About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2023)
Page 4 - Friday, May 19, 2023 The Jenkins County Times thej enkinscountytimes .com Just off the Paved Road Carmen Bennett, Columnist for The Times 516A Soule Hall, UGA My youngest daughter, Adeline, will be a freshman at UGA in the fall and I am completely floored by the whole roommate selection process. There’s an online roommate portal called “the Dawg House” and you enter your profile information, and it sends you potential compatible matches. I think it’s all hogwash. I discouraged both my girls from living with high school friends in college because I believe the entire point of moving away for college means finding new friends and making new connections. That doesn’t mean ditching your high school friends, but it does mean you shouldn’t leave college with the same group of friends with which you left high school. Living with people just like you don’t grow you as a person. This whole “Dawg House” business just makes me roll my Gen X eyes. Picture this. The University of Georgia. 1995. A junior dirt road Agriculture major from the foothills meets her new college roommates. Arooj, a Muslim Pakistani pre-med major with an unhealthy obsession with JFK, Jr., Rhonda, a vegetarian UGA softball pitcher from New Jersey and Rebecca, a painfully shy rule follower with perfectly coiffed hair, from Atlanta. Together, we looked like that “gang photo” you may have seen floating around social media with the yak, the duck, the lamb, and the llama. This was before students took surveys to increase the likelihood of a compatible roommate match. Back then, you just requested a dorm, and you got what you got! Looking back all these years later, I’m so very thankful to have gotten who I got. We learned so much from each other. Rhonda, the Jersey girl, taught me how to stick up for myself. I remember her telling me that southern manners were fine and all, but manners shouldn’t translate into letting people push you around. Our senior year, I was waiting for my MAT scores to come and when I went to the mailroom to get them, the girl slammed the see CARMEN page 8 window shut I've never wanted to be in a gang moie than ihis one. TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH^^^^^ Sunday's 10:30 a.m. Letters To The EDITOR Letters to the editor of The Jenkins County Times are welcomed and encour aged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper s readers. The Jenkins County Times reserves the right to edit any and all portions of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must include the signature, address andphone number of the writer to allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words and should be typewritten and double-spaced or neatly printed by hand. Deadline for letters to the editor is noon on Wednesday. Email Letters to the Editor to: thejenkinscountytimes@gmail.com Dear Editor, May is Teacher Appreciation Month in Georgia, but teachers deserve our deepest gratitude year-round. As a former teacher, I know teachers show up every single day for their students, bringing their energy, passion, and professionalism to the classroom. The job is harder than many will ever known but I know they work tirelessly to provide the best possible education for Georgia’s 1.7 million students. Our teachers were called to do the work, and we as Georgians are fortunate, they answered that calling. I know success in education does not originate at the state level or in the district office. It starts in our classrooms. Our teachers have my continued commitment to make decisions in support of them and their students. With deepest gratitude, Richard Woods State School Superintendent Dear Editor: In 1962 President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Police Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls, as National Police Week. Established by a joint Resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others, and is also a collaborative effort of many organizations to honor America’s law enforcement personnel, who at the risk of their own life save the lives of other people, and do their work so sincerely that they make sure no life suffers, even if they have to give up their own. I salute the courage of all our law enforcement personnel! Thank you for all you do to make our cities, counties, and states in America a safer place to live! You are very much appreciated! May God bless and protect you always. Margaret D. Evans Sylvania, GA I have told y’all I need a vacation. Well, obviously I’m not the only one. Last Thursday I could hear Sam in his office, doing what he does best, selling ads. Well, when he’s not talking fast that is. Now, you can believe it or not, but our office is noisy. Well, if you knew who worked in it, you wouldn’t be surprised. Despite the fact we all have phones on our desks, it just seems easier to yell our questions. You’ll hear, “need more news for page four!” Or sometimes you just hear Debbie holler out, “Ugghhh!” Then we have Bam who whenever you get within earshot, starts telling you what she’s done since you last walked up that way. Or, when somebody comes in that she knows, you hear a one sided conversation cause God help you if you try to get a word in. So, as Sam gets off the phone, I hear him talking with Tyler about a podcast that needs to be done. The two discuss the paper that Jake is busily labeling in the back just for our Jenkins County folks. I mean y’all, Sam had picked up the papers that morning and had unloaded them just a short hour ago from his car. Then silence. I look up and Sam is standing in my office doorway. He says, “when were you gonna remind me?” I get a puzzled look on my face; I know I do. “What are you talking about?” I ask. “You know what I forgot to do today?” Well, home boy, I can’t begin to tell you, is what I want to say, instead I say, “I couldn’t tell you!” “The papers! I’ve got to go pick up the Jenkins County papers!” I looked dumbfounded at the crazed expression on his face. “Sammy, have you had a stroke? I mean you were just discussing the paper. Jake is back there labeling them!” Now y’all know you need a vacation when this happens. Sam goes back to his office, mumbling under his breath about getting confused. I would say so! I watched him for the rest of the day just in case. Until I did something just as wacky, but we’ll save that for another time. That’s all for now, take care! Upcoming Dates in School May 26 - Last Day/Early Release/ Graduation Tara Cooper Superintendant Jenkins County School System What better time to encourage students and teachers than the month of May? Fun events are packed in between testing. Banquets and awards are celebrated during the day and the evening. Some students are still participating in sporting events and parents are still carting some around with late suppers and later bedtimes. It’s an exhausting time for all of us! This is a time that students are struggling with coursework and staying motivated, and words of encouragement will help motivate and even, hopefully, inspire them. In fact, research studies investigating the power of verbal encouragement found that students receiving encouragement from school staff and parents reported they felt more empowered to complete their assignments and make better decisions regarding their academic performance. Words of encouragement are statements that help students know that they can do anything that they put their mind to. Specific wording is better than throwing out generic statements like “You can do it” or “You'll be fine.” Students who typically do well in school but seem to be experiencing unusual difficulty with schoolwork may be excitedly anticipating the end of May! Asking the student how things are going in their life before offering words of encouragement can also give you further insight into how to optimize your words. Any time during the school year discussing an obviously stmggling student between the teacher and the parent is another way to detemiine exactly what kind of encouragement the student would most benefit from hearing. Emphasizing that succeeding at school does not mean never making mistakes is important for our youth to hear. Everyone makes mistakes. That’s how we learn and grow. It is avoiding making the same mistake that gets you closer to your goals. Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Isn’t that the truth? On those days when our staff and students (and parents!) just don’t think the end is ever going to come, it does. And we are almost there. Please share a word of encouragement for a school staff member, a parent, or student in the next couple of weeks as we wrap up the school year. These words are especially important right now! You know that “starting” is rarely the problem, it’s the “finishing” that brings the weariness. Lifting one another up in the month of May will help us all finish strong! We look forward to another Honor’s night. Field Day, our first Three- Year-Old Academy, the Senior/Kindergarten walk, an Elementary Chorus Concert, the End of Course and summative assessments, and all of the other activities in between that are happening next week! .Jenkins County Times Proudly covering Jenkins County’s news, sports, and community events Sam Eades Publisher Joe Brady Editor Sam Eades Advertising Sales Debbie Heam Admin/Layout and Design Executive Sarah Saxon Admin/Legals/AP Correspondent Brad Asbury Sports Editor Jake Gay Reporter Tyler Busch Podcast Director/Reporter THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES issue 11 May 2023 is published weekly by on Friday for $35 per year by THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES, 425 Hwy 25 S • Millen, Ga. 30442. Periodical postage pending at Millen, GA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES, Millen GA 30442 Phone: (478) 401-5007 Subscription Rates (Includes tax): 1 Year in Jenkins County $19.95 1 Year Online Only $18.00 2 Years In Jenkins County $49.95 1 Year Outside of County $19.95 1 Year Outside of Georgia $42.00 1 day online pass $1.99
