Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, June 2, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO -JUNE l,20ll
Rudolph “Rudy” Falana, currently principal of Thomson
High School, was named to replace Dr. Daphne Ivery as
principal of the Burke County Middle School. Dr. Ivery was
moved to the central office to take over as the system’s RT3
School Improvement Specialist.
The Edmund Burke Academy Spartans made history when
the school’s baseball team won the state championship in Ly
ons. They won the GISA Class AA title by defeating Robert
Toombs Christian Academy 18-1.
Jeff Billips, a ranger with the Georgia Department of Natu
ral Resources , was presented the Outstanding Commendation
Award by the American Police Hall of Fame. In presenting
the award to Billips, retired police chief Ray Bosher said Bil
lips “has nerves of steel and goes totally above and beyond
the call of duty.”
25 YEARS AGO-JUNE 6,1996
New Waynesboro Police Chief Karl (Eddie) Allen laid out
an agenda of short and long-term goals for his department. He
said his first step would be to improve morale in the depart
ment through “hands on management” and the implementa
tion of a “participatory supervision style.”
Effective June 1, the charge for the use of a Burke County
EMA ambulance would be $350. The previous base charge
was $120 with an additional $220 for advanced life support
equipment.
Brenda H. Jones, business teacher at BCHS, was named
“Educator of the Year” by the Burke County Association of
Educators.
50 YEARS AGO-JUNE 6,1971
A fire totally destroyed the pro shop at the Waynesboro
Country Club. In addition to the inventory of the pro shop, and
unknown number of sets of golf clubs belonging to members
was also destroyed.
Sgt. Bobby Jenkins and Lt. Henry Brooks, Jr. of the
Waynesboro Police Department completed courses in finger
printing at the law enforcement school in Augusta.
Burke County Agent Bill Craven said an estimated 40,000
acres of crops had been damaged or destroyed by “the worst
hail storm ever to hit this area.” Observers said the total loss
would be in the millions of dollars.
70 YEARS AGO-JUNE 7,1951
David Wood, son of Mr. and Mrs. G.M. Wood, returned
home from Battleground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee
where he was a freshman last year. During the year, he was
named “best speaker” in the annual debate. It was the first
time a freshman had won the honor.
Raymond DeLaigle won the monthly Evans Hardware fish
ing contest with an eight-pound largemouth bass he caught
at Roy all Lake with a Creek Chub No. 2061.
Ruth Manau, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Manau,
received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education at Mercer
University.
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ht State Ciliftm
9
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Memorial Day weekend tra
ditionally marks the beginning
of summer for most of us. Kids
and teachers alike are out of
school but already eyeing the
calendar for when they will
have to go back.
And while most school activ
ities have ended or are ramping
down, there is one process that
is in full swing: the discussions
and decisions to be made about
placements of teachers, princi
pals and administrative person
nel for the next school year.
My wife and I have three
children: one that journeyed all
the way through Burke County
public schools and is now at
the University of Georgia, a
second at the middle school
and our youngest at Blakeney
Elementary.
We’ve already begun reach
ing out to other families and
even school personnel we know
to ask what rumors have begun
to circulate as to who is moving
and who is staying put. It is a
process we have become quite
accustomed to over the years.
This past year has been dif
ficult, and I tip my hat to the
board of education as well as
the many teachers, administra
tive personnel and support staff
that had to navigate their way
through trying to educate our
children during COVID.
Unfortunately, COVID ex
posed many of the deficiencies
of our educational system, not
just in this county but across the
state and the nation. It also laid
bare the shortcomings of some
of our teachers and administra
tors as well.
In the twenty years I have
lived in Burke County, this
school system has made a habit
of promoting or even creating
positions for individuals who
could not do their jobs correctly.
We do not fire people in this
county; we just shuffle them
around until they hit retirement
age, all the while continuing to
pay them for a job they have
proven they cannot do com
petently.
It made no sense to me as a
citizen and taxpayer before I
had kids, but now that I see it
firsthand with my own children,
it is incredibly frustrating.
Plant Vogtle’s tax dollars
have allowed us to have some
of the best facilities in the state,
a fleet of up-to-date busses and
unlimited space for our pre-K
program. It would seem to me
we could use those same dollars
to make our school system one
of the most competitive places
to teach in the state of Georgia.
We should be able to attract
some of the brightest teachers
as they graduate and look for
places to work.
Sure, our demographics and
socio-economics present chal
lenges, but they also offer
unique opportunities for young,
bright-eyed teachers yearning
to tackle such challenges. And,
if you do your job well, we
should be able to offer com
pensation that few other schools
could beat.
Veteran teachers that have
proven their worth should not
be interested in going anywhere
else because of that pay and the
resources our system should be
able to provide.
Unfortunately, that does not
appear to be the case. You hear
of so many teachers in Burke
County who hit the required
number of years to reach state
retirement and they cannot get
out the door fast enough. Some
jump ship long before that.
There can be a litany of rea
sons , and sometimes it is simply
that this individual has put in
their time and is ready to go.
And sometimes the challenges
of this community and the dif
ficulties of teaching so many
children living below the pov
erty line is just too much.
But sometimes, the problems
come from above. Sometimes
the promotion of inept and un
qualified people has taken an
already difficult job and made
it untenable.
Such situations are beyond
shameful, they are an abject
failure of a school’s leadership.
Change can be
painful and dif
ficult. It can also BIRD DOG,
be freeing. Here 6
Don Lively
I stood on the platform that
rises above the sunken hull
of the U.S.S. Arizona, one of
several battleships sunk on
December 7th, 1941. A navy
cadet pilots the launch across
the water to the memorial and
he stands by while folks wander
over the white concrete and
steel structure, reading names
and gazing into the water. The
cadet remains there to ensure
that tourists show proper re
spect while on the monument,
but during both of my visits to
Pearl Harbor, there was never
any reason for the cadet to do
more than just stand ready.
People were naturally reverent
and respectful. I don't remem
ber hearing much conversation.
The reason was obvious.
This was hallowed ground.
Over 1000 sailors and ma
rines still rest just feet below
the surface, forever entombed
where they died.
"Good night, then - sleep to
gather strength for the morn
ing. For the morning will come.
Brightly will it shine on the
brave and true, kindly on all
who suffer for the cause, glori
ous upon the tombs of heroes.
Thus will shine the dawn. "
Winston Churchill.
I walked through the quiet,
windswept acres of Custer
National Cemetery at Little
Bighorn Battlefield. The cem
etery sits on the rolling plains of
southeastern Montana, near the
tiny town of Garryowen. Some
of George Custer's fallen men
are buried there as are many
other native Montanans who
died in service to America or
who are veterans who served.
There are over 5000 graves of
American heroes and to walk
through the grounds is to take
a stroll through history. When
I was there, there were only a
few other folks visiting, yet the
grounds were immaculate.
The American war dead and
veterans resting on those grassy
knolls have not been forgotten.
"In our observances this Me
morial Day, we honor the brave
Ame ricans who paid the highest
price for their commitment to
the ideals of peace, freedom,
and justice. Our debt to them
can be paid only by our own re
commitment to preserving those
same ideals." Ronald Reagan
HEROES ALL
I spent time among the tomb
stones at Arlington National
Cemetery and I was in awe
of the sheer size of the burial
grounds and the number of
headstones, close to half a mil
lion. It would have taken days
to walk to entire grounds and
I only had a couple of hours. I
personally know nobody buried
there and I was surprised to
learn that only two U.S. presi
dents rest there, Howard Taft
and John Kennedy. But Arling
ton is the final resting place of
thousands who died in defense
of America and thousands more
who served honorably.
"It is foolish and wrong
to mourn the men who died.
Rather we should thank God
that such men lived." General
George S. Patton
I've been to Gettysburg Na
tional Cemetery where thou
sands of Union soldiers who
died in the War Between the
States are buried. Due to the
politics and circumstances of
the times, Confederate soldiers
who died there were not al
lowed burial plots, so many of
them were transported to Holly
wood Cemetery in Richmond,
Virginia. I've driven through
there also. I've prayed for a
peaceful rest for both sides of
that conflict that tore our coun
try apart.
“The Civil War defined us
as what we are and it opened
us to being what we became,
good and bad things... It was
the crossroads of our being, and
it was a hell of a crossroads. ”
Shelby Foote
Long ago there was a quiet
young man who attended the
same little country church that
I did. He was a few years older
than me and I don't remember
ever having a real conversation
with him, we'd just smile and
speak in passing. I remember
when he graduated from high
school. The next news I heard
about him was that he had died
in a jungle in Viet Nam. Up un
til that point, Viet Nam was just
a faraway place where nameless
and faceless Americans were
fighting nameless and faceless
Asians.
That young man's death
brought the horror home to us.
President Ronald Reagan,
quoted above, stated the ob
vious, that the huge majority
of warriors who have died in
battle for America were very
young, barely out
of high school. He SEE
also said that those LIVELY,
young people lost e