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JSlflND€R_ • Dave Barry - 8 • Editorial Back Talk - 20 • Health -14 • Movie Review Tropic Thunder 12 • Pet Page -13 • Pew News -18 Surfin’ the News Published by Permar Publications • P.O. Box 20539 • St. Simons Island, Ga. 31522 • 912-265-9654 • ssislander@bellsouth.net August 18, 2008 Established 1972 Vol 36 Issue 33 County gets beach training Above: Glynn County Police Special Services Lt. Kevin Willborn (center, beige shirt and sunglasses) gives county police officers and firefighters instruction on how to oper ate the 4-wheel ATV used for beach rescue work. Right: Everyone, including police recruit Daniel Wood, had to take a turn at hook ing the kayak trailer up to the ATV and getting it out of the storage shed. Islander staff photos i ■ | • • * « 1 1 Students get new ID cards and promotion requirements By Matthew J. Permar Middle and High school students returning to class in Glynn Comity last week found some things had changed over the summer while they were away. One of the changes for high school students, instituted by new Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement Mike Kemp, is a clear listing of the requirements for promotion to the next grade. "Kids will know exactly what they need to get promot ed to next grade and to gradu ate," Kemp told the Board of Education (BOE) during their meeting on Tuesday, August 12. In order to be promoted to the 10th grade, 9th graders must pass: • one English Language Arts • one Math • one Science • one Social Studies and • one Elective credit In order to be promoted to the 11th grade, 10th graders must pass: • one English Language Arts • one Math • one Science • one Social Studies and • two Elective credits In order to be promoted to the 12th grade, 11th graders must pass: • one English Language Arts • one Math • one Science • one Social Studies and • two Elective credits In order to graduate, 12th graders must have: • four emits of English Lan guage Arts • four units of Math • four units of Science • three units of Social Stud ies • three units CTAE (Career Technical and Agricultural Education) and/or Modern Language/Latin/ or Fine Arts Turn to Page 6 New school rules City looks for solutions to homelessness By Matthew J. Permar Brunswick may not have a homeless problem of the same magnitude as many major U.S. cities, but over the last few years it has become more of an issue with downtown business people. And those business people have taken their concerns to the City Commission. During the commission's first meeting this month, Mayor Bryan Thompson listed the homeless/transient issue on the agenda and said, "It has come to my attention that many of our merchants are concerned about the homeless in downtown. It's a situation we have had for a number of years, other cities have it too, but I'm pleased to be able to say that for a long while most of the homeless in Brunswick have been quiet, polite and Turn to Page 5 City's homeless Measuring success in Glynn's schools By Pamela Permar Shierling Measuring success in Glynn County's schools is in itself a success story. Success without a path and a way to measure it is illusive. This is the first in a series of articles revealing the efforts being made on behalf of all Glynn County students to make sure an ever increasing number of students pass each grade, are promoted properly, and ultimately graduate from high school. "In 2013 our graduation rate will be at 85% and for suc ceeding classes the rate will be higher." This is a promise from Glynn County School Superintendant Dr. Michael Bull. That promise, in part, is based on M.A.G.I.C. (Making Achievement Gains in Classrooms) and Bull's Basics which were put into place for the first time during the 2005- 2006 school year. Turn to Page 9 Schools' success Over the next few weeks and months all of Glynn County’s emergency response personnel, including police and firefight er’s, will learn how to use the comity’s beach rescue equip ment. The joint training program got started last Wednesday afternoon August 13 at the Coast Guard Station beach access where the county stores their beach rescue equipment. Several weeks ago Glynn County Firefighter John Baker, with the assistance of a bystander, used a ‘rescue tube’ and swam out to the sandbar off East Beach on St. Simons Island to rescue three young By Matthew J. Permar woman who were trapped by the incoming tide. Baker said, “We got to the beach within four minutes of getting the emergency call at the station. It would have taken other rescue agencies much lon ger to get to the beach and the tide was on the way in, so we swam out with the rescue tubes that Nicole (Fairfield) gave us. By the time we got all three back to the beach, the sandbar was covered.” Ms. Fairfield is the Glynn County Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatics Pro gram Coordinator. Asked about the joint beach training, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said, ‘We’ve had this training on our schedule, but this recent incident with the women on the sandbar brought it to the forefront, so we moved the training up and started it last week with some basics.” The St. Simons Surf Sail ors club leases a small piece of property between the Coast Guard Station parking lot and the beach from Glynn Coun ty for $1,000 per year, where members store sailboats. They are limited to small, catama ran sailboats, kayaks, and wind surfers. Turn to Page 7 Beach rescue training