Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 106, NO. 10, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY
MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS
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Jenkins County High School students excelled on the Science portion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test,
scoring a 95.5 percent pass rate which surpassed the state and RESA pass rates. Comparison charts for other
subject areas appear on page 3.
JCHS students excell on GHSGT
By Deborah Bennett
Millen News Editor
The 2009 scores of Jenkins
County High School (JCHS)
students taking the Georgia
High School Graduation Tests
(GHSGT) for the first time were
comparable to state and Re
gional Educational Service
Agency (RESA) results.
Information released by the
Georgia Department of Educa
tion reveals that JCHS students
excelled on the Science part of
the test scoring a 95.5 percent
pass rate. This compares to an
87.9 percent pass rate for the
state and an 84.6 percent rate for
the RESA district.
On the English/Language Arts
portion of the test, 85.6 percent
of JCHS students passed. This
compares to a 90 percent pass
ing rate for the state and 86.9
percent for the RESA district.
On the Math portion of the
test, 93.3 percent of JCHS stu
dents passed; 93.5 percent
passed statewide; and 91 percent
passed in RESA.
Local students scored lowest
on the Social Studies section of
the GHSGT with an 82 percent
passing rate. Their scores, how
ever, were still comparable to
the 87.2 percent pass rate for the
state and 82.6 percent for
RESA.
Dr. Joey Kirkland, JCHS prin
cipal, commented, “JCHS con
tinues to make great strides in
academics as evident of our
school meeting all academic in
dicators in Math and English on
the Annual Yearly Progress
report. Also, when compared to
other schools in the CSRA area,
our students are scoring higher
on the GHSGT than most
schools. We are especially
proud of our science scores as
we had 95.5 percent of students
pass the test. In fact, our stu
dents outscored RESA by 10.9
points and the State by 7.6
points in science. Our teachers,
students and parents are com
mitted to academic excellence,
and I am very proud of our ac
complishments.’’
Rocker signs golf scholarship with ABAC
Matthew Rocker spent last
year training with the best and
preparing to play college golf.
His efforts paid off, and he re
cently signed a golf scholarship
with Abraham Baldwin Agri
culture College (ABAC) in
Tifton.
Rocker, the 19-year-old son
of King and Beth Rocker of
Millen, graduated from high
school at Edmund Burke Acad
emy in May 2008. Following
graduation, Rocker attended the
Hank Haney International Jun
ior Golf Academy on Hilton
Head Island. As a student in
their post-graduate program, he
also attended the University of
South Carolina at Beaufort.
Along with other students from
countries around the world,
Rocker received golf instruc
tion from Haney, the world’s
top golf instructor, in addition
to other Haney-trained instruc
tors. Rocker’s golf regimen for
the fall 2008 and spring 2009
semesters also included mental
and fitness training.
Rocker became addicted to
the game at a young age and
began playing golf with his dad
at Magnolia Country Club lo
cated in his hometown of
Millen. He played for his high
school golf team for five years
and was named GISA All-Re
gion 2-AA his senior year. His
tournament experience not only
includes local area tournaments
but he continues to participate
in several golf associations
which he has been involved
with for several years. These
include the Augusta Area Jun
ior Golf Association, the Hilton
Head Island Junior Golf Asso
ciation, the Georgia Junior PGA
Tour, the Georgia Junior
Sectionals, and the International
Junior Golf Tournament Asso
ciation where he has received
several first place tournament
finishes.
As a member of the ABAC
golf team, Rocker joins fellow
high school classmate Bernie
Smith. Smith received a golf
scholarship and joined the
stallion’s golf program at ABAC
in the fall of 2008. Stallion’s
golf coach, Herb Hendrix, is
excited to have these two young
athletes on his 2009-2010 golf
team.
Mathew Rocker, seated, recently signed a golf scholarship
with Abraham Baldwin College. He is shown with his
parents, Beth and King Rocker. (Photo contributed)
Local students return from Washington Youth Tour
More than 100 of Georgia’s
brightest students recently re
turned from the 2009 Washing
ton Youth Tour, a leadership pro
gram sponsored by the electric
membership cooperatives
(EMCs) in Georgia, including
Planters EMC.
At the end of the 7-day trip,
held June 11-18, the select group
of youth delegates returned home
with a firsthand look of the
nation’s capital, a better under
standing and appreciation of the
sacrifices made by others to en
sure their freedom and hundreds
of new friends who have the
shared experience of the leader
ship program.
The Youth Tour is an annual
event that teaches students about
U.S. history, government and ca
reers in public service. The pri
mary purpose of the Tour is to
teach students the values every
electric cooperative brings to the
communities they serve and to
promote civic involvement.
“Sponsoring the Youth Tour
and giving young people the op
portunity to view our government
and nation’s capital on a personal
level is extremely important,”
says Matt Brinson, general man
ager of Planters EMC, which
sponsored three delegates on this
year’s tour including Jenkins
County High School senior
Rachel Welch, daughter of Ron
and Tina Welch; Bulloch Acad
emy senior Ansley Hickman,
daughter of Terry and Alane
Hickman; and Edmund Burke
Academy senior Taylor Mead
ows, daughter of Ed and Lynne’
Meadows.
“These students will be lead
ers in their communities in the
years ahead, and it’s important to
deliver the message that public
service is noble and needed in
order for our communities and
country to grow and prosper”
says Brinson.
- See Youth Tour, page 3
Participating as Planters EMC delegates on the 2009
Washington Youth Tour are, from left, Taylor Meadows,
Ansley Hickman and Rachel Welch. (Photo contributed
by Phillip Vullo; photo illustration by Steve Jacobs)
Commissioners
consider fire
protection fee
By Deborah Bennett
Millen News Editor
County residents could see a $12 "fire protection fee” on
their property tax notices this year. The Jenkins County Com
missioners were requested during their Sept. 1 meeting to con
sider imposing the fee as away of helping to fund volunteer
fire departments in the county. Jenkins County Fire Chief
Dwayne Herrington, along with representatives from the vol
unteer fire departments, met with the commissioners to ex
press a need for additional funding.
Chief Herrington noted that the departments rely on dona
tions and boot drives to pay for their day-to-day operations,
and that these revenues had diminished. Since care for the dry
hydrants in the county was performed by the volunteer fire
men, with the county paying for the supplies, he requested that
the commissioners increase the “dumpster fee” which appears
on property tax notices by $12. This amount could then be
turned over to the volunteer fire departments to help fund their
operations.
Commission Chairman James Henry explained that the fee
to which Chief Herrington referred was not a “dumpster fee”
but a “solid waste” fee to help pay the cost of transporting the
county’s waste to a South Carolina landfill. Should the com
missioners decide to add an additional fee to the tax notices, it
would be designated as a “fire protection fee.”
Several representatives of the fire departments spoke, not
ing the need for additional and on-going operational funds to
cover the approximately $52,800 required to operate all of the
volunteer fire departments in the county for one year.
After further discussion, the commissioners approved a mo
tion authorizing the county attorney to determine the legal
means by which a fire protection fee could be placed on the
tax notices this year.
In other matters. Commissioner Tommy Lane commented
on the need for stimulus funds to replace the two Herndon
bridges and Skulls Creek bridge. It was noted that the Georgia
Department of Transportation had not completed plans for the
bridges, and, therefore, they were not in line for stimulus funds.
The commissioners agreed that the plans should be completed
and funds targeted for 2014 to rebuild the three bridges.
Other actions taken by the commissioners included the fol
lowing:
• Approved a proposed lower monthly premium for employee
health insurance as presented by Michael Jackson, agent for
Glenn/Davis & Associates Insurance Agency;
• Approved renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST) #5 agreement with the City of Millen;
• Accepted a bid from Air Systems Restoration in the amount
of $13,782.50 to clean air ducts in the Jenkins County Court
house;
• Accepted low bids for several building repair projects;
• Tabled action on bids for repairs needed at the Headstart
building;
• Approved Drug and Alcohol Policy and authorized Chair
man to sign the policy;
• Authorized the repair of a computer hit by lightening if the
price was under $750, if not, a bid from Wiggins Office Equip
ment to replace the computer at a cost of $ 1,391 was approved;
• Approved a list of individuals to be asked to serve on the
Comprehensive Five Year Plan Partial Update Planning Com
mittee;
• Approved SPLOST #4, SPLOST #5, and Jail fund budgets
as presented; and
• Approved $750 for a systems upgrade to the accounting
program in the commissioners’ office.
Jenkins County receives
Georgia Heritage Grant
By Deborah Bennett
Millen News Editor
Built in 1912, the Jenkins County Courthouse is consid
ered one of the county’s most historic structures. That his
tory will soon be preserved in a historic structure report,
made possible through a $10, 800 Georgia Heritage Grant
recently awarded the Jenkins County Commissioners.
Gov. Sonny Perdue recently announced that the Jenkins
County project was one of four to be funded with proceeds
from sales of the historic preservation license plate. The
grant program is administered by the Historic Preserva
tion Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Re
sources.
Historic Preservation Division Interim Director, Dr. Dave
Crass said, “In 2008 we were able to fund only one $20,000
project that first year of revenue sales. So, we are pleased
to have been able to fund four projects this second year.
We hope that sales revenues will continue to grow each
year to come.”
The license plate, designed by Georgia artists Lanie
Higgins of Planet Studio in Atlanta, was authorized by the
2005 Georgia General Assembly and signed into law by
Gov. Perdue. More than $20 from each $25 license tag fee
goes to HPD’s Georgia Heritage Grant Program, which
provides funding for historic preservation projects around
the state. The program ha awarded over $3 million in
matching grants to 239 preservation projects in the state
since 1995.
The first courthouse of Jenkins County was completed
in March 1908, and burned Jan. 5, 1910. The present struc
ture, almost identical to the first, was rebuilt within the
following two years for $58,000 with the county floating
bonds to pay for the construction. It was designed by Lewis
F. Goodrick of Augusta.