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THURSDAY. MAY 25. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
CASA names McKnight
volunteer of the year
PHS Band’s Bryson Padgett to attend prestigious
Governor’s Honors Program in summer
CASA Volunteer Supervisor McKenzi Farris with CASA
Volunteer of the Year Swan McKnight.
Appalachian CASA
would like to congratulate
Swan McKnight on being se
lected our 2023 Volunteer of
the Year!
A retired nurse, Swan
McKnight became a CASA
in 2018. After retiring and
moving to Blue Ridge, she
missed working with chil
dren.
She soon found her way
to CASA where her need to
help children was realized in
ways she never could have
imagined.
Swan has been a CASA
volunteer for five years and
has faithfully served 10 chil
dren in 11 cases.
Swan is such an amazing
advocate because is open-
minded and willing to com
promise but will never settle
for decisions that are not in
the best interest of the chil
dren she is serving. Swan ex
pects action from
stakeholders while still pour
ing love into not only each
child, but each person she
crosses paths within the jour
ney of a case.
There is nothing more ful
filling to Swan McKnight
than to pour into a child’s
life- it has been her life’s
mission. Due to the reasons
above and so many more,
Swan McKnight is our 2023
CASA Volunteer of the Year.
Report: Carbon emissions
declining in Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia’s
carbon emissions are declin
ing despite strong economic
and population growth, ac
cording to a statewide re
search initiative begun in
2020 by a multi-university
collaboration.
Carbon emissions in the
Peach State fell by 5% be
tween 2017 and 2021, re
searchers from Drawdown
Georgia reported this week.
Put another way, the carbon
footprint of Georgia’s “aver
age” citizen has declined 8%
from 22,092 to 20,253
pounds.
“Based on the collabora
tions we’re a part of, we’re
confident this is only the be
ginning of Georgia’s carbon
reduction trend,” said John
Lanier, executive director of
the Ray C. Anderson Foun
dation, a primary funding re
source for Drawdown
Georgia.
A large part of the decline
in carbon emissions is com
ing from the electricity sec
tor, with Georgia power plant
emissions falling by 15% be
tween 2017 and 2021. The
state’s utilities have moved
away from coal in recent
years in favor of natural gas
and large-scale solar energy
due to a combination of fed
eral regulatory actions and
public pressure.
The carbon footprint of
offices and businesses has
decreased due to changes in
working patterns brought
about by the COVID-19 pan
demic, the report found. Con
versely, emissions due to use
of electricity by residential
customers has increases as
many Georgians now work
from home for at least part of
the work week.
Transportation-related
carbon emissions accounted
for nearly 60 million metric
tons of carbon dioxide in
2021, up 4% from 2017.
Nearly all of that increase
was driven by higher emis
sions from diesel-fueled
medium and heavy-duty
trucks caused by the pan
demic-driven boom in online
retailing.
Marilyn Brown, a profes
sor in the School of Public
Policy at Georgia Tech, said
the report shows a mixed bag
of encouraging and concern
ing news.
“While some numbers are
trending in the right direc
tion, our data analysis also
tells us that segments of our
economy have an expanding
carbon footprint,” Brown
said. “This helps us under
stand how to focus climate
solutions work in Georgia
where it is most needed.”
By Eli Galligan
Intern Reporter
Bryson Padgett, a junior
at Pickens High School, was
selected to participate in the
prestigious Governor’s Hon
ors Program this summer
from June 18th-July 15th at
Georgia Southern University.
The Governor’s Honors
Program is a residential sum
mer program designed to en
hance the skills of gifted and
talented students in Georgia
across a variety of academic
and artistic subjects. Students
are selected for their major
field of study by undergoing
a series of school, county and
state competitions. In addi
tion to their major, GHP par
ticipants also get the
opportunity to select a minor
area of study and participate
in a multihide of seminars of
fered.
Padgett was selected to
participate in euphonium per
formance. The euphonium, a
brass instrument, is closely
related to the tuba. Before
students appply to compete
for a spot in the program,
teachers must nominate them
in their subject area.
PHS Band Director
Christin Lawhorne said she
looks for exceptional stu
dents when writing a recom
mendation.
"It’s really the kids that
standout with a significant
passion for music and have
greatly invested in their path
way," said Lawhorne.
Padgett displays his talent
and passion for music not
only through work, but also
by his musical versatility.
Padgett plays the euphonium,
but also skillfully plays the
trombone and tuba. Addition
ally, he has actively partici
pated in the Pickens High
School Concert/Symphonic
Band, the Pride of Pickens
Marching Band, the PHS
Jazz Band, District Honor
Band, and the Reinhardt
Honor Band since he started
high school.
It is important to note that
the GHP process for each
student varies depending on
subject area and residing
county. Once Padgett was
nominated by Lawhorne, he
competed in a first level of
competition designed to
weed out other GHP nomi
nees. There, he did an online
audition to gauge his skills
and answered writing
prompts relating to his love
of music. Once he passed this
round, he was placed into a
final state-level competition
where he participated in an
in-person interview and audi
tion.
On April 15th, Bryson re
ceived his acceptance letter
and was absolutely thrilled.
"I was really surprised, but
excited," Padgett said.
Lawhorne commented on
the beneficial nature of an
extensive audition process,
such as GHP’s. "They're
going through an audition
process where there's a mul
titude of interviews and es
says. I think that's beneficial
to any field," Lawhorne said.
Although no student is en
tirely sure what to expect
when going to GHP, Padgett
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highlights his own unique
hope and expectations for the
program.
"I hope to gain a better
skill set on my instrument,"
Padgett said.
As a teacher, Lawhorne
noted the unique opportunity
that the Governor’s Honors
Program presents to students
like Padgett. "First off is a
sense of pride. That's quite
the accomplishment. So it re
ally is beneficial for confi
dence," Lawhorne said.
She also said GHP helps
students as they contemplate
their future college and ca
reer path.
"It is such an eye opening
experience to what college
life as a music major would
be like, which I think is what
they're really trying to gear it
towards. So this is just kind
of preliminary experience for
him to decide if that's the
route he does want to go, or
what it's going to take to be a
music major," she said.
As he prepares for GHP,
Padgett said one of his most
impactful memories was
"starting out on euphonium,
not really knowing anything,
and just learning." Although
he is not entirely sure if a fu
ture career will involve
music, he is grateful for the
experiences and learning op
portunities music education
has lent him.
Additionally, Lawhorne
credits the support of parents
in helping to foster the
achievements of students
such as Padgett.
"The success of students
in any pathway, whether it's
music or not, is directly af
fected by the support of the
parents,” she said. “And it's
really important to support
your student’s pursuit of
music education, or any other
pathway that they're involved
in."
PHS junior Bryson Padgett, who plays several instru
ments, was selected for the prestigious Governor’s Honors
Program for euphonium performance.
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Featured Speaker
Sergeant Jody Weaver
Pickens Sheriff's Office
Member
FDIC
LEARN ABOUT
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THAT TARGET
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Join us at First Baptist Church of
Jasper located at 198 East Church
Street Jasper, GA 30143 inside the
Chapel on Tuesday, May 30th at
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to recognize and avoid scams
that target older adults. Light
refreshments will be served.
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