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The ADVANCE, October 5, 2022/Page 9A
Georgia high school seniors
continue besting the nation on SAT
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
For the fifth year in a
row, Georgia public-school
students outperformed
their peers across the coun
try on the SAT.
Georgia’s class of 2022
recorded a mean score of
1052,24 points higher than
the 1028 national score but
lower compared to the pre
vious year, when Georgia
students posted a mean
score of 1077.
The Georgia group
also scored higher in the
component portions of the
test, with a mean score of
536 on the Evidence-Based
Reading and Writing por
tion and 516 in math.
The high marks came
despite the disruptions
of the coronavirus pan
demic, which caused many
schools to close and switch
to online instruction.
“That’s a testament to
the hard work of students
and teachers,” State School
Superintendent Richard
Woods said.
“While students and
school have faced signifi
cant challenges over the
last several years, as a state
we will continue to invest
in academic recovery and
the opportunities available
to every graduate of every
Georgia public school.”
Participation in the
SAT among the Georgia
class of 2022 increased
sharply compared to 2021,
when the impacts of the
pandemic, the cancellation
of some test registrations,
and the closure of some
test centers in 2020 caused
fewer students in the grad
uating class to take the test.
Just more than half
of the 2022 class took the
SAT, up from 38% in 2021.
Georgia high school
students haven’t been as
incentivized to take the
test as in past years. Citing
the effects of the pandemic
on learning, the University
System of Georgia waived
SAT and ACT test require
ments at most of the sys
tem’s 26 institutions during
the last school year and is
doing so again this year.
This sfory is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Abrams
continued from page 7A
... and there are going to
be more liberals flooding
this state than we’ve ever
seen.”
Stacey Abrams does
not value Georgia’s history,
its legacy, or its uniqueness
as a state. She wants to
“transform” our state into a
lackey for the outside inter
ests that plan to change our
state into one that we will
no longer recognize.
During her 2018 cam
paign, Abrams secured en
dorsements from a list of
liberal social organizations
including NARAL, a Wash
ington, D.C., based 501(c)
(4) organization that en
gages in political action
and advocacy efforts to op
pose restrictions on abor
tion and expand access to
abortion. Abrams also got
the nod from a D.C. based
PAC, Political Action
Committee, EMILY’s List,
that aims to help elect pro-
choice Democratic female
candidates to office.
No doubt she will be
accepting help from those
ultra liberal organizations
in her 2022 bid for gover
nor.
One of Abrams’ big
gest cheerleaders, you
remember Hillary Clin
ton, referred to Georgia
as “backwards” as well as
belonging to the group of
“deplorables” who were
not smart enough to vote
for her. Abrams was one
of Clinton’s top surrogates
in Georgia during the elec
tion, giving multiple inter
views in support of her and
even speaking at the Dem
ocrat National Convention
on her behalf.
In a barrage of irritat
ing robo-calls in support
of Abrams during the May
2018 primary, Clinton re
ferred to Abrams as “the
first Black woman to serve
as House Democratic
Leader, a small business in
novator, and a civil rights
champion ... A Yale Edu
cated attorney, Abrams is
the only candidate with
bold new plans.”
Clinton encouraged
Georgians to “vote for
my friend Stacey Abrams,
that’s Abrams with an A.’”
One must wonder if
Abrams agrees with Hillary
Clinton that Georgia is a
“backwards” state.
Stacey Abrams’ cam
paign promises to trans
form Georgia with bold
new plans, new ideas and
initiatives, but are these
ideals based on a national
agenda that doesn’t work
for the people of Geor
gia? Can the voters of
Georgia trust that Stacey
Abrams has the love and
respect for our population
and the traditions that we
Georgians share?
SUCCESSFUL FESTIVAL!
a 1ALTAMAHA
Member
NEWLY REFURBISHED — Alamo City Councilman Dondrea Geter, left, stands with Alamo
City Manager Jeff Floyd inside the new basketball court at New Eastside Park. The park
was recently given a facelift through a state grant and City funding. The site will be of
ficially opened October 7 with a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting. The public is invited to attend.
Newly-Refurbished Alamo
City Park Debuts October 7
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
Dondrea Geter grew
up in Alamo and often vis
ited the old city recreation
park near the Wheeler
County Middle/High
School to shoot hoops
with friends at an area
they called “the asphalt.”
In addition to an old block
building and an open field
surrounded by nonfunc
tioning lights, the asphalt
basketball court was about
all that was on the grounds.
“There was no Boys and
Girls Club. That’s about
all we had,” Geter recalled.
Over the years the 15-acre
site on Railroad Street had
been allowed to slip into
obscurity and was largely
forgotten until Geter came
back home.
Fast forward to 2022.
After earning a doctorate
and pursuing a career in ed
ucation, Geter was elected
to the Alamo City Coun
cil, and one of his first en
deavors was to orchestrate
something positive for his
constituency and the com
munity.
He presented an am
bitious plan to revive the
park to the City Council
and applied for a match
ing $100,000 grant from
the Department of Natural
Resources. This meant the
City would have to put up
$200,000 up front until
the DNR reimbursement
was received. Alamo is not
a rich community. Where
would the matching funds
come from?
A lot of people were
pessimistic about such a
large-scale project, but
Geter believed that a park
that could provide recre
ation for residents, espe
cially youth, was a good
investment in the commu
nity. He stayed focused.
The grant did, indeed,
come through and the City
was able to meet its finan
cial obligation through
ARP funds and savings.
In a project that would
take a year and a half, work
on the park began. An as
phalt parking area with
handicapped access was
added to the front of the
site. The old basketball
court where Geter and his
friends once gathered got
a new, plastic mesh cover
ing, new goals, lighting and
fencing. Five picnic pavil
ions with grills were locat
ed at the top of a hill near
a newly-refurbished and
now handicap-accessible
bathroom.
As the project nears
completion, playground
equipment is being added
and a splash pad and nature
trail are on the horizon. A
director and park commit
tee will oversee the park’s
management and any fur
ther development. Signage
that outlines park rules
will be posted out front
and lighting and surveil
lance equipment that will
be monitored by local law
enforcement, will add se
curity.
Geter is proud of
the park and of the new
Wheeler County School
across the street. He feels
both additions are testa
ments to the progress be
ing made in his hometown.
“We want the park to be a
place where residents can
hold reunions, celebrate
birthdays, play games and
have good accommoda
tions.”
Geter’s visions for the
park include a boardwalk
and birdhouses along the
planned nature trail. The
park will not just be a place
for recreation, but also a
hands-on setting for teach
ing young people about
wildlife and conservation.
The newly-refurbished
park — recently renamed
New Eastside Park — will
be officially launched at a
ribbon-cutting on Octo
ber 7 at 9 a.m. The event is
being held in conjunction
with the annual Wheel
er County High School
Homecoming, slated the
same day. Geter said all
of the park pavilions have
been rented by former
WCHS graduating classes
that will simultaneously
christen the new park and
celebrate the homecoming
festivities. “We have res
ervations from the classes
of 1983, 1984, 1998, 1999
and 2007, and we are still
getting calls from others,”
Geter said.
The pavilions are avail
able for rent. Call Alamo
City Hall or visit its web
site for more information.
Star
continued from page 7A
The nation’s founders
were clear in the
Declaration of
Independence. All men are
endowed with the right “to
life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness,” and
“Governments are
instituted among men” in
order to “secure these
rights.”
That’s it. That’s the
vision of America toward
which the founders
aspired.
Individual freedom is
the core pillar of American
reality. Government is
there to protect individuals
and enable them to live
free lives.
If you don’t believe
hard work will get you
anywhere, so the American
dream collapses.
This is the great divide
today in our nation.
We might look at the
just published 2022
Economic Freedom of the
World Report by the Fraser
Institute in Vancouver,
Canada, to get a sense of
human reality and freedom.
The Fraser Institute
measures economic
freedom in 165 countries
around the world. Free
countries have limited
government and low taxes,
less regulation, a legal
system that protects life
and property, a stable
currency, and free trade.
The top 25% of
countries in economic
freedom have per capita
income seven times higher
than the bottom 25%, have
life expectancy 14 years
longer, and income earned
by the poorest 10% that is
eight times higher.
Our country is moving
further and further away
from individuals being able
to live freely and control
their own life. The result is
the inflation we’re now
experiencing and slow
economic growth.
Individuals sit by the
sidelines, convinced they
have no control over their
own life, and want to turn
it all over to government. It
is destroying our nation.
This is what the
Republican Commitment
to America is about.
Restoring the right to life,
liberty and pursuit of
happiness that once was
the American dream.
For most of our history,
Americans celebrated
freedom. The civil rights
movement in the 1960s
was about Black Americans
protesting their inability to
participate fully in this
freedom.
But once they got it,
many chose to not embrace
it and to turn their lives
over to government.
But freedom is not
something we can live
without successfully.
Democrats want
Americans to buy that
government power is the
answer.
But the data, and
human history, strongly
suggest otherwise.
Star Parker is president of
the Center for Urban Renewal
and Education and host of
the weekly television show
"Cure America with Star
Parker." To find out more
about Star Parker and read
features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and
cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate website at www.
creators.com.
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