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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 16. 2023
REPORT FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD
School system leaders honored by state organization
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
"I am really proud of our
system's leadership," said
Pickens County's Director of
Human Resources, Chris
Parker when he announced an
award which recognized the
"vision" of our county's edu
cational leaders by the Geor
gia Association for
Educational Leaders.
Interim Superintendent
Janet Goodman accepted the
award on behalf of Pickens
County at the winter GAEL
Conference. The award is
given to school districts that
go above and beyond to par
ticipate in statewide advo
cacy, professional learning,
and networking to support the
future of public education in
the state of Georgia.
Among the monthly re
ports, Chief Financial Officer
Amy Smith once again re
ported that the county's fi
nances were in good order
and in her report she stated, "I
always love to point out that
we have no debt."
In his report on operations
and constructions, Chief Op
erations Officer Chris Wal
lace said, "We are working
through the insurance claim
process for contents and re
modeling of the PHS field
house that was damaged by
the pipe burst in December.
We are in the process of de
termining how we plan to uti
lize the facility going forward
both in the near future, and
for years to come."
As for the transportation
system, Wallace reported that
the county is still dependent
"on several of our office staff,
fleet technicians, mainte
nance personnel, and school
staff to assist in driving and
monitoring each day." He
added that on Friday, March
3rd the system will observe
Maintenance Worker Appre
ciation Day and he said, "I
believe that I can speak for
everyone in our district when
I say that we could not oper
ate effectively without these
guys."
On action items, the board
approved several change or
ders with Carroll Daniel Con
struction dealing with
intercom and phone upgrades
as well as with adjustments
involving the construction of
the Barnes Family Agricul-
Photo/Larry Cavender
A large group of Pickens County’s educational leaders were recognized at the most recent meeting of the board of ed
ucation for receiving a "vision award” given to school districts that go above and beyond.
tural Facility at Pickens High
and the Pickens Junior High
School Greenhouse.
Approval was awarded for
a memorandum of clinical af
filiation with Chattahoochee
Technical College, a memo
randum of understanding and
learning experience agree
ment with Kennesaw State
University, and a memoran
dum of agreement with
Shorter University. The
agreement with KSU is for
nursing students to assist in
screenings and the agree
ment with Shorter is for pro
fessional experiences for
student teachers.
Approval was also given
for an out-of-state cheer
leading varsity summer
camp proposal, as well as
surplusing outdated and
damaged books as requested
by the Hill City Elementary
media center.
State school superintendent to be
guest speaker at STAR banquet
The Optimist Club of
Jasper, local sponsor for the
PAGE STAR Program, is
pleased to announce that
Richard Woods will be the
guest speaker for this year’s
STAR banquet.
Richard Woods was
elected as Georgia’s state
school superintendent in No
vember of 2014 and was re
elected to a third term in
2022. Woods has over 30
years of Pre-K through 12th-
grade experience in public
education. He was a high
school teacher for 14 years,
serving as department chair
and teacher mentor. For eight
years, Woods served in ad
ministrative roles, including
assistant principal, principal,
curriculum director, testing
coordinator, Pre-K director,
and alternative school direc
tor.
Superintendent Woods
has been honored with the
National Art Education Asso
ciation’s Distinguished Serv
ice Outside the Profession
Award, the Patriotic Em
ployer Award from Employer
Support of the Guard and Re
serve (Dept. Of Defense of
fice), and the Honorary
American FFA degree by the
National FFA Organization.
Under his leadership the state
has had an all-time gradua
tion rate and a 97% gradua
tion rate for Career Pathway.
Woods and his wife, Lisha, a
retired 30-year educator, are
longtime residents of Tifton.
For over 30 years the Op
timists have recognized the
PHS STAR student and
teacher along with 10 STAR
finalists from Pickens High
School with the largest and
most unique local STAR pro
gram in this statewide event.
The Optimist Club of
Jasper will recognize the
2023 PHS STAR Student
Brandon Bell and his STAR
Teacher Ted Estes along with
10 other STAR finalists and
their selected teachers at the
annual STAR banquet. The
banquet will be held at Chat
tahoochee College on Thurs
day evening, March 16,
2023, starting at 7 p.m. If
you are interested attending
the banquet, the cost is $30,
and reservations are required.
The deadline to make your
reservation is March 3rd and
you can contact Reeder
Burch, Optimist Club of
Jasper STAR program chair
man at pickensstar@etc-
mail.com to make your
reservation.
This year the Optimist
STAR banquet will be spon
sored by the following local
companies and organizations
- The Appleton Family Trust,
ETC 3, Parish Lowrie State
Farm and Royston LLC.
See more on students and
teachers selected in last
week’s paper, available any
time at archives
PickensProgress. com.
Featured speaker Richard
Woods, the state school
superintendent
Notice is hereby provided that the Pickens County
Government is seeking proposals and sealed
bids to purchase a Glass Crusher to provide the
capabilities to improve the Glass Recycling for
Pickens County Recycling.
The timetable for the proposal
process is as follows:
Action
Request for Proposals
Issuance Date
Questions Deadline
Proposal Due Date
Date
February 17, 2023
February 24, 2023
March 3, 2023
Tentative Approval and March 10, 2023
Award
Requests for Proposals can be obtained
by contacting:
Kenny Woodard, Director Solid Waste/Recycling
Pickens County Board of Commissioners
1266 East Church Street
Jasper, GA 30143
770-893-8334
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Tater Patch Players Presents
A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters
Show Review
By Heather Giambra
Tater Patch Players began
their 2023 season Friday the
10th with a dramatic loving
tribute to Saint’s Day, later to
become Valentines Day, in
the form of Love Letters, by
A. R. Gurney. An American
playwright who created this
wonderful Pulitzer Prize
nominated play and recreated
it as a made for tv movie in
1999. The play opens with
two paintings, two rugs, two
desks, and two chairs and our
two characters Andy and
Melissa, played effortlessly
by Jacob and Buffy Clark.
Yes, married in real life.
The pair are in their chairs
writing letters through time
from childhood to adulthood.
A loving friendship develops
as they exchange letters
speaking of their lives from
their perspective, influenced
by their individual family
lives, school days, and be
yond. The pair clearly de
velop separate lives, all the
while hoping to see one an
other.
Buffy Clark, who portrays
Melissa Gardner, shines as a
little rich girl, with slack an
kles and direct observations,
whose point of view of her
life changes as she grows to
become a beautiful success
ful artist. Jacob Clark plays
the character of Andy Ladd
III, easily from awkward
Jacob and Buffy Clark, a real life married couple, take
the stage comfortably as a married couple in Love Letters.
child to focused adult whose
love of writing creates the
basis of this relationship.
Time stands still as the au
dience listens closely and
watches the character’s ex
pressions, again, effortlessly
portrayed by both actors.
This two act play grows as
the characters grow from
simple childhood, through
family trials, private schools,
and distance. Distance cre
ates challenges but love and
friendship creates bridges.
Come, see, listen, hear what
Love Letters is all about. It’s
a relatable story that you will
be immersed in and will be
moved by as was the audi
ence on this evening’s first
showing.
Be aware, this perform
ance timeline is shorter than
most productions, with only
four more showings; the
11th at 7:30 p.m., the 12th at
2 p.m. and next Friday the
17th and Saturday the 18th at
7:30 p.m. Hurry down to
enjoy the start of the 2023
Tater Patch season by enjoy
ing Love Letters. TPP is a
concession friendly theater
run by friendly Taters.
Please visit
taterpatchplayers. org
for more info and tickets.
The Pickens Puzzler is featured every third week of the
month in the Progress. The answers can be found on the
classified pages in the B section.
ion fir
Across
6. Game with boards, bean bags
7. Lye-cooked corn
9. Property tax head honcho
10. Tate intersection nickname
12. Discount store, every corner
14. Jr. High
16. Veterans Park, at Lee Newton
17. Too to till
19. Pickens' highest peak, once AT terminus
20. Sells Chevys
Down
1. Ha Ha! Simpson's character; local city
2. Pickens, county founder
3. County's most wanted chicken chain
4. Roper, Cagle
5. Native tribe, called here home
8. This paper's price
11. Long church week for renewed fervor
13. Trick or Treaters' fav. subdivision
15. Madder than a
18. Road from Jasper to Marble Hill
The Pickens Puzzler is proudly sponsored by:
MState Farm
Alan Horne, Jr., Agent
95 Whitfield Drive, Suite F
Jasper, GA 30143
Bus: 706-692-2888