Gwinnett Forum.com -- Gwinnett County's community forum and idea exchange

TODAY'S ISSUE
Inspired retired teacher sees impact
of public schools on entire country
By Ralph Greene
President
Gwinnett County Retired Educators Association
Special to GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 26, 2002 -- Thursday, Nov. 17, 2002, was Georgia Retired Educators Day. It got me to thinking about the September 11 terrorist attacks and what a far-reaching effect it had on Americans.

Retired Gwinnett County Public School teacher Lois Lane Allen, president-elect of the Gwinnett County Retired Educators Association, found inspiration in the ways in which public schools and their staff members have helped the country weather the tragedy, and how today's leaders and tomorrow's have been shaped by educators and education. In recognition of education's impact on our leaders, please read on for the inspiration Ms. Allen delivered at a Gwinnett County Retired Educators meeting last year and recently at the Gwinnett County Commissioner's Meeting November 5, 2002. She said:

"Last week at a luncheon, I was seated next to two young professional women. As everyone stood to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to pledge allegiance to our nation for which our flag stands, one of the young women said, 'It's been a long time since I've said the Pledge of Allegiance.'

"She put her hand over her heart and she pledged allegiance to her beloved country and she knew every word of our Pledge Allegiance and so did the hundreds of people in that audience.

"In the past months, all over the world, people have been singing or playing our national anthem and 'God Bless America,' and all over our country, people have been pledging allegiance to our country.

"In the past several weeks, I have asked hundreds of people, 'Where did you learn the Pledge of Allegiance? And where did you learn the words of the national anthem?' And the answer has been, 'In school.'

"In school, they learned where 'sea to shining sea' is located; what color amber is; what a republic is; what allegiance, perilous, liberty, and indivisible mean. Often it's said that we should focus not on what is taught but what is learned... Our educators taught them on their busses, in their offices, on the fields and on the courts, at their desks, in their labs, at their tables, and in their classrooms.

"And now we can see evidence that they learned... and we can be glad that educators have helped thousands of people learn basic facts, values-- and yes, words-- that are helping to sustain us all in these days." This is just an example of the influence of educators.

"There are around 1,800 retired educators in Gwinnett County who are proud to have taught in the Gwinnett County Schools. And there are over 50,000 retired educators in Georgia.

"We are rewarded whenever we think about the fact that there are people around the world whose lives have been enriched because they spent time in our classrooms."

ELLIOTT BRACK
City of Grayson shows great spirit,
and has a chance to "do it right"
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 26, 2002 - - If there is an award given during 2002 in Gwinnett for "city spirit," looks to this corner like the award will go to the City of Grayson. The whole area seems invigorated, with a "can-do" approach evident. People are proud of the area.

The city is small---the 2000 census officially counted 775 residents, up from 534 in 1990. One official suggests with people moving in, the population is now about 1,200 within the city borders.

Yet we are not just talking about the boundary of the city itself. We're talking about "Greater Grayson," that is, the area around it. . That area would extend from Pharr Elementary School near Highway 124 all the way to the back corners of the county near Dacula and Loganville. Locals more closely identify the area as that served by the new Grayson High School, which counts 1.960 students, up from 1,000 when it opened two years ago

The "spirit" of Grayson is catching. Its people back good community causes, whether it is the formation of Gwinnett's first cluster educational foundation, the drive to fund the proposed Unity Place for the handicapped at Bay Creek Park, or adopting forward-thinking city ordinances.

Recently Grayson has also shown this spirit in the supporting its own area magazine and newspaper. Each has developed a loyalty of readers and advertisers that many larger publications would go to great lengths to establish.

The City of Grayson is seeking to preserve what it has. Back on April 17, 2000 the city adopted a comprehensive architectural ordinance, to control the core center of town. It picked an 1880-1930 motif (when the town was forming) as the standard for both new construction and remodeling. Mayor Jim Hinkle says: "We want to preserve the past, and if we can't preserve, make it look like the past."

One person partially responsible for this spirit is Principal John Campbell of McConnell Middle school, who was the guy behind forming the foundation for the Grayson school cluster. He feels things are coming together in Grayson,
"For a lot of complex reasons. It comes down to leadership, with former Mayor Doug Wilkerson doing an awful lot for the community and establishing a sense of pride. The Grayson Foundation brought people together. It gave us a common, shared goal, such as a recent truck raffle where we collaborated with those raising money for the Grayson football stadium."

Methodist Pastor Phil Schroeder has been in Grayson for 16 months. He sees the area reinvigorated with "The dynamic of a high school giving a sense of community again."

City Councilwoman Tammy Savage says: "We used to get calls about the water tank overflowing, or worse, being empty. Now, we are struggling with development that has finally come our way. The feeling that I'm in the 'country' is slowly fading away, but we still have large lots, some farmland, the great biscuits at the bake shop, and a huge sense of community."

Barbara Hinkle, the mayor's wife, says "Grayson is where you can go next door and ask to borrow a cup of sugar. You can't do that anymore in some parts of the country." (Barbara does a lot of baking. Her specialty is "An awesome apple crisp.")

Steve Bell, a contractor, who lives just outside city limits of Grayson, says the area is "Country, laid-back, close to city, but rapidly changing. Yet you are away without being too far away" from activities.

Mayor Jim Hinkle realizes growth is coming at Grayson quickly. He says of development: "We have a chance to do it right, or else our chances will be gone forever."

FEEDBACK:
11/26: County should provide vital services since they knew growth was coming

Editor, the Forum:

How long are the residents supposed to wait for the county to provide vital services? Two very large subdivisions, Apalachee and Hamilton Mill, are not new. They have been planned for over 12 years! Gwinnett knew what was coming; they weren't proactive and the result are roads, sewers and schools over capacity.

It is amazing that the planners of this area looked down on North Fulton for so long for the explosive growth due to Highway 400 and the access it provided. Well, what about I-85!! If you go within a 10 minute commute of any exit off 85, it is crowded. How could they not plan!

Norcross High came in a year early and under budget, how nice. Was it done during an election year? I'm sure it was. We are not so lucky and our children are the ones bearing the burden.

Please note that according to Dan Seckinger, fast tracking does not exist in Gwinnett. The site is ready, but since Seckinger was just reelected there is no flame in the fire to hasten the pace of construction. Also please note that the students do not enjoy the space of a doublewide but crowded singles with no windows.

We regret to inform you that our patience has run out. It is not just one more year. Elementary schools are opening over capacity and with trailers. The new Middle and High Schools will also be back in trailers within a few years of opening. There is no end in sight to the trailers.

We are lucky that children are resilient because it is a situation of education in spite of the negative environment and not the environment promoting education. Gwinnett should be a leader in providing a safe, secure and stable environment for its children but once again they have shown that children are not a priority.

-- Laura M. Dillon, Dacula

11/26: Thought comments were thought-provoking

Editor, the Forum:

I appreciate the insight into the political-social-economic-business world of school construction that your columnist Allan Hytowitz and you refer to in the November 22 GwinnettForum.

You mentioned, "Gwinnett may build schools faster, and at a lower cost, than any school system in Georgia. As an example, the new Norcross High came in a year early at a cost of $63 a square foot, compared to a new Fulton County high school, which cost $105 a square foot."

However, I would be highly interested in knowing the cost-per-student of the new construction, especially of the instructional areas alone, not including square footage for hallways, gymnasiums, "commons" areas (i.e. multi-use lunchrooms), etc. Is any information available in this regard? It might be surprising how much money we invest in buildings on a per student (i.e. planned "capacity") basis.

As always, thank you for an excellent and thought-provoking discussion forum.

-- Annette Gelbrich, Norcross

(Editor's note: We checked with the school construction people, and they don't break out their costs the way you suggest. Naturally, we must have those other facilities along with the classrooms to have a complete school. It would be rather easy to check the per student cost by dividing the planned capacity by the total cost.-EEB)

11/26: School system long aware of growth but still stuffs kids in tin-can trailers

Editor, the Forum:

I appreciate your opinion as expressed in the article (about Dacula schools). I concur that the system is building schools faster than many other districts around the country and at a far lesser cost.

While it is true that the people moving into the Dacula area are the source of many of the children that are currently stuffed into tin can trailers, I believe you have failed to recognize that the school system has long been aware of the phenomenal growth taking place in this area.

Being one of the parents that braved the weather the other morning to make a public statement in regards to the overcrowding, I can honestly say I take the Board of Education's many excuses as an affront on the public's intelligence. There is no way they were not aware of the needs that would have to be met in this area of the county in regards to schools. Doing the simple math of calculating the number of students from just one development with 2,700+ homes should have given them a signal of the urgency to act. Nothing more than poor planning.

Again I must agree, The system is doing an above average job of providing our children with an education.

Where the issue really lies though is in the safety, health and welfare of our children. The county has apparently considered these factors and determined they are acceptable risks. I, sir, am not willing to do so. The safety of our children must take precedence over all other factors.

Some of the issues that must be addressed are things like moving the children to the structural safety of the building during inclement weather, security in the event of a lock down, the absence of enough resource officers to effectively patrol the grounds, children eating lunch in a confined space where fungicides and pesticides are regularly applied, not to mention the presence of other potentially harmful chemicals used in the construction of these structures. (Formaldehyde being a major concern since it is regularly used in many glues, epoxies, and even in the manufacture of particleboard that may be used in structures of this nature.)

Elliott, I respectfully suggest that before buying into the rhetoric being offered up by our school system, you do a bit more investigating to determine the merit of what you are being told.

-- Jim Dumond, Buford

11/26: Decision by parents to whine or not determines how students will react

Editor, the Forum:

My children went to Gwinnett schools their entire school years---from the late '70's to 1991, when my youngest graduated from Brookwood. We lived in the then, rapidly growing area of Lilburn/Snellville in what became known as the Brookwood Cluster.

Trailers were a part of the life of school kids, just as they are now. I decided early on that I could whine about it (to no avail....where else would they have classes?) and make my children hate going to school OR make it work to their advantage. Especially in the early grade years, we would go up to the school (RD Head) the day or so before school started and look at the postings on the door for who would be the girls' new teachers and classrooms.

Most of the time they were in trailers, from elementary school until high school graduation. I quickly learned to say" Oh, good...you're going to be in a trailer....it will be quieter and you'll have your own corner of the school"Or something like that.

I'm not necessarily a person who always looks at life with the "glass half-full" mentality, but I, the parent that they looked to for reactions, advice, and a bit of wisdom, had a choice to set the tone for the coming school year for my kids. They never thought it was a bad situation and somehow I got them to view it as favorable to learning, which is why they went to school in the first place.

One of those daughters is now also a teacher, living in another state. She graduated with high honors from Brookwood and did the same in three years of undergrad studies as a pure math major then on to get a Master's in education. We were talking about the trailer issue here and she said she always liked it....that it really was quieter and you could concentrate better without all the distractions in the halls etc.

It certainly never hindered her learning nor that of my younger daughter who also was a high achiever. She is not teaching now but has a first grader in a school district that most likely will have trailers soon....she's not opposed. She's more concerned about the quality of education her children will receive....not the aesthetics of their surroundings.

So, parents in crowded schools....you need a reality check here. It's growing Gwinnett...and has been for the 30 years I've lived here. Trailers at schools are hardly worth all the dissention. There are real issues out there--like is your kid learning to read etc.?

Your children will mirror your feelings on this. Kids are pretty adaptable for the most part; it's usually the adults with the preconceived ideas and the unwillingness to be more open-minded and those ideas are pushed off on their susceptible children.

Can't do that? Well....consider moving to a smaller county. Not all trailers produce trash....it's what you put in them and what comes out that matters.

-- Barbara Smith, Tucker

11/26: Remembers double sessions at South Gwinnett

Editor, the Forum:

Thank you for a well thought-out debate on the fast tracking of Dacula Schools. As a parent of three in Gwinnett County schools, and a former GCPS student who attended double sessions at South Gwinnett in the 80's, I am extremely sympathetic to their argument.

But, I can attest that I received outstanding instruction both in the building, and in the "condos", and went on to be a Dean's List student in college - as did many others. My youngest will be entering McConnell Middle next year, and you can bet I will seek a superior teacher for her if they have to meet in the custodian's office.

-- Kelly Herndon, Grayson