Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

$1.00 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020 • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 54 No. 6 BCN Past N ewsmakers of the Year 2019 Tim Harper, Banks County clerk of court 2018 Hannah Mullins, Banks County economic de veloper 2017 Bob Waldorf, Banks County extension 2016 Jimmy Hooper, BOC chairman 2015 Leslie George, Keep Banks County Beautiful 2014 Brad Day, economic developer 2013 Carlton Speed, sher iff 2012 J.H. Brooks Family/ Farm 2011, Deidra Moore. 911 director 2010 Jerry Neace. Bald win mayor 2009 Milton Turner, Lula mayor 2008 Jim McLendon. Ho mer UMC pastor 2007 Robin Trotter, Fam ily Connections/Generous Hearts 2006 Gene Hart, BOC chairman 2005 Doug Cheek, Ho mer mayor 2004 Rep. Jeanette Jamie son 2003 Chris Erwin, super intendent 2002 Jack Banks, Devel opment Authority 2001 Bonnie Johnson, CVB 2000 Charles Chapman, sheriff 1999 Mark Reed, Bald win mayor 1998 Gary Freeman and Danny Maxwell. BOC 1997 Bo Garrison and Dock Sisk, BOE chairman and superintendent 1996 Milton Patterson, BOC chairman Newsmaker of the Year Calm during the storm; Superintendent leads school system during tough year By ANGELA GARY angela@mainstreetnews.com When schools suddenly closed in March due to COVID-19, no one expected that the doors would remain closed for the remainder of the school year. It went from days to weeks to an order from the governor that schools remain closed. Educators had to immediately change over to remote or “virtual” teaching with students and parents being thrown into a world of learning that was new for everyone. It was a trying time for everyone with challenges that had not been faced before. It was an uncertain time as the virus spread in the community. Superintendent Ann Hopkins, who had only been in the top education position in Banks County for a little over one year, was the calm behind the storm who led the teach ers, students and parents through these trying times with leadership, strength and kindness. She has been named the 2020 Newsmaker of the Year. When asked about the challenges in 2020, Hopkins is quick to give credit to the team that makes up the school system. “Our faculty and staff have faced more challenges this year than could possibly be imagined, and they have all done a fantastic job.” she said. Hopkins was named Banks County superintendent in February 2019, after having served as assistant superinten dent for the system since 2014. Prior to that, she had been employed with the school system since 2005 as the federal programs director. She served as an administrator and taught in Hall County before coming to Banks County. She began her teaching career in Jackson County in 1994. “This has definitely been the most challenging year I have ever faced in my 25-plus years in education, but I am blessed to work with a group that I consider family,” Hopkins said. “We make decisions together based on the information we have at the time. Many times, we are back tracking to make changes based on the newest data.” Hopkins grew up in Commerce, where she graduated from Commerce High School in 1990. She is married to Ron Hopkins. They have three chil dren, Tripp, Crew and BellaKayt. “I am honored to serve in this community as superinten dent.” Hopkins says. “I enjoy supporting others and strive to do what is best for all of our students.” ANN HOPKINS News Story of the Year COVTD-related issues topped headlines throughout 2020 By ANGELA GARY angela@mainstreetne ws. com In March, coronavirus and COVID-19 started showing up in headlines in Banks County and across the state, country and nation. It hasn't slowed down since then with daily and weekly updates being given on news sites on the impact of this deadly virus that has shut downs schools, busi nesses and churches and led to people not leaving their homes for months at a time. COVID-19 has certain ly been the “News Story of the Year.” It has changed the MAILING LABEL way of life for everyone. Terms such as working remotely, zoom meetings and virtual learning have become common. Seeing people in public wearing face masks is the norm now. And doctor's appoint ments on Facetime or even through a drive-by at an Ur gent Care are more likely than going into your doc tor’s office. In Banks County, the first news headline came on March 18, with the bold headline on page 1: “Coro navirus Coverage 2020: Students to return to classroom Tuesday 8 "04879 1 4 1 4 3 3 By ANGELA GARY angela@mainstreetnews.com Banks County students will return to the classroom on Tuesday. Jan. 5. Teachers will return to work on Mon day, Jan. 4. There are approximately 100 students who have opt ed to begin or continue on line instruction. “We are monitoring the data regarding the virus daily,” superintendent Ann Hopkins states. “I hope that we will be able to contin ue in-person instruction through the remainder of the year.” Due to the virus spread in the area increasing, every one will be encouraged to wear face masks. Schools, businesses, close; election postponed.” From that week on ward, every issue of The Banks County News had at least one. and often many more, stories related to COVID-19. In that March 18 article, it stated that schools would be shut down through March 31. Schools actually ended up remaining closed for the rest of the school year following an order by the governor. No one imagined that would be the case at the time. The governor or- “In an effort to keep ev eryone safe and stop the spread of the virus, we will strongly encourage wearing masks when social distanc ing is not possible.” Hop kins said. Hopkins said two factors are considered when decid ing whether to close school and change over to “virtual” learning. “The first factor is the transmission within the school,” she said. “Through contact tracing and the as sistance of the Department of Health, we can identify if the students with a particu lar facility are spreading the virus to one another of if the virus is from outside of the school as family members may transmit to the stu- dered citizens to “shelter- in-place” and many people, especially the elderly, did not leave their homes for months in fear they would get the virus. Banks County govern ment shut down for one week. The city halls at the towns in the counties closed to the public. Cases of COVID among city and county employees were reported. When city halls and gov ernment buildings did open, it was mandatated that citi zens wear face masks. As the year ends, the dents. This is not an exact science, but we are able to somewhat determine how rampant the spread is within the school facilities.” The other factor that de termines the status is the available personnel. “We must have the staff members healthy or avail able substitutes working to continue to have face-to- face instruction.” Hopkins said. Teachers are planning les sons far in advance in order to prepare in the event stu dents, classes or the system must move to remote in struction. “Because we have many students without Internet access, our teachers and technology department have number of cases continue to increase. Area hospitals are often at capacity. The latest data for Banks County show that a total of 1.094 county residents have confirmed cases of COVID, with 18 dying from the virus and 130 being hospitalized. However, as the year ends, a vaccine has been developed and is being giv en to front-line health care workers. As for when this will be more readily avail able or what percentage of the general public will want to take the vaccine, that is unknown as 2020 ends. been downloading materials to USB drives,” Hopkins says. “Our transportation department delivers these items, along with meals pre pared by the nutrition staff, to those who are in quaran tine. It has been a team ef fort. The men and women who work for this school system love these students and this community and have continued to go above and beyond to try to make things work for everyone.” Hopkins said the goal will remain to “keep our students and staff safe and healthy.” “Our staff is not only working hard to educate the children but also to provide them with some sense of normalcy during this pan demic,” she says. Three races to be on run off ballot Tuesday By ANGELA GARY angela@mainstreetnews.com Three run-off races will be on the ballot Tuesday, Jan. 5, when Banks County voters go to the polls. More than 2,000 Banks County voters have already cast an early ballot in this election. All early voting will be held through Thursday Dec. 31. All early voting will be at the Registrars Office in Homer, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. ELECTION DAY VOTING All Election Day voting, on Tuesday, Jan. 5, will be held at the Banks Coun ty Recreation Department, in Homer from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ON THE BALLOT The three races on the bal lot are: •The United States Senate race between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff. •The Senate race between Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Ra phael Warnock. •The Public Service Commission race between incumbent Republican Lau ren “Bubba” McDonald and Democrat Daniel Black man.