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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 17,2023
Dawson BOE recognizes retiring educators
Photos courtesy of Dawson County Schools
From left to right: Dawson County Schools retirees Connie Austin, Gwen
Hyde and Dwayne Sapp and Georgia United Credit Union's Maria Peifer.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
During the May 9 meeting of the
Dawson County Board of Education,
board members recognized and honored
several of the educators who will be retir
ing at the end of the 2022-23 school year.
Each year at the end of the school year,
the board recognizes the school system’s
staff members who are retiring that year.
This year, the board recognized 12 retirees,
honoring them by reading their names and
how long they’ve worked in the school
system.
“Reaching retirement is a bittersweet
experience — it marks the end of a long
and fulfilling career and it opens up new
opportunities for the future,” Human
Resources Coordinator Jenna Carpenter
said. “The staff recognized tonight have
left lasting marks on our school system
and the lives of countless students they’ve
encountered over the years.”
The 2023 retirees from the Dawson
County include:
• Teresa Abernathy, paraprofessional,
Dawson County Junior High
School, 23 years of service
• Connie Austin, nutrition manager,
Blacks Mill Elementary School, 32
years of service
• Penny Burt, paraprofessional,
Dawson County High School, 31
years of service
• Amy Chosewood, teacher, 28 years
of service
• Tom Farrell, transportation depart
ment, 23 years of service
• Lisa Hills, Riverview Elementary
School, 30 years of service
• Gwen Hyde, paraprofessional, 27
years of service
• Elizabeth Keasler, teacher, Blacks
Mill Elementary School, 27 years of
service
• Laura McCall-Drury, Dawson
County High School, 35 years of
service
• Gaye Palmer, bookkeeper, Dawson
County Middle School, 22 years of
service
• Dwayne Sapp, teacher, Dawson
County Junior High School, 30
years of service
• Gary Wilson, head custodian,
Kilough Elementary School, 12
years of service
The retirees were each presented with
special awards, sponsored by Georgia
United Credit Union, honoring their retire
ment.
“To our retirees recognized tonight, on
behalf of the entire Dawson County
Schools community, thank you for your
hard work, your dedication and your com
mitment to the students of Dawson
County,” Carpenter said. “We wish you all
the happiness and success in your retire
ment.”
Exemplary ESOL teacher
and student
Also during the meeting, the board rec
ognized this year’s Exemplary ESOL
teacher and student.
Each year, the Georgia Department of
Education presents awards for exemplary
ESOL teachers and exemplary English
learner students. This year’s honorees from
Dawson County were ESOL teacher Tania
Hand from Kilough Elementary School
and English learner student Miriam
Martinez from Dawson County High
School.
To be nominated for the Exemplary
ESOL (English to Speakers of Other
Languages) teacher award, a teacher must
display a positive impact on English learn
ers while demonstrating leadership and
professionalism, Director of Federal
Programs, Assessment and Accountability
Denise Reynolds explained to the board.
This year, Hand took on the leadership
role at the district level for ESOL lead
teams, served as a mentor in multiple
capacities and is known for celebrating her
students’ success, Reynolds said.
“She continuously seeks opportunities to
enrich and engage her students and support
From left to right: DCHS senior and
Exemplary English Learner awardee
Miriam Martinez, Director of Federal
Programs, Assessment and
Accountability Denise Reynolds and
KES teacher and Exemplary ESOL
teacher awardeeTania Hand.
the families she serves,” Reynolds said.
In order for a student to be nominated
for the Exemplary English Learner award,
a student must be a high school senior on
track for graduation with a minimum
grade point average of 3.5, demonstrate
leadership, perseverance and commitment
to success and have outstanding character,
behavior and regular attendance, Reynolds
said.
Martinez has been a student in Dawson
County since 2019, during which time she
has demonstrated a drive to reach for
excellence and excelled in school while
maintaining a regular job, Reynolds said.
“She serves as a model student, support
ing other newcomers in her classes while
meeting high expectations set forth before
her,” Reynolds said. “She is committed to
learning and dedicated to being her best
every day.”
Both Hand and Martinez were presented
with certificates and honored during the
board meeting.
Big Canoe Chapel awards $116,500 to area grads
By Erica Jones
ejones@
dawsonnews.com
Recently, Big Canoe Chapel
awarded $116,500 in scholar
ships to 52 graduating seniors
from Dawson and Pickens coun
ties.
According to information pro
vided by Big Canoe Chapel’s
Judy Bellenger, this year
marked the 41st consecutive
year that Big Canoe Chapel has
awarded scholarships to gradu
ating seniors. Over these years,
the organization has awarded
over 2.8 million dollars and
2,100 or more scholarships.
In addition to the chapel
scholarships, scholarships were
awarded by the iPhone Club to
students pursuing a technology
degree, and the Joe Dodd and
Photo courtesy of Big Canoe Chapel
Recently, Big Canoe Chapel awarded scholarships to gradu
ating seniors from Dawson and Pickens counties. Pictured
are the Dawson County scholarship recipients.
Sally Shannon families award This year’s Joe Dodd
scholarships in the names of Memorial Scholarship was
deceased loved ones. awarded to Dawson County
High School’s Kevin Haymond
and to Pickens High School’s
Noah Jones. The Sally Shannon
Memorial Scholarship was
awarded to Dawson County
High School’s Emily Peak and
Pickens High School’s Brandon
Bell.
This year’s awards event was
presided over by Scholarship
Committee Chair Larry
Applewhite and featured guest
speaker and evangelist Mark
Cahill and music by Noah
Burnett and Calliegh Lamb.
The 2023 Big Canoe Chapel
Scholarship Recipients from
Dawson County High School
included:
• Riley Barfield
• Abigail Bouchez
• Noah Burnett
• Aaron Castellano
• Maddie Castleberry
• Macy Clark
• Callie Cleveland
• Abigail Clouser
• Ian Costley
• Cydney Cunningham
• Peyton Gillian
• Kevin Haymond (Joe
Dodd Memorial
Scholarship recipient)
• Benjamin Hodge
• Jadyn Jett
• Madelyn Lee
• Jessica Mann
• Isabella Matthews
• William McNatt
• Andrew Monkus
• Kayleigh Moon
• Emily Peak (Sally
Shannon Memorial
Scholarship recipient)
• Carlie Phillips
• Jace Trammell
• Lily Verhoven
• Skylar Walker
Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News
Pond and Company representative Brad Jones addresses community mem
bers during a May 10 public meeting about War Hill Park.
Proposed additions to War Hill Park could include
improved campsites, added pioneer campsites, a
kayak and canoe launch and a boardwalk bridge,
among other project ideas.
FROM 1A
War Hill
park includes a boat ramp,
boat trailer parking, a day-
use area with a beach front,
14 campsites without utili
ties and a comfort station
or bath house.
Currently, there is no
existing approved long
term plan for the park,
Brad Jones with Pond and
Company, a Georgia-based
multi-disciplinary design
firm, explained during the
meeting. The proposed
master plan presented on
Wednesday is a scaled-
back version of a proposed
plan that was presented
before, taking into account
feedback from community
members and residents of
the War Hill Park area.
The proposed plan, Jones
explained, includes poten
tial projects presented in
three phases. Ideas in Phase
1 could be accomplished in
the next five years, Phase 2
could be accomplished in
the next 10 years and future
phases could be accom
plished in 20 years or more.
Phase 1, as presented
during Wednesday’s meet
ing, includes improvements
to the existing camp
ground, including adding
utilities to the campsites,
reconstructing areas in the
campground and the shore
line that have been dam
aged by erosion, adding
improvements to the host
site, adding hiking trails
within the campground and
adding a sliding entry gate
with an electronic keypad
for campers arriving after
hours. Phase 1 also propos
es improving the existing
hiking trails, including add
ing signs to better mark the
pathways.
Phase 2 could include
improving the courtesy
dock and adding a kayak
and canoe launch, adding a
small playground and pic
nic shelter to the day use
area, refurbishing the beach
and improving ADA acces
sibility, replacing the fish
ing pier, adding a board
walk bridge and construct
ing a maintenance facility.
Future phases further
down the road could
include replacing the park’s
comfort station or bath
house, adding a new hike-
in pioneer campground in
the northern area of the
park and adding an envi
ronmental education center
geared toward school
groups and small private
gatherings and allowing for
a potential kayak rental
area.
Several residents of the
War Hill Park area were in
attendance at the public
meeting, and several of
them spoke up with ques
tions or concerns about the
future additions and
improvements to the park,
including voicing their con
cerns about increased traf
fic on War Hill Park Road
and about disturbing the
park during the construc
tion process.
Several local residents
also voiced their opinions
that this scaled-back pro
posed master plan will be
closer to what they want
than the original plan pre
sented in the past, adding
that improving the park is
much preferable to devel
oping the land into some
thing else.
“It would actually be
worse if a developer took
over the park; at least as
citizens we do have some
sort of say in our local gov
ernment,” one resident said.
“This is a lot closer to
what we really would like
to see, and we hear you in
that we don’t want a lot
more traffic on that road,”
Parks and Rec Director
Matt Payne added.
All of the projects in the
master plan would not have
to be completed should the
plan be approved, but rath
er the county could choose
later on down the road to
complete only some of
them.
“From the standpoint of
us doing the master plan,
we don’t have to do every
thing that’s here,” District 4
Commissioner Emory
Dooley said. “If we think
we might ever want to do
something it’s cheaper to
put it on there now that it
would be later on down the
road, but there’s nothing
that holds us to make us do
it. We can do deletions
from it easier than we can
do additions to it.”
And the master plan is
more of an overview than it
is specific details, Jones
added, so if it is approved
and residents have ques
tions or concerns about a
specific part of it they can
contact their county com
missioners to voice those
opinions.
“It’s up to you as the citi
zens to contact your com
missioners and work on the
individual project and say
‘we don’t like that part of
it’,” Jones said. “But it’s
better to go ahead and have
it as a part of your plan,
that way you can work to
decide to do it in 10 to 15
years. Each little project is
a small increment of it.”
In order for the proposed
master plan to be fully
approved, it will need to go
through several further
steps. First the plan will be
updated and finalized to go
before the county’s board
of commissioners, and the
board will vote whether or
not to adopt it. Should the
county adopt the plan, it
will go before the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
for approval through a pro
cess that also includes an
environmental assessment
and a public comment peri
od.
DCN will continue to
follow the progress of the
proposed master plan for
War Hill Park.