TODAY’S PHOTO: An Environmental Education Center will be part of the newness at Summerour Middle School when students return in the fall. Volunteers have been assisting with completion of the Center, which will teach students in outdoor classrooms from a progressive curriculum and community-based urban agriculture and environmental stewardship program. For more info, see Today’s Issue directly below.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Captain Planet Endorses Summerour Middle’s Growing Edge
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Charleston shooting brings sadness, shock, anger, frustration
ANOTHER VIEW: Let’s Look at Obamacare; Is It Working as It Should?
UPCOMING: Gwinnett Ham Radio Operators Plan National Field Day
NOTABLE: Gwinnett Tech’s Construction Management Program Wins Acceptance
RECOMMENDED READ: Every Bitter Thing is Sweet, by Sara Hagarty
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Young Harris College Thriving Now as Four Year Institution
TODAY’S QUOTE: When you think about self, remember this
MYSTERY PHOTO: Who Can Identify This Popular Area?
LAGNIAPPE: A Really Cool Place To Beat the Summer Heat
TODAY’S FOCUS
Captain Planet endorses Summerour Middle’s Growing Edge
By Tixie Fowler
NORCROSS, Ga., June 23, 2015 | Jalapenos, butterflies and several Joe-Pye’s will be on hand to welcome a whole new crop of sixth graders when they arrive at Summerour Middle School in Norcross this fall.
Volunteers toss and turn elements to make enriched soil for the garden.
In addition to a new, state-of-the-art brick facility located just down the street from the previous school, this year’s arriving 6th, 7th and 8th graders will be introduced to the school’s “Environmental Education Center” (EEC). This is a series of outdoor classrooms that are settings for a progressive curriculum and community-based urban agriculture and environmental stewardship program.
The new 17-acre campus includes a Teaching and Demonstration Garden where students and their families can learn a variety of techniques for growing, harvesting and even cooking fresh vegetables. An adjacent sliver of forest allows students to learn about erosion and watershed management, forest revitalization and restoration of native habitat.
The Captain Planet Foundation recently recognized Summerour’s vision of becoming a self-sustaining garden and environment-based learning hub by selecting it as a Project Learning Garden. Founded by Ted Turner in 1991 and now chaired by his daughter Laura Turner Seydel, the Foundation supports high-quality, hands-on environmental stewardship projects that have enabled over 1,000 youth to make significant environmental improvements to their schools or communities.
Thanks to Captain Planet, Summerour teachers will soon be provided with hands-on training and curriculum aligned to national standards for math, science, history, language arts and health, in the context of project-based learning in the garden. The program includes lesson kits filled with supplies, a fully-equipped mobile cooking cart, mentors for the schoolyard garden and summer garden management strategies. It’s based on best practices from over 750 Captain Planet Funded outdoor classrooms, organic gardens, pollinator gardens, learning trails and native habitats.
Already, a diverse group of volunteers have donated their time to the first phase of the concept. Shades of Green, an Atlanta-based permaculture design firm, donated time to formalize the initial concept plan. Summerour’s Junior Leadership 7th grade class spent this past May working with Norcross Police Department (NPD) Detective Arelis Rivera and Norcross’ resident HGTV film producers Suzan Satterfield and Allen Facemire to organize and document a Forest Clean Up Day.
Neighbors and families were rallied to help clear debris in a stretch of forest between the school and nearby apartments; kids scrubbed graffiti from trees and learned how difficult it
Those helping to prepare Summerour facility.
is to remove kudzu by hand. On another day, local church leaders, parents and alumni of NPD’s Hispanic Citizen’s Police Academy worked with Gwinnett Tech’s “Sustainable Urban Farming” Teacher Tony Gobert to build the garden’s first four raised beds. Soon afterwards, another group of volunteers recycled concrete blocks and landscape timbers from the old school site, slated for demolition in June.
As the EEC continues to take shape on the ground, the support for Summerour’s lofty concept continues to gain momentum. Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has proven an invaluable ally, generously offering to refrain from normal sodding and maintenance schedules in areas allocated for EEC development. There’s even discussion about adapting landscape plans to prioritize natives like maple and oak over the more traditionally planted Crepe Myrtles and ornamental pear trees.
Much of what has been accomplished to date is documented on the program’s Face Book page “Gardens4Community.” Private donations and in-kind support have funded the program thus far. However, efforts to fundraise and solicit volunteers will assure the EEC’s continued development.
- To learn more about sponsorship and volunteering opportunities, call the school at 770-448-3045 or send an email to gardens4growingcommunity@gmail.com.
Charleston shooting brings sadness, shock, anger, frustration
Editor’s Note: With the recent shootings in Charleston, here is comment from my son, Andy, who lives in Charleston, and his perspective on the morning after the tragedy. He also published another column Friday that called for policy changes, including removal of the Confederate flag from the S.C. Statehouse grounds, which GOP Gov. Nikki Haley urged yesterday. –eeb.
By Andy Brack, special to GwinnettForum
CHARLESTON, June 18, 2015 | As I headed to bed Wednesday night, a white gunman shot and killed nine people in an historic black church in the center of town just four blocks from where I used to live. Unaware of the evil, sleep came quickly.
But in the wee hours, the ping of a text from an Australian colleague woke me. I didn’t want to read it and tried to go back to sleep. But after tossing and turning, I read the text, only to learn the heart-wrenching news about what was going on a few miles away. I was dazed. Several instant reactions percolated and struggled to the surface:
Deep, utter sadness for victims, their families and their incomprehensible loss. “Mother” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, ministered by state Sen. Clementa Pinckney who was killed in the senseless shooting, has always been an open, welcoming place, a harbor of comfort, a leader for bringing together black and white.
Mark Lawrence of Charleston is one of hundreds who signed a “Charleston United” canvas outside Emanuel AME Church in Charleston over the weekend.
State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a Jasper County Democrat who was pastor at Emanuel AME Church. He was one of nine killed Wednesday night during a prayer service.
Shock that something so horrific could happen in the heart of Charleston, one of the world’s great small cities. Across the street from the church is one of the best public elementary schools around. Adjacent is a world-class performing arts center that is about to re-open after a long renovation. A couple of blocks away is the main library. In the other direction is a central square used weekly in the summers for a farmers market and just vacated by dozens of artists in town for Spoleto Festival USA.
Anger at a society that continues to glorify the gun culture and makes it easy for nuts to walk into a great place of worship and open fire. A bill to allow anyone to carry concealed weapons without a permit narrowly missed passing in the recent legislative session. Instead of making it easier to get and carry guns, state lawmakers across the country need to make it tougher.
Tired, frustrated and forlorn that some Southerners and Americans just can’t get beyond race. Skin has different colors, I tell our children, but people all have red blood, too much of which spilled Wednesday night in Charleston. Right now at 4:30 a.m. in the morning, I don’t know what I’ll tell them when they wake up and learn that they won’t be going to summer day camp because it’s four blocks from the scene of the shooting spree.
There’s never a good time for a tragedy, especially one of this magnitude that cuts to the core of how a community interacts and relates. But now, just 10 weeks after a white police officer in nearby North Charleston shot an unarmed black man to death after a traffic stop, there’s not been enough time for healing from that tragedy before the assault of another.
It’s clear that Charleston’s police and elected leaders were on top of the gruesome, heartbreaking shooting at Mother Emanuel, quickly branding it as a crime born of pure hate. Religious and other community leaders instantly mobilized to provide solace during the tumult.
What’s not clear yet is what Charlestonians will do now that it is on the list of locations of deadly mass shootings along with Blacksburg, Va. (32 dead in 2007), Newtown, Conn. (27 killed, 2012), Killeen, Texas (23 dead, 1991), San Ysidro, Calif. (21 killed, 1984), Littleton, Colo. (13 dead, 1999), Aurora, Colo. (12 killed, 2012).
This list is too long. Instead of waiting for the next shooting at a church, school or theater, something needs to be done to rein in the gun culture in America. Politicians need to stop kowtowing and being fearful of the likes of the National Rifle Association and its lobby. Instead, they need to put in reasonable gun safeguards that allow sportsmen to hunt, but implement ways to stop the senseless killing of good people.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
There’s no telling at this hour how many bullets were fired Wednesday night in Charleston, but it’s clear there were at least nine in a fairly short time period. That’s nine too many.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and Charleston Currents. More information on the aftermath of the shooting can be found on both sites.
Let’s Look at Obamacare; Is It Working as It Should?
“So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” ~Bob Dylan
By George Wilson
Wilson
JUNE 23, 2015 | Obamacare? Is it working?
- Sixteen million have gained health coverage
- Costs have risen at slowest rate in 50 years
- Up to 129 million people no longer at risk of losing coverage
- From the time that open enrollment began in October 2013 to present, the rate of uninsured Americans decreased by 35 percent. That is the biggest improvement in 40 years.
- 87 percent of the 8.4 million people who have come through the federal marketplace are receiving subsidies, at an average of $263 per individual per month.
Here is what Chris Wallace of FOX news said in an interview with GOP Rep. Paul Ryan:
“For all the complaints, we’re five years into Obamacare and Republicans have still not come up with a coherent plan that will ensure that all of those millions of uninsured people will get coverage.” Have the Republicans even lost Chris Wallace?
Finally, now that Obamacare is the law of the land, Republicans should be joining Democrats to strengthen it and expand its tools to cut medical costs — rather than keep trying to kill a market-based health care solution that was originally a Republican idea.
Moreover, we can also make it better by having mostly Republican controlled states set up exchanges and expand Medicaid to everyone. This includes the state of Georgia. This state could benefit from the jobs created, the health improvement of the population and the elimination of the financial crisis facing our rural hospitals.
I’m confident the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Affordable Health Care Act. Our governor and legislature should start leading instead of being reactionary, ignorant, obstructionists. Failure to take a different route should be a justification for removal from office by the people of Georgia.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTGwinnett Center
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s underwriter is Gwinnett Center, home to four distinct facilities in Duluth: The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Gwinnett Convention Center, Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, and The Hudgens Center for the Arts. The Arena at Gwinnett Center has had twelve years of tremendous success hosting countless concerts, family shows and sporting events, and is home to the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. Some past concerts include George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, James Taylor and Michael Bublé.
The Arena at Gwinnett Center also hosts many family shows including Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, Cirque du Soleil, Disney On Ice and Harlem Globetrotters. Gwinnett Convention Center offers patrons the opportunity to host or attend a wide variety of events, from corporate meetings to trade shows to social occasions. Gwinnett Performing Arts Center has an intimate capacity of 700-seats and is home to many local events, family shows and even some comedians. The Hudgens Center for the Arts showcases a range of artwork throughout the year along with offering a wide range of fine art classes.
- For further information visit gwinnettcenter.com.
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Send us your letters
We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today’s Issue as space allows.
UPCOMINGGwinnett ham radio operators plan national field day
Members of the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society (GARS) will take part in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 27 – 28, 2015 at Harbins Park, 2995 Luke Edwards Road, Dacula. The public is invited to observe and learn about Amateur Radio, sometimes called ham radio.
Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend, especially between 2-8 p.m. on June 27 when activities will be set up especially for the public. The event is family-friendly and will feature a Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station with a Ham Coach who will help you make your own radio contacts!
- For more information contact Mitch Matteau, GARS Public Information Officer, at n0dim@earthlink.net or 404 345-6952.
Gwinnett Ballet Theatre continuing summer class series
Gwinnett Ballet Theatre has expanded its popular Open Class schedule for summer 2015 with added classes and teachers. Dancers can stay in shape during the summer in preparation for the 2015-2016 Season.
Valeria Zalaya and Madeline Whitehead (Photo by Richard Calmes.)
Open classes began June 22 and continue through August 7 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday except the weeks of July 6 – 17th. Dancers age 12 and up are welcome to attend. The cost is $20 per class and is payable at the door. No reservations are necessary.
This year, teachers David Blumenfeld, Victoria Leigh, and John Streit will be teaching ballet class from 10 a.m. until Noon. Call for information on individual teacher’s dates., Xavier Lewis will teach a hip hop class from noon to 1 p.m. The dates for the hip hop classes are 6/22, 6/24, 6/26, 6/29, 7/1, 7/3, 7/27, 7/29 and 7/21. Ballet classes will be held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6/22-8/7 except for the weeks of July 6-17.
GBT also continues to produce its Summer Fairy Tale Camp for ages 3-6 and its Beginner Ballet Intensive for ages 7-9 on July 13-17.
- For more information and to register for the Fairy Tale Camp and Beginner Intensive, call 770-237-0046. GBT is located at 1800 Macleod Drive in Lawrenceville, directly across Sugarloaf Parkway from Gwinnett Tech. Visit the web site at gwinnettballet.org.
Early Education Center at Gwinnett Tech plans open house June 25
The D. Scott Hudgens Jr. Early Education Center on the campus of Gwinnett Technical College will host an Open House on Thursday, June 25, from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The Open House is for interested parents and families in anticipation of fall enrollment for pre-school or immediate opportunities for child development classes. No registration is needed – those interested are invited to stop by at any time during the day for a personalized tour. For more information, email hudgens@gwinnetttech.edu or call 678-226-6510.
The Hudgens Early Education Center, recognized by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education for modeling best practices in early education, offers early care and education for children ages six weeks to eight years.
NOTABLEGwinnett Tech’s Construction Management Program wins acceptance
The Commercial Construction Management program of Gwinnett Technical College has been accepted into the Associate Schools of Construction (ASC), the professional association of construction educators and industry that works to advance construction education.
Gwinnett Tech will be one of only nine two-year member colleges in the ASC, joining 143 four-year university members. The ASC promotes the sharing of ideas and knowledge, as well as inspires, guides and promotes excellence in curricula, teaching, research and service.
Gwinnett Tech offers an associate degree in commercial construction management, plus certificate options for commercial construction contract administrator, commercial construction estimator and sustainable design and construction. The program is designed with working professionals in mind, offering courses in the evening.
In keeping with Gwinnett Tech’s model of collaborating with business and industry on curriculum development, the Commercial Construction Management program’s advisory board is comprised of regional and local leaders in construction, commercial and community development and engineering.
Ten Gwinnett students win prestigious Baldwin scholarships
Ten of Gwinnett County’s best and brightest students were recently awarded the prestigious Beauty P. Baldwin Scholarship by the Upsilon Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., along with its nonprofit affiliate, The Gwinnett Pearls of Service Foundation, Inc.
The Beauty P. Baldwin Scholarship was established to honor the first African American female superintendent in the state of Georgia, Mrs. Beauty P. Baldwin of Dacula. Baldwin is also a charter member of Upsilon Alpha Omega Graduate Chapter. Typically the scholarship is reserved for female African American students; however, in their efforts to embrace African American males, the chapter has awarded scholarships to male students. The 2015 Beauty P. Baldwin Scholarship recipients include:
- Destiny Brown, Collins, North Gwinnett High School;
- Kieanna Doctrine, Gwinnett School of MST;
- Jamila Dyer, Peachtree Ridge High School;
- Kynnedi Fye, Archer High School;
- Sabree Harris, Parkview High School;
- Selemawit Kemsi, Grayson High School;
- Awung Morfaw, Dacula High School;
- Elisabeth Petit-Bois, Dacula High School;
- Lindsey Sharpe, Duluth High School; and
- Mykel Skinner, Gwinnett School, MST
Every Bitter Thing is Sweet
By Sara Hagarty
In Every Bitter Thing is Sweet the author gives a voice to the longing of hearts in search of faith, hope and belief in the order of God’s plan for every life. She bravely opens the door to the reader sharing her own long season of barrenness not only of her womb but of her heart locked away in a season of aridity. Readers exploring faith and seasons such as Sara’s may identify with her holy loneliness, awash in the mundane events of life; feeling lonely amidst friends and family, and longing for hope and vulnerability it brings. This book spans 12 years of Sara’s life and the growth she shares covers many of life’s events: financial problems, staleness in marriage, international adoption, the kaleidoscope of striving for accomplishment for the Lord while running away from His courtship of her heart. I was moved to tears at several junctures and so grateful for her willingness to share her longing for holiness and wholeness. The full title is Every Bitter Thing is Sweet: Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things.
— Karen Harris, Stone Mountain
- An invitation: What books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb
Young Harris College thriving now as four-year institution
A four-year liberal arts college in the mountains of north Georgia, Young Harris College holds a higher profile in Georgia’s social and political history than its 1,300 student enrollment (as of 2015) might imply. Founded in a small town between the villages of Blairsville and Hiawassee in Towns County, the school was typical of denominational schools in Appalachia during its early years; hardscrabble and poor, these institutions were typically guided by preachers, the area’s most learned leaders.
Methodist circuit minister Artemus Lester gave the school its start in 1886 and named it after a benefactor, Judge Young L. G. Harris of Athens. Then, as now, the college adheres to Methodism’s educational principles of putting beliefs into action.
Young Harris’s student body was and is largely drawn from the small towns surrounding the school.
Historically, Young Harris College has maintained strong ties with the local townspeople—so much so that in 1895 the town’s residents officially renamed their village, originally called McTyeire, after the school. After a devastating fire in 1911, the citizens of Young Harris rebuilt what is now Sharp Hall to prevent the college from moving. In fact, Young Harris has a strong legacy of support from donors who have never attended the school.
In March 2007 former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox became president.
Despite its small-town roots and religious ties, Young Harris prides itself on academic integrity. One of the college’s best-known teachers was alumnus and legendary mountain poet Byron Herbert Reece. Reece, a celebrated literary figure, won the annual award from American Poet in 1943; published his first volume of poetry, Ballad of the Bones, in 1945; and by 1952 was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in poetry, profiled in Newsweek, and offered a poet-in-residence position at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Smart fiscal management has resulted in an enviable endowment of about $100 million for the college, better in per capita measures than Ivy League giants like Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The endowment affords a wide array of fine arts classes and a music department that includes faculty for classical guitar, piano, and voice.
Athletic endeavors are popular, with a large percentage of students playing a variety of sports. Teams include baseball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, and tennis, in addition to intramural leagues. The women’s soccer team placed third in the NJCAA’s national tournament in 2005.
Fine arts performances offer similar possibilities. Facilities include an observatory and the 109-seat Rollins Planetarium, the state’s fourth largest planetarium in terms of seating capacity.
Many of Berry’s classmates became ministers, but Young Harris has also produced many other career public servants, including former Georgia Governor Zell Miller. In all, Young Harris counts among its alumni two governors, a U.S. senator, several congressmen, mayors, and a host of state legislators. The college has also turned out a number of notable performing artists, including silent movie actor Oliver Hardy, television actress Amanda Bearse, and country music artists Ronnie Milsap and Trisha Yearwood.
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Surprising place
This edition’s Mystery Photo may surprise you. Several places appear to be like this, but exactly where is this photo taken? Send in your thoughts along with your name and hometown to Elliott@brack.net.
Tom Merkel of Berkeley Lake sent in a tough Mystery Photo, which ran in the last edition. Only two people recognized the photo, both from trips taken long ago. The photo was taken in Portfolio, Italy.
First in was David Earl Tyre of Jesup, who thought he recognized it. Then John Nevins of Berkeley Lake came in with the right answer. (There were several incorrect answers.)
LAGNIAPPE
HERE’S THE PLACE TO BE as summer has arrived: the popular Gwinnett Recreation pools, at one of several locations around the county. Roving Photographer Frank Sharp caught this shot of the pool at the Rhodes Jordan Park in Lawrenceville. If you haven’t already, search out that bathing suit, drive a short distance, and you, yourself, jump in and help cool off in the summer heat.
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