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4B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, June 27,2018
Dawson CBI program presented at state conference
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County
Exceptional Children’s
Community Based
Instruction program has
done remarkably well in
its first two years, so much
so that program leads
Edith Banta and Ashley
Elliott recently presented
it to the state as a model
program.
Banta, Elliott and
Exceptional Children
Director Hershel Bennett
traveled down to St.
Simon’s Island for the
Institute Designed for
Educating All Students, or
IDEAS, Conference pre
sented by the Georgia
Department of Education
June 5 - 8 to lead a presen
tation about the program’s
success. The IDEAS con
ference provides profes
sional learning environ
ments via workshops, ses
sions and networking
related to teaching stu
dents with disabilities.
The CBI program start
ed up in the fall of 2016 at
Dawson County High
School and expanded to
Dawson County Middle
School this past year.
Banta and Elliott have also
announced expansion to
Dawson County Junior
High School and the in
school programs at the
elementary level begin
ning this fall.
Banta and Elliott’s June
6 presentation focused on
starting a successful CBI
program in a rural area,
which was met by wide
praise in the packed room
at the IDEAS conference.
“Some of the comments
we got were like they
were amazed that we did
so much in just two
years,” Banta said. “One
person came up and said
‘so that’s only been five
years?’ and we’re like
‘No, two.’”
It’s easy to understand
why the crowd was
impressed with the presen
tation.
Banta and Elliott went
into detail to explain every
aspect of their success.
From sharing iMovies
they’ve made over the
school year to providing
data from fundraising and
sharing their curriculum
and daily, weekly and
monthly schedules, attend
ees had all the resources
they needed to take back
to their school systems.
“At the end of our pre
sentation we had a
resource page and that
resource page had all the
documents for them to
use,” Elliott said. “We had
an example of our sylla
bus, an example of our
different data sheets to use
on job sites, different work
site evaluation forms that
they use...the resource
page was just really good
for them because they
could literally take back
our resources and stuff
and go back to their coun
ty and just kind of tweak
whatever they wanted.”
The two agreed that
they wanted to put all of
the resources at their dis
posal online for other edu
cators to take with them as
they work to build their
own CBI/CBVI programs.
“We want to provide
help for (others) and we
should collaborate as edu
cators,” Banta said.
Bennett spoke highly of
his CBI team and was
excited to see Banta and
Elliott represent Dawson
County at the state and
hopes to see them return
next year.
“Many directors and
DOE employees praised
their presentation and
asked for more informa
tion to take back to their
school system,” Bennett
said. “One DOE employee
was so inspired by the pre
sentation they requested to
come visit the program in
person next school year.”
The CBI program in
Dawson County had much
to highlight at the confer-
ence. With 583
Exceptional Students in
the county, 50 of those are
in the current self-con
tained programs.
In its second year, the
Unified Tigers coffee shop
raised over $6,000 to put
back into the program, and
served over 50 cups of
coffee a day most days.
“I feel like our kids are
very well equipped now.
It’s really exciting to see
the changes...they’re smil
ing more, they’re interact
ing more in the school,
they don’t just sit in a
room where they aren’t
seen or heard from,” Banta
said. “The enthusiasm still
hasn’t gone away. I still
feel like we’re making an
impact as a department
and it’s really exciting.”
DCHS senior performs in piano competition
For the Dawson County News
Branan Smith, a senior at Dawson County High School, competed in the
prestigious Steinway Competition on June 9 in Alpharetta. Smith competed
against 43 competitors, and had an excellent performance. He has been tak
ing piano lessons since the second grade with college aspirations to minor
in music and major in computer engineering. He has won many recitals
over the past few years, with competitions held atTruett McConnell
University and First Redeemer Church in Forsyth. He is a on the DCHS track
team and recently attended a track camp at Kennesaw State University.
Dawson Events
Listings in Dawson Events are free and available to nonprofit organizations
sponsoring free or low-cost events for the public. Groups may submit notices
by fax at (706) 265-3276 or via email at editor@dawsonnews.com.
COMMUNITY
The Dawson County Board of
Commissioners Voting Session
scheduled forThursday, July 5, 2018 has
been rescheduled toTuesday, July 3,
2018.The meeting will be held at 6 p.m.
at the Dawson County Government
Center on the second floor.
The Chestatee Artists 'Colors of
Summer' exhibit will be on Display at
the Bowen Center for the Arts from July
6-27.The exhibit will feature over 80
works from modern to classical art,
glass, ceramics, stained glass and
more. All exhibits are free and open to
the public. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday through Friday and 12 to 4
p.m. Saturdays.The Bowen is located
just north of Dawsonville's historic
square at 334 Hwy. 9 N (next door to
LanierTech).
The Dawson County Library is host
ing Literary Cupcake Wars from 4 to 5
p.m. July 11. Kids grades 6-12 are
encouraged to come put their creativity
to the test using frosting and cupcakes
as their medium. Participants will deco
rate their cupcake in the theme or spirit
of their favorite book and the cupcakes
will be judged by a panel of librarians.
Prizes will be awarded to the best cup
cake artists.
Race for Grace 5K is scheduled for
Saturday, July 14 at Veterans Memorial
Park.The run will begin at 8 a.m.
Dawsonville Fit Body Boot Camp is
hosting the 5k race to honor Grace
Sheer. Proceeds from the run will be
donated to the Grace Sheer scholarship
fund.To register visit: raceroster.com/
events/2018/17699/race-for-grace-5k.
A Hooper Family Reunion will be
held July 14.The presence of descen
dants and related families of Absalom
and Clemmons Hooper is requested at
a covered dish noon luncheon at the
Hiawassee, Ga. Senior Citizen Center
located shortly after passing entrance to
Fairgrounds on left. Any questions text
Barbara at (706) 581-2016.
Join the Lions Club of Dawsonville
for a free, fun, family event of award
winning bluegrass music at 7 p.m. Aug.
2.Three on a String will be the live
entertainment and the event will be
held at First Baptist Church of
Dawsonville, 900 Hwy. 9 N in
Dawsonville.
Get some exercise while supporting
Kiwanis Club of Dawson County's
mission of strengthening the communi
ty and serving children with the
Revenuers' 5k and 1-mile Fun Run,
scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 25 at Rock
Creek Park.The run starts at 8 a.m.
Register online at active.com.
For the Dawson County News
Exceptional Children Director Hershel Bennett, CBI Program Lead Edith
Banta and CBI Program Coordinator Ashley Elliott pose for a photo after
delivering a successful presentation at the 2018 GDOE IDEAS Conference
June 6.
King Crossword
ACROSS
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Greet the
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New Year's
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villain
Day
Photoshop
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Thing
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Prank
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Calendar abbr.
4 $ dispenser
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Celebrity
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Almond or
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Unopened
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flower
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Libertine
Mecca
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Noble title
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Body powder
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Congers, e.g.
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Proofreading
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Unfriendly
directive
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Old portico
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Dog owner's
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chore
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by a blow
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Beige
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With 61-
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Across, finis
Canada's flag
John
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"Help!"
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Golf prop
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Coloring agent
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