Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, February 13,2019
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 7A
School system central office undergoing restructuring
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County Schools
District Superintendent Dr.
Damon Gibbs announced last
week that he plans to restruc
ture the central office services
after current Chief Human
Resource Officer Lisa Perry
and Chief Operations Officer
Rick Brown retire this year.
Gibbs said a restructure
allows the district to plan for
future growth and consider the
present and future needs of the
school community.
The reorganization includes
changes to leadership roles and
responsibilities effective for the
2019-2020 school year, which
include the implementation of
an assistant superintendent for
human resources and opera
tions and an assistant superin
tendent of teaching and learn
ing.
At the Feb. 5 board of educa
tion work session, Nicole
LeCave was approved to
assume the role of assistant
superintendent of teaching and
learning.
LeCave has 21 years of expe
rience in education and has
served as a member of the dis
trict leadership team for the
past four years. She has acted
as the executive director of
teaching and learning for the
past two years.
Before her transition to the dis
trict office, LeCave was a teacher
and assistant principal of curricu
lum for Dawson County Schools.
Her background includes an
undergraduate degree in middle-
grade education, a master’s
degree in curriculum and instruc
tional supervision and a certifica
tion in educational leadership
from the University of North
Georgia earned by completing
Georgia Leadership Institute for
School Improvement’s (GLISI)
Rising Stars Future Leaders
Performance-Based Program.
She is an active member of
the Georgia Association of
Educational Leaders (GAEL)
and Georgia Association of
Curriculum and Instructional
Supervisors (GACIS), having
served as a past district treasur
er, co-director and director of
the organization.
LeCave is married to USMC
Major Sean LeCave, and they
have five children.
Hershel Bennett was also
approved by the board to
assume the role of assistant
superintendent of human
resources and operations during
the work session.
Bennett has over 25 years of
educational experience, having
served as a teacher and admin
istrator at all levels from ele
mentary to high school. He has
acted as the director of excep
tional students for Dawson
County Schools for the past
seven years.
“I am both thrilled and hum
bled to move into the assistant
superintendent position. The
Dawson County School system
truly puts students’ needs first
and all stakeholders have buy in
for our children’s success,”
Bennett said. “I will miss some
of the day to day interactions
within the Exceptional
Children’s Department but I
know they will continue to
grow and accomplish wonder
ful things.”
As Director of Exceptional
Students, Bennett has imple
mented new initiatives includ
ing the Community Based
Instruction (CBI) Program, the
Miss Sparkle Pageant and the
Spring Games.
Bennett is an active member
of Georgia Association of
Educational Leaders (GAEL)
and Georgia Council of
Administrators of Special
Education (GCASE).
He is from east Tennessee
and received both his under
graduate and master’s degrees
in education from the
University of Tennessee. He
later earned his educational
specialist degree in leadership
and administration from
Lincoln Memorial University.
Bennett is married to
Gabrielle and has three chil
dren.
“I hope to continue the sup
port our students and staff have
received from Ms. Perry and
Mr. Brown,” Bennett said. “It
will be impossible to replace
them but I hope to continue the
outstanding job they have done
for all of Dawson County
Schools stakeholders.”
The district plans to spend
the next few months complet
ing the reorganization. Both
LeCave and Bennett will work
closely with Brown and Perry
to ensure a smooth transition
into the next school year.
“With the retirements of two
of our top district leaders, we
are very fortunate to have team
members ready to assume
expanded leadership roles in
our organization,” Gibbs said.
Bicycle Ride Across Georgia marks 40 years with 350-mile route
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Photos courtesy of Tony Butler
Tony Butler hoists his bicycle over his head in front of the Bicycle Ride
Across Georgia finish line after completing the U.S. Bicycle Route 21 in
September 2018.
BY Layne Saliba
DCN Regional Staff
Tony Butler crashed on
the first day of his bike ride
from Chattanooga,
Tennessee, to Atlanta as
part of Bicycle Ride
Across Georgia’s U.S.
Bicycle Route 21 event in
September last year.
But he was having too
much fun to stop. He com
pleted the ride and will
now be riding in Big
BRAG, the organization’s
ride across the state.
“I got me some road
rash and messed up my
thumb a little bit, but I was
having too good a time to
quit so I just kept on
going,” said Butler, a
Gainesville native who just
moved to Hiawassee.
“I thought about doing
Big BRAG, last year, but I
knew I wasn’t ready for
that, so I set my goal a lit
tle bit lower and went for
the (U.S. Bicycle Route
21) to see how I would do
and that went real well, so
I had to get training for the
big one.”
BRAG, which is cele
brating its 40th year in
2019, has stopped in
Gainesville once about
every 10 years, with the
last time in 2006. This
year’s ride, June 1-8, will
start in Ellijay with stops in
Gainesville, Covington,
Milledgeville, Swainsboro
and Hinesville on its way
to the coast where it will
end in Darien, about 50
miles south of Savannah.
The trip is about 350 miles.
Riders average about 55
miles each day with a day
off to rest in the middle. If
55 continuous miles are
too much, there are rest
stops about every 15 miles.
“We kind of like to move
around in the state since
there’s a number of riders
who do it every year, and
most folks who’ve done it
have done it in the past, so
we like to vary it up and go
through new areas of the
state,” said Franklin
Johnson, executive director
of BRAG. “We always like
to end somewhere scenic,
never feel alone ... and
you had some people that
were going slow, and then
you’d have a group of peo
ple pass you that looked
like they were going 100
mph. It’s a variation of
everything, and I didn’t
feel out of place or that I
wasn’t as good as some
other people.”
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Photos courtesy of BRAG
Riders take part in a Bicycle Ride Across Georgia event. Big BRAG celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
where folks can spend
some time with their fami
ly at the end of the ride.”
The trip through
Gainesville wil be like a
homecoming for Butler,
and it’s one of the things
that solidified his decision
to take part in this year’s
ride.
“I still have a lot of fami
ly in Gainesville,” Butler
said. “Instead of sleeping
in a tent that night, I can
probably stay with some
family.”
At each stop on the
course, participants sleep
overnight — some in tents,
others in hotels or with
family in the area — after
spending some time out in
the community. Johnson
said that’s one of the big
draws of BRAG.
Participants get to see dif
ferent parts of the state,
especially the small towns
“that might normally be
passed over.”
Those small towns have
a lot to offer, and when
1,200 bikers come through,
“they get to shine.”
When the ride comes
through Gainesville, par
ticipants can camp out at
the Lake Lanier Olympic
Park, where there will be
concessions and a concert.
They’re also encouraged to
get out into the city. BRAG
will provide shuttles from
the park to the Gainesville
square.
“It gives riders a unique
perspective, just to experi
ence the state of Georgia at
a much slower pace, on
two wheels sitting on the
seat of your bike, rather
than sitting in your car,”
Johnson said.
That’s exactly the experi
ence Butler said he had on
his ride from Chattanooga
to Atlanta. He said it’s hard
sometimes to remember it’s
a ride, not a race, especially
since he’s naturally compet
itive, but when he was pass
ing the scenery, he was
quickly reminded to simply
take it all in.
“If you treat it like a
race, you’re not probably
going to enjoy it as much,”
Butler said. “Because you
miss the scenery. I stopped
here and there to take pic
tures. I tried to enjoy it, I
wasn’t on a schedule. I just
wanted to get done in time
to rest, get some food and
get up the next day to do it
again.”
Apart from the scenery,
Butler said he enjoyed get
ting to know some of the
other riders. Although it’s
an individual event, there’s
never a moment when rid
ers are by themselves.
There’s always someone
around.
And anyone can do it.
He said he saw people in
their 20s and others in their
70s, which is another rea
son he’s excited to take
part in Big BRAG this year
and years to come.
“You can either see
somebody up the road or
somebody’s riding beside
you,” Butler said. “You
Big BRAG
What: Bicycle ride
from Ellijay to
Darien
When: June 1-8
Where: Starts in
Ellijay and ends in
Darien with stops in
Gainesville,
Covington,
Milledgeville,
Swainsboro and
Hinesville along the
way
More info: www.
brag.org
