Peachtree Corners is planning its first Electric Vehicle car show. It will be Saturday, September 24, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the CineBistro parking lot in Town Center.
People are invited to the car show, hosted by the City of Peachtree Corners in partnership with Siemens, Mercedes-Benz, Qwik Charge, Ford, Jim Ellis, Georgia Power, and other sponsors.
Guests will experience electric mobility firsthand and learn about the city’s continued commitment to the sustainability through innovative and smart technologies. There is no cost to attend. There will be free chicken and waffle breakfast provided by Flavor on the Fork.
Program tries new ways of keeping interest in teaching
When it comes to professions that make a real impact on the world, it’s hard to stop teaching. Most everyone has that teacher who lit the creative spark that changed the course of their life.
Sadly, the job of teaching has apparently not been giving educators the same inspiration. Teachers have been leaving the profession in droves. A recent study by Forbes showed anywhere from 25 to 54 percent of the nation’s educators are considering leaving their jobs.
The School of Education at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) has launched a fellowship pilot program this year to change that. The heart of the program is centered around the essence of teaching – relationships.
Teachers rely on relationships with their students, which don’t happen in a day. The architects of GGC’s fellowship program understood that. That’s why they created a program that takes undergraduate teaching students and places them in K-12 classrooms around Gwinnett County for an entire year. The fellowship is unique, as the regular teacher steps aside into a mentorship role and the student teacher is given control of the classroom and full-time pay.
Anita Anderson, director of the program and interim chair of field and clinical experiences and Education Partnerships for GGC’s School of Educations says that schools are careful about offering experienced teachers for the mentoring program. “They’re nervous, but, in the end, they’re getting two for one,” says Anderson.
Anderson and her team have developed this idea when thinking of filling the understaffed classrooms. They picked seven students for the pilot program and placed them in Peachtree Elementary School, Jackson Elementary School and Meadowcreek High School.
Jackson
Nequasia Jackson, a senior studying Elementary Education placed in a Jackson Elementary School classroom for the year under mentor teacher Nicole Hollum, says the program was not for the weak “But I have learned more in the short time I have been in the program than anywhere else and that has set me up for my future in this career.”
Also participating in the fellowship is Nick Williams, a senior majoring in history and minoring in religious studies. Williams has been placed in a classroom in Meadowcreek High School for the year with mentor teacher Harvey Gratz. “For me, the most appealing aspect of the fellowship program was the chance to get paid while teaching. But beyond that, on a deeper level, the opportunity to bring to life my own version of a classroom environment was one I could not pass up.”
Williams
Anderson says the fellowship is proving beneficial not just to the student teachers, but to the veteran teachers and the school system itself, as the program also serves as a professional development opportunity. “A big piece of this is retention,” says Anderson. “We want to give the fellowship teachers support so they feel confident and make them a part of the school community, so they want to stay.”
Anderson and her team plan to triple the program size next year, placing 20 to 24 GGC undergraduates into Gwinnett County classrooms. Jackson and Williams both say they would recommend the program to any GGC student who appreciates a challenge and has a passion for teaching.
“If you’re passionate about teaching and want to get a leg up on the competition, this is the program for you,” says Williams.
Grants to 5 charities from Jackson EMC Foundation
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total of $117,500 in grants for organizations during its August meeting, including $47,500 to organizations serving Gwinnett County.
- $15,000 to Mosaic Georgia, Inc., formerly known as Gwinnett Sexual Assault Center and Children’s Advocacy Center, based in Duluth, to provide assistance for its Children’s Advocacy Center program for clients in Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties.
- $15,000 to St. Vincent De Paul Society—Duluth, to help fund direct aid for housing assistance, including rent, mortgage and temporary housing for Gwinnett County families in crisis.
- $7,500 to Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, Inc., for its Ag Experience Mobile Classroom designed for grades 3-5 throughout Jackson EMC’s service area.
- $5,000 to Connect Ability, Inc., based in Dahlonega, for its Sidekicks Respite program designed for people with disabilities and their caregivers in Gwinnett and Hall counties.
- $5,000 to Georgia Options, Inc., in Athens, for its Person-Centered Support Program serving people with developmental disabilities in Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Jackson and Madison counties.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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