Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Braselton News
Page 7B
Gwinnett proposing major redistricting plans
Gwinnett County Public Schools
is proposing new attendance
boundaries that may affect up
to 23,000 students — including
those in the Mill Creek cluster.
Gwinnett County Public
Schools will open 12 new schools
and three replacement schools
over the next two years. The new
attendance boundaries will deter
mine where students will attend
schools in three new clusters.
The redistricting process will
be “much more extensive and far
reaching than those done in recent
years as it involves a large number
of existing schools,” according to
a statement by the school system.
Gwinnett County Public Schools
is seeking input from the commu
nity for the proposed redistricting
plans.
Public meetings on the proposal
will be held in the board room at
the Instructional Support Center,
Suwanee, on Tuesday, Nov. 13,
from 7-9 p.m., and Thursday,
Nov. 15, from 7-9 p.m.
Public comments from Mill
Creek High School, Jones Middle
School, Osborne Middle School,
Duncan Creek Elementary School,
Ivy Creek Elementary School, and
others will be taken at the Nov. 15
public meeting.
The Gwinnett County Board
of Education is expected to vote
on the proposed redistricting on
Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.
Complete details and the pro
posed attendance boundaries are
available on the school system’s
website at www.gwinnett.kl2.
ga.us.
NEW SCHOOLS
The following schools will be
opened in 2008:
•Trip Elementary School in
the Grayson cluster
•Puckett’s Mill Elementary
School in the Mill Creek cluster
•Rosebud Elementary School
in the Rosebud cluster
•Benefield Elementary School
will remain in the Berkmar clus
ter
•Lanier Middle School in the
Lanier and North Gwinnett clus
ters
The following schools will be
opened in 2009:
•White Oak Elementary
School in the Lanier and North
Gwinnett cluster
•North Gwinnett Middle
School in the Lanier and North
Gwinnett clusters
•Archer Higher in the Archer
cluster, which will affect Central
Gwinnett High School, Dacula
High School and Grayson High
School
•Mountain View High School
in the Mountain View cluster,
which will affect Mill Creek
High School, Collins Hill
High School and Dacula High
School.
RAISING ‘COINS FOR A CURE’
The West Jackson Middle School Beta Club sponsored a service project in September to help fund
researchers who are looking for a cure for cancer. With the help of Mayfield Dairy, who donated all
the jugs, the Beta Club members were able to give each homeroom a milk jug for a “Coins for a Cure”
competition. The total raised to donate to American Cancer Society was $2383. The sponsoring
teachers are Emily Pendergrass and Chris Pendley. The students shown are (front row, L-R): Kalee
Baggett, Alex Fleeman, Deborah Thao, Morgan Elliot, Richie Coulhurst, Christi Spence, Erin Jenkins
and Drake Corbin; and (second row) Andy Williams (president), Jennifer Deardoff (vice president),
Beth Bates, Clare Nunley and Stephan Boroday.
Teachers of the year selected in Gwinnett
Gwinnett County Public Schools has announced
its 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year recipients for each
school.
Carla Evans, a mathematics specialist, was named
the Teacher of the Year at Duncan Creek Elementary
School.
Joseph Nunn, an eighth grade physical science
teacher, was named the Teacher of the Year at Frank N.
Osborne Middle School.
Mill Creek High School named Rhonda Zambo, a
special education teacher, as Teacher of the Year for
its school.
All local school honorees will be considered for the
systemwide honor of GCPS 2007-2008 Teacher of the
Year.
Twenty semifmalists for the county title will be cho
sen in early October. Six finalists will then be named in
mid-October. The annual Teacher of the Year banquet
and the announcement of this year’s Gwinnett County
Teacher of the Year will be held on Nov. 1.
Pre-packaged lunches not very healthy for kids
BY DAN RAHN
Prepackaged lunches are just so
convenient and so appealing to
kids. But are they nutritious? Are
they a good buy? For that matter,
are they really easy for your child
to take to school?
No, no and no, says a University
of Georgia nutritionist.
“They’re pretty low on the totem
pole when it comes to lunch foods
for school children,” said Connie
Crawley, a UGA Cooperative
Extension food, nutrition and
health specialist after a review of
products such as Oscar Meyer’s
Lunchables.
Nutritious? For the most part,
“they don’t even pretend to be,”
Crawley said. “Generally, they’re
very high in sodium, low in fiber
and very high in fats, particularly
saturated fats.”
Some of the products have as
much as 50 percent of the daily
value for saturated fats. “And
that’s the daily value for adults,”
she said. “That’s a lot of saturated
fat to be feeding a child.”
PROS?
Crawley was asked to study
the pros and cons of such prod
ucts but found few pros to point
out. “They’re a good source of
sugar,” she offered. Of course, so
is candy.
The nutrition content of the prod
ucts varies greatly, she said, but all
on the poor end of the scale. Most
are low in calcium, an important
nutrient for growing children.
“They have no milk,” she said.
“Some of the products have choco
late pudding for dessert, but most
have some kind of candy. Some
have cheese, but it’s processed
cheese.”
Prepackaged lunches are notable
for what they don’t have. “They
generally have no vegetables, if
you don’t count salsa, and no
fruit,” she said. “The drinks are
mostly sugary fruit drinks instead
of fruit juice.”
What they have is a lot of pro
cessing. Nutritionists tend to be
leery of food products with more
than five ingredients. “Some of
these have 30,” Crawley said.
“They’re highly processed.”
All that processing isn’t cheap,
either. The products Crawley
checked were $2.50 apiece if you
bought two. “You can buy a lot of
good food for $2.50,” she said.
For the cost of these products,
she said, the buyer gets more pack
age than food. “You’re definitely
not getting a bargain,” she said.
But Crawley sees an obvious
flaw in even the fancy packaging.
“Most of them need to be kept
cold, but they wouldn’t fit easily
into any insulated lunch box,” she
said.
Besides all that, “they’re not
even appetizing,” she said. “And
they’re hard to eat without making
a mess.”
So what’s a parent to do? “First,
establish good eating habits at
home,” Crawley said. “Eat plenty
of fresh fruits and vegetables and
fewer salty foods.”
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Then when you pack your
child’s lunch, include some raw
vegetables such as carrots, celery,
broccoli, cauliflower and cherry
tomatoes. “Kids will enjoy those
if they grow up eating them,” she
said. “And fruit is one of the most
portable foods there are.”
Include nonfat or low-fat milk
with a cold source in an insulated
lunch box, she said. Or have your
child get milk at school.
Leftovers can be good lunches,
too. So can a cheese sandwich,
peanut butter and jelly or a bagel
with cheese. “Kids like plain, basic
foods with some variety,” Crawley
said.
That’s not the fare in prepack
aged lunches. Checking for nutri
tion information on Lunchables,
Crawley visited the product Web
site. But it offers no nutrition
information and hardly anything
even about Lunchables.
“It doesn’t say anything about
the food at all. There’s nothing
there but video games for kids,”
she said, laughing. “The home
page does have a little food pyra
mid icon, but when you click on it,
you leave the site.”
The site seems to say, “Want to
know about nutrition? Don’t look
here.”
Dan Rahn is a news editor with
the University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
CARRILLO-GARCIA HONORED
Jose Carrillo-Garcia, a senior at Jackson County Comprehensive High School, received the
September Student Panther Pride Award. Student award recipients are nominated by faculty, staff
and students at the school. Shown are (L-R): Joe Lancaster, Dr. Todd McGhee, Jose Carrillo-Garcia,
Laura Ruffin and Kendra Phillips.
LEIGH HONORED AT JCCHS
James Leigh, head of maintenance at Jackson County Comprehensive High School, received the
September JCCHS Faculty/Staff Panther Pride Award. Award recipients are nominated by faculty,
staff and students at the school. Shown are (L-R): Joe Lancaster, Dr. Todd McGhee, James Leigh,
Laura Ruffin and Kendra Phillips.
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