Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, January 6, 2021/Page 4A
Stye Aiiuance
MOCO BOE Renews
Superintendent’s
Contract Through 2023
Photo by John Koon
STUDENT RECOGNIZED — Mikkelle Peters, a student at Vidalia High School, was recent
ly recognized for her winning entry in the Voice of Democracy Scholarship contest.
Presenting a check and certificate to Peters is Shirley Curl of the local VFW Auxiliary.
Also shown are VHS Principal John Sharpe, far left, and Bobby George at right, George
is the school's Honors World History and Dual Enrollment U.S. History teacher and has
been involved in the essay contest since the late 90's.
VCS Meets Challenges, Looks Ahead
Renewal of Super
intendent Hugh Right’s
contract was among items
the Montgomery County
Board of Education tackled
during its final meeting of
the year on December 14.
Meeting in the board
offices in Mount Vernon,
the board took action to
extend Right’s contract
through June 30, 2023,
following his satisfactory
evaluation.
In other business, the
board took the following
action:
In his report, Superin
tendent Right covered the
following topics:
• Teacher in-service
day on January 4 during for
Google training.
• Wrestling Duals
Tournament hosted by
Montgomery County High
School set for January 15
and 16.
• COVID-19 reports
remain low and virtual stu
dents number 85.
• Elementary School
Junior Beta members par
ticipated in the Alabama/
Georgia Virtual Leader
ship Summit.
• The school system’s
community libraries are
being used and books are
refilled each week. Library
locations include Higgston
MoCo
continued from page 1A
stitutional officers while
Probate Judge Rubie Nell
Sanders swore in other
newly-elected and newly-
reelected county officials.
Raufold and Sanders ad
ministered the oaths for
one another.
The ceremony was
socially-distanced and the
small group attending was
masked in deference to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge Raufold explained
to those assembled that
he had decided earlier to
move the ceremony out
of the courtroom to the
grounds of the courthouse
because of an uptick in the
number of COVID cases in
the community.
The courthouse has
recently been fitted with
new electronic equipment
which will allow court
cases to be streamed live
since the public will not
be allowed inside. The
public can go online to
follow court proceedings.
Your
Mind
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on your mind. Quotes are
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called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“When can we ex
pect to get the vac
cine in this area?"
Park; Robinson/Quarter-
man Park; Uvalda City
Park; and J’mon Warnock
Park (Tarrytown). “Higgs
ton Park is the most used.
We have added workbooks
to the libraries that were
donated by Walmart,”
Right reported.
• The school system’s
Induction Class participat
ed in a Google classroom
workshop on December
10. Horace Austin, RESA
Tech Leader, was the pre
senter.
• RESA hosted a din
ner/talk on December 9
for area superintendents
that was attended by six
area representatives and
senators. Topics of discus
sion included funding,
property taxes and the
Teachers’ Retirement Sys
tem.
• Rubber has been in
stalled on the school track
and painted lines were
completed during the
Christmas break.
• Donation letters have
been mailed and responses
are starting to come in for
the system’s Eagle Acad
emy which is scheduled
to open in 2021. “We are
writing instructional re
source grants for the Acad
emy. Teachers have applied
to Donors Choose to cover
The judge said that for the
present, cases requiring ju
rors will not be conducted,
but he hopes that this may
change by February.
Taking their oaths
December 29 were: Chad
Renney, District 1, Tim
Williamson, District 2, and
Ginger Byrd Morris, Dis
trict 3, Post 1, Montgom
ery County Commission;
Henry Price, District 1, Su-
“If you voted for
the democrats, you
voted for a radical
party to increase
taxes and oppose our
traditional beliefs and
bring about a socialist
communist govern
ment that will take
away your freedom
regardless of your
race. They used race
to promote their
agenda."
“A great big thanks
to the Altamaha EMC
crews who restored
power on a very nasty
Christmas eve. Thank
you."
“Mr. Ossoff and Mr.
Raphael, quit trashing
our mailboxes.
Enough is enough.
Your lies are disturb
ing."
student furniture costs.
Parents’ night has been
scheduled for January 13
at 6 p.m. for elementary
students and at 6:30 p.m.
for middle school students
who have been tapped for
attendance at the Acad
emy. The event will be held
in the MBOE auditorium.
• Coach Suttles and
the system’s Hall of Fame
Committee sponsored a
special Hall of Fame Nom
ination event at the last
home football game during
half-time. Nominees were
Curtis Ryals, John Mar
shall Peacock and Mayes
Dobbins. The Hall of Fame
Committee consists of
Tim Suttles, Gabe Gay, Dr.
Joe Brogdon, Peter Dees,
Zelene Robinson, Johnnie
Sneed and Dr. Scott Bar-
row.
• The Eagle Thrift
Shop is open one day a
week from 1 until 3:30 p.m.
Donations may be made
anytime during the week.
• Basketball and wres
tling team competitions
have begun.
• System employees
were featured in the 2020
Montgomery County
Magazine published by the
Montgomery County De
velopment Authority.
san Beard, District 2, and
Pete Ward, District 3, Post
1, Montgomery County
Board of Education; Mont
gomery County Sheriff
Doug Maybin; Montgom
ery County Tax Commis
sioner Loretta Lane; Supe
rior Court Clerk Tammy
Foskey; and Montgomery
County Coroner Laurie
Holland.
“Thank you so
much for fixing the
dip in the road in front
of Bloomfield and
Center Dr. But now
we have a hump in
the road that's like a
ski-jump in Aspen,
CO."
“This is to the one
who didn't like the
Christmas parade in
Lyons. You make sure
you sit next year out
cause we didn't miss
you this year and we
won't miss you next
year either."
“I see where the
Altanta Falcons lost
again. Maybe they
need to call Stacey
Abrams so she can
slip them a few points
in under the radar."
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
Through a year of un
precedented challenges
Hal Chesser served as
Chairman of the Board
of Vidalia City Schools.
Soon, he will hand over
this responsibility.
VCS Board of Educa
tion members rotate of
ficer positions each year,
as set by board policy.
The term of office is Janu
ary 1 through December
31. Chesser will rotate to
Parliamentarian for 2021
and Tim Truxel will rotate
to the role of Chairman.
Julee Torrence will serve
as Vice-Chairman, Bruce
Asberry will be Treasurer,
with Andy Blount as Assis
tant Treasurer. These ap
pointments were reported
by Superintendent Dr.
Garrett Wilcox at the De
cember 8 meeting of the
Board.
From Chesser’s view,
he knows overcoming the
challenges took the whole
team within the VCS sys
tem. “I cannot say enough
about our staff and faculty.
They stepped up and went
above and beyond the call,
into unchartered territory.
Our school administrators
have done a great job pro
viding support and lead
ership for the staff in their
buildings,” Chesser said.
The beginning of the
shut down in March re
quired immediate atten
tion for the students in at
least two areas while they
were at home for an unde
termined time: instruction
and nutrition.
Chesser said, “Our
teachers were flexible and
adapted to virtual learn
ing and worked extremely
hard to make sure each
student had what he or
she needed to complete
assignments at home and
to stay on track as much as
possible. The cafeteria staff
came up with a plan to pro
vide lunches to students
from the beginning of the
shut down until the end
of the school year. They
worked faithfully while the
rest of school operations
were shut down.”
Additional responsi
bilities were handled dur
ing the months leading up
to the startup of the 2020-
21 school year, again, with
an uncertain time frame.
This time was used well
as the teachers engaged in
their own instruction in
technology and the CDC’s
public health guidelines.
“Our teachers had to
learn to teach virtually and
stepped up to the plate to
do what they had to do.”
Chesser explained. “Our
teachers’ top priority is
the safety of the students
in the classroom while
providing an environment
suitable for learning and
staying on track.”
All personnel in the
schools succeeded in
adapting to new require
ments. Plant operations,
the custodial staff and the
bus drivers have been at
tentive to additional deep
cleaning and sanitizing
needs, he assured.
“I am impressed and
am immensely proud of
everyone working togeth
er to get our children back
into an educational envi
ronment safely,” Chesser
concluded.
The calendar for 2021-
2022 is being developed.
The principals of Vidalia
City Schools will review
the calendar in the coming
weeks, as well as the Su
perintendents of Toombs,
Treutlen and Montgomery
Counties. The four school
systems coordinate the
calendar because students
from each system also at
tend classes together at
the Southeastern Early
College and Career Acad
emy. The plan is that the
proposed calendar will be
ready for the Board’s con
sideration at the January
2021 meeting.
Assistant Superin
tendent Ginger Morris
reported to the Board
that Sally D. Meadows El
ementary School has been
designated as a Promise
School, one for which the
Georgia Office of School
Improvement gives fo
cused support for improv
ing learning effectiveness.
With the Promise School
status, a certain amount of
funds are available for 2nd
through 5th grades. This
money has been used to
add a math consultant for
SDM Elementary.
The math consultant
is in the school once a
week to monitor the math
curriculum for meeting
standards within the same
grade level, and to ensure
learning activities coordi
nate from grade to grade.
Teachers at SDM
are very positive about
the consultation and the
progress in student’s math
skills, Morris reported.
The funds provided by the
Promise School status also
help with virtual instruc
tion as well as in school les
sons using Chrome books.
Morris also noted that
administrators are look
ing at using programs for
virtual learners that will
allow teachers to help
keep students on-task and
to protect instructional
time from inappropriate
content. Currently, the
school system’s Technolo
gy Director Sabrina Wiggs
must block certain sites
that students shouldn’t
access. With the use of a
classroom management
program, each classroom
teacher will have the abil
ity to monitor students’
computer activity and to
keep them on class work.
Two programs, each at a
nominal fee per student,
are being considered and
one should be in place for
system-wide use by mid-
January.
MRMC WELCOMES FIRST BABY OF 2021 — Every year a
child has the chance to be recognized as the first born
baby of the New Year. This year, that baby is Kaiser Jay
Salem, born Friday, January 1, at 3:51 a.m, at Meadows
Regional Medical Center in Vidalia. Kaiser weighed in
at 6 pounds 7.8 ounces, and is 20 inches long, His par
ents, Jada Childs and Treshan Salem, shown with Kaiser
above, are overjoyed by the safe arrival of their new son.
Photo by Deborah Clark
SIGNS PAPERS - After she took the oath of office Mont
gomery County Tax Commissioner Loretta Lane signs
papers during a ceremony at Montgomery County
Courthouse on December 29. Probate Judge Rubie Nell
Sanders provides assistance.