Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. AUGUST 11.2016
Exchange
• • • continued from page 1A
dents with lodging, meals
and after-school activities.
The school system hopes
to continue to grow the sum
mer exchange program, as
well as the possibility of
other exchange activities in
the future.
One of those is work
ing on the opportunity for
Madison County students to
visit China in a “short-term
exchange program,” possi
bly as early as spring break,
Ayers said.
Other future projects that
are being explored include
the possibility for longer-term
(such as a semester, or even a
year) where county teachers
would teach in China, while
Chinese teachers taught in
Madison County. In addition,
school officials are in the
exploration stages for a lon
ger-term student exchange
program where Chinese stu
dents could be able to par
ticipate in a year-long study
abroad program here.
McCannon said Ayers
not only helped to coordi
nate the visit to China, but
planned the entire camp pro
gram for both the Chinese
and Madison County stu
dents while they were here.
“She did an outstanding job,”
McCannon said.
While here the students
visited Jubilee Partners
in Comer, Moon Farms,
Watson Mill State Park,
UGA, Memorial Park Zoo
and other local places of
interest.
“The Madison County/
Binzhou Exchange Program
has been a wonderful expe
rience for the children of our
school system as well as my
family,” teacher Andy Felt
said. “Five teachers (includ
ing Felt) participated in the
teacher exchange portion
of the program for 17 days
in June, and then 18 stu
dents and two teachers from
Binzhou, China came (here)
soon afterwards for two
weeks.”
Felt said Ayers organized
the day camp for the Chinese
students and the children
of the host families where
students took Chinese and
English language classes and
computer/robotics program
ming classes in the morning,
and had science, sports, and
other activities such as visits
to local farms and parks in
the afternoons.
“When our teachers vis
ited China, we stayed with
very hospitable host families
and taught in their schools,”
Felt said. “The students there
were very excited to meet
us and were eager to learn
about life in America, while
we were able to learn about
the Chinese education sys
tem. We taught thousands
of students while we were
there, with each of us vis
iting several classrooms a
day and sometimes groups
as large as 400.1 conducted
a few science lessons for 7th
graders, but mostly taught
students in grades 1 through
3 about wildlife native to
Georgia and other aspects of
American culture. We also
had the opportunity to sight
see a little, including a visit
to Tienanmen Square and the
Great Wall.”
Once the Chinese children
came to Madison County,
Felt and his family hosted
two 15-year old Chinese
boys, Li Ruilin and Kang
Hoachen. “This was a great
experience for all of us,” Felt
said. “All of our host families
did a great job at making the
students feel welcome, and
the students from both coun
tries had a great time while
learning. We hope to see this
program continue and grow
in the coming years.”
Felt said a group of
Madison County students
will have the opportunity to
visit China in the spring of
2017.
Phyllis and Lee Dickinson
and their grandson, Eddie
Lester, an eighth grader at
MCMS, also hosted two of
the Chinese boys in their
home during the two-week
camp. The boys’ American
names were “Peter” (Yichao
Su) and “John” (Yansong
Zhang) and both celebrated
their 13 th birthdays during
their stay with the fami
ly. Eddie also had his own
Chinese name “Lee Jioung.”
“We had birthday cakes for
them, but they weren't exact
ly sure what they were,” Mrs.
Dickinson said, smiling.
Eddie, who is also 13, said he
enjoyed hanging out with the
two boys, who were already
friends and classmates in
China. “It was awesome,
getting to know them, and
it was also awesome getting
accepted by the (exchange)
program,” he said.
Eddie said he’d like to visit
China at some point to see
what it's like over there. He
said both boys often spoke
of how “green” it is here
(“Wow, so many trees!”) and
that they noted that the air
was much cleaner. “They
said their eyes didn't get red
here,” Eddie said.
Mrs. Dickinson noted that
they are from the city of
Shandong, where there is
often poor air quality from
industry.
Though communication
was a constant issue, she said
it got somewhat easier as
time went on and she man
aged to ask them if they were
homesick. She said they told
her they really weren’t since
they don't usually see their
families except every two
weeks.
She said the boys go to
school for two weeks
straight, then go home for
a visit. They attend school
from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a
two-hour break at noon each
day. Eddie said they told him
they are expected to study
two hours after their school
day ends at 10 p.m., then go
to sleep in their dorm-like
rooms, only to repeat the pro
cess the next day beginning
at 6 a.m. “Their schools there
are very rigorous,” he said.
“Peter told me he’d rather be
here because it is cleaner and
more fun.”
Eddie also said he learned
from the boys and from
camp that school there is
very competitive and that if
they fail tests to get into high
school they are “out” and
have to find work as a blue
collar worker in a factory.
The same applies for college;
if they fail to pass college
entrance exams, they must
drop out and enter the work
force.
“So they really have to
work hard if they want to
have a choice of a career and
go to college,” Eddie said.
Mrs. Dickinson said they
were a joy to have and had
impeccable manners. “They
were good sports and very
quiet and polite,” she said.
“Every evening after our
meal, they would ask if they
could go for a walk, I think
they enjoyed the quiet of the
area.”
She said she admires how
well they handled the daunt
ing task of assimilating in
a strange country, with not
only limited understanding
of English, but also being
met with all the strange cus
toms and foods they had to
learn about. “At first they
couldn’t eat with a spoon,
knife or fork because they
were only familial’ with
chopsticks, but they kept at
it and learned how,” she said.
Eddie said they often
referred to their phones for
translation help.
For example, the day
before they were to leave,
they came to Dickinson with
a request to go “shopping.”
She said she had no idea
what they wanted to go shop
ping for, so she took them
to the Tanger Outlet Stores
in Commerce, “They walked
in a store or two and shook
their heads ‘no,’” she said.
Then they got together and
consulted their phones and
finally showed her the word,
“souvenir.”
“I was thinking where
could we get them souve
nirs, so I took them to the
truck stop there,” she said,
smiling. “Boy, did they have
a good time. They shopped
and shopped.”
Both she and Eddie said
they miss the boys. “We real
ly enjoyed their company,”
Eddie said.
Cindy Nash, who also
serves on the board of edu
cation, agrees that the China
exchange program was good,
not only for the Chinese stu
dents, but good for her fam
ily as well, particularly her
daughter, 14-year-old Hallie.
“I think it’s made her, and
all of us, more aware of the
world,” she said. “It was just
a really cool thing for our
family to do.”
Nash’s family hosted
15-year-old Cathy. “It was
awkward for everybody at
first, of course, but every
body got more comfortable
with each other as time went
on” she said. “Now we really
miss her.”
Nash said Hallie has been
in touch with Cathy, and the
two have exchanged pic
tures, since Cathy arrived
back home in China and that
all of them plan to keep up
with each other. Nash said
she'd love to have her come
stay with them again.
Communication was an
issue in their home as well,
but that too became easier as
the days went on. “We want
ed her to feel comfortable
and to see and do the things
she wanted to do, but we
also wanted her to know it
was OK for her to say ‘no,’”
Nash said. “She seemed
to really want to do every
thing... she said she loved
swimming and we have a
pool, so she enjoyed that.”
Hallie accompanied Cathy
to the camp program every
day and Cathy also accom
panied Hallie to soccer prac
tice. “They were together
pretty much 24/7,” Nash
said.
At first, she said the two
girls pretty much stayed to
themselves at camp, but she
noticed that as the days wore
on, both became a lot more
interactive with the other
kids at camp, both American
and Chinese.
“Hallie would come home
telling me about several new
Chinese friends she made
and the circle got bigger
every day,” she said. “She
made a ton of new friends.”
And the change in Cathy
was also quite marked, Nash
note. “It was hard to believe
how she changed as she got
comfortable with the entire
family,” she said. “We really
hated to let her go.”
In addition to learning
some of each other's lan
guage, Cathy and the Nashes
also sometimes used a pro
gram called “We Chat,” that
translated words for them.
“The best way to sum it
up was that it was awesome,
exhausting and kind of cool,”
Nash said.
Sign ..
“We haven’t found out yet
who stole my ‘Jack Dar
rell Fortson Road sign’”
wrote Fortson. “If you can
help me out on this I would
certainly appreciate it very
much. Ask around and see
if you can pick up any infor
mation on who stole the
sign. This sign was given to
me by the Madison County
Board of Commissioners
honoring me for all of my
years of service to the cit-
continued from
izens of our great county
as your sheriff and coun
ty commissioner and other
things that I did for all of
you. Let’s find out now who
stole my road sign!”
Fortson was active on
Facebook during the recent
sheriff’s election promoting
Moore, who defeated cur
rent sheriff Kip Thomas in
a runoff July 26.
Moore was on hand for
the posting of the sign and
page 1A
included in the picture
announcing it in this news
paper.
The new sheriff said
someone stealing that sign
is really low.
“I’d say it’s awfully child
ish,” Moore,
Sheriff Thomas said the
road-sign theft had not been
reported to his office and
thus the department has
no leads on the crime. He
declined further comment.
County announces property tax increase
The Madison County Board of
Commissioners has announced its intention to
increase the 2016 property taxes this year by
1.21 percent in the unincorporated areas and
1.68 percent in the incorporated area over the
rollback millage rate.
When the total digest of taxable property
is prepared, Georgia law requires that a roll
back millage rate must be computed that will
produce the same total revenue on the current
year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would
have produced had no reassessments occurred.
The tentative gross millage rate for 2016 is
the same as that adopted for 2015. The tenta
tive net millage rates for 2016 will differ from
2015 rates as amounts received from LOST
and Insurance Premium Tax to calculate roll
backs vary from year to year.
The tentative increase will result in a millage
rate of 10.724 mills, an increase of .128 mills
for the unincorporated area and a millage rate
of 12.152 mills, an increase of .201 mills for
the incorporated area. Without this tentative
tax increase, the millage rate will be no more
than 10.596 mills for the unincorporated area
and 11.951 mills for the incorporated area.
As the millage rate tentatively adopted by
BOC to meet Aug. 18
The Madison County Board of
Commissioners will hold two meetings
Aug. 18 in the county government complex
to discuss the 2016 county millage rate.
The first meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. and
the second at 4 p.m. The 4 p.m. meeting
will also include a review of 2017 health
insurance options with Matt Bidwell and a
discussion of a drug court with T. J. BeMent.
The public is invited to attend and offer
input.
the Madison County Board of Commissioners
is a rate higher than the rollback millage rate,
Georgia law requires three public hearings to
be held to allow the public an opportunity to
express their opinions on the increase before
the Madison County Board of Commissioners
can set a final millage rate.
All concerned citizens are invited to the
public hearings on this tax increase to be held
in the public meeting room of the government
annex in Danielsville Aug. 18, 2016 at 9:30
a.m. and 4 p.m. and Aug. 29, at 6 p.m.
NOTICE OF PROPOSED BUDGET
FOR MADISON COUNTY INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING AUTHORITY
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND BUDGET MEETING
The Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority has prepared its pro
posed 2017 budget as of August 1, 2016. The proposed budget is available at the office of the
Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority, 101 Courthouse Square, Dan
ielsville, Georgia.
A public budget hearing is scheduled for August 15, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., at which time any
person wishing to be heard on the budget may appear. On August 23, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. during
a called meeting, the Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority shall set
the 2016 millage rate. On September 19, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. during the regular Board of Directors
meeting, the Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority shall adopt the
budget for 2017.
The public hearing on August 15, 2016, the setting of the millage rate on August 23, 2016,
and the adoption of the budget on September 19, 2016 will be held at the Meeting Room of the
Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority, 101 Courthouse Square, Dan
ielsville, Georgia 30633.
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