Newspaper Page Text
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Sunday, September 18,2022 FORSYTHNEWS.COM
EDUCATION
Schools target learning loss recovery
District leaders to start finance committee, new student scholarship
By Sabrina Kerns
skerns@forsythnews.com
The Forsyth County Board of
Education discussed how
schools are helping students
recover from learning loss, what
the district is doing to involve
the community in its financial
decisions and the education
foundation’s growth at its work
session on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Recovering from
learning loss
Before looking at what the
district has been doing over the
past year to help curb learning
loss caused by the pandemic,
Accountability Coordinator Tim
Keyser told the board it is
important to look at students’
Georgia Milestones results.
“The state strongly discourag
es making longitudinal compari
sons to pre-pandemic levels
because we know that there was
an effect that impacted learn
ing,” Keyser said. “But we still
think it’s important to look at
that data. We want to know
where were we before the pan
demic? How were our students
performing?”
This past year’s results, which
include End-of-Grade and End-
of-Course assessments for
grades 3-12, show a significant
drop in student scores across all
grades and subjects compared to
pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the drop in results,
Keyser explained that students
still scored much higher than the
state average, and Forsyth
County Schools had the highest
scores in the state among sys
tems testing more than 1,000
students.
“It’s expected, but at the same
time, we see that improvement
taking place to recover,” Keysar
said.
Amy Bartlett, Director of
Elementary Education,
explained that the system
received $13 million in federal
funding through the American
Rescue Plan during the pandem
ic, and the district was required
to use 20%, or $2.6 million, of
the funding to help address
learning loss.
FCS used that money to host a
summer school in June and early
July for all grade levels, inviting
students who were at-risk or had
failed standards in reading and
math.
They also provided door-to-
door transportation and provided
free meals to students at all six
school sites where the program
was hosted. Overall, district
leaders agreed that the program
for both elementary and second
ary students was a success.
Bartlett led the elementary
program, which helped to
engage more than 470 students
at five different sites in hands-on
activities that they could also
take home with them after the
19-day program was over.
To gauge learning recovery,
See B0C 12A
Hunt for 'rusty gold' continues
Photos submitted to Forsyth County News
"American Pickers" will visit Georgia in December, and the show is looking for "a large, private
collection or accumulation of antiques" to go through.
American Pickers looking for extraordinary items’ for Ga. return
By Kelly Whitmire
kwh itm i re@f o rsyth n ews.com
The History Channel’s “American Pickers” is
returning to Georgia soon and is looking for
places to pick.
According to a release from the show’s pro
ducers, “American Pickers” will visit the state in
December, and the show is looking for “a large,
private collection or accumulation of antiques” to
go through.
“As they hit the back roads from coast to coast,
the Pickers are on a mission to recycle and res
cue forgotten relics,” officials said in the release.
“Along the way, they want to meet characters
with remarkable and exceptional items. They
hope to give historically significant objects a new
lease on life while learning a thing or two about
America’s past along the way.
See PICKERS12A
* .
*, *1
w
/
~r ^ V
The show "hopes to give historically significant
objects a new lease on life while learning a thing
or two about America's past along the way."
Police: Man with
machete steals cycle
at Waffle House
By Nick Watson
FCN regional staff
A Dawsonville man was accused of stealing a
motorcycle after hitting a helmet-
ed man in the head with a machete
and then leading Dawson County
deputies on a chase into Hall
County, according to authorities.
Zackery Ryen Miller, 22, faces
multiple charges from an armed
robbery and chase that ended in a
crash in Hall County.
Dawson County deputies
responded just before 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, to
a report of an armed robbery in the Waffle House
parking lot on N 400 Center Lane in Dawsonville.
Sheriff Jeff Johnson said Miller hit a man in the
head with a machete then stole the motorcycle.
Johnson said the man is OK.
As deputies were responding, they spotted a
motorcycle leaving the area of the Waffle House.
Deputies tried to stop the motorcycle as the
chase entered Hall County on Price Road, but the
motorcycle did not stop.
Johnson said the pursuit reached speeds of 85
mph and lasted more than 2 miles.
“During the pursuit, the suspect lost control and
crashed in the area of the Lighthouse Community
Church located on Price (Road),” Johnson wrote in
an email.
While securing the scene, deputies found drugs
on and around Miller. Johnson said the drugs
included crushed pills believed to be alprazolam
and three separate baggies of suspected metham-
phetamine “also containing suspected fentanyl.”
Johnson said Georgia State Patrol is investigat
ing the crash, and The Times has reached out to
state patrol for information.
Miller sustained injuries in the crash and was
transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center
before going to the Dawson County Detention
Center.
Miller is being held with no bond.
He was charged with armed robbery, aggravated
assault, possession of a controlled substance with
the intent to to distribute, possession of tools for
the commission of a crime, fleeing and eluding a
police officer and DUI of drugs.
This story was originally published in The
Gainesville Times.
93 Forsyth students named Merit Scholarship semifinalists
By Sabrina Kerns
skerns@forsythnews.com
Several high school seniors
from Forsyth County made it
through the first round of the
2023 National Merit Scholarship
program, qualifying as some of
the top academic achievers in the
U.S.
The 93 Forsyth County high
schoolers are among 16,000
semifmalists nationwide chosen
to continue competing for about
7,250 scholarships worth nearly
$28 million that will be offered
next spring, according to a press
release by the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation.
About 15,000 semifinalists
will be named finalists in
February from which National
Merit Scholarship winners will
be selected based on their “skills,
accomplishments and potential
for success in rigorous college
studies.”
According to the press release,
high school juniors entered the
2023 scholarship program by
taking the 2021 Preliminary
SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test, and the nation
wide pool of semifmalists repre
sents less than 1% of high school
seniors and includes the highest-
scoring participants in each state.
Going forward, semifmalists
must fill out a detailed scholar
ship application including infor
mation about their academic
records, school and community
activities, leadership abilities,
employment and honors
received.
“A semifmalist must have an
outstanding academic record
throughout high school, be
endorsed and recommended by a
high school official, write an
essay and earn SAT or ACT
scores that confirm the student’s
earlier performance on the quali
fying test,” according to the
release.
Here are Forsyth County’s
semifmalists for this year:
Denmark HS
■ AkshatBagade
■ Aman Binu Kasim
■ Shanmathi Gunasekaran
■ Stanley Jiang
■ Venkata Pranay Maddireddy
■ AnishPunati
■ Pravith Rathin
■ RohitSenthil
■ AarohiSoodan
■ KunalTalreja
Alliance Academy
for Innovation
■ ShreyDhamal
■ Grace Elrod
■ AshaGoddu
■ Arushi Gupta
■ Divesh Gupta
■ Esther Jeong
■ Nicholas Kusumo
■ Mrityunjay Sivakumar
■ Ashley Track
Forsyth Central HS
■ Monish Jampala
■ Christine Lee
■ Yugeshwar Muralidhar
■ Navya Pampatwar
■ SimranPatki
■ Emily Schierts
■ Jasmine White
■ Vishnu Yella
Homeschool
■ Jessica Liu
North Forsyth HS
■ Cody Skinner
South Forsyth HS
■ Sanika Ainchwar
■ AnjaniAllada
■ Caden Ambrose
■ Rasmit Devkota
■ ShreyaDhara
■ Alexis Foster
■ ArnavHande
■ Christina Huang
■ Audrey Hui
See Merit 12A
Weather
High Low
83/61
Forsyth County News app
available tot download
Find the app at
forsythnews.com/apps
for local news at your
fingertips.
Access local news online at
ForsythNews.com