About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2023)
Wednesday, May 31,2023 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A DCMS Robotics represents county at world match Photo courtesy of Kristen Smith Recently, DCMS students Sam Guthrie, Huey Bliss and Georgia Galt represented their school and county at a world wide robotics competition. By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com Recently, three students from Dawson County Middle School had the chance to represent their school and county at a world wide robotics competition. DCMS math teacher Kristen Smith and technology and engi neering teacher Todd Phillips served as the coaches for the middle school’s robotics team this year, which consisted of about nine teams of three to five students each. Smith served as the coach for the same team last year, and she said that while DCMS students have never even made it to the state competition before last year her students made a goal for themselves. “Last year we went to the regional competition and our goal was to not get in last place, and we got third,” Smith said. “That’s what sparked Sam — he went home over Christmas break, his mom got him a kit and things just started clicking. He said to me at the end of last year that his goal was to get to states — that was our goal was just to get to states and they then stepped it up and went to worlds.” One of their middle school teams, which consisted of Sam Guthrie, Huey Bliss and Georgia Galt, first competed in regional competitions, winning a team work award, “create” award and judges award and qualifying them to compete at the state competition. They then advanced to the state competi tion, where they didn’t place but qualified to go to the world com petition. At the very end of April and beginning of May, the trio flew to Dallas, Texas for the world competition and competed against nearly 800 teams from 55 different countries across the globe. Out of 29,000 teams that competed throughout the 2022- 23 school year, only 787 were invited to compete at the world competition, and the team from DCMS ended up with a final standing of 357th place. During the competitions, the team was tasked with designing and building a robot to perform specific tasks, and each student had their own role on the team. Guthrie served as the builder and driver, Bliss served as the driver, coder and building assistant, and Galt handled the team’s note book log which was a large fac tor that the judges took into account when scoring the team. Smith said that seeing the stu dents learn and collaborate together was incredibly encour aging for her and Phillips as their advisors. “It’s all about the kids; it’s about them learning, the com munication and the teamwork,” Smith said. “I think that’s what made me so giddy about it is we saw our kids talking and work ing together.” As a technology and engineer ing teacher, Phillips said, he knows the number of real world applications that a robotics com petition like this one can have, and throughout his years of teaching he’s encouraged to see his students become interested in hands-on activities like building and programming the robots. “It’s been really cool; it’s been kind of like a transition away from them staring at a screen to them talking and sharing and collaborating and building with their hands and problem-solv ing,” Phillips said. “It really is nice to see.” Smith and Phillips are plan ning on returning as coaches to lead next year’s robotics team at DCMS, and they said that their goal is to make another appear ance at the world competition, which will be in California and feature a whole new set of tasks that the students must perform with a whole new robot. FROM 1A Kinley positions he’s held with Dawson County and with the City of Dahlonega. Kinley grew up in Cumming and graduated from Forsyth Central High School before attending Kennesaw State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Geographic Information Science (GIS) with a concentration in urban planning. Upon receiving his degree, he worked for the Department of Defense doing GIS work for a couple years before coming back to the Forsyth County area to be back home closer to his children. He then served as the Planning Director for Dawson County for about seven years and then as the Planning and Zoning Administrator for the City of Dahlonega until the City of Dawsonville recently started its search for a new Planning and Zoning Director. “I like Dawson County and the City of Dawsonville; I have a passion for seeing communities grow and prosper and I enjoy what I do,” Kinley said. As the Planning and Zoning Director, Kinley will work with other city leadership to help the mayor and council make the best decisions for the city. “I know planning and zoning is always one of those hot topic things; your property is usually your biggest investment and you’re passionate about it so when you start talking rezoning and what’s coming next door people tend to get excited and get emotionally involved; you have to help them navigate it through codes and ordinances,” Kinley said. “My job as plan ning director is to make sure the council has the best and most accurate information so they can make the best deci sions.” When it comes to growth, he said, his role is to help the city grow in a smart and planned way. “Obviously there’s a lot going on; growth is a good thing, it means people want to come here,” Kinley said. “Planned growth is better, because we want to accommodate the people who want to be here but at the same time we want to make sure that the citizens that are here get the same feel; we pride ourselves on being a small town.” As a Dawson County resident himself, he added, he often has a firsthand understanding of where the citizens who speak during the public meetings and come to the council with questions and con cerns are coming from. “I live in Dawson now and I’m much more familiar with Dawson County; I think that when you work in the town that you live in it kind of gives you a better perspective and it helps you communicate with the citi zens and you understand where they’re coming from a little bet ter,” Kinley said. “I’m a firm believer in data-driven decisions; I’m a very analytical person by nature but I understand that the most important thing is the citi zens.” Kinley is excited to get into his new position with the City of Dawsonville, he said, and is looking forward to working with the team of city employees already in place. “There’s already a great team which is why I wanted to come on board here — it’s all about the people that you work with that make your work environment fun and make you want to come back to work every day,” Kinley said. “And I’ve known [City Manager Bob Bolz] for a long time and always wanted to work for him, I think he’s a great lead er.” His immediate goal, he added, is to begin working to put the city’s planning department on the path to becoming more and more successful in its role of working for the citizens. “I’m super excited; I’m meet ing a lot of new people and see ing a lot of people that I’ve already known so I’m just excit ed to get to know everybody and work with them moving for ward,” Kinley said. “Really right now what I want to do is try to find my spot and make sure that we’re on the path to being a suc cessful planning department.” When Kinley isn’t working at City Hall, he can be found out and about the county spending time and practicing a variety of sports with his three children, who are ages 11, nine and two. FROM 1A Abuse children to adult nudity and sex toys and touching and striking multiple victims inappropriately, according to his indict ment. A charge of child molestation was added in June 2022. Following an investigation into his arrest, Weisgerber was fired from the Forsyth County Fire Department effec tive Oct. 9, 2019, according to records obtained by DCN. His then-wife, Ashlee, was arrested six days after him. She later divorced Weisgerber and changed her name. She negotiated a plea as a first offender prior to a scheduled trial in 2022 and pleaded guilty to five counts of second-degree cruelty to children and one count of reck less conduct. John Weisgerber’s trial had been delayed by a lengthy investigation, a re indictment and the pandemic. As the trial finally got underway on May 15, lawyers for both sides described years of a chaotic home environment, with six and eventually seven children living with the Weisgerbers in a three- bedroom home. Supervising Assistant District Attorney Conley Greer said in his opening argu ment: “I expect you’re going to learn that the children will tell you their lives were a living hell.” Ashlee testified against her ex-husband John at his trial. She described what led to her plea only a week before her sched uled trial, adding that she “didn’t do the interview for leniency but because of soul searching.” During her testimony, Ashlee described the dynamic within the household, noting punishments that “became more and more progressive and progressive in both frequency and intensity” and having to “walk on eggshells” around Weisgerber. “I wholeheartedly thought I could help him. ... I thought I could fix things,” she testified. She described her decision to stay as a “very complex answer” and noted multi ple red flags looking back. “Why didn’t you tell her (the inter viewer) the truth in 2019?” Greer asked. “I was in survival [mode], I was 100% trying to figure out how to get out of the situation I was in,” she said. She also recalled conversations in which she or Weisgerber would tell the children how to respond to DFCS or law enforcement. Greer said at least 62 calls were made to DFCS before John Weisgerber’s arrest. During John Weisgerber’s sentencing phase, Bearden said it was “maddening” to him how many adults failed to help the victims, and noted how different living arrangements could perhaps have made a difference. He also said had he heard more of the facts and circumstances regarding Ashlee he wouldn’t have accepted her negotiated plea. She retains custody of two of the children. “DFCS was a complete failure...and I mean nothing personally [to those authorities], but the system failed but failed in part because [Ashlee] and Mr. Weisgerber kept fighting for DFCS to stop from taking the kids and putting them in a safer environment,” Bearden said. During Weisgerber’s sentencing, Ashlee took the stand again and pointed to the impact of his actions on her chil dren. “My children... deserve to feel safe,” Ashlee said. “They have not felt safe until this week. They’ve lived in fear. They shouldn’t have to live with that fear every day of their lives.” As part of her plea deal, Ashlee was sentenced to 10 years of probation, two years of H.E.L.R or mental health court and 40 hours of community service, as well as other standard probation-related conditions. First offender status means that after she completes her sentence, the charges will no longer be on her record, and she will not be considered a felon. Weisgerber was found guilty of aggra vated assault, three counts of sexual bat tery against children under the age of 16 and five counts of first-degree cruelty to children. He was found not guilty on a fourth count of sexual battery but instead was convicted of the lesser charge of simple battery. The jury found him not guilty of child molestation. Bearden left the matter of restitution in John Weisgerber’s case open for 90 days so that details could be finalized. While “victim” is a factual, legal term, Bearden told the children during the sen tencing, he hoped that wasn’t a word that would ultimately define them. “Young people are resilient and you can, if you endeavor to do so, overcome all the obstacles that are thrown at you into your lives,” Bearden said. “I hope you can work through that, and I hope the closure of the case can provide clo sure for you.” Start earning today with Bank OZK! <4.40%> 7-MONTH CD OR IRA CD** SPECIAL <5.20%> 13-MONTH CD OR IRA CD * SPECIAL Visit our Dawsonville location or open an account online at ozk.com** <> Bank OZK Greater awaits" 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. 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