago with cosmetology and nail technician classes and can work at a shop of her choice or open her own once she passes state board exams.

“There are a lot of benefits,” cosmetology instructor Rose Del Toro said. “People have more knowledge about how to treat customers. I always say if people are more ready to work out there, we have more money in the community.”

While college administrators are delighted with the skyrocketing enrollment percentage of Continuing Education, Briley said they are taking the curriculum education numbers seriously, forming an Operation Energizing Enrollment team.

“We are looking at the way we do business in curriculum,” he said. “In every program, curriculum or continued education, it’s the people who make a difference, and we try our best to make sure we hire the right people.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

BREAKOUT BOX:

For more information about Continuing Education Programs at Lenoir Community College, visit.lenoircc.edu/Continuing_Education or call 252-527-6223, ext. 704

AYDEN — Numbers can tell interesting stories. Friday night’s Carolina 1A Conference clash between Ayden-Grifton and Goldsboro Rosewood had plenty.

Six ties. Eight lead changes. One length-of-the-floor buzzer beater. One potentially momentum-shifting technical foul. And, finally, one decisive 10-0 second-half run.

It all added up to a 60-52 win for Ayden-Grifton that put the Chargers in a tie for second place in the league with the Eagles.

The Chargers (8-9, 4-2) traded buckets and leads for much of the first half with the Eagles despite a horrendous half of shooting for both squads. While Ayden-Grifton found the bottom of the net only 32 percent of the time (9 of 28) in the half, Rosewood (13-4, 4-2) was nearly as bad, going just 11 of 29 (38 percent) from the field. But the Eagles hit what was the most improbable shot of the night by a wide margin to end the half.

Clinging to a 23-21 lead, Rosewood gave up a long outlet pass to Ayden-Grifton for what looked to be a game-tying layup. Instead, an Eagles defender hustled back and blocked Rondell Bell’s layup attempt. With just over 2 seconds left on the clock, Jyvonte Raynor heaved the ball nearly the length of the court and banked in a 3-pointer — a five point swing in the score that gave the Eagles a 26-21 lead.

The buzzer beater apparently served as a wake-up call for the Chargers, who stormed back in the third quarter to reclaim the lead. Trailing 38-30, Ayden-Grifton connected on its last four trips for a 10-0 run and a 40-38 lead heading into the final period.

The Chargers were 8 of 11 (73 percent) from the field in the quarter.

“When we were down 38-30, we battled hard,” Chargers coach John Moye said.  “From that point on, Khalil (Harper) was playing defense first; then, he hit those four big shots in a row.”

Harper led the Chargers with 16 points, followed by 15 from Brandon Larry and 12 from Bell. Meanwhile, the Eagles had two players notch double figures in the scoring column: Raynor with 25 points and Dennis Mitchell with 10.

But it was defense that made the ultimate difference in the fourth quarter. The Chargers turned up the defensive intensity in the final frame, and the Chargers’ full court pressure won the turnover battle 22-10 on the evening.

“Our defensive pressure really picked up,” Moye said.

With the outcome still very much in question, things got chippy around the four-minute mark, and Harper picked up a technical foul after he was fouled while shooting.

He converted both of his free throws, while the Eagles hit one of two at their end and followed up with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession for a four-point play that cut the Chargers’ lead to one.

The Chargers responded by scoring the next seven points to put the game away.

“We showed a lot of heart,” Moye said. “We just need to keep our composure. We went through a lot at Rosewood, losing that game. … So this game meant a lot to us.”

Ayden-Grifton travels to Spring Creek on Tuesday.

ROSEWOOD 52, AYDEN-GRIFTON 41

In the girls game, a slow start and a disastrous second quarter doomed Ayden-Grifton, as the Chargers lost to Rosewood.

The Chargers (4-11, 2-4) fell behind 15-8 after a quarter and watched as Rosewood raced to a 35-12 halftime lead on the strength of a quarter-long 20-4 run.

The Eagles (12-5, 5-1) led by 20 going into the fourth quarter before the Chargers came charging back.

A 15-0 run trimmed the deficit to six points at 45-39, as Destiny Dixon scored seven of her nine points during that stretch, but the valiant comeback effort fell just short.

“I thought we responded really well (in the fourth quarter),” Chargers coach Jeff Dufour said. “We got in there, and we worked as hard as we could as a team.”

Rosewood’s Lexi Mercer led all scorers with 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Krystal Yelverton chipped in with nine points for the Eagles, while Alicia Burns added eight more.

The Chargers were led by 12 points from Ashley Dillahunt, followed by Alexis and Destiny Dixon (no relation), who each had nine.

GIRLS

Rosewood          15           20           9              8—52

Ayden-Grifton  8              4              12           17—41

EAGLES (12-5, 5-1) — Lexi Mercer 21, Yelverton 9, Burns 8, Heath 6, Baker 5, C. Thornton 2, H. Mercer 1.

CHARGERS (4-11, 2-4) — Ashley Dillahunt 12, A. Dixon 9, D. Dixon 9, Jones 7, Worthington 2, Ennis 2.

BOYS

Rosewood          11           15           12           14—52

Ayden-Grifton  13           8              19           20—60

EAGLES (13-4, 4-2) — Jyvonte Raynor 25, Dennis Mitchell 10, Davis 7, Mabry 7, Jenkins 2, Hair 1.

CHARGERS (8-9, 4-2) — Khalif Harper 16, Brandon Larry 15, Rondell Bell 12, Joyner 6, Dixon 4, Squires 3, Wright 2, Preston 2.

A lot of futility came to an end for the Greene Central boys basketball team on Friday night.

Joseph Biggs scored 23 points and the Rams defeated host Tarboro 88-80 to win its first league game of the season and snapped an 11-game losing streak in the process.

Brandon Belcher scored 18 points and Jalyn Harper added 12 as Greene Central (4-15, 1-7 Eastern Plains 2A Conference) dominated the second half by outscoring the Vikings (1-7 EP2A) 52-37 in the final 16 minutes.

Tarboro led 43-36 at the break.

The Rams travel to SouthWest Edgecombe for a make-up game on Wednesday before hosting league-leading Kinston next Friday.  

FARMVILLE — One Kinston team clinched at least a share of the Eastern Plains 2A Conference regular season title and the other moved a step closer to that same goal.

All in all, it was just a typical night's work for the Vikings on the hardwood.

The girls routed Farmville Central 72-26 on Friday and now have a three-game lead in the league standings with three games to play

The boys, meanwhile, smoked the homestanding Jaguars 84-57 and hold a two-game advantage over North Pitt, which was idle Friday.

Coach Perry Tyndall's Vikings played so well in the first half that it almost wasn't fair.

In front of a loud, boisterous crowd, Kinston (17-2, 9-0) quickly muzzled the frenzied Jaguars fans by scoring the game's first 14 points.

The lead grew to 23-4 before Farmville mustered its only true rally of the night, a 13-4 spurt that trimmed the margin to 10 and awoke the Jaguars faithful from their slumber.

“We started fast in a hostile environment, but the important thing was the way we answered their run,” Tyndall said. “I thought we really took control of the game after they got to within 10.”

The emphatic answer came courtesy of  the senior duo of Josh Dawson and Denzel Keyes. Dawson buried a pair of 3-pointers, while Keyes converted a conventional three-point play to go along with a long distance trey of his own.

Add in a nifty put back by Jeremy Taylor and Kinston outscored its hosts 14-3 over a four-minute stretch that increased the margin to 41-20 with 2:51 left before intermission.

The Jaguars were never heard from again.

“That was the turning point,” Tyndall said. “Two seniors who've been through a lot together didn't let us panic and put the team on their backs. That's what leadership is all about.”

The second half was mostly a glorified scrimmage as Tyndall cleared his bench and distributed the wealth among his roster.

After dissecting the Jaguars for 18 first-half points, Keyes played sparingly following the break and finished with 20. He added seven rebounds.

Dawson ended up with 13, 11 in the first half, and also chipped in seven rebounds. He also dished out 10 assists through three quarters of action.

Five Vikings players reached double figures. Brandon Ingram also contributed 13 points, while Taylor added 12 and Andrew Lopez 10.

Defensively, Kinston coerced the Jaguars (14-4, 5-3) into 22 turnovers.

“The only complaint I have is that we need to do a better job of sacrificing on defense,” Tyndall said. “There were several instances tonight where we could have stepped in and taken the charge, but overall I'm very pleased with the way we played.”

KINSTON 72, FARMVILLE CENTRAL 26

After Monique Lofton missed six of her first seven shots and seven of her first nine, Kinston coach Hubert Quinerly told his sharpshooting guard to keep firing.

Lofton did, and she rewarded her coach with a 26-point outburst that keyed the Vikings' rout.

Lofton buried 4 of 6 from behind the arc in the second half as Kinston (16-4, 9-0) overwhelmed Farmville 45-13 in the final 16 minutes.

Lofton finished with five of her team's eight successful 3-pointers.

The Vikings need just one win in their final three games to clinch first place in the conference outright.

Takerian Harper finished with a double-double, posting 10 points and a like number of rebounds.

Brittany Drumgoole very nearly posted a triple-double, ringing up 13 boards to go with nine points and eight assists.

Lydia Rivers also hauled down 13 caroms for the Vikings, who dominated the glass by a huge 49-33 margin.

Both Kinston squads will complete the home portion of their regular-season schedule Tuesday when they host Tarboro for senior night.

BOYS

Kinston                     25        24        18        17—84

Farmville Central      12        15        8          22—57

VIKINGS (17-2, 9-0) — Denzel Keyes 20, Josh Dawson 13, Brandon Ingram 13, Jeremy Taylor 12, Andrew Lopez 10, Dunn 6, Joyner 5, Ham 2, Canady 2, Williams 1, White, Jones, Hart, Rouse, Jackson.

JAGUARS (14-4, 5-3) — Arkevion Crandall 20, Josh Jones 11, Josh Phillips 10, Johnson 5, Williams 4, Ashorn 3, Foskey 3, L. Jones 1, McCabe, Taylor, Norville, Newsome, Watts, Forbes, Davis.

GIRLS

Kinston                     14        13        22        23—72

Farmville Central      10        3          8            5—26

VIKINGS (16-4, 9-0) — Monique Lofton 26, Takerian Harper 10, Drumgoole 8, Williams 8, Addison 8, Rivers 5, Thi 2, Washington 2, Clark 2, Tice.

JAGUARS (6-12, 3-5) — Dajura Rodgers 12, Foskey 4, Williams 4, Blackmore 4, Harper 2, Allard, Hopkins, White, Hood, Knight, Gouras, Joyner. 

DEEP RUN — The M.O. of South Lenoir’s boys basketball team this season has been to start out slow then get going late.

Against Topsail the Blue Devils once again began cold. But this time, they never got hot.

Tyler Hagan led a balanced Pirates attack with 16 points and 10 rebounds as they rolled to a 56-41 win over league-leading South Lenoir at Munn Gymnasium on Friday.

The Blue Devils (12-6, 8-2 East Central 2A) couldn’t score from the field or from the line, and they couldn’t stop Topsail (9-10, 3-7) on its end, either.

“I don’t know. … Maybe we were poorly coached tonight,” said South Lenoir coach Jeremy Barnett, whose team hit just 14 of its 55 field goal attempts, went 1 for 16 from beyond the arc and was 12 of 26 from the free throw line.

“I’ll go back and look at the tape but I swear we had open shot after open shot after open shot, and we just couldn’t throw it in the ocean.”

South Lenoir’s only lead came at 2-0 when Jaquan Wooten, who tied a team-best with 12 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds, dropped one in early in the first quarter. Two possessions later Hagan drained a 3 from the right wing, which put his team on top for good.

For the rest of the night — on their homecoming of all nights — the Blue Devils were never really in it.

After going through the first half of the league 7-0, South Lenoir has been on a steady spiral downward. It has now dropped two of its last three games and instead of being all alone in first it is now in a tie with Clinton.

“Topsail had a lot to do with it. It wasn’t just us,” Barnett said. “(The Pirates) came ready to play.”

Topsail didn’t fare much better in the shooting department, connecting on just 17 of 48 field goal attempts, three of which were 3s. But where the Pirates faltered from the field they made up from at the charity stripe, hitting 19 of 27 freebies.

Now with its two-game conference lead gone South Lenoir must go on the road for three of its final four games.

In its last three games — including a loss at East Duplin and a hard-fought come-from-behind win against Richlands — there has been a trend.

It’s a trend that caught up with the Blue Devils on Friday, and it’s one Barnett feels must stop.

“For the last three games our guys just haven’t been ready to play,” he said. “I’ve gotta do something different.

“I thought 7-0, 8-1 in the conference was motivation enough, but maybe I’m wrong. It’s not been motivation enough.”

SOUTH LENOIR 52, TOPSAIL 24

The Blue Devils girls just keep winning.

Heather West had a game-best 14 points and Demeyia Adams added 10 points and eight rebounds as they won big over Topsail.

West added five assists and six steals and Marquia Suddeth chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and four steals as South Lenoir (14-4, 8-2 East Central 2A) used a 22-3 run to open up the game and never looked back.

Hanna Meready scored seven points and added four assists and Caroline Jones had seven points and three assists for the Blue Devils, who had seven who scored.

Topsail (7-11, 2-8) closed the first half out on an 11-1 run to get within nine at the break, but South Lenoir answered by outscoring the Pirates 14-3 in the third period.

The Blue Devils remain in a three-way tie for second behind Clinton with East Duplin and Jacksonville Northside after all four teams won on Friday.

There are only four conference games left to sort the cluttered upper-half of the league out.

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.

BOYS

Topsail               12           10           13           21—56

South Lenoir     7              9              10           15—41

PIRATES (9-10, 3-8) — Tyler Hagan 16, Trevor Savidge 11, Davis Ball 11, Schoenleber 6, Gilgo 6, Jak. Sullivan 2, Williams 2, Jar. Sullivan 2, Bland, Kimmel, Davis.

BLUE DEVILS (12-6, 8-2) — Jaquan Wooten 12, Jonte Midgette 12, Ishmael Baldwin 10, Jones 4, Whaley 2, Janning 1, Graves, Garner, Cooper, Davis, Turner.

GIRLS

Topsail               3              11           3              7—24

South Lenoir     14           9              14           15—52

PIRATES (7-11, 2-8) — K. White 9, M. White 5, Wolf 6, Skipper 2, Payton 2, Wolff , Reily, Hyatt.

BLUE DEVILS (14-4, 8-2) — Heather West 14, Demeyia Adams 10, Suddeth 8, Meready 7, Jones 7, Stapleford 5, Franklin 1, Pelletier, Ha. West, Combs, Williams, Braxton.

WASHINGTON — Politics becomes amusing when liberalism becomes theatrical with high-minded gestures. Chicago’s government, which is not normally known for elevated thinking, is feeling so morally upright and financially flush that it proposes to rise above the banal business of maximizing the value of its employees’ and retirees’ pension fund assets. Although seven funds have cumulative unfunded liabilities of $25 billion, Chicago will sacrifice the growth of those assets to the striking of a political pose so pure it is untainted by practicality.

Emulating New York and California, two deep blue states with mammoth unfunded pension liabilities, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hectored a $5 billion pension fund into divesting its holdings in companies that manufacture firearms. Now he is urging two large banks to deny financing to such companies “that profit from gun violence.” TD Bank provides a $60 million credit line to Smith & Wesson, and Bank of America provides a $25 million line to Sturm, Ruger & Company.

Chicago’s current and retired public employees might wish the city had invested more in both companies. Barack Obama, for whom Emanuel was chief of staff, has become a potent gun salesman because of suspicions that he wants to make gun ownership more difficult. Since he was inaugurated four years ago, there have been 65 million requests for background checks of gun purchasers. Four years ago, the price of Smith & Wesson stock was $2.45. Last week it was $8.76, up 258 percent. Four years ago, the price of Sturm Ruger stock was $6.46. Last week it was $51.09, up 691 percent. The Wall Street Journal reports that even before “a $1.2 billion balloon payment for pensions comes due” in 2015, “Chicago’s pension funds, which are projected to run dry by the end of the decade, are scraping the bottoms of their barrels.”

Nevertheless, liberals are feeling good about themselves — the usual point of liberalism — because New York state’s public pension fund and California’s fund for teachers have, The New York Times says, “frozen or divested” gun holdings, and in February Calpers, the fund for other California public employees, may join this gesture jamboree. All this is being compared to the use of divestment to pressure South Africa to dismantle apartheid in the 1980s. Well.

Apartheid was a wicked practice. Guns are legal products in America, legally sold under federal, state and local regulations. Most of the guns sold to Americans are made by Americans. Americans have a right — a constitutional right — to own guns, and 47 percent of American households exercise that portion of the Bill of Rights by possessing at least one firearm.

For Emanuel to say gun makers “profit from gun violence” is as sensible as saying automobile manufacturers “profit from highway carnage” — which, by the way, kills more Americans than guns do. Emanuel, who is more intelligent than he sounds (just as many think Wagner’s music is better than it sounds), must know that not one fewer gun will be made, sold or misused because Chicago is wagging its finger at banks.

Moral grandstanding, however, offers steady work and The Chronicle of Higher Education reports a new front in “the battle against climate change”: “Student groups at almost 200 colleges and universities are calling on boards of trustees to divest their colleges’ holdings in large fossil-fuel companies.” Of course, not one share of those companies’ stock will go unsold because academia is so righteous. Others will profit handsomely from such holdings and from being complicit in supplying what the world needs. Fossil fuels, the basis of modern life, supply 82 percent of U.S. energy, and it is projected that they will supply 78 percent of the global increase in energy demand between 2009 and 2035, by which time the number of cars and trucks on the planet will have doubled to 1.7 billion.

Institutions of higher education will, presumably, warn donors that their endowments will be wielded in support of the political agenda du jour, which might include divesting from any company having anything to do with corn, source of the sweetener in many of the sodas that make some people fat and New York’s mayor cranky. Or anything to do with red meat, sugar, salt, trans fats, chickens not lovingly raised. ...

Liberal ethicists may decide that the only virtuous investments are in electric cars. The Obama administration says 1 million will be sold by 2015. Maybe 70,000 have been so far. Just imagine how pension funds will prosper by betting on the next 930,000.

George Will writes this column for the Washington Post Writers Group. Readers can reach him via email at georgewill@washpost.com.

RALEIGH — If your tenure in our state stretches back no further than the early 1980s, you may not be aware of the fact North Carolina’s license plates used to say “First in Freedom” rather than “First in Flight.” So you may not fully appreciate why we chose the title First in Freedom for the John Locke Foundation’s just-published book of policy ideas for the new administration and legislature in Raleigh.

The state’s freedom-themed license plate was first issued in 1975, as the nation was preparing to celebrate the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. It commemorated North Carolina’s early role in the American Revolution.

In May 1775, a group of Mecklenburg County leaders met in Charlotte to fashion a response to escalating tensions with Britain. As they gathered, news arrived of the battles of Lexington and Concord a month earlier. Worried and angered, the Mecklenburg leaders decided to set up their own institutions of government. In a document later published as the Mecklenburg Resolves, they stated that British military action had resulted in the colonies entering “a state of actual rebellion” and that “all laws and commissions confirmed by or derived from the authority of the King and Parliament are annulled and vacated and the former civil constitution of these colonies for the present wholly suspended.”

Some believe that the Mecklenburg committee went further still, issuing a formal Declaration of Independence on May 20, the first of its kind in America. But even if the Mecklenburg Resolves was the only document approved by the delegates, it was still a startling and courageous act of resistance against tyrannical government and deserves the veneration still evident on North Carolina’s state flag and state seal.

The revolutionary fervor was hardly limited to Mecklenburg. Political leaders in counties and towns across North Carolina expressed their resolve to fight for liberty over the subsequent months. By April 1776, they met as the Fourth Provincial Congress in Halifax to decide what North Carolina’s position should be at the upcoming Continental Congress. In the resulting Halifax Resolves, the assembled state leaders, including three veterans of the 1775 Mecklenburg committee, instructed the North Carolina delegation in Philadelphia to pursue formal independence from Britain — the first such decision in America. The date of the Halifax Resolves, April 12, is the other date honored on the North Carolina seal and flag.

So there is a strong case to be made that the Tar Heel State led the way on American independence, although it took nearly two centuries to deliver on the promissory note of freedom for all of our citizens. Now, in the early 21st century, we face new challenges to our economic vitality, our families, our liberty and our tradition of constitutional government. Again, it is time for North Carolina leaders to act.

In “First in Freedom,” my John Locke Foundation colleagues and I offer the following action plan:

-- Replace North Carolina’s uncompetitive and unfair tax code with a new, pro-growth system that targets consumption and encourages savings, investment, business formation and job creation.

-- Place stronger constitutional limits on state budget growth and the issuance of public debt so that tax dollars are concentrated on the state’s highest budget priorities and investment needs.

-- Continue the process of removing costly, counterproductive regulations that inhibit job creation and raise the cost of energy, food, medical care and other goods and services.

-- Enhance North Carolina’s long-term rate of economic growth by investing more wisely in infrastructure and bringing more academic rigor, accountability, management flexibility, competition and parental choice to the delivery of educational services.

-- Reorganize the operating system of state government to reduce the number of Council of State and Cabinet agencies, sort out the state’s convoluted governance system for education, strengthen accountability to the public and promote competitive elections in North Carolina.

In short, North Carolina should reclaim our heritage and resume our leadership in the cause of liberty. Let’s be “First in Freedom” once more.

John Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.

Members of the Kinston City Council deserve praise for tackling the blight that has gone unchecked in the city for too many years. They also warrant close watching as they employ the power they can wield in that work.

The council last month designated itself as an urban redevelopment commission, which gives it direct control over revitalization work in the Mitchelltown neighborhood, a unique, turn-of-the-century residential area eyed as the city’s first Urban Redevelopment Area (URA). The work is to begin in earnest with a scheduled public hearing Thursday to formally establish the URA and, if that vote goes as expected, to turn the project over to the city’s planning staff.

The redevelopment plan to be written by that staff will be subject to public review, public comment and a public hearing, but the final decisions on the fate of — potentially — some 200 private properties and 500 acres in the URA will come down to the city council alone. The success of this project will turn on the council’s own attitude toward cooperation and constraint, since the law allows it to work pretty much as a wrecking ball.

The state’s redevelopment law gives government the right to take private property for the vaguest of reasons — that it blocks “sound growth” or is detrimental to the “public welfare,” for instance. Currently, there is no block against government condemning private property for economic development purposes; the N.C. General Assembly should take time in the current session to produce a constitutional amendment that would prohibit this type of eminent domain abuse, but if that legislation is on the agenda, it’s down the list.

In fairness, there is no reason to believe the city council will slip the leash. After decades of doing nothing, the city has moved slowly against blight. The decline of Mitchelltown has been part of the public conversation for at least two years, since two murders there in 2010. City Manager Tony Sears first broached the subject of demolition a year ago. It took the city a until January to draw up a list of 30 targeted properties, and they were the easy ones — vacant, some owned by the city, many owned by estates or nonresidents and none in Mitchelltown.

Still, with direct control and few legal barriers, there is opportunity for dangerous official overreaching, particularly if the public ignores its own responsibility for oversight. Mitchelltown residents appear to agree. While they are gratified their neighborhood will get a shot in the arm from the city, they expect to be part of the planning process. Rose Clark, a Mitchelltown historian and preservationist, said in a recent news story the project hinged on the council’s seeking “advice and direction” from property owners there.

We would include in that group of stakeholders any city resident who desires the judicious use of government power, a surgical approach to redevelopment and respectful elected officials.

The vast majority of children do not want to be at school. Period.

When we examine problems in our schools, we must remember not to look at the problem through our older, hopefully wiser eyes but through the eyes of a child, from their perspective. Children react to being engaged, whether it’s a mother making faces to her newborn or a toddler chasing his father around the house.

I could not even begin to list the number of teachers I had whose chief goal was clearly to hear themselves speak.

I’m quite sure that whatever they were delivering in their Ferris Bueller-esque monotone manner was highly important, but for a boy that just wanted to be running around, it may as well have been sleep medicine. I remember having to watch Carl Sagan’s "Cosmos" in class. Today, I would find it interesting to some degree, but we were in middle school. And with all due respect to Mr. Sagan, he’s doesn’t exactly come across like a Dixie Band leader. It was boring, at best, and sleep-inducing, at worst.

Recently, Bill Gates released a statement regarding a three-year study, the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project designed to determine how to best identify and promote great teaching. What the study found was it is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching.

According to Tom Kane, Professor of Education and Economics at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and leader of the MET project, “If we want students to learn more, teachers must become students of their own teaching. They need to see their own teaching in a new light. Public school systems across the country have been re-thinking how they describe instructional excellence and let teachers know when they’ve achieved it. This is not about accountability. It’s about providing the feedback every professional needs to strive towards excellence.”

This is vital. Great teachers are a must -- not good, but great. We have to be able to move forward with teachers that can create a positive classroom experience and move out those that can not. This leads directly to the second issue of -- how do you pay for it?

With more and more of our country’s upper middle class and above children migrating to private schools, combined with the greater influence these affluent socio-economic classes have on politics, it is not out of the question to foresee school funding become a hot topic in the very near future. Why would anyone want to pay more for something that they are not even going to use? When you throw in that many of these people will be footing the tax bill, it becomes increasingly understandable.

I can not and do not blame anyone for sending their child to a private school. If I had a child, coupled with the state of our public schools in this country, I would definitely look at this option. The problem is the more people that can and do choose this path, the more likely it will be that the gap between public schools and private schools will widen.

We can talk all day long about equality of education and so forth, but at the end of the day we will end up with a segregated school system, but by class and not ethnicity. With the vast majority of people in the country not being able to afford a private school, we must redirect our efforts in our country’s public school system.

This does not necessarily mean more money, at least in the traditional sense. The Department of Education and all of the bureaucracy that goes with it is insane. The fact that some of our “school administrators” are pulling down triple what our best teachers make in a year has to be dealt with.

We must pay our best teachers much, much more. There is no question about it. Maybe we need to look at professional sports for a payroll model. In professional sports, the talent gets paid. Oh, good coaches make some money and are in high demand, but the money is on the field. Maybe if we kept the money in the classroom, then our more highly qualified personnel would stay in the classroom.

While I am not here to argue the value of administrators, I will only say this: Teachers are the most vital part of our school systems. Think of the demand for a well-qualified, proven teacher on a free-agent-type market.

Maybe that’s what we already have in the private school world. Having been a product of a solid public system in Richmond, I believe what has separated this country throughout the last half of the last century was our free, public school system.

However, we have dropped the ball. Whether it's children who are not properly disciplined or properly prepared at home, poor teachers, poor conditions, bad administration or all of the above, I do know what I see coming out of our schools today can not be our best effort. If it is our best effort, then we are in worse shape than I ever suspected.

Hopefully, some real headway can be made in the very near future. With studies such as the MET, we have plausible evidence of what can work. Movies such as “Waiting for Superman” (sidenote: this is a fantastic look at our educational system) have put our nation’s educational issues in the spotlight and now it is our time to either fumble away our youth’s future or pick it up and do the right thing.

Richard Clark is the universal desk chief for Halifax ENC. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at kpaws22.

In three weeks, the boys of spring – and future and current American heroes – will be back in Kinston.

The Freedom Classic, the brainchild of Kinston/Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Director Bill Ellis, returns to Historic Grainger Stadium Feb. 22-24. The baseball teams from the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy will play a four-game series that weekend, with a 6 p.m. game on Friday, a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday and a 12:30 p.m. game on Sunday.

I hope you will put it in your schedule to get out there for at least one, if not all, of the games. There are a few reasons why it is important.

First, there’s no better way to tell potential minor league baseball franchises looking at Kinston that our city is ready for another team than to fill Grainger Stadium for this tournament. If there are 2,000 fans at the venerable stadium in mid-February, what kind of message does that send to those franchises about the potential of fans in June, July or August?

As important, though, are the young men who are going to be taking the field in that four-game set. They are the future officers of the Air Force, Navy and Marines who could potentially be going from the baseball field to the field of battle in just a few months. They are the heroes who will be leading other heroes who are defending our country and our way of life.

Speaking of those other heroes, here is your opportunity to help them enjoy a little baseball later this month. Ellis and Jenny Inabinet, the Freedom Classic organizer for the Parks and Rec Department, have come up with a great idea to help the airmen from Goldsboro’s Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and Marines from Onslow County’s Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point attend the game.

Donate $20 to the Freedom Classic and your name will be included in a donors portion of the official tournament program. Your $20 donation will also help provide five tickets to service members (whose admission is free) to enjoy the Classic.

You can make your donation by sending it to Inabinet (sounds like “cabinet”) at 2602 W. Vernon Ave., Kinston NC, 28504.

However, The Free Press wants to make your donation even more special to you; for every $20 you donate, you will receive the above-mentioned inclusion in the tournament program and the knowledge you are sending five service members to the Classic. You will also receive two tickets to an ECU baseball game of your choice (limit two per donation) from Free Press Advertising Director Matt Holbrook’s secret stash.

Finally, for every donation received at The Free Press, the donors’ name will go into a pot for the chance to go to an ECU game with me and The Free Press’ loveable curmudgeonly columnist Jon Dawson. The winner will get two tickets, two hot dogs and two soft drinks and Dawson’s expert analysis of the ECU game of your choice.

We’ll start accepting donations at The Free Press on Tuesday for The Freedom Classic and continue taking them through 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12. It’ll be first-come, first-served for the tickets to the ECU games – the earlier you make your donation, the better the chance to go to the game of your choice.

Need more details, email me at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Let’s send some service members to the Freedom Classic – and support our town at the same time!

Bryan C. Hanks is the managing editor of The Free Press; his column appears in this space every Sunday. You can reach him at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at BCHanks and check out his blog at bhanks.encblogs.com.

Eight Greensboro families are having extra feet under their dinner tables this week. One of these families also will have 15 extra heads sleeping under its roof — at least for one night.

The full group of 15 contestants arrived in Greensboro Friday for the 2013 North Carolina Distinguished Young Woman Program, including three young women representing local programs: Morgan Harrison, Lenoir County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman; Sarah Albritton, Kinston-Greene County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman; and Layne Jenkins, Jones-Onslow County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman.

From across the state, the 15 arrived in the host city Friday, knowing that the week ahead would offer little down time to chill and hang out.

They’re taking care of that today with an afternoon visit to the Ronald McDonald House in Winston-Salem — loaded with teddy bears and homemade cookies — and an evening Super Bowl Party and sleepover at the home of Hal and Sherry Greeson, host family for Harrison and two other contestants, Meredith Davis of Rocky Mount and Brianna Birchett of Buncombe County. The Greeson basement will become one huge bedroom for the 15 females.

Come Monday, the schedule will shift into high gear with little let-up until the finals are over Saturday night and North Carolina’s 2013 Distinguished Young Woman is announced.

This year’s state production is honoring North Carolina Distinguished Young Woman 2012 Christina Maxwell of Fletcher, who also won the national program in June in Mobile, Ala.

Maxwell is the program’s second winner from North Carolina (Rachael Delaney, Kinston’s Junior Miss 2011 was the first) and the third young woman to be named the Distinguished Young Woman of America following the scholarship program’s name change from America’s Junior Miss in 2010.

The production Friday and Saturday nights will tip its hat to Broadway, with an “Opening Night” theme to honor Maxwell’s theatrical aspirations. The outgoing America’s and North Carolina Distinguished Young Woman 2012 is a musical theater major at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Divided into two groups, the Leading Ladies (Group A) and the Broadway Babes (Group B) will spend the next few days rehearsing the “Opening Night” performance for Friday and Saturday nights and Friday’s closing production, borrowing songs and moves from such Broadway plays as “Wicked,” “Stomp” and “Fame.” They will fine tune the fitness routine and learn the choreography for the Self Expression competition, as well as prepare for Thursday’s individual interviews with the judges.

Tuesday will offer a break from rehearsals as the contestants visit classrooms at Bessemer Elementary School to share the signature Be Your Best Self program, emphasizing the importance of self esteem and self confidence.

A work weekend in November provided a preview of what this week would entail, from the agony of unending schedules to the joy of forging new friendships.

During their last week before leaving Friday for Greensboro, Harrison, Albritton and Jenkins scratched similar preparatory items off their lists — planning for handling a missed week of school; rehearsing fitness and talent routines; organizing and packing; squeezing in as much sleep as possible; soaking in time with family and friends.

The three home hopefuls also expressed similar goals for the week ahead — to relax and enjoy the opportunities that await, and come away with lifelong friendships.

“My sisters just want me to have fun, not stress about if I trip or fall on stage,” said Harrison, whose sisters Alex and Casey also participated in the program. “How I handle myself and the people I meet are going to be more important 10 years from now than what I do on stage.”

Jenkins also looks forward to the chance to build friendships. “I hang out with guys all the time but (after work weekend) I was thinking, ‘This is what I have missed.’ I’m going to come away from this week with some friendships I’m never going to forget or be able to break.”

She also thinks that representing Jones-Onslow outside her “comfort zone” will be an empowering experience.

“The good thing about Distinguished Young Woman is that they focus so much on a girl’s character that when a girl moves up to another level, you know they are … in their heart … a really good girl,” said Albritton. “This is the most genuine group of girls I’ve ever come in contact with.”

Breakout 1

Sarah Albritton

Kinston-Greene County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman

Birthday: Sept. 20, 1994

Parents: Anne and David Albritton of Kinston

Siblings: Matt, 26; Kevin, 23, and sister-in-law Jentry; and Amy, 20

Church: Grace Fellowship

School: Arendell Parrott Academy

College preference: Meredith College

Career goal: High school English teacher

Contestant: No. 5, Group A

Thursday: Interview

Friday: Fitness, Self Expression competition

Saturday: Talent competition

Talent: Lyrical dance to ‘Dream’ by Priscilla Ahn

Host family: Greg and Peggy Brown, 3308 Wedgewood Place, Greensboro, NC 27403

Roommate: Eboni Wiley, Rockingham County Distinguished Young Woman

Breakout 2

Morgan Harrison

Lenoir County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman

Birthday: May 30, 1995

Parents: Ted and Sheila Harrison of La Grange

Siblings: Alex H. Liles, 26; Avery H. Mills, 24; Casey, 22; Travis, 20; Joseph, 15;

Church: La Grange First Free Will Baptist

School: North Lenoir High School

College preference: N.C. State University

Career goal: Architecture or Math

Contestant: No. 11, Group B

Thursday: Interview

Friday: Talent competition

Saturday: Fitness, Self Expression competition

Talent: Tap dance to ‘The 5th’ by David Garrett

Host family: Hal and Sherry Greeson, 301 Frederick Road, Greensboro, NC 27455

Roommates: Meredith Davis, Rocky Mount Distinguished Young Woman; Brianna Birchett, Buncombe County Distinguished Young Woman

Breakout 3

Layne Jenkins

Jones-Onslow County 2013 Distinguished Young Woman

Birthday: Aug, 28, 1995

Parents: George Michael Jenkins and Bryson Booth Jenkins of Trenton

Siblings: Peyton, 24; Meredith, 21

Church: First Presbyterian Church, New Bern

School: The Epiphany School of Global Studies, New Bern

College preference: Meredith College

Career goal: Interior design; dance education

Contestant: No. 12, Group B

Thursday: Interview

Friday: Talent competition

Saturday: Fitness, Self Expression competition

Talent: Vocal of ‘I Enjoy Being a Girl’

Host family: Kevin and Shannon Roley, 4204 Tallwood Drive, Greensboro, NC 27410

Roommate: Ashton Mizell, Johnston County Distinguished Young Woman

Breakout 4

N.C. Distinguished Young Woman 2013 Finals

7 p.m. Feb. 8, 9

War Memorial Auditorium

Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Lee St., Greensboro

Tickets, $35 per night at door

During week, send notes of encouragement to Harrison, Albritton and Jenkins in care of their host families

Nancy S. Saunders can be reached at 252-559-1079 or Nancy.Saunders@Kinston.com.