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VOL. 106, NO. 1, JULY 22, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS STUDENT RECEIVES ARMY SCHOLARSHIP Chris Carter, left, accepts a U.S. Army Scholarship in the amount of $91,012 from Sgt. Hill during Jenkins County High School’s re cent academic awards program. Not pictured: Jaquet Watkins who received a $122,000 scholarship. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) Schools to hold open house, new student registration All Jenkins County schools will open their doors to stu dents. parents and the commu nity 1-3 p.m. Friday, July 31, for Open House. All parents are encouraged to attend as this is an opportunity for them and their children to meet their teacher!s) for the 2009-2010 school year. As per board policy, clear or mesh books bags are required. Rolling book bags are not al lowed unless an annual written documentation from a physi cian is presented. Any students who have health issues and/or takes medi cation while at school, should bring the medication with them to Open House and allow time to meet with the school nurse to discuss the student’s medi cal needs. Registration for students “new” to the Jenkins County school system will be held 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, at Jenkins County Elemen tary School, Jenkins County Middle School and Jenkins County High School (JCHS). Parents will need to bring an immunization record, certified copy of birth certificate, eye, ear and dental report, social se curity card and report card or school records from previous school. All Jenkins County schools participate in a Universal Food Program whereby all students receive a free breakfast and lunch. However, breakfast will not be served the first day of school, Monday, Aug. 3. School insurance may be pur chased through the individual schools. School supply lists are available in local businesses as well as the school sites. In order to have a smoother transition for the new school term, Ruth Hearn, JCHS guid ance counselor, is requesting all students stop by the counselor’s office and pick up their sched ule prior to Open House at JCHS in order to make any nec essary changes before the first day of school. Schedules can be picked up on the following dates and scheduled times for each grade level: Wednesday, July 29, 10 a.m. - noon. Seniors, and 1-3 p.m. - Juniors; Thursday, July 30, 10 a.m. - noon, Sopho mores, and 1-3 p.m., Freshmen. Dr. Joey Kirkland, principal, has also advised that students who made the “516 Club” will be allowed to choose their lock ers and reserve their parking spaces during these times Parents are encouraged to make plans to be a part of their children’s educational experi ence. For additional informa tion, call (478) 982-4305. Two of three schools meet AYP By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Two of Jenkins County’s three schools have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2008-2009 school term. The An nual Report released last week by Georgia Department of Education reveals that Jenkins County El ementary School (JCES) and Jenkins County Middle School (JCMS) achieved AYP designation while Jenkins County High School (JCHS) did not. In order to achieve AYP, schools must meet criteria in three areas: Test Participation for both Math and Reading/English language arts; Academic Performance for Math and Reading/English lan guage arts and a Second Indica tor. The schools are divided into sub-gi'oups, all of which must meet the criteria. Should even one sub group fail to meet the criteria, the school does not achieve AYP. This year, the academic goals remained the same as 2007-2008, with the exception of the graduation rate bar which increased. JCES achieved AYP for the sev enth consecutive year in all three areas with the Second Indicator for the school being Attendance Rate. Jim Jarvis, JCES principal, praised students and staff for the accomplishment. “We are once again pleased to have made AYP for another year. Our students’ success on the state testing is the result of the hard work and dedication of our teach ers and instructional staff. We are blessed to have the caliber of folks we have in our classrooms provid ing instruction to our students each day. I am proud of our students for demonstrating their mastery of the material that has been delivered to them throughout the past school year, but I am equally as proud of the JCES’s faculty and staff for all their efforts in providing each of students with highest quality of education. We are thankM for this achievement, but there is still room for improvement as we strive to be the best we can be!” he said. JCMS made AYP for the third consecutive year. The school’s Second Indicator was also Atten dance Rate. Nicole Moulton, JCMS princi pal, also praised students and staff and outlined plans for future im provement. She commented, “I am very appreciative of the hard work and efforts that all stakeholders put into the 2008-2009 school year, and we are proud to say we made AYP again. Last year we disaggregated our data and targeted key areas of emphasis and concerns. We set goals such as closing the achieve ment gap of subgroups, increas ing our student performance in math and increasing the number of students in the exceeding cat egories of assessments. These goals were met, however small. Our work is still not done. While we celebrate the successes, we have already started the process of analyzing our most recent data as we plan for the 2009-2010 school year. Our Reading and Language Arts scores continue to be very high. While we saw gains in sub group performance in Math, and we will still focus on this area in order to increase our student per formance and become more com petitive with other middle schools in the state. We will also place em phasis on Science and Social Stud ies, as our scores in these areas arc not where we want them to be.” Mrs. Moulton continued, “Strat egies include enhancing our in struction in a standards based set ting, providing students with sup port to be successful in a more rig orous curriculum as mandated by the state, engaging in ongoing pro fessional learning of instructional practices, and implementing ap propriate instructional interven tions for targeted students. One example of available interventions - See AYP, page 4 Stimulus funds discussed by commissioners By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor How to get stimulus funds available through the Work Force Investment Act was a topic of discussion at the June 16 meeting of the Jenkins County Commissioners. Joyce Blevins, Margie Reese and Natasia Smith met with the commissioners to discuss the matter, noting that Jenkins County continues to have a high unemployment rate and needs funding to help citizens gain employment. The number of slots available was discussed as well as how to initiate the pro gram in the county. In a related matter, Mike Lane informed the group that he was working on acquiring grants through the stimulus funds avail able for Jenkins County. He wished to know the kinds of grants needed by the county as well as to whom he should pro vide the grant information he obtains. Mr. Lane also noted that he was looking in weatherization grants on the request of Commis sioner Pam Dwight. Chad Sands and Tony Deal met with the commissioners to request that the board allow placement of a fiber optic cable along the East Old Savannah Road right-of-way from Bulloch County to the home of Bobby Harris. The commissioners agreed to pursue a contract al lowing the cable and asked that the county attorney contact Mr. Harris’ attorney to discuss the matter. A group of concerned citizens met with the commissioners and discussed planned courthouse renovations. Taking part in this discussion were Art Johnson, Evelyn Young, Don Perkins, Howard Moore and Ann Floy. Other actions taken by the commissioners included the fol lowing: • Approved the signing of a landfill groundwater monitoring contract with Stantec Consulting Services; • Approved acceptance of low quote for purchase of mobile ra dio for new ambulance from Hub Communications in the amount of $2,379.55; • Awarded the annual lawn care contract to the low bidder, Sasser & Sons, at bid amount of $7,000; • Awarded annual pest control bid to I Spy Pest Control for $205 monthly; • Awarded the annual ASCS/ SCS custodial bid to the low bid der, Danny Clayton, in the amount of $1,920, pending re ceipt of a rental contract from the agency; • Awarded bid for purchase of Emergency Medical Services computer to low bidder, Dell, for the price of $1,059.01; • Tables appointment of per sons to Jenkins County Hospital Authority until the next meeting; • Reappointed J.C. Douglas to serve another 3-year tern on the Jenkins County Memorial Li brary Board; • Authorized Chairman James Henry to sign a proclamation declaring June as "National Homeownership Month”; and • Approved Sewell Company to perform GIS mapping for the E-911 system at a cost of $10,000. Hundreds have unclaimed property By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Many Millen and Jenkins County residents are probably unaware that they may have property or money just waiting to be claimed. The Georgia Department of Revenue’s unclaimed property listing includes the names of 528 local individuals, living and deceased, businesses, active and closed, and gov ernment agencies as owners of unclaimed property. Under the Unclaimed Property Act, when someone holds property that belongs to someone else but has lost contact with the owner, the holder must turn than property over to the State. The State acts as the custodian for the property, allowing the owners or their heirs an opportunity to claim their property in the future. Types of unclaimed property may include traveler’s checks, checks, money orders, unclaimed court ordered refunds from business transactions, unpaid wages, employee benefits, safe deposit boxes, bequeathed property and intangible property such as stocks and bonds. When Lee Wilson discovered that his name was on the un claimed property list, he promptly called the agency and dis covered that the property was a small certificate of deposit which he said actually belonged to someone else that he knew. Cindy Bragg saw her name, called and discovered that she had $479 coming her way. Jeff Joyner saw his deceased father’s business, Millen Chrysler and Plymouth, listed and found out that the unclaimed property was a $145 check from a former business customer. Claiming the property is quite simple. The Department of Revenue has a website where the information can be obtained. Simply go to https://etax.dor.ga.gov/unclaimedproperty/ main.aspx and enter a “last name only” and city in the search engine. Any unclaimed property for persons with the last name will then appear. You may also call the Department of Rev enue at 404-968-0490 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or write to the Georgia Department of Revenue, Unclaimed Property Program, 4245 International Parkway, Suite A, Hapeville, GA 30354. If unclaimed property is discovered, the owner just fills out a claim form, and the property is sent to them at no charge. Just a few on the list for Millen and Jenkins County include: The Bethany Home Nursing Center, Rufus Bailey, Euda Lee Bargeron, Robert Bedingfield, Rebekah Bell, Jennifer Adams, Corine Brinson, Joanne Chance, Mark Chick, C&D Logging, Cal-Maine Foods, Cindy’s Country Cooking, City of Millen, Jenkins County Clerk of Superior Court, John W. Counts, Charles Cowart, G.C. Dekle Jr., Dwight’s Funeral Home, Charles Echols, Five Star Inc., Ben Franklin, Rhonda Garvin, Emory Gay, H. L. Cook Company, Barbara Hargrove, Janet Harvey, J.D. Hendley, Heywood Gay, Joel Hooks, Clifford Howard, Jenkins County Department of Family and Children Services, Jenkins County Hospital, Robert Jenkins, Heidi Johnson, Larry Johnson, Pat Johnston Jr., McTeer BP, Millen Fertilizer Company, Millen Fish Company, Arnold Mulkey, Newton Agri-systems, Don Ray Newton, Ogeechee Valley Bank, George Parker, Linda Pope, George W. Pope III, Tho mas Proctor, Proctor Construction, Deborah Richardson, Joe Roberts, Linda Roberts, Betty Sasser, Pete Sharkey, Buford Small, Lucille Washington, Horace Weathersby, John W. Wells, Lamar Wilson and Henry Young. It is important to note that many listed are deceased, which means that their heirs may claim the property. Augusta man charged in burglary of local store In a joint investigation of the Millen Police Department and the Jenkins County Sheriff’s Office, Arlow Arki Durham, 26, of Travis Pine Drive, Augusta, was charged with the Thurs day, July 16, burglary of the Family Dollar Store. During the early morning hours of Thursday, July 16, the Family Dollar Store on Winthrope Avenue and the Bargain Store on Harvey Street were burglarized and vandalized. The perpetra tor entered the Bargain Store by breaking the glass of one of the front doors. The items taken in clude several I-pods and a digital camera. The glass of one the front doors at the Family Dollar Store was broken. However, it appeared that no one entered the building. Durham remains incarcerated at the Jenkins County Jail pend ing Superior Court action. Warrants have been issued for two ad ditional suspects from the Thomson area in connection with the Family Dollar Store incident. The investigation into the burglary at the Bargain Store contin ues. ARLOW ARKI DURHAM