Newspaper Page Text
SUNDAY. JUNI 3.2012
Associate superintendent
Pijanowski hailed for contributions
By Jennifer Sami
jssmuffforsythnews com
The "Technology Dream
learn" is going to be down a
member starting in July.
For about a decade, Lissa
Pijanowski has worked with
Forsyth County Schools as the
system continued to grow,
both in size and offerings
When Pijanowski, the sys¬
tem’s associate superintendent,
leaves her post June 30 for the
private sector, her absence w ill
be felt.
“I’m going to miss her,” said
Jill Hobson, the district's
director of instructional tech¬
nology. "She’s brought a tre¬
mendous amount of leadership
and she works harder than any
woman 1 know.
"She’s often up way early in
the morning and awake way
into the evening getting things
done."
Hobson, along with
Pijanowski. Mike Evans. Sue
Derison, Buster Evans, Bailey
Mitchell and Mark Klingler
make up the technological
team, using various initiatives
to bring technology to class¬
rooms.
Under Pijanowski’s watch.
FROM 1A
Summit
"There will some
opportunity for feedback
from the audience," he
said. "But it's reaIly«more
intended to be a discus¬
sion among the panelists
about the importance of
400 and what we can all
be doing to better work
together for the future of
Ga. 400 ”
Linda Williams, presi
• dent of the Dawson
County Chamber of
Commerce, said she’s
enjoyed the opportunity
for the three counties to
work together on the
event.
“Certainly what hap¬
pens on 400 affects each
one of us and, you know,
the county line doesn’t
mean anything to travel¬
ers and visitors," she
said. “It’s just Ga. 400.
So we need to have a
seamless effort to pre¬
serve Ga. 400, make it
better, make it function
as best it can to serve all
of us."
McCoy said some of
the topics panelists likely
will discuss are conges¬
tion and possible ways to
improve the highway,
such as the proposed
1-cent regional transpor¬
tation sales and use tax.
If approved by voters
on July 31, the tax could
be used to fund more
than 150 transportation
projects around metro
Atlanta.
“Widening of 400 is a
major, major part of the
transportation referen¬
dum and I can’t imagine
it won’t be a discussion
topic," McCoy said.
Williams encouraged
residents of all three
counties to attend.
“It’s the golden vein
that feeds all of us and
we need to keep it
healthy and in good
operation,” she said
"What benefits Ga. 400
benefits our three coun¬
ties and that’s what we
all need to work for."
H you’re going
•What: 2012 Georgia
400 Summit
•When: 11:30 a.m. to
1 p.m.Thursday
•Where: Lanier
Technical College
Forsyth Conference
Center, 7745 Majors
Road
• Cost: $30 for mem¬
bers of the Cumming
Forsyth County,
Dahlonega-Lumpkin or
Dawson County cham¬
bers of commerce; $35
for non-members
• For more informa¬
tion, visit www.cum
mingforsythchamber.
org.
H
Pijanowski
toward technology and away
from the traditional, print
based tools.
She’s also worked on several
initiatives, including 1E2, i3
and the iAchieve Virtual
Academy.
"If it had an i-something in
it. Lissa’s been right there in
the middle of it," said Forsyth
County Schools
Superintendent Buster Evans.
"1 think her work will continue
to be observed in our system
and we are a better place
because she’s been a key part
of our work here in Forsyth
County.
"I truly have enjoyed work¬
ing with Lissa "
1E2, or Investing in
Educational Excellence, was a
huge step for the county,
Evans said.
The program gives the
FROM 1A
Walmart: Site in overlay district
Castro said she hadn’t
seen the plans for the
Mathis Airport Parkway
store, but added that the
group plans to monitor
the process to allow the
community to be
informed and somehow
involved in the design.
"Smart Growth wel¬
comes new businesses
here, especially in this
part of the county," she
said. “Coming on
[Highway] 141. we hope
that as good neighbors
that they adhere to the
standards of the
Peachtree Parkway over¬
lay"
The overlay, which
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the school sys¬
tem has imple¬
mented Bring
Your Own
Technology,
the ANGEL
learning man¬
agement sys¬
tem and other
initiatives to
was created in 2(X)7, sets
aesthetic requirements
for developers along the
state route in Forsyth.
The district’s commis¬
sioner, Brian Tam. said it
was his understanding
the developer "will have
to comply with the archi¬
tectural. landscape and
building exterior stan¬
dards of the Peachtree
Parkway overlay."
Tam. who was on the
commission at the time
of Walmart’s first
request for the area, ini¬
tiated the rezoning of
the current 24 acres in
question as a result of
meetings with concerned
school system flexibility from
state mandates in exchange for
increased accountability. The
plan has been a successful one
for the county, Evans said, as
has the i3, or Investing in
Innovation grant
The $4.7 million grant, the
system's largest to dale, is
being used for Engage ME
PLEASE., short for
Personalized Learning
Experiences Accelerate
Standards-based Education.
The effort allows teachers to
deliver lessons, tests and sug¬
gest activities individual to
each student.
“All of those are things that
a typical school district might
not embark on if they didn’t
have the kind of community
support that we have in
Forsyth.” Pijanowski said.
In addition to community
support, Pijanowski said her
co-workers have made it a dif¬
ficult decision to leave.
"The people that I’ve had the
pleasure of working with are
phenomenal.” she said.
"They’re not just great profes¬
sionals, but they are also great
friends and the hardest part
about leaving Forsyth is leav¬
ing the people.
"We’re in a people business
and it’s really been an honor to
be able to work with such ded¬
residents.
This was the location
that the community sup
ported back in 2006,"
Tam said Friday.
"|Walmart] has looked
hard at this location
before.'
The rezoning of that
site included a transition¬
ary property of multi
family housing between
the planned retailer and
the nearby Avington sub
division.
That property has not
been developed, though
Tam noted it has since
been rezoned for a small
cr residential density.
He said he has not spo-
forsythnrws.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
icated professionals ... our
teachers and leaders are
always committed to putting
students first."
Pijanowski \s reach has
extended beyond Forsyth
County’s schools. She served
on a committee for teacher
effectiveness in the state’s
Race to the Top effort.
While Forsyth has opted not
to participate in the $400 mil¬
lion federal program, the com¬
mittee’s work helped the state
secure the grant money for the
26 participating school dis¬
tricts.
She’s a member of the
Georgia Association of
Educational Leaders, National
Staff Development Council
and the Association of
Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
"1 always knew I wanted to
teach," said Pijanowski, recall¬
ing how she played school as a
girl and later taught swimming
and horseback riding lessons
before earning bachelor’s,
master’s and doctorate degrees
in (he education field.
Pijanowski added that she
"always found opportunities to
work with children."
“It was an extremely diffi¬
cult decision to leave because
Forsyth is my home and my
children go to school here and
ken with Walmart offi¬
cials lately, so he could
not address their plans
for moving forward with
the development.
Officials from Walmart
d| U not return a request
for comment
The site development
plans show entrances to
‘be store from Peachtree
and Mathis Airport park
ways.
The lot would include
three outparcels and 791
parking spaces, all of
which were shown
between the store and
Peachtree Parkway,
Brown said that part of
»hc plan doesn’t conform
»o one requirement of the
overlay, which sets a
maximum of 60 percent
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I love the fact that I contribute
to my community's school
system,” she said.
“But I had some opportuni¬
ties to do more with other dis- 1
tricts that are not as well pre¬
pared as Forsyth ... so it will
be a great opportunity to be
able to help others do some of
the great things that we’re
doing here."
Pijanowski plans to spend
some of July relaxing with her
husband and three children.
Making time for family is one
way Hobson said she’s been
impressed with Pijanowski.
“She finds a way to balance
that with her work," Hobson
said. “She has tremendous
drive and I truly admire her
and all that she has done to
bring leadership and vision to
her district. She's been a good
friend and a mentor to me and
someone that 1 can rely on and
just go to for advice.
“In her future endeavors, I
hope that we will have an
opportunity to cross paths
together."
Evans said it's Pijanowski's
passion for her work that sets
her apart.
“We're not going to let her
change her telephone number,”
Evans said. "We’ll always con¬
sider Lissa a personal friend to
Forsyth County Schools.”
of parking on the store's
front.
In this case, he said a
pre-existing detention
pond to the side of the
store could prevent that
requirement from being
met,
According to Brown,
those decisions will be
made by county staff in
reviewing the applica¬
tion.
No public meetings or
input are required for the
permit, since those were
addressed during the
zoning of the property,
he said.
The plans are available
for public review in the
department's office at the
county administration
building.