About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2013)
Battle of Byron Gives Back Din^r/DanceMilent Auction lor Lisa Dills, Friday, March 1st Dinner S4-8 p.m.1 Dance Sno p.m. Byron Municipal Complex Town Hall Meeting Concerning Byron-Peach Charter School Tuesday, March 5,6:30 p.m. Peach County Courthouse Town Hall Meeting Addresses BPC High School By Victoria Simmons The Byron Buzz A mere mention about char ter schools has people choos ing sides, with those against citing hurting the local school system as a reason to not sup port them. Much of the time there is misinformation and a town hall meeting last week for the Byron Peach Charter High School (BPCHS) dis pelled some of the misinfor mation and assured those in attendance of their desire to work with and not against the local school system. In fact, not a single word was uttered against the local school system and several dif ferent board members reiter ated the desire to work with the local system especially in the area of sports and ex tra curricular activities. B. J. Walker, meeting moderator, said it all boiled down to how important your child’s educa tion is to you. Georgia is actually behind other states in embracing charter schools. This past No vember, voters paved the way to make establishing charter schools a little easier by pass ing an amendment concern ing charter schools. In Peach County, 56% of voters said yes while statewide 59% vot ed in favor. Both traditional and charter schools are public schools. The school board has over sight for the traditional school and the school must follow ah federal and state laws. With a charter school, the governing board which is made up of ed ucators and business people, has oversight. Charter schools have greater flexibility and independence in exchange for student achievement. Sta tistics prove that historically charter schools have higher test scores. If you compare private schools to charter schools the difference is charter schools are public and there is no tu ition or admission require ments. Charter school have the same state assessment measures. Private schools usually charge tuition and have ad mission requirements and have less state regulation. Charter school advocates believe in school choice and that parents should have those choices based on the student’s needs. They also believe in creahng a higher educational standard for ah students. Char ter schools have more flexibil ity to institute a variety of in novative learning models. According to Roy Lewis, charter schools offer increased community involvement, can increase the number of stu dents attending college, in crease the high school gradu ation rate and improve teacher retention. The mission statement re leased for BPCHS reads: ”At Byron Peach Charter High School our mission, through combined efforts of staff, par ents, students and community, is to provide students with a rigorous and challenging curriculum. This curriculum, along with a firm belief in discipline and social responsi bility, will prepare students to meet the academic challenges of higher education.” The vision of BPCHS is to ’’create and maintain an evnironment committed to excellence, high standards of ethics and community in volvement enabling students to become productive mem bers of society.” The charter high school will differ from Peach County High School in that it will have an extended calendar and longer days (7 period day with one period studyhall/lunch). There will be a rotating weekly class schedule and looping of stud ies which makes for a more even learning experience for students from Algebra 1 to Al gebra II. Community involve ment is a requirement for students in the charter school which also includes partner ships with local colleges for dual enrollment. A rotating schedule allows students to take classes at different times each week so they can expe rience each class during their peak learning time. One major difference for some of the parents in atten dance was it requires indepen dent transportation, at least in the beginning. Walker sug gested car pooling and noted that ways would be found to get the students to school. ”We are taking baby steps,” said, Lewis, ’’and sometime down the road transportation could become an option.” Requirements to enroll are that the student must live in Peach County and there must be a vacant spot in the child’s grade or be chosen by a lot tery. Teachers employed at the charter school with chil dren, will be given a priority on their children attending. To begin with there will only be ninth and tenth grade with 125 students in each grade. Anoth er grade will be added the fol lowing year and then the 12 th grade the subsequent year. Once enrolled in the school, each student must volunteer at least 20 hours per year; uphold the Code of Conduct; main tain high academic standards; and follow the dress code. If a student gets enrolled in ninth grade they are guaranteed a spot in the 10th grade. The charter school, just like a traditional school is mandat ed to serve all students includ ing those with special needs. BPCHS will be funded through State Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding which follows the child; local funding; federal grants and with fundraising and other charitable contributions. Lew is also noted that the charter school does not have any tax ing authority so taxes will not increase with the opening of the charter school. A letter of intent for BPCHS has been submitted to the Peach County Board of edu cation. Next step is to submit the charter, which is antici pated by the BPCHS board in May. If they approve it, the pehtion is then sent to the state See CHARTER, Page 2 Catch 3 Days Of Shane Bridges’ ’Americana Country’ At Reunion From left first place winner, John Spinks; second place, Charles Hayes; third place, Austin Blando. Spinks’ speech was enttiled, ’’The Right To Own Your Gun and Shoot it Too!” Spinks Wins Oratorical Contest By Abigail Adams The Byron Buzz The Dukes of Hazzard Reunion is only two weeks away and everyone is gear ing up for the weekend full of fun, music and classic cars. Musicians are tuning guitars and warming their vocal chords for the three days of music and Haz zard County style fun. One of those singers, Shane Bridges, will be bringing his own style of music to the event, a style he likes to call, “Americana Country. Shane Bridges Band is one of the few musical acts that will be performing every day of the three-day reunion. On Saturday March 9th he will follow Ben Jones (Cooter) and Cooter’s Garage Band and will be the last musical act to play on the last day of the weekend, rounding out the fun filled reunion with his original country style music. Bridges, like most people who are participating in the event, is no stranger to the Dukes of Hazzard original series. He, like most in his generation, grew up watch ing the show and is look ing forward to meeting the original cast members who will be in attendance. “I bet I’ve watched every episode. The General Lee was every southern kid’s dream car and Daisy Duke was well... Just plain hot! It was a great show with some great characters,” Bridges stated when asked what he thought of the show. Bridges’ interest in music started in 1991 when he began playing his dad’s old Sears and Roebuck guitar. See BRIDGES, Page 2 The American Legion Post 76 held its annual Consti tutional Speech Oratorical Contest on Thursday, Febru ary 21, 2013 at the post home on Peach Parkway. Five contestants partici pated in this local contest, four of the students are from Peach Coimty High School and one student is Home Schooled. Each contestant delivered a prepared eight to ten minute speech on the United States Constitution along with a three to five minute extemporaneous speech on Article 11, section 1, paragraph 5 of the United States Constitution: “No person except a natural bom citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitu tion, shah be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible o that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.” John Spinks, a Home Schooled sophomore stu dent won First Place with a speech entitled, “The Right to Own Your Gun and Shoot It Too!”. John will represent Post 76 at the next level of competition, The Sixth Dis trict Contest, on March 2 in Milledgeville. Other contestants of the Local Post 76 contest were PCHS students: Second place Charles Hayes, 10th grade; Third place Austin Blando, 9th grade and par ticipants Jasmine Large, 10th grade and Kyunjre Randall, 9th grade. Each of these contestants will be eligible to compete again next year. Legionnaires of Post 76 performed all staffing duties of the contest except judging. Serving as judges for the event were: Betty Rackley, retired Peach County teacher, Betty Cleveland, retired Peach County teacher, and Cyriline Cantrell, retired Federal employee and Fort Valley business owner. The Sixth District Contest winner will compete at the Area level on March 9 in Dublin and that winner will advance to the state competi tion on March 16 in Perry, Georgia. The state winner will compete in the National Contest April 19-21, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the top prize is a scholarship of $18,000. The public is WELCOME and invited to attend the State Contest at the Houston County BOE in Perry on March 16 at 1:00 P.M. There will be four contestants, one representing each area of Georgia. Benefit For Lisa Dills March 1 st By Victoria Simmons The Byron Buzz You can stay out of the kitch en Friday, March 1, feed your family and support a member of the community who is going through a hard time. The Battle of Byron Committee is giving back to the community by host ing a spaghetti dinner/dance/ silent auction to benefit Lisa Smith Dills who owned South ern Stitchin’ Upholstery. Dills has inoperable lung cancer. All proceeds will go to Dills to help out with medical expenses. The spaghetti dinner is from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, March 1 and a dance from 6-10 p.m. at the Byron Municipal Complex with D.J. Surname Helms spinning. The silent auction goes from 4 -8:30 p.m. and has many nice gift including baskets from U-Save It, Lindsay Bryan & 31 Gifts, Ooh- & Aah’s, The Lamb’s Well, Georgia Bob’s, Caneriver Win ery, Alan’s Towing, Doodlebug’s Florist, Byron CVB/Welcome Center/BBHT, Byron Printing and Accessories and gift certifi cates from Big Peach Antiques and Dmgstore Deli. You do not have to be present to win. Tickets for the spaghetti dinner which includes spaghetti, salad, bread and a fruit cup/dessert are $6 per plate. Admission to the dance is $5 per person (age 12 & older); $8 per couple; $2 for age 11 and under. You can dine in or take out and if you want ensure you get a plate, call Karla to reserve your ticket. There are only 200 and they will be avail able at the door as long as they last. Tickets at Byron Fire Dept., U Save It, Ooh & Aah and Ace Hardware. For more info on how you may help, call Karla @ 478.954-4592. Shane Bridges
