About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2022)
Wednesday, September 14,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A DCHS adds audio/visual technology, film pathway Erica Jones Dawson County News Dawson County High School teacher Richard Hayes stands in his classroom at the College and Career Academy. Hayes is teaching the school's new audio/visual technology and film pathway at the CCA. By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com This year, Dawson County High School’s Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) program has added an all-new pathway for students: an audio/ visual technology and film course. According to CTAE Director Amy Smith, the new pathway has been a long time in the making and is the first one that the high school has added in several years. When the College and Career Academy (CCA) building was built several years ago, previous superinten dent Damon Gibbs had an audio/visual lab put into the building to house a pathway like this one. “We were able to get a capital equipment grant for the equipment because they did build that class room to make it an audio visual classroom and it was already labeled that on the plan,” Smith said. “Mrs. Negley (DCHS principal) and I both were super excited; we knew this was the program that we wanted to open up next so we were super excited to make it happen.” The pathway is being taught by Richard Hayes, who has 12 years of expe rience in the film industry and is excited to take on the new pathway. Hayes currently has about 100 students enrolled in his three classes in the path way, and said that through out the course he will be going over all aspects of filmmaking with them. “The pathway itself is going to focus primarily on film and production, so start to finish how to make a movie; everything from storyboarding, scriptwrit ing, lighting, filming, act ing, stage design, working with drama, costumes and then the editing process and adding special effects on top of that,” Hayes said. While much of the need ed equipment has yet to arrive at the CCA, that hasn’t stopped Hayes from jumping right into the new pathway with his students. “There’s been a lot of positivity about the class so far and what we have done with the equipment that we have right now has been great; the kids have been getting a lot out of it,” Hayes said. “We’ve been focusing on editing, scripting and storyboard ing until we can get the equipment to do the actual filming process.” When the equipment does arrive, Hayes said that it will be based on rec ommendations from pro fessionals he knows who work in the film industry, so the students will get to use the equipment they would use if they were really working in the field. “I took classes over the summer from the Georgia Film Academy; based off of my contacts there we got recommendations from professionals who are in the field using this industry-level equipment; so the kids are going to be getting essentially what they use in the field,” Hayes said. As with the other CTAE pathways, the new course is aimed at providing stu dents with an opportunity to explore potential future careers and what they might like to do after high school. “Athena Studios are building locations in Athens and in Covington; it’s absolutely a booming industry,” Hayes said. “I tell the kids there’s a job for anyone who has an interest in almost anything with films.” What makes this new pathway unique, Smith said, is that it appeals to students in the school with a wide range of interests. “It’s a fun, creative path way, so it not only reaches your career tech kids that are interested in pursuing a career but it reaches your art students and your the ater kids; it’s really neat to see,” Smith said. Since the pathway has begun, Hayes said that he has heard feedback from students and their friends about his class and is hopeful that it will contin ue to grow in future semesters. “I’ve had kids stop me in the halls saying ‘my friend is in your class and I’ve signed up for it next semester’,” Hayes said. As word about the new pathway spreads not just in the school but in the community too, different organizations in the com munity have reached out to Smith and Hayes about potential partnerships, which is also exciting, she said. “The middle school emailed about partnering with them to video their Little Tiger Theatre pro duction and the sheriff’s office has reached out about doing a project over the holidays,” Smith said. “So the community is reaching out.” Many of Hayes’ current students are eighth and ninth graders, she added, so the hope is that they will take not only his intro classes but continue up through the levels in his pathway too. “He’s teaching a lot of intro classes to a lot of eighth and ninth graders, so hopefully we’ll retain those students for tenth and eleventh and they’ll take the second and third level and then eventually we hope we can find them placements in work based learning,” Smith said. “He’s doing a great job; he’s been a breath of fresh air to the kids and they’ve loved his class.” Interim emergency management leader named in Dawson By Julia Fechter jf e c hte r@d a wson n ews. com Dawson County now has peo ple to fulfill key emergency man agement roles after the Board of Commissioners’ Sept. 1 meet ings. Dawson County Fire and Emergency Services Lt. Lucas Ray was appointed as the coun ty’s deputy EMA director Thursday. Ray’s appointment follows the confirmation of inter im DCFES chief Jason Dooley for the interim EMA director spot. Ray told DCN that he was surprised to be named the deputy EMA director and had to go back and watch the online meeting to hear for himself. “I hope to keep build ing on what Lanier [Swafford] and Billy [Thurmond] have started,” Ray said, referring to the county’s previous EMA leadership. “I hope to keep the citizens’ trust. I hope that they trust me to make a fair judgment on the decisions I need to make at the [given] time,” Ray added. County Manager David Headley told the board that filling the EMA director position was key to ensuring that “any matching funds for a declared disaster are not lost.” In the event of a disas ter, Ray would be able to assume EMA duties and let Dooley focus on fire and emergency services responsibilities. Ray, a 29-year veteran of DCFES, started as a volunteer at the old Station 1, which was located at the old jail. He has worked as a full-time firefighter for 19 years and has his emer gency management certification for 14 years. Now, he handles logistics-related matters for DCFES. Ray has worked disasters ranging from Hurricane Katrina to multiple snowstorms. When training for such disasters, as well as emergencies like school shootings, Ray said one EMA goal is “to prevent downtime.” That means working with Dawson County Schools, the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and DCFES to decide which personnel to contact and when, such as when it comes to decid ing whether to keep schools open or shut them down, he said. Tools like forecasts from the National Weather Services are critical in comparing the weath er predicted versus what Ray and his colleagues see on the ground and then determining how to appropriately respond. “Pre-planning is everything,” Ray said. “If you pre-plan, you know what you’re going into as you go into it.” FROM 1A Millholland age 15 at the time, of himself masturbat ing. He was booked in to the Hall County Jail, where he remains. The new charges occurred June 8 around midnight, according to Friday’s warrants. He was charged with exploitation of a minor for sending “two nude pictures and one video of his erect penis and mastur bating to juvenile victim with his snap- chat username and did show his face to said victim,” according to warrants. He “also sent a video with boxer shorts on with an erect penis dancing and in a mir ror that showed his bedroom. Cameron Millholland also sent a photo of his penis under a gray blanket.” He was also charged with attempted improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent for “masturbating on video sent on Snapchat ... to juvenile victim that was his student and asked juvenile victim to be alone with him at an undisclosed location.” The case is still under investigation, and police asked for anyone with information to contact the police department at gainesville.org/659/submit-a-tip. Millholland, who taught social studies and coached boys golf, resigned Aug. 19, was removed from the classroom the day the investigation began and resigned the next day, He was hired at Gainesville High in Aug. 2019. This article was originally published in the Gainesville Times, a sister publication of the Dawson County News. FROM 1A Burts was five I’d get on daddy’s shoulders and we’d walk through the field; it was amaz ing then and it’s still amazing; I think everybody feels that way when they come up here and we still feel that way too,” Burt said. “One of the major draws is Amicalola Falls; when you take the hay- ride and you come out up here it’s one of the best views of the falls in the state of Georgia. We’re not trying to sell a pump kin, we’re trying to sell an experience.” Besides family, the other theme central to the farm’s business plan is faith. Even throughout the pandemic and other obsta cles, Sanders said that this faith has seen the farm not just survive but continue to thrive. This month, Burt's Pumpkin Farm offi cially opened for its 2022 season on Sept. 1, marking the farm's fiftieth year of being open. Erica Jones Dawson County News “Even through the pandemic everybody came out to see us; we’ve just been incredibly blessed and we’re thankful to God,” Sanders said. “We were very busy this weekend; actually busier than we’ve ever been for an opening weekend. We’re very blessed and feel like God has totally blessed our whole family; we’re just very thankful.” Burt’s Pumpkin Farm, located at 5 Burt’s Pumpkin Farm Road, officially opened for its 2022 season on Sept. 1 and will remain open through Nov. 10. The pumpkin patch and store are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the hayride will run on weekends only through Sept. 15 and then every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about Burt’s Pumpkin Farm, go to https://www.shop- burtsfarm.com/, email burtsfarm@gmail. com, or call 706-265-3701. 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