Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 36 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
Rollin’ out the Raider red
Madison County students covered themselves in Raider red Friday night for the first football game of the
season. Madison County fell 28-6 to Rockdale, but seeks to bounce back with a win this Friday at Winder.
See Page IB for more football coverage. Ben Munro/staff
EDUCATION
MCHS SAT scores dip 78 points
Supt. says consistency needed
BUDGET
BOC
discusses
expense
accounts
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
After slicing their expense
accounts in recent years. Madison
County commissioners last week
considered adding funds to their
accounts to cover training costs.
But they ultimately agreed there
isn’t money for that.
The BOC has held numerous
meetings with department heads
in recent weeks to discuss the
2010 budget. Requested expenses
were $14.9 million, while early
revenue projections for 2010 were
$13 million.
With the possibility of a revenue
— See‘BOC’on 2A
FATALITY
10-year-old
boy dies in
accident
A Madison County boy died
Wednesday afternoon following
an accident on a Kubota Mule in
his driveway.
Ten-year old Stephen Ginn
was pronounced dead at Athens
Regional Medical Center
Wednesday evening.
According to the coroner
Michelle Cleveland, Madison
County EMS responded to the
Wildcat Bridge Road home around
5:53 p.m. Wednesday.
The boy’s father, Frank Ginn,
found the boy pinned under the
vehicle when he pulled in the
driveway. His death was ruled an
accident by “mechanical asphyx
ia."
Cleveland said Ginn was work
ing on his bicycle and needed tools.
As he drove to the farm shop,
he lost control on a gravel cuive
on the driveway and rolled over.
And the accident was not on a
four-wheeler, as some have stated.
Cleveland said the boy often rode
the Mule around the family farm.
The victim’s father, Frank Ginn,
is the former Franklin County
manager. He is seeking the District
47 State Senate seat held by Ralph
Hudgens, who is running for state
insurance commissioner in 2010.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
After significantly im
proving SAT scores in 2008,
Madison County High
School has received a much
different report for 2009.
According to recently-
released results, Madison
County High School aver
aged a 1,404 on the test, a
78-point dip from last year.
“We’re disappointed in
the fall off of scores, of
course,” Superintendent
Mitch McGhee said. “I
think what we need to work
towards also is a little more
consistency.’’
Madison County's aver
age, which was 46 points
below the state mark,
ranked 13 th out of the 17
high schools within the
Northeast Georgia RESA.
Just last year, the school
ranked fifth in the RESA
with a 1,482 SAT average
and won the regional Gov
ernor’s Cup for the most
improved scores ( those
regions were designated
by athletic regions, not
the RESA). Earlier this
decade, Madison County
was honored for the most
improvement throughout
Class AAAA.
But this year, Madison
County test takers aver
aged a 472 in reading, 471
in math and 461 in writing
in 2009. The school fared
better in all three areas last
year, averaging a 502 in
reading, 489 in math and
491 in writing.
“We seem to be a little
bit more on a roller coaster
with that,” McGhee said of
the difference in results.
Madison County High
School counselor Brittan
Ayers said the school is try
ing determine the reason for
the discrepancy.
“There’s nothing any dif
ferent that we did between
the two years,” she said.
“Nothing changed. We can’t
put our finger on any one
thing that caused the scores
to drop.”
Ayers notes that MCHS
has “had some very good
years.”
“It’s just like it was a bad
year for us with our scores
... It stands out as an odd
year,” she said.
McGhee noted that
MCHS is improving other
areas of achievement scores,
pointing specifically to end-
of-course tests. Meanwhile,
he expects stronger numbers
in terms of the graduation
rate,
“We’ve got unofficial
news that our graduation
rate is going to be the
highest that its ever been
in school history,” McGhee
said.
But he said this year’s
SAT report shows “that we
have some work still cut out
for us.”
CRIME
Two
armed
robberies
reported
Two armed robberies
were reported in Madison
County last week.
In the first, Jai's Country
Comer on Hwy. 106 South
was robbed by a lone white
male last Thursday eve
ning.
According to the inci
dent report from the coun
ty sheriff’s department, a
store clerk at Jai's reported
that he heard a knock on the
outside of the store around
8:42 p.m. and went outside
to see who was knocking.
As he went around the
side, a white male pointed
a black automatic pistol at
him and ordered him back
inside the store. The man
then reportedly took $400
— See ‘Robberies’ on 6A
GOV’T
BOC hears
complaint
on bat ad
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County resident
Randolph (Hoke) Strickland
scolded commissioners
Monday night over their
“request for proposal” news
paper ads to have bats removed
from the old courthouse and
the historic Strickland House
on Hwy. 98.
Strickland told commis
sioners that it “looks like
they’re putting the cart before
the horse” in advertising for
bids, before they have voted
on the matter.
“It makes people wonder
if we’re getting in the same
situation we had (with the for
mer administration) before,”
Strickland said. "... It looks
like we’re getting back to
where we started.”
Chairman Anthony Dove
explained that the request for
bids was simply a way of
finding out how much such a
— See ‘Bats’ on 3A
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions —4A
Schools — 5A
Crime — 6A
Churches — 7A
Socials — 8A
Sports— 1-3B
Legate— 3B
Obituaries — 4-5B
Classifieds — 6-8B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
EDUCATION
Call her ‘Mrs. K’
Michelle Krolikowski is Madison
County’s ‘Teacher of the Year’
— See inside for a look at
Madison County’s ‘Support Staff
Person of the Year,’ Page 2 A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Always a natural with numbers, a newly-
hired Michelle Krolikowski figured she’d
only teach special education at Madison
County Middle School until a math class
room came open.
That was 2001.
Eight years later, Krolikowski, still a spe
cial education teacher, is Madison County’s
district wide teacher of the year because of
her work in that field.
“I truly only intended to teach special
ed until a regular ed math position came
available,” Krolikowski recalled. “I immedi
ately fell in love with special needs students,
though, and cannot imagine teaching any
thing else.”
A product of the Madison County School
System (class of 1997) with degrees from
Emmanuel (undergraduate) and Piedmont
(graduate), Krolikowski has spent her entire
eight-year teaching career at the middle
school.
“The kids call her Mrs. K,” MCMS prin
cipal Matt Boggs said. “Our sixth grade is
— See ‘Teacher’ on 2A
Madison County “Teacher of the Year” Michelle
Krolikowski is a 1997 Madison County High School
graduate.