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4A
FROM 1A
Center
was beyond us. It could be prejudice or
whatever else.
“We were hoping that after they see
the whole thing they see how we try to
keep it nice and it actually improves the
whole look and feel of the neighbor¬
hood. Traffic-wise, there has not been an
issue.”
For those who had some fear of the
unknown, the outreach efforts and
openness of the center aim to make
those concerns dissipate.
“On the other side," he said, “people
take time to get to know us, learn
about us, find out more about us, and
that makes the other issues go away.”
The center has begun to form a
social connection with Cumming First
United Methodist Church, facilitated
by its communications director, Neida
Streit.
While Streit taught a class on com¬
parative religion, her group visited the
mosque on a Friday night for a lec¬
ture. They also did a prayer walk on
the site when construction began.
“We prayed that God’s word be
heard, which is not against the Christian
faith or the Islamic faith,” Striet said.
“They would love for people to visit
them and see what they're about.
“They are different from us, but
they’re not that different from us. They
do worship the same God we worship.
They do believe in Jesus."
In the future, the two churches plan to
hold a soccer tournament for their youth
groups and a cultural event for adults
and families, she said.
“When you get to see the person
The prayer
area of the
Hamzah
Islamic
Center.
Autumn Vetter
Forsyth County
News
FROM 1A
Coach
told his parents that
Benedict had elbowed
him in the head some¬
time after Thanksgiving.
But, it notes, “He did not
say anything at the time
because it did not hurt.”
No reasons were listed
in the report for why the
incidents may have
occurred.
Citing the confidential¬
ity of personnel records,
school system officials
have said they can’t talk
about Benedict.
But in a letter last
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instead of the face of what’s on TV, you
get to know them as a person, and
maybe a friend, and as a neighbor,"
Striet said. "God calls us all to love our
neighbors, and they are our neighbors.”
The Islamic center is the only one in
the county, she said, though a small one
once existed near the Cumming square
in the 1980s.
Since June, Hamzah has moved from
the Union Hill Road location it rented
for seven years to the Tidwell site,
which has a paved parking lot, picnic
areas and a temporary 8,000 square-foot
modular building.
An area has been cleared for the per¬
manent facility, which Saeb said will be
about 17,000 square feet and contain a
mosque, school and community center.
The variety of offerings is intended to
"keep the whole family involved,” he
said.
For now, the five daily prayers, school
and Friday services take place in the
temporary building.
Saeb explained that the times for
prayers and sermons take place in hours
that do not impact traffic, such as the
Friday sermon at 1 p.m. and the night
lecture at 8 p.m.
Muslims pray five times each day
based on the sun’s movement: at dawn,
near 1 p.m., near 4 p.m., at sunset and
about 90 minutes after that.
“You really have an appointment with
God every couple of hours,” Saeb said.
"It keeps you focused on God through¬
out the day."
He explained that Muslims pray wher¬
ever they are at the time of prayer,
though togetherness at mosques is
encouraged for those times.
“One of the focuses of the religion is
to build community through prayer,” he
said.
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.
I 4
week to parents and
school staff. West
Principal Betty Pope out
lined the response to the
situation.
“A decision was made
to pull the coach from
his basketball coaching
duties [Jan. 20] and reas
sign him to duties out
side the classroom until
both law enforcement
and school system inves
tigations could be com
pleted and a determina
tion made regarding
continuing employment
and coaching," Pope
wrote.
Benedict has been
teaching for nearly 30
years, including more
than eight with Forsyth
County Schools,
He has been employed
by the district since
2003, working first at
North Forsyth High and
moving to West when it
opened in 2007.
He became head coach
of the varsity girls bas
ketball team in 2008,
before taking over the
boys program in 2010.
The Wolverines, who
face Centennial on Feb.
3, are being led by assis
tant coach Chip
Flemmer, who also
teaches social studies at
the school.
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Photos by Autumn Vetter Forsyth County News
Physical therapist Amanda McCullough, left, shows Lambert High stu¬
dents Jordan McKissock, center, and Kelsey Duttenhofer some of the
tools she uses with patients at Northside Hospital-Forsyth.
FROM 1A
Program: Learning ‘jump-start’
occupational and speech language
therapies.
Buchwald said the program can help
students find career paths they may
not previously have considered.
“Especially for the kid who knows
they want to be in health care, but are
not sure exactly where, this program
gives them a glimpse into a lot of dif¬
ferent things and can help them decide
where they want to be,” she said.
Students seemed to agree.
Arav Thandani, a sophomore at
South Forsyth High, said he wanted to
take part in the program because he’s
“always been interested in the medical
field.”
“But I’m not sure which field in
medicine 1 wanted to go into,” he said
“There were two or three that were
really fascinating.”
Kozen felt the same.
“This gives me a jump-start on
learning about all the medical options
that are out there,” she said.
So far in the program, students have
also learned about cardiology and
robotic surgery.
Classes in February and March will
include radiology, pharmacy and
women’s services. In April, the group
will take part in a graduation ceremo
ny.
Thandani and Kozen said robotic
surgery has been their favorite pro¬
gram so far.
“I had never learned about that
before and it was really neat to be able
to play with the machines," Kozen
said.
Thandani was so inspired by the ses¬
sion, he said he’s fairly certain he
wants to be a surgeon.
“My parents will be really happy if
I’m a surgeon,” he said.
Sydney Giddens, a sophomore at
Forsyth Central, was pleased with
Thursday’s session.
She said physical therapy and sports
medicine are the areas in which she’s
most interested.
“I definitely wanted to learn more
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Occupational therapist Shawna
Venditti-Kramer demonstrates a
tool used to help someone unable
to bend over to put on a sock.
about physical therapy because it
relates to sports, and l kind of want to
do therapy on sports athletes,” she
said.
Buchwald said the program is bene¬
ficial for the health care industry
because it opens students’ eyes to a
number of possibilities.
“The majority of people think of
doctors and nurses, but we can show
them things like speech therapists or
people who work in rehab, or pharma¬
cists or people who work in the labs,”
she said.
“We’re showing them a large array.”