Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, July 22, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
I have some essays written by Linda Jenkins’ fifth grade class on
"My Hometown.” Due to space limitations, I have been unable to get
them in the newspaper. So, I am going to use some exceipts from
each in this column.
Tykeise Oliver wrote, “My town is historic, exciting and it’s in the
South, so you’ll always have a little southern hospitality everywhere.
Even though my town is the smallest in Georgia, it’s very special to
me about 3,500 other people. Millen is unique in so many ways. I
lovemy town...”
Katlyn Muckerson said, “Millen lies on the Ogeechee River in
Jenkins County, approximately 50 miles south of Augusta. Millen is
sunny sometimes, but right now it is mostly cold. Millen has been
my hometown for almost 11 years now. Millen has hot summers,
stores and a little rain.”
This one was written by “Taylor”. (I can’t read the last name.)
“Millen, Georgia is not my home town, but it is my city... My mama
said that the reason she likes Millen is because it is not too big, and it
is now too small. Millen does not have a lot of stores, but they do
have a lot of restaurants... We have a state park called Magnolia Springs.
We have a good pool there, and an aquarium.
Juwaun Smith wrote, “My hometown in Jenkins County. I lived
here to 10 years. I like to live in Jenkins County because I stay in the
country, have a big yard and I like going to school in Jenkins County.
I go to Jenkins County Elementary School. I like going to school
because I like eating breakfast, going to recess, going to RE. and
talking to my friends.”
Sydney Clark wrote, “Millen is a small town, but there’s a lot to
know! Millen is located 50 miles south of Augusta and 30 miles
north of Statesboro on Highway 25.. .We have lots of attractions in
Millen. There is the Ogeechee River, Magnolia Springs State Park,
Dukes Pond, Hanging Rocks Plantation and even Big Buckhead
Church. We have high schools, middle schools and elementary
schools. We have a variety of sports activities.
Hope you enjoyed the writings of our young citizens as much as I
did. They speak so favorably of our town that I think we adults could
take some lessons from them.
The poll question on our website last week was, "How do you feel
about the amount of media coverage of Michael Jackson’s death?”
Responses, as of Monday morning, were as follows: Too Much -
25; Not Enough - 2: Just Right - 15; and Sick of it - 40.
To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Milton Paul Godbee Jr., Velma S.
Bragg, Steve Burke, John T. Herrington Jr. Tracey Herrington and
Monica Weathersby.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs.
Steve Burke, Mr. and Mrs. Rudine Becton and Mr. and Mrs. Matt
Brinson.
Military Active Duty List: PV2 Jeremy Johnson, U.S. Army, 59 th
Quarter-master Company, Ft. Car-son, Colorado; Ronnie Perryman,
Charlie Troop, 108 th Calvary Division, 4 th Platoon, Afghanistan; Lance
Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S. Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Wash
ington, D.C.; E-4 Sr. Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF
Molesworth, United Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S.
Marines, Baharia, Iraq; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion,
Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Camp Pendleton,
CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NS A
Naples, Italy; Senior Airman Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force
Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB,
Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood,
Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Ah' Mobility Squadron
Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Rich
mond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard HI, 48th Brigade,
118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager,
U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy
D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie
Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S.
Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Per
sian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th
Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121
General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS
Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry
Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force,
Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S.
Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft.
Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd
Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley,
Tech. Sgt., U.S. Ah Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and SPC Charles
“C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq.
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“...These days every silver lining has a cloud attached to it!"
Georgia Family Council—
TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
By Randy Hicks
President of Georgia Family Council
For years, I have spoken and written, including here in this col
umn, about the destructive and most often visible effects of di
vorce on children. The increased likelihood of delinquency, drug
abuse, unwed sexual activity and more have been well-documented
and well-known for some time. These trends are important to ac
knowledge and understand. But there is more to this story.
Many children of divorce manage to avoid these severe conse
quences, but they still experience emotional disruption that takes
place below the surface and affects them for years.
Elizabeth Marquardt is a respected researcher and scholar. She
is also a child of divorce whose parents split up when she was
three. Her life was not marked by delinquency, but she knew that
her parent’s divorce had a profound impact on her.
To learn more, Elizabeth undertook a groundbreaking three-year
study into the emotional and spiritual lives of children whose par
ents had divorced. She interviewed 71 adults and randomly sur
veyed 1,500 more between the ages of 18 and 35. Both groups
were divided evenly between those from divorced families and
those from intact families. Her findings culminated into her book
“Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce.”
What she discovered was both fascinating and troubling.
Children of divorce, she observes, must travel alone between
each of their parent’s worlds and make sense of their sometimes
dramatically different set of values, beliefs and ways of living.
Meanwhile, children in intact homes do not bear this responsibil
ity because their married parents are the ones who reconcile their
personal differences. Children from divorced homes must inherit
this role and make sense of it all, often at a young age.
Elizabeth’s research found that children from divorced homes
were: more likely to say they had to be different person with each
parent; much more likely to say they were afraid of resembling
one of their parents because it may make them an outsider in the
other parent’s world; twice as likely to be asked to keep secrets,
with many more feeling their own need to keep secrets because
they have learned some information may spark anxiety or hurt in a
parent. In effect they became a divided person—vacillating be
tween two homes and not knowing how to be their whole, true self
with anyone.
Living in two worlds also forces children to become what Eliza
beth refers to as “early moral forgers.” This means that they must
answer fundamental questions about life such as “who am I” and
“what is right and wrong” at a young age while navigating be
tween two contrasting value systems. They are forced to navigate
on their own through issues that children in married homes pre
suppose because their parents have worked them out together.
AYP from page 1
Recounting her own struggle with life after her parent’s divorce
and the testimony of the dozens of others she interviewed makes
Elizabeth’s findings compelling, but quite honestly heartbreaking
too. Today tens of thousands of kids are silently straggling through
life and into adulthood with the emotional baggage they must bear
in the aftermath of their parent’s divorce.
With that in mind, she is understandably angry at those in our
culture who continue to mislead parents and children into thinking
that there is such a thing as a “good divorce”—the idea that if
parents get divorced, but do so harmoniously, and each remain
involved in their child’s life, things will be fine. Elizabeth chal
lenges this popular notion writing, “While a ‘good divorce’ is bet
ter than a bad divorce, it is still not good. For no matter how ami
cable divorced parents might be and how much they each love and
care for the child, their willingness to do these things does abso
lutely nothing to diminish the radical restructuring of the child’s
universe.”
Elizabeth is right and her research backs this up. At the same
time let me clearly state that neither she nor I are condemning all
divorce. Divorced parents endure a lot of pain and many find them
selves in those circumstances against their wishes. And certainly
there are some instances when divorce is necessary and important.
The most obvious example is a case where a spouse and child are
in physical danger.
But keep in mind that one-third of divorces end a high-conflict
marriage that involved physical abuse or extreme arguing. This
means that a vast majority (two-thirds) of divorces end low-con
flict marriages where the couple felt unfulfilled or unhappy, but
faced no serious danger.
These marriages are often salvageable. And Elizabeth’s research
tells us loud and clear why these marriages are worth saving. Inci
dentally, she points out that children do worse after low-conflict
couples divorce because the divorce “marks their first exposure to
a serious problem. One day, without much warning, their world
just falls apart.”
I recognize the pain and complexity of divorce. And that is why
I believe more should be done to acknowledge that divorce is hard
on kids, regardless of how the parents conduct themselves. Per
haps by doing so, children of divorce will feel better understood
and be less likely to have to grapple with the often unexplainable
straggles they endure.
Equally important is my hope that if more couples better under
stand the impact that a divorce will have in the lives of their chil
dren, maybe they will be less likely to consider getting one.
Nobody’s home life or marriage is perfect, but as Elizabeth
Marquardt points out so well, living and growing up in one world
is certainly better than forging your way between two.
includes the new Extended Learn
ing time program. During the first
20 minutes of each day, all stu
dents will engage in ‘extended
learning’ activities designed to
meet their specific
needs. Activities will include
remediation and acceleration meth
ods in reading, writing, and math
based on each student’s needs as
indicated by a variety of assess
ments. We are excited about the
new school year. Our doors are
always open to the community as
it takes all of our collective efforts
to help students succeed.”
JCHS achieved AYP in Test Par
ticipation and Academic Perfor
mance. However, the school did
not meet AYP criteria in the Sec
ond Indicator area which was
Graduation Rate. The school’s
graduation rate was 68.3 percent.
A rate of 75 percent was required
to meet AYP criteria. The school
did achieve AYP goals in six out
of eight categories.
Dr. Joey Kirkland, JCHS prin
cipal called attention to the fact
that, “JCHS continues to make
academic gains.”
“Our students are scoring well
on the Georgia High School
Graduation Test (GHSGT). When
compared to the CSRA RES A and
State, our students’ GHSGT scores
are at or above these students. We
met the AYP criteria in all sub
jects and in every subgroup. How
ever, we fell short on our gradua
tion rate. Due to budget cuts last
school year, the system was forced
to shut down our Eagle Academy,
which is an academic alternative
school. This program would have
helped more students to graduate
on time. I am very pleased with
the board’s recent decision to re
instate the Eagle Academy for this
coming school year. We will see
our graduate rate rise again. There
is still a chance for JCHS to make
AYP this year as our students who
failed the GHSGT will have an
other opportunity to pass the test
this summer,” Dr. Kirkland com
mented.
Schools that do not met AYP in
the same subject for two or more
consecutive years are placed in
Needs Improvement status. JCHS
is not in Needs Improvement sta
tus.
Statewide, more than 79 percent
of Georgia’s schools made AYP, a
10 point increase over last year.
The percentage of elementary
schools jumped 13.4 points, and
the percentage of middle schools
meeting AYP criteriajumped 10.4
points. Just over 47 percent of the
state’s high schools achieved AYP,
a slight decrease from the previ
ous year.
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