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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
School/social
BASA CLASSES WORK ON LARGE GARDEN PROJECT
Submitted photos
The Campus Outdoor Enhancement Project at Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy has received several grants
to increase biodiversity on the school campus, as well as make it more “pollinator friendly,” according to school
leaders. The project, a collaboration between STEM, biology and math classes, received grants last year from the
Oconee River Resource Conservation and Development Council and McDonald’s Golden Grants, totaling $2,000.
This year, the program received an additional $3,000 from the Whole Kids Foundation to build a new apiary and
pollinator garden. “The garden is full of fruits, vegetables, and flowers which provide nectar for our resident
honeybees as well as wild pollinators,” leaders said, adding that the project eventually will also provide honey
and food to the school’s culinary program and the Simsations restaurant. “This is an excellent example of farm-
to-school programs and the benefit they have for our entire community,” leaders said.
UGA workshop provides educators knowledge about food-based learning
By Aaron Cox
UGA Media Relations
As a kindergarten teacher,
Robin Edens was an outlier
in the group of mostly mid
dle and high school teachers
at the University of Georgia
learning how to introduce
food-based learning to their
students.
The three-day workshop
immersed participants in the
ins and outs of the food sys
tem, including how to plant
and maintain a garden, the
intricacies of the food dis
tribution network, and how
to integrate food into the
school curriculum to talk
about larger societal issues.
“Even though I teach kin
dergarten kids, I think it’s
important that we start them
early,” said Edens, a teach
er at Kennedy Elementary
School in Winder. “Most of
the people here teach mid
dle school and high school
kids, but I think the earlier
the better with these kids.
By the time they get to that
age, if they don’t have any
knowledge then they’re not
even interested.”
A dozen teachers traveled
to Athens for the work
shop this summer, now in
its third year. The program
is a collaborative initiative
of the UGA Office of Ser
vice-Learning’s Grow It
Know It program, UGA Co-
operative Extension and the
student-run UGArden.
“It’s amazing to see the
energy in that room and
how excited they all are to
get back to their classrooms
and connect food and the
garden to their classroom
and their students and in
corporate it all together.”
said Charlie Evans, a grad
uate research assistant with
Grow It Know It who helped
with the program. “Having
teachers actually do the ac
tivities that they’re going to
do with students, have open
discussions with each other,
go out in the UGArden and
harvest and wash and every
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thing else; all these hands-
on components and network
connections they’re able to
make is what makes this a
really great opportunity.”
The workshop also in
cluded specialists from
UGA’s College of Agri
cultural and Environmen
tal Sciences and the Mary
Frances Early College of
Education, who spent time
with the teachers outside in
the UGArden and inside a
classroom to talk about har
vesting, composting, food
safety and school nutrition
programs, among other
things.
“It’s sort of like drinking
from a fire hose when we’re
trying to teach all of this,”
said Kathy Thompson,
a clinical professor with
the College of Education
who has been a part of the
teacher training program
since its inception in 2018.
“Really, it’s just to whet
their appetite to get them
interested and at least have
some knowledge about ev
erything. A lot of them just
need confidence that they
can do it. ... There are a lot
of ways to take something
like food and gardening in
lots of different directions
in the classroom, no matter
what content you’re teach
ing.”
Limited to teachers from
Barrow and Clarke coun
ties for the first two years,
the teacher training work
shop expanded this year
to include educators from
Oconee, Jackson and Hen
ry counties as well. That
opened the door for Tim
Griffeth, an agriculture
teacher who was looking
for a professional develop
ment workshop to help him
better utilize the new school
garden at North Oconee
High School.
“The amount of resourc
es that they have put in our
hands to understand the
community connections and
food safety things is really
great.” said Griffeth. “It’s
tough to find that informa
tion, and they’ve consol
idated it and given it to us
in a nice package to be able
to go back and modify it to
what we’re trying to do in
our district and communi
ty-”
Thompson and the other
program instructors fol
low up with participants
throughout the school year,
answering any questions
and ensuring they have the
necessary resources and
connections to incorporate
their training in the class
room.
The hope is that teachers
pass along their newfound
food faculties to students,
showing a new generation
the importance of where
food comes from and how it
affects the world.
“I do this because I want
students to have these expe
riences, and the only way
for students to have these
experiences is for us to pro
vide these experiences to
teachers,” Thompson said.
“They’ve got to be able to
see how the curriculum con
nects to the real world and
how to address the issues in
the world.”
CITY OF AUBURN
AD VALOREM TAX RATE
FOR THE PORTION OF THE CITY WITHIN BARROW COUNTY
Auburn - The City of Auburn Property net tax levied for Barrow County portion increased for
2021 tax year by $107,977. The City of Auburn anticipates that Property tax levies for the
Barrow County portion of the City for the 2021 tax year will be set at 4.931 mills. The City of
Auburn, per O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32, will hold a Public Hearing on October 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
The meeting will be held at the Auburn Council Chambers located at 1361 Fourth Avenue,
Auburn, Georgia. The City will set the millage rate on October 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM. at the
Auburn Council Chambers located at 1361 Fourth Avenue, Auburn, GA. The five-year tax and
levy history will be published no less than 14 days prior to the adoption.
** Due to recommendations by the CDC during the Coronavirus crisis, this meeting may
be conducted via teleconference. This is allowed by O.C.G.A. §50-14-l(g) as the public
is provided simultaneous access to the teleconference meeting. The City of Auburn may
utilize the Zoom meeting app to conduct this public hearing teleconference meeting,
more information can be found on the City’s website www.cityofauburn-ga.org
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