Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, November 17,2002
ACT from IB
Social studies, after all,
is traditionally geared to
learning about the vast
world and its many com
plex issues. Better to learn
about Gandhi and his
benevolence, say some,
than to spend time raking
the back yard of an infirm
neighbor.
Better to scrutinize the
famine in North Korea than
to pass up weekend soccer
to serve at a local soup
kitchen.
When Barnett kicked off
her first year of teaching
with an assignment requir
ing students to devote
themselves to recurring acts
of kindness every seven to
nine days for an entire
school year, many balked.
What on earth, queried
some parents, did inconve
niencing their children with
regular gestures of compas
sion have to do with the
curriculum?
Perhaps once or twice
would have been fine
but every week? The idea,
say the students, seemed
excessive and they didn’t
like it one bit.
“It was a lot of work
and, at first, I thought it was
kind of a pain,” admits
Katie Fox, who chose to
channel her energies toward
caring for the children of
Spanish-speaking immi
grants at her church while
their parents attend English
classes. “It was just another
project.”
But, say many of the
same students, something
they did not predict began
to happen. As they spent
time that they didn’t neces
sarily have to spare to help
others, a funny thing
occurred. The students,
themselves, began to feel
they were getting as much
as they were giving and
more.
“As time grew and I
realized the kids needed my
help, it became something I
wanted to do, instead of
something I had to do,”
says Fox. “The language
barrier for the children
causes them to not want to
go to the normal Sunday
School class and it distracts
their parents while they’re
trying to learn. So I’m a
buddy to three of the kids
and it makes me feel like
I’m accomplishing some
thing.
“It makes you feel good
about being a person who
helps someone who felt left
out,” she says. “It’s also
helping me understand a
different culture and it’s
helping my Spanish.”
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Zach Tyler opted
to volunteer at Hope
House, a facility in
Union City
designed to give
short-term assis
tance to parents of
children with chron
ic or terminal ill
nesses, such as cere
bral palsy, Down’s
Syndrome and spina
bifida.
“I thought it
would be depress
ing,” he says of vis
iting weekly the
organization he
learned of through
his mom’s co-work
er. “But I like the
kids. It’s almost an
hour drive, but it’s
worth it, because it
makes me feel
good. The most
unbelievable thing
about the kids are
their spirits. Even
though they each
have a severe dis
ability that limits
their ability to do
things that I take for
granted, they are
full of love and hap
piness.”
The experience,
say some of the stu
dents, is changing
perceptions
theirs and others.
“I like doing it,
because most people
think 12-year-olds
sit on their butts and
whine,” says Eddie
Giacomarro, who is
helping an elderly
couple in his neighborhood
with chores. “This shows
we don’t do that. We just
don’t have this kind of
opportunity to help very
often. But I go up every
weekend and the man, who
just had back surgery about
a month ago, tells me what
to do and I blow off the
deck and driveway or vacu
um the garage or spread
pine straw and help around
the house.”
Bryan Allen, who has
befriended a nursing home
resident, says that now he
doesn’t want the project to
end.
“Robert is the most
coolest guy you could ever
meet,” wrote Bryan Allen in
an assigned essay that
recounts his budding rela
tionship with the World
War II veteran. “He has
travelled the world because,
when he was in the Navy,
he worked on one of those
big ships that jets take off
from.
“It makes me feel pretty
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Jackie Barnett, a first-year teacher, wanted her social studies students
to learn and help the community they live in. Her idea was considered
too radical by some parents and even some students. But students
have come around to her side and are enjoying helping others.
good inside to know I’m
making someone feel good
inside,” says Allen. “I think
it would be hard to stop
seeing him after the project
ends. After a year, it will
just seem kind of natural to
go see him. Actually, I
think of him as a real good
friend. I know that I will
never forget what he has
taught and told me.”
It is just as Barnett had
hoped.
Despite the rigors of
mucking horse stalls, find
ing time to pluck berries
from the vine for the home
bound or provide free
babysitting to neighbor-
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hood children, students are
finding inspiration and
reward and, believes
their teacher, character
development and civic
growth.
“I thought it was impor
tant for these kids to know
about their own communi
ty,” recalls Barnett of her
inspiration. “Until you
know about the places you
live in, you can never really
appreciate the places we
study around the world.
U. S Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District
Notice of Public Meeting for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for the Operation and Maintenance of Lake Sidney Lanier, Georgia and
Corresponding Shoreline Management Plan
Gainesville College Continuing Education Center
3820 Mundy Mill Road • Oakwood, Georgia
November 25, 2002 from 3:oopm-9:oopm
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, will conduct a public meeting
on November 25,2002, in the lobby of the Gainesville College Continuing Education Center in Oakwood, Georgia, to solicit input on the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Operation and Maintenance of Lake Sidney Lanier, Georgia and the proposed Shoreline Management
Plan (SMP). The purpose of this meeting is to collect comments from the public on the proposed action, alternatives, and environmental conse
quences analyzed in the Draft EIS and the SMP. The public is invited to attend anytime between the hours of 3:oopm and 9:oopm. The Gainesville
College Continuing Education Center Ls located at 3820 Mundy Mill Road, in Oakwood, Georgia.
The meeting will also provide an opportunity for the public to speak one-on-one with various experts on issues related to the Draft EIS. The Corps
will provide information on the proposed improvements to the operation and maintenance programs at the lake, including the proposed new
Shoreline Use Permit Policy that is part of the updates Shoreline Management Plait.
The comments collected at the meeting will be considered in preparation of the final EIS. Copies of the Draft EIS are available for review at the Lake
Lanier Project Office, Dawson County Library, Forsyth County Public Library, Gwinnett Cpunty Public Library (Collins Hill, Buford-Sugar, and Duluth
branches), Hall County Library, Lumpkin County Library, North Georgia College and State University, and Gainesville College. The Draft EIS is also
available online at www.usacelakelaniereis.net
Written comments may he provided at the public meeting, online at www.usacelakelaniereis.net, or by mail to Glen Coffee, U.S. Army Engineer
District, Mobile, Attn: CESAM-PD-E (Mr. Glen Coffee), P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-001; phone 251-690-2727. For more information or to
comment online, please consult the website at www.usacelakelaniereis.net. The deadline for submitting comments on the Draft EIS is December 23,
2002.
What’s happening
with the people in
Forsyth County is
just as important as
what’s happening
in North Korea.
“We’re studying
the Middle East,
Asia and Africa,”
she says. “I’m
picking people
from each region,
like Gandhi and
Nelson Mandela,
that really affected
their region as well
as their world in a
positive way. So
their projects are a
microcosm of what
I’m trying to teach.
‘Look at what
you’re doing to
affect your own
community.’”
That lesson has
n’t always been
embraced, she says.
Some students have
even been moved,
at their parents’
requests, to other
instructors.
“I had a lot of
opposition from
parents when I
started the pro
gram,” concedes
the University of
California Berkeley
graduate. “They
said they didn’t
have time to take
their kids places. It
really upset and
disappointed me
and started to tell
me a lot about the
time we live in.
“What type of message
are we sending when peo
ple are too busy to help?”
she asks. “The idea doesn’t
require money and can even
stay in the home they
just have to spend time
being thoughtful and chron
icle those efforts.”
Faced with the chal
lenges of adolescence,
some students say tilting
the spotlight onto helping
others can be cathartic.
“When I perform this
project, I get really happy
and tingly inside, because I
know I am helping people
that I know need help,” says
Pete Bennie, who is visiting
the elderly at an area nurs
ing home. “Plus, when I do
it, I feel like I have accom
plished something and I am
happy. I get joy and happi
ness from this project. Now
I have noticed that I am not
so much depressed, any
more.”
The tasks, which, at
times, require physical
exertion, leave students
tired but satisfied.
“I help by stocking the
shelves for the people to get
free food,” says James
Stough, who volunteers at
Norcross Cooperative
Ministry, a non-profit group
that aids the underprivi
leged. “This may sound
simple, but it is not. It can
take hours to get food from
the storeroom to the
shelves. I can be a very tir
ing thing to do, but I think
it is worth it.”
Most of his classmates
agree.
“I have been in touch
with Becky for a little more
than two months,” says
Tricia Harton of her
Mississippi penpal, who
has Down’s Syndrome.
“Since then, I have had an
entire new look on life. I
wake up every day and I am
thankful for being healthy. I
am getting to see that some
kids don’t have it as won
derful as I do. Some kids
don’t have wonderful par
ents, a good education or
enough money.
“This project has made
me see that I am blessed,”
she says. “It has also
showed me that I shouldn’t
take for granted what I
have.”
Yes, students have had
to think. They have had to
look around and open their
eyes to the lives of others.
They have even had to
make an effort.
And, slowly but surely,
they have learned to care.