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MONROE COUNTY
Community
Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a community
service each week as space
allows. Mail items for the
Community Calendar to Diane
Clidewell at newMmymcr.net
by 8 a.m. on Monday.
May 30
Memorial Day program
Monroe County will hold
a Memorial Day program
on Monday, May 30 on
the courthouse square near
the monument at 1 1a.m. The
program will begin promptly.
To perpetuate and honor the
memory of those fallen while
defending our freedoms, the
Monroe County Republican
Party invites the community to
gather as one on Memorial
Day. The names on the monu
ments are those who made
the ultimate sacrifice and are
a reminder that freedom isn't
free. They were sons, brothers
and fathers whose families
were forever changed. De
tails of the program are being
finalized.
May 31
Dept, of Corrections
Job Fair
Georgia Dept, of Corrections
will host a Job Fair at the
Monroe County Workforce
Development Center, 89
Washington Drive, Forsyth
(on the William Hubbard
campus) on Tuesday, May 31
from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Starting
salaries range from $38,040
to $41,844. Positions include
advancement & career track,
health & dental insurance,
40IK plan, paid sick leave,
paid holidays, paid training.
WIC Farmers Market
will be in Forsyth
North Central Health Dis
trict’s 13 county health depart
ments will host the annua
farmers markets for partici
pants of the Women, Infants
& Children (WIC) nutrition
program. The market will be
at the Monroe County Health
Department, 106 MLK Jr. Dr.,
See CALENDAR Page 3 B
May 25, 2021
C ommunity
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Forsyth teen earns college degree
Brother's cancer bout inspiring Savannah Oliver
to go to med school to be pediatric neuro oncologist
By Will Davis
publisher@mymcr.net
Many Monroe
County teens are
celebrating graduation
this week But one
has already celebrated
both her high school
and college gradua
tions, and it hardly
costs her parents
anything.
Savannah Oliver, 19,
of Forsyth, graduated
from Gordon College
with a 4-year bach
elor's degree in biology
in December. That
means she can begin
applying to medi
cal school to pursue
her dream of being
a pediatric neuro
oncologist. It’s a dream
birthed in her as her
family walked her little
brother Ryder through
his own successful
battle with brain can
cer 3 years ago.
“I would never wish
this on anybody’ said
Oliver. “But it’s been
big eye opener into a
lot of things. I didn’t
know what I wanted
to do before he was
diagnosed with brain
cancer. It showed
me a whole different
window of people and
directed me into what
I wanted to do.”
The daughter of
Chad and Kristin
Oliver, Savannah has
been home-schooled
since the fourth grade.
Her freshman year
of high school, she
started taking dual en
rollment classes with
her older sister Alyssa,
who could drive, at
Central Georgia Tech.
After her 10th grade
year her parents
moved to Monroe
County from Ma
con. But she enjoyed
the dual enrollment
classes so she contin
ued at Gordon College
in Barnesville. Her
parents realized she
could get free college
credits and so she kept
going.
“It’s a really cool
thing to do,” said
Savannah. “I would
definitely recommend
it to people. You don’t
have to know what
you want to major in
or where you’re going.
It covers your core
classes.”
Savannah said de
spite being the young
est person in most
classes, Gordon was
great about helping
with free tutoring.
Savannah may be
one of the last high
school students to
earn a 4-year college
degree however. They
changed the rules
her third year and
now only offer core
classes to high school
students. However she
said it still gives young
people a good jump
on college credits.
While she waits
to apply to medical
school, Savannah will
be busy this sum
mer serving with the
Lighthouse Family
Retreat. It’s a place that
ministers to families
with children facing
cancer. She will serve
at the retreat in Mi
ramar Beach, Fla. in
June and its retreat in
Epworth, N.C. in July.
She said she enjoys
sharing her faith with
other families going
through that, telling
them how Jesus can
help them. Then in
August she will work
for her dad at his new
Zaxby’s restaurant on
Perry Parkway until
she begins medical
school.
In part because of
their experience with
Ryder, her older sister
Alyssa also wants to
go into medicine.
She’s in the nursing
program at Central
Georgia Tech. “We
want to help people
and be the doctors
and nurses that we
had for Ryder,” said
Savannah. Savannah
said she teases her
sister that thanks to
dual enrollment, she’s
almost caught up to
her academically. But
in all seriousness she
said it’s a great way
logo.
“It’s an amazing
experience,” said Sa
vannah. “You would
think they would say
‘why is a 15 year old
even here?’ But they
were very welcoming
and it was a whole
new experience.”
Above, Chad
and Kristin
Oliver of
Forsyth and
their children
Alyssa,
Savannah,
Mason and
Ryder. At
left, Savan
nah said
her brother
Ryder s bout
with cancer
is inspiring
her to go
to medical
school.
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