Newspaper Page Text
8A
♦ SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2008
Itoo from Houston County named
High Performance Principals
Special to the Journal
Two Houston County
principals have been
honored as 2008 High
Performance Principals.
Paulette Tompkins from
Kings Chapel Elementary
School and Keith Lauritsen
from Russell Elementary
School were among 112
Georgia principals named
by Gov. Sonny Perdue and
State Superintendent of
Schools Kathy Cox. High
Performance Principals
are recognized for dramat
ic improvements in stu
dent achievement in their
schools.
Senate Bill 468 cre
ated “High Performance
Principals” during the 2006
General Assembly to cele
brate excellent school lead
ers. Criteria used to identify
possible High Performance
Principals are:
- Data. The data must
show that a principal led
improvement at a low-per
forming school or brought
a good school to a higher
level.
- Longevity. The principal
must have been assigned to
his or her school for at least
three consecutive years.
- Recommendation. The
principal must be recom
mended for the designation
by his or her school sys-
LETTER 1
From page fA
spraying themselves with bug spray. The
children who were lost in a swampy area in
the dark had no bug spray and were terri
fied and screaming on the 911 call made to
dispatch and to family members.
No family members were allowed to enter
the wooded area for fear by local authorities
that they would get lost also. Was that their
fear of entering those woods at night? That
they themselves would get lost?
There was also no formal contact between
the “supposed rescuers” and family mem
bers to let them know what, if any, plan
SIRENS
From page 4A
somewhat disassociating
themselves from the idea
- not entirely but now if I had
to guess I would say it’s more
like: 20 percent “possibly",
80 percent “something else.”
This is the same siren system
they all voted “yes" for on
June 7. If there were con
cerns, objections, questions,
et cetera, why weren’t they
raised then or long before
now?
Before the siren system
concept would have been
defended, and in fact it has
been by their chair, Ned
Sanders, on occasion. (Don’t
get me wrong. I think Ned
Sanders is a great leader
- and overall I support the
whole bunch - and believe
we’re lucky to have him right
where he is.)
But this time when one
gentleman expressed a con
cern over how many it would
take to blanket our sized
population nobody said: “Hey
Jimmy,” to Houston County
Emergency Management
Director Jimmy Williams, who
was in the back of the room
... with his map. (in fact I
wouldn’t be surprised to find
he’s had it tattooed on his
back he's had to show it so
many times.) “Why don’t you
come up here and show him
how well we’ve got it mapped
out.”
When another expressed
what has become a frequent
theme of: “Not everybody will
hear it,” nobody offered: “If
we can save just one family, it
would be a worthwhile invest
ment.” (P.S. In regard to not
being able to hear it in the
buildings on base, somebody
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tem.
“Our
entire
school
community
deserves
this
award,”
Tompkins
said. “Our
teachers
and par-
TOMPKINS
ents have worked tire
lessly to ensure success for
every child at Kings Chapel
Elementary. Our students
have the greatest attitudes
and come to school each
day eager to learn. I am
proud to be a part of such
an exceptional school.”
Said Lauritsen: “This is
a great honor, and I am
deeply grateful. I am so
proud of our teachers, staff,
parents, and students for
making this possible. They
are the ones who do all the
work, and it is their com
mitment to excellence that
makes Russell succeed year
after year.
“It is wonderful to be a
part of the Houston County
School System because we
are given all the resources
we need to accomplish our
goals each year.”
In a press release from
the Office of the Governor
dated July 9, Perdue stat
of rescue was to be executed. We never
even knew who was in charge. Though
I do give credit to Capt. (Bill) Phelps of
the Perry Police Department for answering
any questions he could when asked and
for his empathy toward family members
when approached. There was a question
able amount of time between the time the
children were reported missing and the
arrival of search and rescue. The call to
911 was made around 10 p.m. and at 1:45
a.m. the rescue squad was still just stand
ing around. Had it not been for the efforts of
Joey Hendricks, who was called by a family
member, and his defying the Rescue Unit
when told not to go out into those woods,
please check and make sure
they’re built the same way
- out of the same materials
- as a typical home. I live
probably 2-3,000 yards from
the northwest corner of the
base and twice within the
past two-three years I have
heard the sirens go off while
“inside” my home and during
a really bad storm.)
To the statement it’s a bad
taxpayer investment nobody
expounded: “The entire
$1,800,000 is not coming out
of your pocket. You’ll prob
ably only pay on average
$1.50 a month for one year.
(One year and no more.)
Now how much do you pay
for a gallon of gas?” (And by
the way, can I just say for the
record. In all of these meet
ings I’ve attended, not once
have I heard one Perry offi
cial criticize the siren system
they currently have. Not one
bad word.)
Instead it was: We're not
totally sold on sirens. (We’ve
all been on this ride together.
If they were going to jump
off, they could have at least
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that logic and accuracy testing on the voting
equipment to be used for the August 5, 2008 Democratic Party Runoff
and City of Perry District 3 Special Election Runoff will begin at 9:00
a.m. on July 23, 2008, and continue each day until complete. The testing
will take place at the Houston County Board of Elections Office located
in the Houston County Government Building, 801 Main St., Perry.
This testing is open to the public.
HOUSTON COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
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ed, “These
outstand
ing educa
tors have
fostered
school envi
ronments
that are
conducive
to student
achieve
ment. As I
' JLf- ~ 9
LAURITSEN
have often said, it is impor
tant to keep score, measure
results and then recog
nize success. These princi
pals have excelled in their
efforts, and I am pleased to
honor them with the desig
nation of High Performance
Principal.”
Superintendent Cox was
quoted in the same release
saying. “As a teacher for
15 years, I know the huge
impact a great principal can
have on a school,” she said.
“Year after year, our High
Performance Principals
have been getting the job
done by empowering teach
ers, engaging parents and
inspiring students.”
For more information,
Lauritsen may be contacted
at keith.lauritsen@hcbe.
net or 478-929-7830
and Tompkins may be
contacted at paulette.
tompkins@hcbe.net or 478-
988-6273
given us a heads up.) We
need to take it slow. Study
our options.
Well that’s fine. Despite all
impressions. I am not close
minded on this. But I really
thought that’s what you had
Jimmy Williams doing to start
with so many months ago.
I have faith in him. Surely if
there were a better way he
would have heard something
about it.
And how long have sirens
been in operation? Sixty
years? Longer? Something
has made them have “lasting”
power. Either that or whoever
owns this “new technology”
everybody keeps alluding to
has the worst public relations
group in the business.
But I guess that’s what both
ers me the most about this.
There are so many saying:
“Don’t do it,” - all gloom and
doom - but none offering up
any solid leads/alternative(s).
Instead, hot air is on the
rise. The cold front has moved
in. And 2025 is getting closer
by the minute.
- Don Moncrief
HC researches Career Academy benefits
Special to the Journal
The Houston County
Board of Education, accord
ing to a release, is study
ing the potential of a Career
Academy to serve its high
school students. The school
system obtained a plan
ning grant from the Georgia
Department of Education
to research the benefits of
a Career Academy for the
community.
In April, the HCBOE and
Middle Georgia Technical
College convened a group of
business leaders, educators,
government leaders, parents
and students to study the
potential of a career acad
emy as a district-approved
charter school. Career acad
emies are opening across the
state using funds appropri
ated by the Georgia legis
lature, but as yet there are
none in middle Georgia.
Coweta County has a
career academy that serves
as a state model. Coweta’s
Central Educational Center
results are impressive. For
example, statistics from the
first five years of opening
showed a 57 percent decrease
in the dropout rate, a 30 per
cent increase in the gradu
ation rate of dual-enrolled
(high school and college)
students to 98 percent, and
80 percent of students earn
ing a grade of “B” or higher.
The goal of a career acade
my, according to the release,
is for high school students
those children would not have been found
until daylight.
If I were the citizens of Perry I would have
to know that mine and my family’s safety
were a top priority no matter the situation.
Those children could have been snake-bit
ten or drowned when they fell in the water of
the swampy area.
What exactly are your tax dollars going to if
the proper training of these “heroes” is futile
or if they are upset when asked to do their
jobs! Just ponder the thought for a moment.
The citizens should ask themselves ...What
if that was one of my children. Would it be
just a waste of time and effort?
- Michelle Welliver
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to be trained to fill existing
jobs, or jobs that will exist
soon, and to ensure that all
students have the necessary
skills and work ethic for
employment prior to leaving
high school. MGTC would
offer dual enrollment certifi
cate programs at the career
academy so that high school
students would earn job-rel
evant college credit at no
cost to them or their parents
while still in high school.
The Houston County
Career Academy Steering
Committee is chaired by
Tom McMichael in coordi
nation with the HCBOE
Director of Career, Technical
and Agricultural Education,
Barbara Wall. Russ Moore,
a consultant with Seamless
Education Associates, Inc.,
is spearheading the research
and planning effort.
The Steering Committee
meets monthly.
To gather data on the
needs of the Houston County
workforce, an online sur
vey has been created. Local
businesses are encouraged
to complete the survey to
share opinions about the
current and future status
of the local workforce. The
resulting data will be used
to determine if a career
academy is a good fit for
Houston County. If so, the
data would also drive deci
sions about curriculum and
facilities. For example, the
survey results would be used
to modify existing curricu
MONCRIEF
From page 4A
“I think it’s time to go home,” I forced, my
image of John Travolta now fading to Look
Who’s Talking Too.
But it did end on a promising note. A short time
later as we turned in our skates my daughter told
the same young man: “This is really hard.”
“Yeah, these are,” he said. “Not the in-line
ones (and then he made a sort of S-motion with
his hand to show how easy they turn left and
right).”
And with that I found it was possible to leave
with my head held high even though the rest of
my body was hunched over in pain.
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lum or create new programs
to meet well-defined local
needs.
The survey will be post
ed online as of Monday,
through the end of August.
The Warner Robins Area
and Perry Area Chambers
of Commerce are assisting
with the research by e-mail
ing the survey Web link to
their members. Any busi
nessperson may complete
the survey by visiting either
Chamber’s Web site at
http://www.warner-robins.
com or http://www.perryga
chamber.com. From either
Chamber’s home page,
click on “Houston County
Career Academy Needs
Assessment.”
Users will be asked to cre
ate a user name and pass
word so that they can com
plete the survey in multiple
visits, if desired. The steer
ing committee estimates
that a small to medium-size
employer can finish the
eight-part survey in 15 min
utes. A large-size employer
(50 or more employees) may
take an hour or so, espe
cially if several employees
complete different parts of
the survey in multiple visits
to the Web site.
Questions about the sur
vey may be addressed to
Moore at info@seamlessed.
com or by calling 678-481-
7816. For more informa
tion, contact Wall at 478-
988-6222, Ext. 10226, or
Barbara.Wall@hcbe.net.
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