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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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