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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.”
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