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The ADVANCE, May 26, 2021/Page 13A
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PEOPLE
RTCA Teacher Retires
After 34 years of teach
ing, Rushing Stephens has
decided to retire from
Robert Toombs Christian
Academy She earned her
Bachelor's degree from
Georgia Southern Univer
sity and later received her
Master's degree in Early
Childhood Education.
Throughout her years
of teaching, she has taught
at Swainsboro Primary
School, J.D. Dickerson,
Reidsville Elementary,
Toombs Central, and Ly
ons Upper Elementary
Stephens has taught Kin
dergarten through 5th
grade but says Kindergar
ten is probably her favor
ite to teach.
Stephens is married to
Dirk Stephens of Vidalia.
They have three children,
Randi and husband Jake
Colvin, Ryan Brooks, and
Kelsey and Zach Stephens.
"My husband and I are go
ing to do some traveling
so that we can cross some
Rushing Stephens
things off on our bucket
list," Stephens says. When
asked about plans for after
retirement, "I also plan to
spend more time with my
family, get involved with
my community, and go on
mission trips." Stephens
says that there will also be
a new addition, a grand
son, to the family, arriving
in October, and she cannot
wait to spoil him, as well as
her 3-year-old grandson
who lives in New Jersey.
"Robert Toombs is a great
place to teach. The faculty
and staff, families, and stu
dents are the best, and I
will miss seeing them each
day," Stephens states.
"It is very humbling
to get the opportunity to
work with professionals
like Mrs. Stephens. She
is the epitome of what
it means to be an educa
tor, and this world needs
many more like her. After
34 years, there really is no
way to quantify the impact
that she has made on this
community and all of the
individuals she has taught.
We certainly appreciate
the impact that she has
made on our school, both
as a graduate of RTCA and
a teacher. Although I am
sorry to see her go, I am
very happy for her and her
husband to get the oppor
tunity to travel and visit
family. Her retirement is
well-deserved, and she
will be missed," says Travis
Absher, Head of School at
RTCA.
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FINAL!*
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Lto R: Blake Hall, Hailey Barwick, Tom Brodnax, Makenzie Sager, Sadie Guin.
TCHS Economics Class
Crowned State Champions
In early April, a team
of 4 Toombs County High
School seniors from Coach
Brodnax's Economics class
competed against 110 oth
er teams of seniors from
across the state in the first
round of the Georgia Per
sonal Finance Challenge.
The team of Hai
ley Barwick, Sadie Guin,
Blake Hall, and Makenzie
Sager scored well enough
on their online knowledge
test to be considered in the
top 8 teams in the state and
move into the state finals.
In the finals, each team
was given a case study of a
fictitious family. Their task
was to evaluate the finan
cial situation and prepare a
4-minute presentation fo
cusing on how this family
could sustain or improve
their current financial situ
ation. All of the presenta
tions were performed live
via zoom to a judging panel
of 7 industry professionals
on April 21. At the end of
the presentations, the judg
es asked each team several
questions about their fi
nancial advice for the case
study. Later that afternoon
the results were announced
live via zoom, and the
Toombs County team won
1st place and represented
Georgia in the National
Semifinals on May 6.
Alamo
continued from page 4A
cific term, Commission
ers would serve a two-
year term. “The Zoning
Administrator oversees
building permits, if people
are doing things contrary
to the zoning laws, then
the administrator would
bring that to their atten
tion and seek corrective
action,” Clark explained.
At Clark’s recom
mendation, the Council
appointed the City Man
ager Floyd as Zoning Ad
ministrator. The Council
also agreed to post an ad
vertisement for two con
secutive weeks, asking for
potential volunteers for
the Zoning Commission.
From that pool of volun
teers, the Council will ap
point five board members.
In reference to the word
ing of this advertisement,
Clark said that the Coun
cil “should emphasize the
importance of the posi
tion, that it has to do with
the beauty of our city, the
proper maintenance of our
city, and find people who
are interested in serving in
that capacity.”
Floyd shared that
members of the Alamo
City Cemetery Commit
tee have approached him
about 810 feet of unpaved
road at the cemetery. The
dirt road is a through-way
to the cemetery’s paved
back road. Floyd said the
City had received a bid of
$15,000 for the project
from Hooks Construction
Company. He noted that
the Cemetery Commit
tee, a volunteer organiza
tion of citizens who have
contributed to the beauti
fication and upkeep of the
cemetery, would pay half
of the cost if the city could
pay the other half. Once
the paving is completed,
the City can survey to
identify additional spaces
for expansion within the
cemetery, Floyd said. The
Council approved the
contribution of $7,500 to
ward the paving project,
Floyd also com
mended the success of the
city’s second “Senior Pa
rade,” celebrating Wheeler
County High School’s
2020-2021 graduating
class.
Dr. Sinclair Grey, the
new pastor of Mayfield
Zion African Methodist
Episcopal Church, intro
duced himself during the
Council meeting. Sin
clair shared his visions of
growth not only for his
church, but for this com
munity as a whole. He
announced the church’s
partnering with Middle
Georgia Community
Food Bank to distribute
food to families on July 1
at 11 a.m. at the church, 60
E. Railroad Street, Alamo.
Sinclair said this is the first
event in what he hopes
will become a bimonthly
ministry. The food distri
bution is on a first-come,
first-served basis.
Photo by Millie Perry
GRACE WALKERS 6K FOR WATER — The World Vision Global 6k Walk for Water was held
May 22. This annual worldwide event raises funds to provide wells and clean water
for people in developing countries who have to walk for miles to get water on a daily
basis. This year over 43,000 people will receive clean water! The Walkers team from
Grace United Methodist Church in Vidalia had 12 members walking in Vidalia while 9
others on the team walked elsewhere, Vidalia team: Mary Alice Wilder, Larry Cowart,
Emmanuel Sock, Ethan Sock, Chris Ray, Jan Lee, Etta Boss-Cole, Tonya Fawkes, Sue
Ray,Barbara Cowart, Jeremiah Sock, Jerry Yates. Not pictured: Stephen, Liz, Claire, and
Katie Nichols; Joyce and David Allen; Judy Dotson; and Phyllis Miller.
(L to R): Front Row: George Johnson, Kalep Wallace, Eddie Wilcox, Steven Searcy.
Rashaad Kent, Ceasar Adams, Antone Victoria, Back Row: Brad Silver, Scott Stephens,
Chris Dykes, Ben Helms, and Michael Johnson.
Young Gentlemen’s Club
Holds End of Year Dinner
Young Gentlemen’s
Club, founded by Sally D.
Meadow’s Assistant Prin
cipal and Community Men
in Action, Inc., President
Michael Johnson, ended
the semester with an end
of the year dinner at Down
town Bistro. On Thursday
evening, May 13, parents,
4th grade students, and
school stafF celebrated the
completion of the very first
cohort of the Young Gen
tlemen’s Club.
After a very hearty din
ner, each member of YGC
stood and spoke about 2
questions, “What does
being a young gentleman
mean to me?” and “Why
is it important for me to
continue my journey to
becoming a young gentle-
man?
In the midst of fa mil)
and teachers, students were
awarded a completion cer
tificate of the program.
The club aims to Equip
Empower, and Engage
young men in building
positive character traits in
their family, school, and
community.
Nitty
continued from page 8A
Israelis oppress Palestinians
under horrible conditions,
and these Palestinians have
no choice but to
periodically explode with
violence like we are now
seeing, with missiles being
hurled from Gaza into
Israel’s civilian population
centers.
Palestinians in Gaza
do live in horrendous
conditions, but not because
Israelis force them to. They
choose to.
Israel unilaterally
pulled out of Gaza in 2005
and left it under complete
Palestinian sovereignty.
The Palestinians could
have started building,
putting in place
infrastructure for political
and economic freedom
that would allow them to
produce the kind of miracle
the Israelis have produced.
But instead, they put
Hamas terrorists in charge,
who started shooting
missiles into Israel.
In a hard and imperfect
world, it’s so much easier
to hate and blame than to
take personal responsibility
to create and build.
We see the same in our
own country.
We have Black Lives
Matter and a political left
embracing critical race
theory, which peddles the
distortion and lies that
American history is about
a dominant, oppressive
white class rather than an
ongoing struggle for all to
take personal responsibility
to prevail under freedom.
Worse, those who
choose to buy into the
great lie that their lives are
about what others do,
rather than what they
themselves choose, get
paid off politically or in
lawsuits resulting from
inevitable tragedies that
emerge from this culture oi
irresponsibility.
Similarly, Palestinian
terrorists get paid off b>
sponsor-terrorist nations
such as Iran, and through
massive foreign aid from
confused, left-wing-
dominated Western
countries.
Subsidizing blame and
irresponsibility produces
squalor.
A culture of hard worl<
and personal responsibility
despite a world that is often
unclear and often seems
unfair and unjust, produces
miracles like the modern
state of Israel.
Star Parker is president o'
the Center for Urban Renewa
and Education and host o'
the weekly television shovi
"Cure America with Stai
Parker."