gold creek gym
Fayette County Board of Education
District News
- Kiwanis Donates to After School Scholarship Fund
Working families who cannot afford to place their children in the Fayette County School System’s After School Program are getting some help thanks to a local civic organization and the school system’s CARE (Children at Risk in Education) After School Scholarship Fund. The Kiwanis Club of Fayette has donated $1,000 of its proceeds from its annual fair to the scholarship fund. The fund helps pay partial after school tuition for students whose parents work but do not earn enough to pay for the program. “The scholarship fund helps working parents provide quality child care for their children. The after school program gives children a safe, structured place to be while their parents are at work, keeping them from becoming involved in inappropriate, delinquent or criminal behaviors or falling victim to a predator,” says Jane Gough, Fayette County After School program manager. Less than one percent of Fayette’s after school population receives scholarships for tuition, but for those who need financial assistance, it can mean the difference between keeping a family together or splitting it apart. Scholarship supporters realize the importance of this service to children, their families and the community. “Kiwanis is pleased to support an effort like this because we know that after school is much less expensive than juvenile detention or foster care,” says Kiwanis Board Member Teresa Thaxton. More information about the CARE After School Scholarship Fund can be obtained by contacting CARE Coordinator Karen Spangler, 770-460-1309 or Jane Gough, 770-460-3990, ext. 255. ### - Booth Hosts Science Olympiad Invitational
Science Olympiad is a serious activity for team members at J.C. Booth Middle, so much so that the school is hosting a Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament to get ready for the upcoming regional competition. Science Olympiad competitors are like athletes; both require practice for top performance. That’s why club sponsor Mary Wilde decided to organize an invitational at Booth. On January 24, approximately 40 teams representing middle schools from around the region will participate in the event. Fayette’s Bennett’s Mill, Rising Starr and Whitewater middle schools are taking advantage of the extra practice along with Friendship Christian, Trickum Middle, Rex Middle, Bearden Middle, Ronald McNair Middle, Simpson Middle, Our Lady of Victory, South Forsyth Middle, Paul D. West Middle, Elkins Point Middle, Fulton Science Academy, Greater Atlanta Christian, Dodgen Middle, WS Neal Middle, East Cobb Middle, Arnall Middle and Babb Middle. The event is run just like the state competition with 23 different events and medals awarded to the top six teams in each event category. Activities emphasize doing and applying science. Last year Booth and Rising Starr finished first and second, respectively, at the state competition and advanced to nationals where Booth placed fifth and Rising Starr 26th. Whitewater Middle finished in fifth place at the state level in 2008. Both Booth and Rising Starr Middle have won the national championship for Georgia 10 times out of the last 12 years with Booth achieving 9 national titles and Rising Starr one. ### - AFJROTC Cans Hunger in Fayette
Helping to can hunger in Fayette is the goal of the annual food drive sponsored by the Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) program at Sandy Creek High. This year the cadets collected 4,000 food items from students at the school. The donations were delivered to the Real Life Center in Tyrone, an organization that helps families in the county who are going though a life transition and need temporary support such as counseling, clothing or food. The AFJROTC has sponsored the food drive since 2002 and has donated over 45,000 food items to local organizations and food pantries. The cadets volunteer their time to organize the school-wide project that involves the entire student body. Community service is an important part of the AFJROTC program. The cadets have provided over 1,100 hours of community service so far this year including supporting the Veterans Day parade in Atlanta, providing three color guard performances for Veterans Day, visiting veterans at two assisted living facilities and providing support for Fayette County’s Special Olympics and Honor Flight Fayette. “I am very proud of the efforts from all of these outstanding young cadets. I often receive praise for their support to the community and they represent our program and the school in such a positive way,” says Colonel Douglas Pearson, AFJROTC senior aerospace science instructor. ### - PR Departments State Recognition
The Fayette County School System’s public relations department has received five awards from the Georgia School Public Relations Association (GSPRA) for distinguished achievement in writing, graphic design and electronic communications. Entries are judged on content, use of graphics/special effects and color, layout and usefulness to the intended audience. A press release on the Starr’s Mill High Child Care Center and the teacher recruitment brochure each received a Gold Award of Excellence; the financial summary and a Channel 24 video on the Starr’s Mill High Child Care Center each received a Silver Award of Merit and a press release on the Holocaust Memorial at Rising Starr Middle received a Bronze Award of Merit. “This recognition is truly an honor. The competition is very rigorous with entries competing against each other without the size of the school system or public relations department taken into consideration. Knowing that our projects went up against those from bigger systems with more resources and larger public relations departments makes these awards even more meaningful,” says Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information specialist. The public relations department has received both national and state awards for its communication materials since the office opened in 2001. All totaled, the department has been awarded 61 national and state honors. ### - Florida Resident Donates Flower Pens to Help Fayette's Troops
Six years ago after 9/11 the bus drivers and staff of the Fayette County School System’s Transportation Department started an annual cookout fundraiser for the county’s deployed military personnel. Word about the fundraiser has spread over the years, even to other states. Fundraiser organizers just received a shipment of 100 flower pens from an elderly lady in Florida who donated them to be used as giveaways at the cookout in March 2009. Margaret Sullivan, 93 of Pinetta, Florida, has a long history of community service. She was instrumental in bringing the first opera and theatrical play to her long-time community of Homestead, Florida, as well as securing free dental care for migrant children in the area. She served on various boards and service groups right up until her health begin to fail. Now legally blind and living in an assisted care facility, she passes her time making flower pens for different groups, organizations and worthwhile causes. “She has made pens for all of the ladies at our church and a sister church down the road, as well as for her two caregivers. She has become known as the Flower Pen Lady,” says her daughter Inda Tinney. Cookout participants will have an opportunity to win one of the handmade pens at the event scheduled for March 11, 2009 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the school bus barn. Proceeds from the cookout are used to purchase gift cards for the county’s men and women serving in the U.S. military. Anyone who would like to donate prizes or money to the fundraiser can contact the Fayette County School System’s Transportation Department, 770-460-3520. - Payless and Holiday Helpers Grant Wishes of Angels
Thanks to Payless Shoe Source and Helen Rickman of Fayette Holiday Helpers, 100 students in need of shoes on the CARE (Children at Risk in Education) Angel Tree will have their requests granted. The Shoes 4 Kids program was initiated this year by Payless in response to the economic crisis, its impact on the underprivileged, the significant need across America for children’s shoes and to support smaller, localized nonprofits with a tool to assist them in helping those in need during the holiday season. Fayette Holiday Helpers received 100 of the 67,000 gift coupons that were distributed nationwide. Each gift coupon is worth $15. Fayette Holiday Helpers, which assists with the CARE Angel Tree project each year, decided to donate all of the gift coupons to help fulfill the wishes of Fayette County’s public school students. “We are so grateful to Payless Shoes Source and Holiday Helpers for this donation. We had just over 100 requests for shoes this year so this gift is very meaningful to us,” says Karen Spangler, the school system’s CARE coordinator. A total of 16 schools from all areas of the county will receive the coupons for their Angel Tree participants. The CARE Angel Tree project is designed to help working families struggling to make ends meet provide basic needs for their children. The tree fulfills nontraditional needs such as clothing, after