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♦ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2008 2A RAFB stands up new organization By DON MONCRIEF Journal Managing Editor Robins Air Force Base stood up a new organization Wednesday. The 787th Installation Acquisition Group is a part of the base - located on and serving - but in the big picture, it’s much big ger. It represents 11 bases - from Georgia to Florida to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana - and falls direct ly under Air Force 1 Materiel Command. The group is actually only “provisional” - meaning, said its Director, Lt. Col. Todd Pospisil, that “man power changes” have yet to be made (its building is also under construction) until late Fiscal Year ’O9 or early FY ’lO. Its mission, or what LAG is, Pospisil said, is “an Air Force initiative where we’re going to manage he 71 con tracting offices across the U.S. ... which spend about approximately sls billion dollars annually. Flint elects new board member Special to the Journal Jackie (Clarence J.) Robinson of Juniper, was elected to serve on the Flint Energies Board of Directors at the annual meeting of members held Oct. 21 at the Georgia fill * ROBINSON National Fair and Agricenter in Perry. Robinson was elected to replace former board member Jimmy Wells of Ellaville. He will rep resent Flint members in Taylor, Schley, Marion and Chattahoochee counties. Robinson is the General Superintendent and Vice President of Robinson Paving. He oversees all of Robinson’s construction sites in a 60-mile radius of Columbus (including Fort 5-h Ain Nun - 1 Mile Heqlrh Wqlfc Saturday, December 6 Registration: 4:30 p.m. Race starts: 5 p.m. Downtown Perry at the New Perry Hotel (Comer of Main & Ball Streets) ** Citizens along the race route are encouraged to display festive luminaries for race participants to enjoy. ** Festive Fun for the Whole Family! $lO pre-registration fee (sls day of race) Houston Healthcare Raj Hospital “Now why that’s impor tant at Robins Air Force Base (which he said spends about $5 or $6 billion a year) is because of the five regions. Robins Air Force Base will host one region, the south east region (the 787th IAG and the 11 bases).” Pospisil added that thanks to the “great” partnership and support (i.e. letting them advertise from their websites, trying to match the Hope Scholarship up with positions, etc) from the Warner Robins and Perry Chamber of Commerce’s, they were further ahead in standing up their region than anyone else. All told, Pospisil said he anticipated the group bringing in anywhere from 300-350 new jobs. How many of those will actually come from the com munity, however, he said remained to be seen. He hoped many, he said, but he said initially they would probably populate the unit with military per Benning) and all of their projects along Interstate 1-185. He has worked for the family paving business since he was 14. Robinson graduated from Tri-County High School and has numerous certifi cates from the Continuing Education Center of Columbus State University in the field of construction safety, construction prac tices and small business education. Outside of work, Robinson acts as praise and worship director at Brown Springs Church of God, is treasurer of the Brown Springs Volunteer Fire Department, serves on the council of the Chattahoochee (jouncil of Boy Scouts, and is a sport ing clay shooting instruc tor. He also sponsors and coaches the local FFA skeet team. Robinson and his wife of 28 years, Barbara, have three children and two grandchildren. For an application, visit www.hhc.org or call 988-1827. sonnel because they’ve already been trained. The message he said for local contractors out there was that the procedure for applying would not change. The rationale for doing this, he said, is because “Currently at those 71 installations, a lot are locat ed at geographical locations that are somewhat isolated, small towns having a hard time keeping up with the skills of the base and man aging assets they have. “(Under this format) a contract might be awarded at the region but the day to day interaction with the mission customers will be done at the base. “But contracts are written here to try to relieve a little bit of pressure on them. It’s a recognition we’ve not been able to keep up with mission needed outside an install. “So we’re still doing the same mission, just reorient ing how we’re going to do that mission.” 71st annual meeting Flint Energies hosted more than 1,000 members at its 71st annual meeting. More than 2,500 members participated in the annual meeting process by return ing their mail ballot. The theme of the event was the “Our Energy, Our Future.” Directors Sam Wellborn 111 and Neal Talton were also re-elected to three year terms on the Board of Directors. The Flint Energies Board presented the third “Spirit of Flint” award to the fam ily of the late Jimmy Wells, a director from Schley County who served the Flint Energies Board of Directors for 25 years until his passing this past sum mer. Two $1,500 Flint Energies shopping sprees that can be used to pay a member’s electric bill or to purchase appliances at the Flint Appliance Center were awarded. H THI INJTITUTI TO* Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Houtton Hiillicm HC School System receives occreiMoo Special to the Journal The Houston County School System has com pleted a district accredita tion visit by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A 10-member SACS Review Committee performed a Quality Assurance Review Oct. 27 through 29. This review, according to a release, sought substantia tion that the school system meets standards, engages in continuous improvement and implements methods that provide for quality assurance. The visit culminated with an exit report and a rec ommendation for district accreditation. The audit included inter views with 510 stakeholders to include teachers, support staff, administrators, board members, parents, students and other community mem bers. Essential documents were evaluated. Ten schools and 43 class rooms were visited. Schools visited by the QAR team were: Kings Chapel Elementary, Lake Joy Primary, Parkwood Elementary, David Perdue Elementary, Russell Elementary, Feagin Mill Middle, Huntington Middle, Warner Robins Middle, Houston County High and Perry High. Team leader Veronica Harts of Lake Charles, Louisiana gave the exit report. “We saw in our classroom visits that instructional time is very protected here in a positive learning environ ment,” she said. Among the many strengths identified, she included the positive relationship between the board, administration and leadership and schools; open and collaborative dialogue among stakeholder groups; the system’s strategic plan; community support; high expectations for all, from all; and transparency. RE-ELECT GEORGE NUNN 1 SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOUSTON COUNTY rvOTE FOR EXPERIENCE (22 years) court (since 1996) GemSlaKluncil of Superior Court District of Georgia Georgia Supreme Court Justice 4 1 i£ • Member, Bar (since 1972) • City of Perry Municipal Court Judge (6 years) • City of Perry City Council (8 years) |» Past Chairman of Administrative Board, Perry United I Methodist Church • Sunday School Teacher (35 years) I*. Past President, Kiwanis Club of Perry • Emory University School Of Law 4 " * *' r i ’ r * , w? wr < -u t T-v £ '-if W-£ *& < v,- >l £'s£? 1 ' )jf’=% “I am honored to serve you as Superior Court Judge. j I am proud that Houston County has one of the most J respected courts in the state. With your support, I 1 lookforward to continuing to serve you. Thankyou, George F. Nunn, Jr. ” 7071* Commendations were: establishing and implement ing a systematic process to develop the System Strategic Plan for Improvement; uti lizing collaborative efforts to recruit and place highly qualified personnel; demon strating a high level of gov ernance and leadership; and embracing and involving all stakeholders in promoting an exemplary model of com munity involvement. Superintendent David Carpenter remarked, “We are very proud we have main tained our accreditation through SACS. Although our schools have a long his tory of full accreditation by SACS, this is the first year that we have participated in this process at the district level. “Our goal is to ensure that our school system meets the highest standards and that we meet the needs of our students and community. “This affirms that each of our schools and our system as a whole provide high quality education, which is especially important to our high school graduates as they seek entry to colleges and universities.” The team identified chal lenges faced by the system, which included: popula tion growth; accessibility to technology outside of the classroom for economically disadvantaged students; finding alternate ways to gather input from the com munity and parent stake holders; and dealing with future state funding. mis ® MOM . Tabs • Tab Liners • Tile • Countertops Licensed Sr Insured n Don't Replace lt...Resurface 1t... ■> „ Call Us At: 478.224.TU8S WMWmSAND'MORE.NET • HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Recommendations were: to refine efforts and initia tives to solicit input from the community; to design and implement a process that promotes equity and availability in technology; and increased vertical artic ulation of the curriculum from elementary to middle to high schools. The QAR team’s written report of findings will be submitted within 30 days to AdvancEd, the SACS parent company. Final approval is expected from the AdvancED Georgia Commission within a couple of months. The designation will be good for five years. SI Hundreds Of 520 N Davis Or • Warner Robins 478-328-7296 W * .-"T" JOIN MY TEAM "s-Ki Host A Party * Cali Pam Currin at t 478.314.4117 l w Keli Lenn 919-4122 922-0727 New Client Special S2O Off, Reg. $75, Now $55 (Finishes (8827) Warner Robins, GA TUBSANDMORE@COX.NET but!*