About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2022)
Wednesday, November 2,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A Students show skills in mock art grant competition cs Rio White Dawson County News A group of seven 10th-grade students participated in a mock art grant competition on Oct. 26. By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com A group of lOth-grade stu dents in the local chapter of the Classical Conversations Christian homeschooling pro gram had a chance to display their public speaking skills at a mock art grant competition hosted by Cornerstone Christian Church in Dawsonville. These bright young minds — most of whom had grown up together and had practiced public speaking for many years — were tasked with coming up with a project that would simulate the process of receiving a grant from a large organization such as the National Endowment for the Arts. More specifically, the stu dents had to use rhetorical skills, persuasive language and visual aids to convince a panel to award the money. The challenge? Speaking in front of a panel that included Dawsonville mayor Mike Eason, city councilman William Illg, and Laura Cole, the Director of Education and Training at the Atlanta Shakespeare Company. Each student had a project that focused on using music or art to benefit a specific group of people in the local commu nity, such as Alzheimer’s patients, the homeless or fos ter children. Tracy Stephens, the director of lOth-grade studies at Classical Conversations, was proud of the group’s efforts. “I thought they did a fantas tic job,” Stephens said. “They pulled together things they’ve been working on for several years and it was a great culmi nation of all those skills.” As part of the competition, each student described the budget of the project and requested a specific amount of money. The panel could decide how much they would ultimately grant to each proj ect. A variety of mediums were used to present each project, including PowerPoint presen tations, poster boards, and audio/video elements. For the panel, it was impor tant to give feedback on both the content and presentation of the project. Two projects that received the highest praise included “Musical Memories” by Sophie Stephens and “Adventures in Art” by Avery Butler. Stephens used both physical props and a video to describe how elderly dementia patients could benefit from musical therapy through immersive bi weekly sessions. Her project included a detailed plan that focused on helping the patients increase physical and mental activity by creating and playing their own instruments. Butler’s project used a col orful poster board that visual ized an “art bus” that would host art activity days for local elementary school children. Her project envisioned a place where creativity would be at the forefront and the pos sibilities could be endless. Tracy Stephens summed up the competition as a shining example of each student’s hard work and attention to detail. “I think they did a good job appealing to the logic and the emotions of who would be lis tening to them and being in touch with their target audi ence,” Stephens. “These are going to be the next leaders of their generation and Em really proud of them.” Two Dawson County nonprofit groups to soon be neighbors By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com A prominent Dawson County-based nonprofit will move to a keen new location in the near future, right next to a like-minded organization. Following a tentatively- approved no-lease agree ment, Dawson County Family Connection is expected to soon relocate from 96 Academy Avenue to 45 Medical Center Drive, in the other half of the building also occupied by Good Shepherd Clinic. That’s right behind the CVS off of Ga. 53 and Ga. 400, which is also near the forthcoming Peaks of Dawsonville complex. As Family Connection’s financial agent, the county via the Board of Commissioners unani mously approved an agree ment between the nonprof it and Northeast Georgia Health System on Oct. 20. Now, BOC chairman Billy Thurmond can go ahead and sign off once legal counsel approves the agreement, said county attorney Angela Davis. The IT and facilities departments are prepared to move forward with the transition, county manager David Headley said. Dawson County Family Connection’s director, Rebecca Bliss said they’re ready to begin the move as soon as the agreement is signed, which is expected to happen within the next few weeks. Family Connection is a nonprofit dedicated to helping at-risk children and families through offer ing clients resources cen tered around fostering and adoption assistance, skills- based parenting classes, food and other necessities. Good Shepherd is a medical clinic offering non-emergency health ser vices free of charge to uninsured people who live in Dawson County and meet certain income requirements, according to the nonprofit’s website. Interestingly enough, Family Connection’s deci sion to move came in light of a separate county department’s expansion. For the past few years, Dawson County’s Board of Elections and Registrations’ voter turn out — and dually the need for space — has been growing, District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines said Oct. 24. The need for more elec tion space has only become more imperative with the enactment of new voting laws in Georgia, Gaines said, necessitating Family Connection’s move by the end of the year to open up that space. He added Family Start earning with Bank OZK today! 3.00% 8 month CD or IRA CD Special 3.30% 13 month CD or IRA CD Special 3.50% 18 month CD or IRA CD Special Visit our Dawsonville location or open an account online at ozk.com.** <> Bank OZK ozk.com I Member FDIC ‘Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective as of the publication date. Offer applies to new CDs only. $1,000 minimum deposit to open and is required to earn stated APY. Penalty for early withdrawal. IRA CD is subject to eligibility requirements. Offer not available to Public Funds, brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. Fees could reduce earnings. Offer subject to change without notice. Offer good at location in Dawsonville, GA only. “IRA CD must be opened in person and cannot be opened online. Connection hasn’t had a permanent home for many years, as its personnel were often moved into county buildings with free space. Gaines helped facilitate the agreement process. Back during the spring, he looked at multiple spaces with other officials. “One thing that popped in my head was Good Shepherd (the clinic build ing) because there could be some crossover,” he said. “Both nonprofits do a lot of good things in the community.” Gaines knew the medi cal nonprofit wasn’t utiliz ing all of the space, owned by the hospital system. After he met with the hos pital’s realty team, they were gracious enough to work with Family Connection, too, and the initiative was able to come to fruition, Gaines said. Now, the nonprofit that aids vulnerable children and families can have a permanent home. “We’re excited about moving and getting things finalized,” Bliss said. “I think we’ll be able to touch or reach a lot of people in the area.” Good Shepherd’s Board of Directors chairman, Tony Passarello, spoke to the complementary servic es that the two nonprofits could offer clients, some of whom may be served by both organizations. “We believe the synergy will benefit the Good Shepherd Clinic as far as awareness of the clinic and the services we offer, and that’ll allow us to reach more patients,” he said. District 3 Commissioner Tim Satterfield thanked county staff involved in the planned move as well as Headley and Passarello. “Anything we’ve asked of them, they’ve stepped up,” Satterfield said of Good Shepherd. “It’s great to have them over there. If you look at the numbers, they take care of a lot of people in this county that wouldn’t be taken care of and would be a burden on our system if they weren’t taken care of.” Thurmond also agreed with the partnership pros pects between the two nonprofits and their gener al missions to both help vulnerable people. “They can criss-cross some of the things they do for citizens, so it’s just a win-win,” Thurmond said. lnspireSleepEvents.com to register for a free event. Hear from doctors in your area about Inspire, a sleep apnea treatment that works inside your body. No mask. No hose. Just sleep. Inspire is not for everyone. Talk to your doctor to see if it's right for you, and review important safety information at lnspireSleep.com. Inspire Sleep Apnea Innovation Want to go from restless... to well rested? Visit
