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VOL. 106, NO. 10, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS FtAtiliiy fjikvi Sckiux (iltMil /////// J* 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.