Georgia alert; a look at education's role today, 1980 March - 1983 January

roLrD
bA
.PI Nt
" II

. ''0~O\e\OO'O.~
t:,OUC'O.\\O'(\
~\.oOv..'O.\

.....A.'L" ..:"

. ....u...,

Received

MAR 41980

DOCUMENTS UGA LIBRARIES

March 1980 Volume 12. Number 1

.~ I ,.;- il l ~ .. r : r~ ~: ..!:.:~:t
' ,--

...~ ~ ~

\\IJ" '~~:f' ,.~

,1.1. 0'0 111

v.,

~ ~

Education Legislation
An Inside Look At The Issues

~eW1ywewere (.ii'~-------';

Public education in Georgia dates back to October 1870. Many people, places and events have made education history in the 110 years since the legislature passed a law establishing a statewide system of public instruction.
Pictured here is Rockville School, Putnam County, built in 1889, consolidated in 1890 and graded in 1892. The school is said to have been the first consolidated rural school, the first Standard rural school and the first vocational rural school in Georgia.

This photograph is one of many illustrations in the recently pub-
lished A History 0/ Public Education in Georgia, 1734-1976,
commissioned by the State Board of Education and published by the R. L. Bryan Company of Columbia, South Carolina. Authors are Oscar Joiner, retired associate state school superintendent; Dr. H. S. Shearouse, retired state department staff member; Drs. James C. Bonner and T. E. Smith, retired profes-
sors at Georgia College, and Dr. Claude Purcell, retired state superintendent.

...
.~ (5
<''""l>
<3,

An Art Gallery? It's Elementary

As part of a program to display works of important local artists and acquaint youngsters with art as part of their every day lives, Atlanta's C. W. Hill Elementary School has opened its own art gallery.
Hill third grade students (from left) Sunu Thomas, Shelly Senterfitt, Calinda Lee and Kellam Graitcer examine studentproduced sculpture in the new gallery, which is used for children's art classes and as a teaching laboratory by Georgia State University art students.

Dr. Elizabeth Freely, Area III superintendent for Atlanta schools, initiated the gallery concept last year for 10 schools in the area. C. W. Hill is the second area school to open a gallery, according to Hill Principal Paula Calhoun. All funding came from Park Central Communities, Inc., which is redeveloping the innercity neighborhood served by C. W. Hill.
"Art is extremely important," said Calhoun. "It's not just icing on the cake. I think it's important for lifelong development to have art in the schools. This gallery is part of that."

Ben Ross
For legislative insight into key education issues in the Georgia General Assembly this session, ALERT reporters interviewed Senator Hugh Carter, (D) Plains, chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Representative Ben Ross, (D) Lincolnton, chairman of the House Education Committee. Carter, a senator for 14 years, has chaired the Senate Education Committee for six years. Ross, a representative from 1957-62 and 1965present, has headed the House Education Committee for seven years.
Both the Governor and State Board of Education are recommending an across-the-board pay raise for teachers. How do you feel about an across-the-board raise instead of a percentage raise?
Carter: Normally I support applying teacher pay raises on the salary index schedule. But I have come to realize that about once every five years we should give an across-the-board raise so we can get our beginning teachers up. I favor the Governor's $1,000 across-the-board. But I hope we find more money to give a much higher raise. It's very important that we have good teachers, and the only way to get them is to pay them. I hope the final accepted figure will be a raise of 12 to 15
percent. And, if the raise is this much, we should
apply it on the salary index schedule.
Ross: Historically, pay raises have been given according to the salary index schedule. We have come'ro recognize-tharthelaises according-to the schedule leave the beginning teacher's salary low. On this particular year, I am going to support the $1,000 across-the-board raise. I have given some thought to the fact that one out of every four or five years the legislature should do that (give acrossthe-board raises) so that we can keep the salary of the beginning teacher up. However, ... I'm not at all pleased with the fact that teachers, after 14 years of service, don't get any increases in pay except when they earn another certificate ... [ believe we are going to have to open up the end of the schedule if we do nothing more than give an additionaI 2.5 percent for every additional five years of service.

Top Four Issues
Teacher Salaries - In the FY 81 budget request Governor Busbee is recommending a $1,000 across-the-board salary increase for teachers, and the Georgia Board of Education is recommending a $1,594 across-the-board raise.
Senate Bill 271 - This bill, which has already passed the Senate, exempts the handicapped child from all hearings under Georgia Code Annotated 32-910 in matters pertaining to requirements of Public Law 94-142, the federal law for education of the handicapped. Federal regulations accompanying PL 94-142 prohibit local boards of education from serving as hearing officers when a conflict develops between parents and local school districts about matters pertaining to the handicapped child.
House Bill 690 - This legislation would require the teaching and presentation of scientific creationism in public schools if the theory of evolution is taught. Neither Representative Ross nor Senator Carter would comment on this legislation since it has not been discussed in either education committee.
Senate Bill 120 - This bill would amend Georgia law to provide that teachers be given a duty-free lunch period. It would require that such lunch periods be accomplished by schedule adjustments and in addition would provide that systems not be required to hire additional personnel for its implementation.
2. Georgia ALERT, March 1980

Indications are that money will be tight this year. What are your top priorities for education in the proposed FY 81 budget?
Carter: Well, school teachers' salaries, I'd say, is first. Then I would go to M&O. It's $200 per teacher in the Governor's budget this year. I wish we were able to raise that, but I doubt very much that with the salary situation like it is that we will
be able to. I have other priorities, but if we can hold
our continuation of the programs that we have and do the best we can with inflation like it is, maybe when we do have an influx of money we can start some new programs, such as reducing the teacher-pupil ratio. I think the kindergarten program is working well, and I would like to see us improve on it. Capital outlay funds for new school buildings are also on my priority list.

o'o:0r

Vl

Education Legislation 1980

cr
'C
Qro

:l

:l

Facing The Issues

Q
~.

by Eleanor Gilmer and Julia Martin

Ross: My priorities all deal with the child - those things which will be beneficial and helpful to the learning process of the child. We must devote money to the process of learning. Of course, I have advocated a reduction in the teacher-pupil ratio ... I'm not in favor of aides. I don't think they lend a great deal to the learning process. I would prefer to see that $15 million put into reducing the teacherpupil ratio. If necessary, I think we could use some of the compensatory education money to reduce the teacher-pupil ratio. Personally, I don't think two adults in the classroom is the solution to reducing the teacher-pupil ratio.
One of the bills to be acted on by the House this year is S.B. 271. What recommendation do you think the House Education Committee will give this bill?
Ross: I understand the subcommittee in which this bill was placed'has made a recommendation that it not receive a favorable recommendation . . . It seems the entire fight involved in this is whether or not these hearings (for handicapped children) can be heard before a local board or a local education agency ... I have a copy of the code dealing with this, and the federal law specifically provides that whenever a complaint has been received under this subsection that parents or guardians shall have an opportunity for an impartial due process hearing, which shall be conducted by the state education agency or local education agency or intermediate education unit as determined by state law or state education policy. The subcommittee, I think, is looking at this from the fact that the local board does have the authority under this law to conduct the hearing. That is the basis for their recommendation. Now just what the full committee will do on it, I don't know.
The Bureau of Education of the Handicapped has said that unless S.B. 271 passes, Georgia's annual program plan will not be approved, which would mean we would lose about $20 million in federal funds. What do you think will happen if we lose this money?
Carter: I am uery much in fauor of this bill. I hope we don't lose that $20 million. Sometimes we just haue to submit to suggestions and rules by the federal gouernment if we are to continue programs. Special education is uery important in our state, and we need euery dime we can get for it. I really see no reason why a nonbiased board approued by the state board can be wrong as far as assignment of a special ed. child.
Ross: Of course, we never want to lose federal funds. However, I don't think we should ever be put in the position of having to provide federal programs based on the mandate that if we don't do this or that we're going to lose federal funds ... I think we are entitled to those funds. I understand Freeman Leverett (attorney for the Georgia School Boards Association) says (S.B. 271) is something we don't need, that what they are trying to mandate on us is not the law, but some of the

regulations. This may be the basis for a suit as to whether they have promulgated their rules and regulations according to the law.
We understand 41 states have had to change their laws. Do you think Georgia should go to court rather than change the law?
Ross: I don't advocate going to court. Maybe the new U. S. Department of Education being set up will have a little different philosophy ... We could work out this thing even if S.B. 271 is not enacted. I think they hesitate to cut off federal funds ...
S.B. 120 dealing with duty-free lunch periods for teachers has passed the Senate and will come before the House this year. If it passes the House, do you think school systems can implement it without additional funds?
Carter: I think this is a fair program, that if the children haue 30 minutes for lunch, then the teacher would haue 30 minutes for lunch. I am not in fauor of it costing extra funds. I think teachers could take turns and work it out among themselues where it wouldn't cost any extra money.
Ross: If it passes, I think some of the systems will have to have additional funds, and all will require additional personnel. I can appreciate the fact that teachers need a little time off from the regular classroom. Nevertheless, they are there for the purpose of teaching ... Table manners are an important part of a child's learning process. I think it's important that a teacher be with the children during their lunch period in order to help them.
Are there other key issues concerning education that are coming up this year besides the ones we have already discussed?
Carter: I think retirement for school teachers is uery important. Senator Eb Duncan and I were authors of the bill to raise the retirement factor from 1.5 to 2. This was passed seueral years ago, but it was passed subject to funding. We'ue already funded it this year at 1.88, and the Gouernor's recommending in the '81 budget that wefund it to 1.93. I'm delighted about this because we're euentually going to fully fund the factor up to 2 percent.
I'm also interested in seeing our health insurance program extended to noncertificated personnelsecretaries, lunchroom workers, bus driuers, etc.

Hugh Carter
This will cost about $25 million the first year. We can't possibly fund this this year, but we could pass the legislation subject to fund auailability. Ross: Every issue is a key issue because everyone deals with the child. Of course, some of them don't have the same significance as others. I don't think there are others of great importance. Financing is always the key issue . . . financing in the proper place.
Would you like to give us your forecast for education for the 1980s?
Carter: Vocational training and comprehensiue high schools in Georgia are things I want to constantly see us work on. We haue so many people in high schools who want to learn a trade - how to weld or how to be a mechanic or how to lay bricks. We need to place more emphasis on uocationaltechnical schools and insist on cooperation between them and the high schools and also the Uniuersity System of Georgia. It's uery important that we coordinate all three programs in uocational education. Officials are trying to work it out so a person can go from a college and take two or three courses from a uo-tech school and let it count toward a degree. Then when a person finishes
college, if he didn't want to be a school teacher cr
didn't want to further his education, he would be ready for (a uocational job). If we don't offer the kind of education people want and can use to make a liuing, we are failing in our efforts. As far as new programs in education for this coming year, I don't see it because of the economy and fund shortage. What we need to do is work on what we haue and try to perfect the programs that we haue started. I think Georgia is on the rise. I think at one time we were low in most education standards, but I belieue we're on the way up now, and I'm delighted with the way we'ue mouedforward. We'ue done a lot in the last few years. We're not doing enough, but we're doing so much better, and I think we'll continue to do so. Ross: I hope it is going to be good. The Governor over the past six years has made the statement he's making education his number one priority, and sometimes I wonder if he is really doing that. I don't think we can continue to finance programs that are conceived in the minds of ... administrators. Of course, you can say all can be helpful, but I don't know how helpful a program can be in the eighth grade if a person can't read and understand the eighth grade program. It still goes back to the fact that we have to get the program started early so that the child can progress through the orderly processes until he can become a useful citizen ... I don't think it's being done today.
Georgia ALERT, March 1980.3

Some In The]

Southern Cornbread
4 pounds cornmeal 4 pounds all-purpose flour 1 cup baking powder 2 Cl;p:; dry milk 2% cups sugar 1Y2 tablespoons salt 24 eggs 3 cups vegetable oil or melted fat 2 quarts plus 2-1/3 cups water
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a large mixing machine. Combine eggs, shortening and water in a second bowl and add to dry ingredients. Beat only until moistened and fairly smooth. Pour batter into greased baking sheets. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Serves 100.

by Ellio

8 .00 a .m . A yellow school bus follows Lue Andrews' car up the long driveway to Jefferson High School. Andrews parks, removes a white cook's smock from the back seat, slams the car door and walks quickly to the cafeteria entrance.
Ruth Bennett and Muarl Davis, co-managers of the school food and nutrition program at Jefferson, greet Andrews at the kitchen door. She deposits her purse in the office, slips into the smock and turns to the day's work plan posted on a wall. Menu, quantities of food, preparation schedule and tasks for each staff member are listed.
"Let's work on the cornbread," she says, scanning the menu. "We also need to talk about equipment."

Lue Andrews is the Georgia Department of Education's area consultant for school food and nutrition programs in the northeastern corner of the state. She advises professional food service directors and managers in 21 county systems and three city systems, of which Jefferson is one. Monday may find her translating federal jargon in Toccoa; on Tuesday, perhaps in Blairsville, she will help plan a list of menu choices for high school students.
8 .5 0 a.m. A can opener is not working properly. Andrews observes the effort required to cut through the top of a large tin of peas. She points out the deficiencies of the device to Bennett, suggests a
SOU:'C2 for replacement.
9.00 a .m . A tray of biscuits comes out of the oven, golden brown, steaming. Coffee, milk, sugar and butter are carried to a long cafeteria table. Andrews puts a list of menus for the coming week next to her coffee cup.

"What cut of pork will you buy for this barbeque?"

she asks, looking down the table at the staff and

managers. "Buy Boston butt," she answers. "It's

cheaper for what you want because you're going to

9.20 a. m . cook it until it falls off the bone." The cooks are back in the kitchen. Andrews

remains at the table, chatting about can openers

and steam tables with Ed Cooke, a representative

of Norvell Fixture and Equipment Company. Their

talk is serious, punctuated by jokes. This is one way

a consultant learns about new products.
935 a .m. Two women place flour and cornmeal in

the bowl of a large mixing machine. They add

liquid, turn on the mixer and step back for

Andrews' inspection. "It's a bit dry," she says.

Adjustments are made, the women remove the

bowl from the machine and scrape the batter into

10 .00 a.m. flat baking sheets.

Andrews confers with Superinten-

dent Leland Dishman in his office up the hill from

photos by

4. Georgia ALERT, March 1980

I~ ,one,s
itchen
tt MackIe
the cafeteria. Their relationship is friendly, relaxed. He knows the value of her services. In college she concentrated on foods and nutrition. She has worked as a teacher, a college food service director and a food service manager for industry. She holds certificates in food management training and food handling. The area consultants in other districts have similar qualifications and experience.
School food service is the second largest awayfrom-home dining operation in the country. Nationwide, it has an annual value of $7 billion to $8 billion. Superintendents, principals, their food service directors and managers are responsible for administering programs which range from breakfast service for kindergarteners to purchase of equipment with federal money. Many school systems could not afford to pay for the consultation offered by department of education staff.
10 -_50 a _m _Controlled chaos in the kitchen. Three women are carrying trays of diced ham patties, sweet potatoes and peas to the serving line. Another worker is cutting sheets of cornbread into square pieces. Andrews watches for a moment, then takes up a knife to demonstrate. "You don't want to make the slices too big," she says. "The students will throw most of it away if you do." Andrews tastes a piece of the bread, cocks her head.
II -_IS a _m _Andrews checks meal service on the line, women deftly placing portions of meat, vegetables and bread on trays. Students take cartons of milk from a cooler and move on, smiling. Later, as trays are returned to the dish room, Andrews and Davis will check acceptance of the meal - what was eaten and what was not.
I -_IS p _m _ Andrews takes a plate, fills it with food and joins several workers at the kitchen table. The conversation, which is leisurely but instructive, covers recipes, serving techniques, students, cornbread and the weather.
1--45 p _m _ Andrews, Davis and Bennett are closeted in the kitchen office. Catalogs are spread out across the desk, open to illustrations of commercial can openers.
2 -_25 p _m _A worker is mopping the floor; kitchen clean-up is almost complete. Andrews removes her smock and picks up her purse. Before going home at the end of the day she will stop at her office in Athens, go over correspondence and appointments, make phone calls.
Andrews reminds Davis and Bennett that she will return next day. "I think we'll talk about purchasing," she says. "And maybe I can give you some help on your accounts." She waves at a staff member and walks out the door. A minute later she is driving back down the hill.
"Jlenn Oliuer

Georgia ALERT, March 1980.5

Flying High At SGT

by Steve Harvey

It's not surprising that three airplane hangars continue to dominate the 350-acre campus of South Georgia Technical and Vocational School (SGT) in Americus, 20 miles from President Carter's hometown of Plains in southwest Georgia. Although many new classroom buildings have recently been added to the school's modern physical plant, the converted World War II hangars serve as an important link between the school and the rich history of the land on which it is built.
Before World War I, the federal government operated an Army Air Corps training base known as Souther Field on the present site of the SGT campus. It was here that Charles Lindbergh made his first solo flight. Following World War I, Souther Field was closed, but reopened at the beginning of World War II to train French and English pilots.
Land for the school was given to the State Board of Education by the federal government in 1947 and designated for education purposes. The following year, classes at South Georgia Tech began. The school is now one of two state-supported, residential technical and vocational schools operated by the Georgia Department of Education.
During the intervening 30 years, responsibility for administering SGT and its sister school - North Georgia Tech in Clarkesville - shifted among various divisions within the department of education. Since 1977, however, the schools have been placed under the department's Office of State Schools and Special Services headed by Peyton Williams Jr.
Over the years, too, a network of nonresidential area vo-tech schools and jointly operated vocational-junior college programs has been added to Georgia's post secondary vocational-technical school system. But according to James Spradlin, SGT's student personnel services coordinator, the new schools have not obscured the continuing need - and purpose - for residential schools like SGT.
"We offer a number of study programs not available at other schools," said Spradlin. "Some training programs are so expensive to run it would be prohibitive for other schools to try to offer them. Then too, there is not a need in all sections of the state for the same programs."
Commuting Impractical
"Some students like the idea of continuing their education away from home in a campus atmosphere," continued Spradlin. "And, lately, gasoline costs have made commuting impractical for some and residential living more economical."

Approximately 500 Georgia, out-of-state and foreign students are now enrolled full-time in the school's regular, day division. Another 225 students are enrolled in short-term courses in the evening division. Regular students can take any of the programs ranging from upholstery and farm equipment mechanics to data processing, auto mechanics, drafting and aviation mechanics. Evening courses are offered in the same study areas as regular programs. In addition, other courses may be implemented in response to requests from individuals and organizations in the surrounding communities.
Typewriter repair course.
"Credibility" is a key word in the vocabulary of Dea Pounders and one he often uses in articulating his philosophy as the school's director. "I believe a school iike SGT must maintain a reputation of credibility," said Pounders. "And when I say 'credibility' I mean more than just its training programs. It means a qualified and dedicated staff, support services and the involvement and participation of students." As expected, extracurricular activities in a residential school like SGT are an important facet of student involvement. The student council regularly sponsors dances, movies and concerts. Several of the training programs have allied professional student organizations, such as the recently chartered Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) chapter. The Alpha Chapter of the statewide GOAL Shield Society was chartered at SGT. And a number of athletic facilities are available for student and faculty use. These include a fully equipped gym with weight room, olympic size

swimming pool, lighted softball field, golf driving range and tennis courts.
Much campus activity is focused around Hicks Hall, the recently completed student center. The center includes a library, snack shop, media center, student lounge, gameroom and student meeting rooms for yearbook staff and social groups.
Modification Of Facilities
A current school project being undertaken by both students and instructors is the modification of facilities to make them more accessible to the handicapped. More extensive modifications and refurbishing of the student dormitories are also planned as funds become available.
Although the school operates on a quarter system, there is a traditional drop in regular enrollment during the summer session. To take advantage of these vacancies and to make maximum use of school facilities during this quarter, SGT, NGT and the Georgia Department of Labor have entered into a jointly sponsored Youth Employment Training Program (YETP) for high school-aged students.
According to Mack Martin, a vocational supervisor at the school, YETP has made a positive impact. "Approximately 80 disadvantaged youths, aged 16-21, attend classes with our regularly enrolled post secondary students," said Martin. "Emphasis placed on career and personal development, guidance and work!skill transition and on acquiring occupational skills has paid off. Many of these students go back home with new insights into a career field, and some even come back to SGT later as full-time students."
The high school youth served in the summer program are just a few of the people South Georgia Tech hopes to reach with its broad-based curriculum of 24 courses in four major areas of study business; health; skills such as aircraft mechanics, drafting and industrial plant maintenance, and technical studies.
The 260 graduates of the school each year represent the culmination of efforts to offer a full range of services from teaching unskilled students so they can be gainfully employed, to providing programs that will upgrade currently employed workers in their jobs, to providing job placement services for graduates. Each instructor at South Georgia Tech has special qualifications and experience in the occupations taught, and the school is continually working to be responsive to the needs of both its students and the community it serves.

Preparing cars for new paint is part of the auto body repair course at South Georgia Tech.

6. Georgia ALERT, March 1980

"g-
oo
l/l
CT '< C)
ro
::> ::>
Q
~..,.

Glasenia Heard, 1979 GOAL winner.

At Physician's Laboratory, Tucker, Glasenia makes good use of her biology degree and vo-tech training.

College Gave Her A Degree ...

Vo-Tech Gave Her A Job by Jeanette Lloyd

Just like many other young people in the 70s, Glasenia Heard went to college because that was the thing to do. A college degree, she was made to believe, meant automatic financial success. "My high school counselor never talked to me about anything else but college," she remembers. "I never heard a word about vocational school."
During her freshman year at Lithonia High School, Glasenia discovered biology, a subject she could not get enough of. By the end of that first year, she had taken all the biology courses the school offered. After graduating in the top 10 percent of her high school class, she took the cash award she had earned toward a college education and went to Spelman College in Atlanta to study more biology.
But as a college junior she made a startling discovery. The career options a biology degree offered didn't nearly match the fun she had taking the courses. "There were very few things Icould do with a biology degree," she says, "and I wasn't interested in any of them. But I had already invested three years in college and thought I should finish."
While still at Spelman, a lifelong interest in medicine, along with her studies in biology, qualified her for a job at DeKalb General Hospital. Her work as a phlebotomist (a person who draws blood from veins for clinical sampling) was all right as a parttime job, but as a lifetime career it wasn't.
Aware of her dilemma and concerned with helping her find a solution, her health careers counselor at Spelman suggested she might consider a medical technology career. Since Glasenia was already working in the medical lab at DeKalb General, she had only to observe what was happening around her to decide whether or not she wanted a career in that field. "I always enjoyed working with body fluids, seeing all the different chemical analyses that can be done to arrive at a diagnosis," she says, "and that's what intrigued me about medical technology."
Once she had decided on a career, she looked into training opportunities at technical schools in the Atlanta area. Atlanta Area Technical School was her choice "because it offered exactly the kind of training" she would need.
From the beginning Glasenia's dedication to her studies and responsible and hard-working nature made her an exemplary student in her class at Atlanta Tech. She was such an outstanding stu-

dent that last spring when school nominations were being sought for the 1979 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL), her instructor enthusiastically submitted her name.
And, in short, that's how Glasenia Heard, secondquarter medical assisting student at Atlanta Tech, became the first college graduate to receive the GOAL award.
Announced during a statewide telecast of the awards banquet, the title of state GOAL winner carried not only prestige as the state's top vo-tech student but the grand prize of a 1980 silver Oldsmobile Omega as well. Paul Shields, master of ceremonies for the televised portion of the banquet, asked Glasenia whether she had plans for further study. The audience applauded with delight when she exclaimed, "I already have a degree. I came to vo-tech school to learn a skill!"
For details of the 1980 GOAL Program
turn to page eight.
The nomination form on which she was entered in Atlanta Tech's GOALjudging required her instructor, Sandra Puckett, to rate her in the categories of character, attitude, attendance, leadership, personal appearance and extracurricular activities. A score of five points was possible in each category for a total of 30. For a score of five, an explanation had to be given, a requirement that discourages many instructors from giving such a rating. But not Glasenia's instructor. Puckett concluded her comments by saying, "Her dedication to the pursuit of an education is to be commended and is evidenced by her excellent attendance and busy schedule. Teaching students like Glasenia is a rewarding experience."
Knowing students like Glasenia Heard is rewarding also to people who know the value of vocational training in preparation for meaningful employment. That story she has told all year long to various civic groups and student organizations throughout the state. "I like to talk," comments Glasenia, and that quality certainly qualifies her for the role of goodwill ambassador for vocational education.
One question that invariably comes up with almost every audience is why a person with a college degree would go to vo-tech school. And the answer

is always the same, " ... so I could get a job."
She has that job now, and it is everything that she had anticipated. Although she works the midnight to 8 a.m. shift at a north Atlanta medical lab, the transition was made easier by the rigorous schedule she had kept while in school. "I would just stay up as late as I could, until Ijust fell asleep," she says, describing how she adjusted to going to work at midnight. "It really wasn't that different from what I had been doing. I used to leave work at DeKalb General at 11 p.m. and then get up at 4:30 the next morning to be at the Veterans Hospital by 6:00 for classes."
While at Atlanta Tech weekends had not provided much leisure time for Glasenia to study and relax. She worked a double shift, Friday evening and Saturday, at Georgia Baptist in addition to her job at DeKalb General. That is what her instructor had meant by her "busy schedule."
Although she likes what she is doing now, there are built-in pressures from which she cannot escape. A study she read not long ago rated the medical technology field third in job-related stress. Part of this stress comes from the urgency of doctors calling for reports for their anxious patients. "If I run a test on a specimen and the doctor calls in disagreeing with it on the basis of patient information or examination, then I'll have to run the test again, duplicating my answer. That causes tremendous pressure. If time is a critical factor, then I must adhere rigidly to that. If the amount of chemical put in the specimen is critical, then I must adhere to that."
But the love of job more than makes up for the pressure. Her biology background, she feels, enhances her enjoyment. "At vo-tech school I learned what to do, but my background in biology lets me understand why I'm doing it and why things happen as they do," she says.
What turns her on most about medical technology is the challenge she feels daily. "I'd get tired of doing the same thing all day long," she says. "In medical technology there are new developments all the time, there's always something new to learn."
The next thing she wants to learn, however, is not about biology or medicine. She wants to work toward a master's in business administration to prepare her to own and operate her own medical lab someday. That is her next goal, and anyone who has ever met Glasenia Heard would bet that she will achieve that, too.

Georgia ALERT, March 1980 7

Education News In Brief. Education News In Brief. EducatiCJ News In Brief Education News In Brief Education News In lucation News In Brief Education News In Brief Education

H. J. Johnson Jr., former superintendent of Appling County Schools, has been named educational services regional director for the First Congressional District.

Marcia Jennings, assistant supervisor of food service for Richmond County Schools, is Georgia's Outstanding Dietician for 1980. Her selection by the Georgia Dietetics Association followed nomination by the association's Augusta chapter. Jennings is the first school food ar! nutrition staff member to be chosen for the statewide award. She and winners from nine other southern states will be honored at a luncheon sponsored by the Southeastern Hospital Conference for Dieticians on April 10 in Atlanta.
Jennings worked as a dietician at University Hospital, Augusta, before joining Richmond County Schools. One of two assistant supervisors for the 54-school system, she advises cafeteria managers on menu planning, nutrition, sanitation, training programs and purchasing.
&,
LB
c
1
c-
O)
V5

Shirley Davis
Shirley Davis is the new coordinator of the standards program for the Georgia Department of Education. She comes to the department from Suches, Georgia, where she served as principal of Woody Gap Elementary and HighSchool. A native of Suches, Davis graduated from Woody Gap, one of Georgia's few isolated schools. Her responsibilities with the department will be coordinating school standards which were recently developed and are scheduled to be presented to the state board in March. The new standards will be fieldtested for a year. Davis says she is getting positive reaction about the proposed standards from school administrators.

Correction from last issue. In the Honor Roll of local Teachers of the Year, the name of Ethel J. Gunter, second grade teacher at Annie Belle Clark Elementary School in Tift County, was omitted. Our apologies to Gunter and Tift County schools.

A new salary schedule has been approved by the Georgia Board of Education which will provid~ 14 salary increments for all vocational teachers at secondary and post secondary schools. According to Joseph G. Freund, the Georgia Department of Education's associate superintendent for vocational education, this schedule will more nearly

March 1980 Vol. 12 No. 1

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy HaJJ Shelton News/Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typesetting. Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Steve Harvey, Jeanette Lloyd, Elliott Mackie, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins and Anne Raymond.

The Georgia Department of Education does not discriminate in employment or educational actiuities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

0--:--=- Public Information and Publications Services

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

103 Stale Office Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 656-2476

BlDPR.BlSS

8 Georgia ALERT, March 1980

provide equity in salary for all vocational teachers and will also provide for advance placement of new teachers based on creditable military service and work experience. He said the schedule will include two salary scales - one for vocational teachers who work the normal school day and one for those who work beyond the regular school day in addition to their regular classes.

"Average schools can reduce energy consumption by 48.6 percent, without expensive capital equipment or exotic technology," claims a recently published 126-page book entitled Energy Efficiency for Education and Students. The book, available free from Tenneco, Inc., the Texas-based energy conglomerate, is based on a detailed audit of 20 schools in 15 states - including Georgia - begun last spring. Briarlake Elementary School in DeKalb County was among the schools tested in the Schoolhouse Energy Efficiency Demonstration Project.
To receive a copy of the book contact Tenneco, Inc., Public Affairs Department, P. O. Box 2511, Houston, Texas 77001. Tenneco has also produced a short film and a 24-page brochure to increase public awareness about the need to save energy in schools. These are also available free from the same address.

The Georgia and South Carolina chapters of the School Public Relations Association are cosponsoring a regional conference April 9-11 at the Sheraton Savannah Inn and Country Club. Topics which will be covered at the conference are building-level school communications, stress/time management, news releases and photos that make the news, getting the most from your printing dollar, conducting public opinion surveys and promoting public awareness of the worth of technical training.

1980 GOAL Program
The 1980 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) program is now under way in 29 participating post secondary vocational-technical schools. Selection of the ninth state winner will be made during judging and awards activities scheduled for May 27-29 at the Dunfey Hotel in Atlanta. The awards banquet will be televised from 8 to 9 on Thursday evening, May 29, by WAGATV (Channel 5).
This year contestants will not only compete for the GOAL title but for a new award to be known as PRIDE to recognize occupational competency. The name is an acronym for Performance Recognition Indicating Demonstrated Excellence. Each participant will submit an exhibit demonstrating his or her occupational excellence, and judging of the exhibits will determine the winner.
Sponsored at the state level by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education, the GOAL program continues to be the only awards program in the nation for post secondary vo-tech students.

, yl,do-e-{~~



'r:..ov;:,a.'i.o(IS

~\-CJ:Yf-'0\

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334

(Jl
ro
":C:lr
ll> :J
~ ~
Werner Rogers
Werner Rogers has joined the Georgia Department of Education as staff assistant to the state school superintendent.
"My responsibilities are to carry out various assignments which Superintendent McDaniel gives me," Rogers said. "For example, I am the department's energy manager, the staff liaison to the Salary Study Commission, and I am keeping up with legislation that affects state employees."
Before joining the department in August 1979, Rogers was personnel director of Clarke County Schools for four years.

Preliminary arrangements are complete for this year's Governor's Honors Program, Georgia's summer residential program for gifted high school juniors and seniors. The new faciities for the larger component of the program at Valdosta State College are roomy and modern, and the college contains a large library and an excellent fine arts facility. In addition, VSC staff are excited about hosting the GHP students.
Finalists for the program (400 students for Valdosta State and 200 for North Georgia College in Dahlonega) and 200 alternates were selected from interviews of more than 2,000 students from around the state. A few alternates will be able to participate if some of the finalists cannot. Students are selected for intensive study with outstanding instructors in three major areas - academics~tine arts and vocational education. Specific subject areas include social studies, science, dance, drama, art, music (composition, voice, keyboard, string, orchestra), German, French, English, entrepreneurship and management, and commercial and industrial design.
Instructors for GHP are selected from among the South's outstanding college and high school teachers and will teach interest areas in addition to regular programs. In the past students have been involved with such interest areas as building pocket calculators, constructing musical synthesizers and the history of rock and roll. Counselors will be available to students for academic, career and personal problem consultation. This will be the sixteenth annual Governor's Honors Program, a program in which Georgia pioneered. The program provides all expenses for the 600 students selected for residential study except travel to and from interviews and program sites.
BULK RATE U. S. Postage
PAID Atlanta, Georgia Permit Number 168

530602Uf\IElIB~0

UNIVFRSITY OF GFORGIA

L I BR AF Y

ATHCNS

GA

30602

-J

-t:
-\

0

(J)

"C
>OJ uOJ
OJ
0:::

.mC-O.
1Q
~
::E

z(...J.O.)W -:: ~wde~t:
:u::..:.>J-
Oct:
eC=)

-~

.

~ <

""-
(-"{

J31\1IO UU31Q

~ewaywewere
.~..IJ"-----

One-room schoolhouse, c. 1890, located

between Valdosta and Statenville in

Lowndes County. These people are

part of the 110-year history of Georgia

public education. From meager begin-

nings such as this grew the comprehen-

sive public educational system we have

today. The Alert staff would like to

make "The Way We Were" a regular

feature, but our photo archives are

limited. If you have photographs of the

o~

people, places and events that helped

iii
:f

make public education history, please

"c0:
to

consider sharing them with Alert

til
:.~c
~

readers. Any photos submitted will be stored in our files, or we will make

~

'0

copies of the pictures and return the

C
~
&

originals to you. To be of use all photos must have factual caption information.

8

Send contribution to Photo Editor,

"t2o'
o

Georgia Alert, 103 State Office Build-

a'"

ing, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.

Old, New And Renewed
Georgia's public schools are an asset worth billions of dollars. They range from the many lovely old schools such as Atlanta's Roosevelt High School (formerly Girls' High School) and the recently renovated Lithonia High School in DeKalb County to the brand new Heritage High School of Rockdale County. In 1979-80 alone the state's share for new school construction and maintenance and operation (includes everyday operating expenses of schools) was more than $128 million. An additional $13.5 million of the capital outlay was used exclusively for renovation of existing school buildings, such as the Lithonia school, which was damaged in a fire.

Atlanta's Roosevelt High School Heritage High School of Rockdale County

photos by Stephen Edge Lithonia High School in DeKalb County

2. Georgia ALERT, April 1980

Frien s In ee

A long time ago when things were not quite so sophisticated as today, nor so large, the people of the community were inextricably involved almost daily with their schools - out of necessity. In new communities they would gather and build the schoolhouse. In many neighborhoods the teacher would board at different homes during the year. Sometimes parents would be taught by their children after school, and always there were class recitals, dramas and gatherings in the school.

We've gotten away from the basic way of

doing things that seemed to work so well,

and the schools have suffered. Ithas been

such a gradual thing that no one realized

until recently that parents and com-

munity people really wanted to be a help-

ing part of the schools, that they were

concerned about the schools becoming

too distant. In Georgia, in communities

large and small, people are beginning to

come back to the schools. They are com-

ing to events other than games and plays

and the PTA. They are really concerned

and trying to help. That is what these

stories are about. The schools have

reached out for help, and friendly, valu-

able help is coming - not in the form of

experts with foreign credentials and

sheaves of computer printouts, but in the

earnest, concernedform ofneighbors and

friends.



Cover Photo: Students at J. D. Dickerson

Primary School, Vidalia, climb on playground

equipment constructed by parent volunteer

group Friends of the School.

Vidalia City And Richmond County
'Volunteers Lend Hands, Feet, Heads and Ears'

by Eleanor Gilmer
There's an old saying that "a friend in need is a friend indeed." The students, teachers and administrators in the Vidalia school system have many such friends. In fact, these friends even call themselves Friends of the School, and they are certainly around when there's a need.
Friends of the School is a five-year-old parent volunteer program which has received much attention statewide by education groups and other school systems.
There's no structured organization of Friends of the School - no formal meeting, no officers - just parents who are willing to help out any way they can. They work with children on a one-to-one basis or with groups of children on special projects. Some teach art, music and physical education while others paint cheerful story boards for school corridors. They build playground equipment from tires, barrels and other donated materials and serve as chauffeurs and chaperones for field trips and socials.
There are about 150 active "friends" this year and many others who help occasionally. Most are parents with school-age children, but some are grandparents or young adults with no children. The volunteers work in kindergarten through grade five, and about 40 are available to work each week in the classroom. Others work on special projects.

Each school and each grade has a chairperson, and when help is needed in an area, phone calls are made to other volunteers.
When the Friends of the School program was begun in 1975 by about 10 parents, School Superintendent Tom Hutcheson admits he and other administrators were less than enthusiastic about the program. They soon got over their misgivings, and now the program has no greater supporters than the superintendent and his administrators.
"At the beginning of the program we established some rules outlining what the volunteers could and could not do and made it strictly voluntary for a' teacher to participate in the program," said Hutcheson. "Participation is still voluntary, but the demand for the 'friends' has increased." He says the Friends of the School program has opened up communications between the school and community and has helped gain support for the schools.
According to the parents, some volunteers get very involved in the program and with children they are helping. For example, one "friend" working with an underprivileged child got so involved she was soon working with the child's entire family. "This family didn't even know they could check books out of the library without paying," said one parent.
continued on page 5

Friends of the School volunteer Susan Threlkeld tutors children each week at Vidalia's J. D. Dickerson Primary School.
G) is' :l :l
Q
~.
'"

Georgia ALERT, April 1980 3

...

o.~

cc

Q)

(3

Bibb County

Support Of

Makes CODling

During Friday afternoon mini-sessions at Clarke County's Barnett Shoals Elementary, Nancy Pendrak and "Jocko" introduce Hank Bailey (center) and Charles Barnett to the world of exotic birds.

Clarke And Hall Counties
'Don't Let A Stranger Teach Your Child'

by Barbara Perkins
That schools and communities are partners in educating today's students is a concept voiced and strongly supported by many educators, including State Superintendent of Schools Charles McDaniel.
Strengthening the school-community partnership through parental and community involvement in public schools is the goal of many different activities going on right now in Clarke County.
As parents and community members are increasing their involvement in Clarke County Schools, they are finding more and more ways to help the school system provide quality education for students.
Many different methods are being used to promote awareness of public school activities and events, and educators are encouraging parents and community members to become involved.
"Don't let a stranger teach your child," one principal advised parents as he announced his school's annual open house, to which the public was invited.
For the past five years, individuals in each neighborhood served by the Barnett Shoals Elementary School have opened their homes for Principal John Benton to conduct community coffees. At the coffees community members share their ideas and insights with their school's leader.
Otner principals are now following Benton's lead. "One idea I always try to get across to the people at these meetings is that they are welcome in our schools," said Benton. "I encourage them to visit us. When community members have first-hand information about their principal, their teachers and what's going on in their schools, then they support these schools. The partnership is strengthened, and they are happy to help when you need them."

Clarke Countians have discovered many more ways to become directly involved in schools in their communities. Homeroom parents in each of the 14 elementary and middle schools chaperone class parties and provide transportation for school events and also serve as liaisons between the schools and other parents with children in the same homeroom.
Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) help their school in many ways, from preregistering students to tutoring in the classrooms. According to Kay Hubert, coordinator of the nine-year-old program, VIPS has become successful because teachers appreciate the extra help volunteers offer, and students enjoy the individual attention. The volunteers feel a sense of pride and accomplishment; they are parents and community members who have something they really want to share with the students. VIPS contributed more than 2,000 volunteer hours in 1979.
Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, doctors, lawyers, electricians, magicians and others all want to share their special interests with students at Barnett Shoals Elementary School by teaching mini-courses. These activities present one hour's worth of fun and enrichment every Friday afternoon as community members share information on topics such as gourmet cooking, antique autos and disco dancing. Over 140 persons taught 430 hours of mini-courses last year.
John Tillitsky, principal of Clarke County Middle School, feels the PTA group in his school is an invaluable source of aid. "Not just because they have provided goods - a new piano, playground equipment and the services of a registered nurse - but because they also provide the public support we need," Tillitsky said.
Community organizations are discovering they,

4. Georgia ALERT, April 1980

by Julia Martin
Since public schools have become less the neighborhood schools they once were, administrators are finding that parental and community involvement in schools is a vitally important resource to tap and develop. Studies show that schools that involve not only parents, but also the community in school activities, usually receive higher effectiveness ratings than schools with no involvement programs.
Bibb County's Adopt-A-School program, begun two years ago in cooperation with the Macon Chamber of Commerce, has spread rapidly through the schools and community. Not only are administrators enthusiastic about the program, but students, volunteers and everyone who hears about the good things going on in the schools are, too. From teaching art classes to beautifying the grounds, Macon's businesses are willing to help with almost any project the schools come up with.
One of many wonderful examples of the program is that of Henry A. Hunt elementary school and the Macon office of the Insurance Company of North America (INA). Principal Morris Seltzer said, "The first few quarters after INA adopted us, they conducted exploratory classes for our students such as disco dancing, macrame, baton twirling. The kids really loved it. They looked forward to coming to school and having a change from regular classes and regular teachers."
"All our volunteers feel a real sense of accomplishment," said Judy Marable, volunteer coordinator for INA, "and the children really seem to appreciate that someone from outside the school has taken an interest in them."
too, can help tighten the school-community link. The Athens Chamber of Commerce, the Athens Junior Assembly and the Clarke County PTA Council are jointly sponsoring a drug awareness program for parents and students. Principals, judges, hospital officials, psychologists, city officials, probation officers and police officers meet at the schools and contribute their expertise in educating parents and students on drug use and abuse.
According to Charlotte Brown, president of Clarke County Middle School PTA, the program has helped participants better understand and define the drug problem. A great benefit of the program has been the development of a strong sense of cooperation between the schools and the police departments, who have set up squads to patrol school areas as a result of these meetings.
But, how do Clarke County students feel about community members involving themselves in public schools? A slide presentation prepared by a group of fourth and fifth graders at Barnett Shoals welcomed parents and other volunteers to the school, thanked them for their help and enthusiastically invited them to come again.
When Hall County public schools decided to promote school-community partnership, they formed a systemwide School-Community Partnership Council.
Each local school formed its own group made up of educators and community members. Then, the more than 200 school-based members selected individuals to serve on a 40-member systemwide council.
Dynamic results occurred according to David Massey, administrative assistant for instruction and planning for Hall County Schools. When the Johnson High school-community council took a

Businesses To School Fun

Explaining their side of the adoption, Marable said, "We send a form to all employees asking if they would like to participate in the program and what skills they have that they could teach the children. Our company manager allows employees time off each week to conduct the classes, so that's nice."
Even though the exploratory classes were popular at Hunt school, INA is now focusing its attention on another aspect of learning - volunteers are tutoring students in reading and math once a week.
McEvoy B High School and the Georgia Power Company in Macon have a slightly different relationship from that of Hunt and INA.
"We've painted walls for them, paved one of their gravel walkways and wired the school building for their cable TV system," said Ed Grubbs, volunteer chairman for Georgia Power. "We also asked our professional landscapers for ideas on improving the school grounds. We've already planted trees out front."
Principal Gloria Washington said, "They do such a professional job with all that handiwork. Their time is so valuable to us, we really appreciate it because they do these things after work and on the weekends."
Georgia Power employees also donate magazines to the school library. "We couldn't afford all those subscriptions," said Washington, "and even if the magazines are several months old when we get them, we can certainly use them for resource materials."
But the McEvoy-Georgia Power relationship works both ways, according to Grubbs. "They let us use

~
o~
cc
5~1
their field for our softball team to practice on," he said.
Not just schools are adopted in Bibb County, but entire programs are, too. WMAZ-TV adopted the county's public school music program. Said Director Mary Ann Harrell, "They give us promotion and publicity that would just be impossible for the music department to buy. They also provide us advance information on CBS music programs that our students would enjoy, they gave us a recorded music anthology, they sell hot dogs and Cokes during our Holiday of Music in the city parks and give us that money.
"We have developed a good, positive relationship between education and the community through the Adopt-ASchool program," Harrell said.
"It makes coming to school fun for the kids," Seltzer said.
"It is one of the finest concepts in the way of linking schools and the community," Washington said.
What better testimonials could a school system want for its community involvement program?

i(fl
~
rn ~

Students at Henry Hunt School in Bibb County get extra math and reading instruction once a week from volunteers from the Insurance Company of North America through the countywide Adopt-A-School program.

strong stand against student absenteeism, the Hall County Board of Education enacted a stricter policy on absences which is now being enforced by school officials.
Using the 1979 Hall County Survey, a public opinion poll of Hall County constituents, as a road map, the council is addressing systemwide con-

cerns.
The survey indicated 93 percent of the citizens would support sex education in the schools "under the right circumstances." The council's major project this year is defining those circumstances and working out an agreement that will allow sex education to be introduced into Hall County Schools.

Parents And School Make A Healthy Combination
Beatrice Hewitt, volunteer parent, points out healthy food combinations during a PTA nutrition fair at Clarke Middle School, Athens. Fairs, cooking demonstrations and mobile nutrition learning centers are among the many ideas for volunteer projects now being tested by the state PTA. Organizers all over Georgia are helping develop ways to effectively involve parents in child nutrition and schoolfood service. The new program is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Department of Education.
I
Vidalia City And Richmond County
continued from page 3
Hutcheson said the volunteers were also very helpful when several Vietnamese children enrolled in the system. "These children could not speak a word of English, and the volunteers worked closely with them, teaching them simple words like door and pencil. Those children wouldn't have made it without that help," he said.
Another group of volunteers helped with an experiment being conducted by Iris Cobb as part of her graduate degree program. The experiment was to measure the difference in achievement in reading between two groups of students - one which received special help from volunteers and one which didn't. Volunteers worked three days a week for 30 minutes with small reading groups.
"Working with the volunteers, I set up a program for the control group. This program consisted of several teaching techniques, such as the use of games, word lists, etc.," said Cobb.
At the end of the five-month project, the control group - the one with which the volunteers worked - had gained about 20 points on reading tests, according to Cobb. Even though the other group had made a small gain in reading, the rate was not as great.
"I was overjoyed with the results of the experiment," said Cobb. "The use of parent volunteers in the classroom is an excellent way to improve instruction. "
The teachers, principals and students in Vidalia feel they are fortunate to have such dedicated "friends," and the Friends of the School feel that by being "extra hands, feet, heads and ears" they can provide more individual help for students and do something constructive for education.
Vidalia is not the only place in Georgia with a concentrated effort of parents. The Meadowbrook Elementary School in Richmond County, a school of about 1,100 students with a staff of 80 adults, is piloting a program known as the Totally Involved Parents Program (TIPP).
According to principal Robert Walls, his school received a $6,000 grant to pilot the project and to develop materials for other schools in the system who want to establish a program.
TIPP actually consists of three phases - tutorial, volunteer and parent-teacher conferences. About 84 parent volunteers work on a one-to-one basis with students, as assistants in the school library, office or clinic and in the classroom helping teachers with projects.
Parent-teacher conferences have been an excellent means for opening up communications between the home and school, says Walls. Each student's report card is retained by the teacher until a conference is held with a parent or parents. A recent survey indicates the parents like this method of reporting on their child's work, and teachers feel that this method is a far more effective way of reporting grades and conduct.
Georgia ALERT, April 1980 5

photos by Glenn Oliver

Hugs, wild cheers and words of praise greet every racer at the finish line. The open arms and cheerful voices belong to the huggers - student and parent volunteers who reach out and encourage the more than 400 mentally retarded participants in the Cobb County Special Olympics X. Sponsored locally and run by volunteers, similar games are being held all over Georgia in preparation for the State Special Olympics in May.
Special Olympics are patterned after the international Olympics, with opening ceremonies of trumpet fanfares to herald the runner with the torch, and parades of athletes beneath a sea of colorful banners. The

events, like international competition, test physical fitness and athletic ability. Included are such track and field events as the 200 meter run, 50 meter dash, standing long jump and softball
throw. Soccer and frisbee competition as well as wheelchair races are also included.
Participants are placed in divisions according to age and performance. This gives everyone an equal chance to advance to the statewide competition. The Special Olympics program is designed to build up the participants' feelings of self-worth. Nothing helps more, however, than the human touch of the huggers.

Run To C

6. Georgia ALERT, April 1980

Part One
Good Teachers

How Do

They Get

That
Story and Photos by Stephen Edge
This is the first of a two-part article dealing with teacher standards. The coming school year will see the initiation of new teacher certification requirements in Georgia which will affect all new teachers and teachers seeking to upgrade their certificates. The most important change in the way certificates are issued will be the performance requirements. All teachers in the future will have to demonstrate their teaching abilities before being fully licensed to teach. This article answers some questions about the necessity for a stricter method of certification, how the standards were determined and what they will mean for education in Georgia.
The scene is a rural schoolhouse in the late nineteenth century. Desks normally filled with students are filled with teachers from every school in the county, the white teachers in one room, the black teachers in another. The superintendent speaks to the teachers, then opens a large package containing tests, tests from the State Department of Education. He distributes the tests and steps down the hallway to where the black teachers will be tested. The principal of the county's one black school will monitor the test for the black teachers.
A hundred years ago this was the method by which the State Department of Education determined the competence of teachers. Teachers' certificates were renewed on the basis of how well they did on the annual tests. Teachers of that era were largely trained at normal schools or state-supported teachers' colleges, and the most important trait, as indicated by the annual tests, was that a teacher have mastery of the content of what he or she taught. It was also important that they be of high moral character.
Education and teachers both have advanced probably further than anyone would have thought possible in the last century, and together they are entering a new era of crisis, that of teacher accountability and public education liability.
Not only will teachers in the future have to prove they can deliver, but the public schools are going to have to prove they can deliver what will probably turn out to be one of the most sophisticated, refined products of all time - an intellectual, cultured adult with a salable job skill.
Just as the school will have to justify the tax money it consumes, the teacher will have to prove that he or she is a competent worker, able to influence young students and make them want to learn. The
8 Georgia ALERT, April 1980

ay?

Edith Smoak of Glynn County is a dynamic high school psychology teacher at Brunswick High School.

teacher may have to assume part of the blame for what is wrong with public education.
Why has this onus been put on the teacher? Perhaps it is because for years teachers have been honored with a revered status in society. They were easily the largest, most homogeneous group of working professionals in the nation; it was generally held they were more intelligent than most other groups; their moral standards supposedly were higher, and, most important of all, people generally believed that the majority of teachers worked out of dedication, a sacrificing denial of a normal marriage, social life, home life. All this changed drastically with the first organized strikes and other teacher actions. Today no one would argue that teachers have a right to take part in determining their own fate, standards and pay. More and more this is happening.
Lanette Horton is a gifted humanities teacher in Carroll County's Mt. Zion High School.

In the last three decades so much has occurred in the world, in American society and in the way people perceive the cause-and-effect relationship of events that a wholesale change has been wrought in almost every segment of life. One of the most anxious, deepest rooted concerns has been the change in the public school system, brought about by events such as the Brown Decision, the widely expanded scope of national standardized tests, the greater emphasis on post high school education. Since everyone's life has been greatly influenced directly or indirectly by the public schools, they are a matter of tremendous concern, and will remain so.
Teacher effectiveness - competency - has become one of the burning issues. In a greater sense the effectiveness of teachers has been drawn as the bottom line in fights concerning not only student achievement, but the success of the public schools and the betterment of the society at large.

Teachers have defended themselves well against public inspection - by organizing, by pointing out deficiencies in pay, working conditions, the agony of trying to teach streetwise, disinterested, belligerent youth. Gone forever are the good old days when a teacher's pay was relatively substantial, honor was universal and the career was totally satisfying.
Teachers, like all professional groups, are feeling the pinch of inflation. Many have to hold second jobs to make up for nine or 10 months employment with pay spread out over a year. It is no wonder that, after the first bruise of astonishment at finding out they would no longer be looked upon as modern day oracles, but as just another public employee to be looked at through the narrow confines of a performance report, dissatisfaction has set in. Why should teachers have to submit to teaching students who will not learn, unselfishly, eagerly give themselves and their knowledge to ungrateful brats who even resent being in the classroom? Why should teachers have to watch over their charges during lunch periods when workers in the real world go to the park to eat or use the period for shopping?

What is it that makes teachers so special that an extra set of rules applies to their profession? Is it the great amount of contact with others' children, the almost overwhelming influence a teacher exerts over students that makes him or her susceptible to extra scrutiny? Or is this kind of control over employees the wave of the future?
These are the types of questions that teachers and their professional organizations are asking. And the answer more and more has been that the public does not want teachers in the classroom who cannot do a good job. Everyone wants to keep a hand in the all-embracing institution that has touched all of our lives.
So a clear mandate has been drawn. If teachers can exert influence to control their own destinies, then the public, through its appointed and elected officials who oversee public schools, is going to see that only those who can perform their jobs with reasonable efficiency and competence are allowed to be teachers.
What exactly caused the demand for demonstrated teacher competency cannot be determined, but it happened during the 1960s. Some say that integration of the public schools, along with the proliferation of private schools, brought both student and teacher standards down. But several other things happened which could have had as much effect: the children of the post World War II baby boom reached high school age in the mid-1960s, causing overcrowding and a frantic search for enough teachers; the technological backlash from the space race pushed more students toward college - more students took the SAT and other tests, causing a dramatic drop in standardized test scores; a student sued his school for passing and graduating him without teaching him to read and write; federal and state compensatory education programs were inspiring potential dropouts to stay in school longer.
AH this made teachers and school administrators
look bad in the eyes of the concerned public, but they had to face an even bigger problem which would seriously test their ability. Civil disobedience to Southern segregation ordinances, laws discriminating against women, the Vietnam war and other injustices spilled over into every area of life. Much of the trappings -long hair, drugs, clothing styles, protest music of this period - translated into discipline problems in the public schools - problems of such degree that it seemed teachers and administrators needed a new, more precise method of preparation and skills predicated on a new order. Many people felt it was long overdue.
In 1970 performance-based certification was recognized as a major need in public education in Georgia. It was included among the major Goals for Education in Georgia that year, as one of the 16 performance missions of the Georgia Department of Education in 1972, in APEG in 1973 and became official State Board policy in 1975. Teachers more than any other group embraced the philosophy, and in the intervening 10 years since standards were proposed and their actual implementation, they came to be seen as a more precise way of certifying teachers and assuring their competence.
It is agreed that a mere test or a period of observation cannot totally measure whether a teacher is a good teacher. That could only be done by years of research into each teacher's effectiveness, an almost impossible task. Instead, institutions devise other methods of determining as well as possible how good a teacher is by imposing a set of standards. Georgia and almost every other state does this in some form.
In Georgia teachers may become certified by successfully completing three phases of a competencybased approach to licensing - graduation from college, passing the teachers' criterion-referenced test (CRT) of content knowledge in their field of teaching and demonstrated effective classroom teaching.
In T.E. T./Teacher Effectiveness Training, Thomas Gordon asks, "What makes the difference between

~
'5
~
"~
::E

E"

:J
~

l'OllS)'I'1i 1.'1-;\1 \1.1.; ('()LLE(;I \'1'1,: I\S'I'I'I'lTE.

:J

::E
c

rllh' .l~h "I) EIIIIU .. , .il' I llllbeaU.,UI "tfln:

:oc

'I'tll'" (.1 11'1'11 ll;l '1'11\1

1u0

:J

LB

._ .. ~ ,.I_t-.' . ,I. tmrt~ rao:s:c nW.t:,

'"

.. , ;S.~~;, i,i..lo, .....~,.;.J,.;:.;. ;'A.'I......J. ',\,._ '\\'\~1. I



t I f'l '_'11'" t....,\ : .

\t,IIt' \UllMo

'0~

';
'II

r~r,(;tl"\Ul\~

ur

l\'{llc{l, I...

"".n,~,

,...... II. 31~''''_'

~

,l '\ I,"

\oO,..w..\ ::.. ~...l.." .,... I

g

,I\. ,,, ....1.. \,,1,. I.\..

\'IHtll

ub~;::g~;;:::::g::X:~~:::::::;;:::::S::::&::::E;cg::::S:::s:::::::::l;:03::X:x::::Id

1855 College diploma from the Forsyth Female

Collegiate Institute. Before the Civil War women

were just beginning to make inroads into the

almost exclusive male teaching ranks. A college

diploma would immediately qualify most women

for a teaching job in one of Georgia's few female

academies.

teaching that works and teaching that fails ...?" He answers, "...one factor contributes the most namely, the degree of effectiveness of the teacher in establishing a particular kind of relationship with students."
Gordon believes it is the quality of this relationship that is crucial, more than what the teacher teaches, how it is done or even who is being taught. This relationship is addressed to a great extent, either directly or indirectly, in the assessment instruments which will be used by master teachers and teacher educators to administer teacher certification standards in Georgia beginning statewide in September 1980. The on-the-job assessment of Georgia teachers will center on observing teachers' demonstrated abilities,
Of the 14 competencies determined through extensive field testing as being essential and generic to teaching, almost half of the indicators (traits a teacher assesser will look for) deal directly or indirectly with interpersonal skills of the teacher. Some of the most important characteristics a teacher will have to exhibit are

conveys the impression of knowing what to do and how to do it;
demonstrates warmth and friendliness; demonstrates patience, empathy and under-
standing; promotes comfortable interpersonal relation-
ships; manages disruptive behavior among learners; demonstrates ethical behavior.
Just as the tests administered by the Georgia Department of Education more than a hundred years ago were important in their time, the standards drawn up for teachers (and largely by teachers) are extremely important today. Society demands perfection from only a few - teachers are one group. That is why it is so important for the teachers who are in the schools to be the best that can be attained.
In the next issue of Alert the question of what makes a good teacher will be explored further. Persons with expert opinions and those responsible for teacher standards will be interviewed concerning their views on what makes a good teacher. On the other side persons whom these standards would affect will be interviewed concerning what the standards will mean to them andfuture teachers coming into the field.
Marilyn Brown, teacher at Fulton County's Westwood High School, talks to Richard R. Bell, earth science teacher at Turner Middle School of Douglas County.

Viola D. Pigg was a 35-year veteran of Lumpkin County Elementary School before her retirement in 1977.

Georgia ALERT, April 1980 9

photos by Glenn Oliver

Martha Brown, school secretary at Dalton's Brookwood Elementary School, sews on a shirt button for Quincy Goodine.

School Secretary
And So Much More

JOB OPPORTUNITY-Person who can smile while being yelled at by irate parents or students, who can remain calm even when a child comes in from the playground with blood streaming down the face, who can honor confidences in spite of peer pressure to divulge them, who can make decisions and judgments. Loyalty, dependability essential. Office skills, professional demeanor, good appearance required. Patience a must. If interested, apply at nearest school.
The school secretary. An indescribable job. The person must be many things to many people, always with the best foot forward. The duties vary from school to school, system to system, so few can agree on exact responsibilities of the education secretary. But almost no one disputes the secretary's value, especially in the area of schoolcommunity relations. Studies show the school secretary often has more credibility with the public than does the superintendent or principal. This is the first contact a citizen has with the school, and that encounter forms a lasting image.
"Every time I fill in the blank marked occupation with the word 'secretary,' I use the term very loosely," says Martha Brown of Brookwood Elementary School in Dalton. "There should be a specific definition for secretaries working in a school system."
The school secretary's job, says Brown, is not "all typing, keeping records and doing reports." Because the day is filled with interruptions and unexpected happenings, the day's work can almost never be completed and stacked neatly in the basket.
She describes a typical day as one that begins with the lunch report. "While trying to get an exact count, the pencil brigade arrives. Among them is Johnny who wants five pencils. He takes one each

by Jeanette Lloyd
of the available colors and then takes five minutes deciding which of the four to repeat. As I return to my report there is a tap on my shoulder. Johnny decides he wants only four pencils - all red.
"Next the absentee report brings new adventures. I could write my own medical journal from the stories I hear. But another interruption comes in the form of a young man who didn't realize his jeans haven't grown with his body. He stands barebottom in the restroom while I mend the seam."
It is this variety of happenings each day that most secretaries find appealing about their jobs. "Every day is different," says Edith Alred, secretary to Superintendent Jesse Laseter of Rome City Schools. "I think that's the one reason I enjoy my job so much. I can honestly say I've never been bored."
At the system level Alred, of course, does not have children running into the office for pencils or bandages, but she does occasionally have unhappy parents calling. "We don't have too much of that, thank goodness. When you're a parent and you think someone is mistreating your child, you really get upset," says Alred. As a parent, she understands that.
The 10 years' experience she has had in Laseter's office has taught her much about handling irate parents. "I have been verbally abused many times, and at first I took it personally. But I learned that they're not angry with me - I just happened to answer the phone.
"I've found if I act calmly toward angry callers they'll calm down even though they're really upset when they call. So, in a low, calm voice, I tell them that I'm taking everything down and that I'll give the notes to Mr. Laseter. That usually works. What

nearly everyone wants is just someone to talk to."
Theldra Brackett, secretary at Roan Street School in Dalton, agrees that understanding and listening to disturbed parents is the best technique for dealing with them. "Many don't even wait to find out what really happened. They'll just call the school and start yelling. I try to listen them out."
Taking the heat out of situations is a vital function of the education secretary, according to Jean Lowery, public information director for the Dalton City Schools. "Many times secretaries are on the receiving end of angry telephone calls. They have to have enough self-confidence to reach out and deal with others - with people of all ages. Opinion surveys show that people's attitudes are determined by their experiences, so the daily contacts the secretaries have with the school publics are forming attitudes - good or bad - toward education."
The Dalton City School System, says Lowery, appreciates the value of the school secretaries so much that the system has special training sessions for them. Conducted in the past on an irregular basis, the workshops now will probably be held annually as the result of evaluations of the one held last fall. "Because of the importance of their jobs, secretaries need in-service sessions just as teachers and other staff members do," says Lowery. "Secretaries are really our barometers for what is happening in the schools. They are in positions to know what's right with education. Students confide in them, so t~ey're really the administration's liaison with the students."
Another important function, points out Lowery, is the role the secretary plays in setting the tone in the office. "Her attitude affects the way the rest of the staff performs. If the secretary smiles, is pleasant

10. Georgia ALERT, April 1980

and has a positive attitude, the rest of the staff is likely to, also. On the other hand, if the secretary frowns and has a negative attitude, everyone is probably going to go around feeling really bad."
The nature of the secretary's duties varies from level to level of the educational system, of course. Betty Barker is secretary to Charles J. West, regional director in the department of education's Educational Services Division. Located in Waycross, West's office serves systems in south Georgia. The people Barker deals with are not primarily parents and taxpayers, but state department officials, system superintendents and boards of education. But when parents and taxpayers do call, Barker says, "We can get some pretty sticky questions."
For that reason, she says, a secretary has to know what's going on so that she can make intelligent decisions and judgments. "When a secretary answers the phone, she has to know how to respond to the questions that are asked so as not to put herself or her boss in a position that reflects bad judgment."
According to her boss, Charles West, "She has to be able to do the boss' job. Or, at least that's what Betty does in this office."
Barker stresses the need for the education secretary to strive to be totally professional. She feels it very important for a secretary to have an ongoing program of self-improvement, spending at least one day a month attending lectures, workshops or classes. Barker drives to Savannah, a 400-mile trip, once a week to attend classes required for the Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) status, the highest rating a secretary can acquire through the National Secretaries Association International. She also serves as president of the Okefenokee chapter.
Edith Alred, a 1970 secretarial graduate of Coosa Valley Area Vocational-Technical School in Rome, shares Barker's feelings about the need for professional growth and development. She has already completed all the required courses for her CPS rating, of which there were so many and some of such difficulty that she could have gotten a college degree as easily and almost as Quickly, she says. That accomplishment and the right to type CPS after her name give her justified pleasure and pride.
Alred is also proud of the Rome City schools. "If I see the slightest bit of interest on the part of a listener, I am always ready to brag on our system. I think it's fantastic!"
Much of the credit for that she gives to Superintendent Laseter and his recognition of the value of communications in the school public relations program. Emphasizing the role of the secretary in helping create a favorable image for education, Laseter meets with all the secretaries each fall to tell them how important they are to the schools. He reminds them, in particular, about telephone manners, stressing that the secretary may be a parent's only contact with the school all year and, therefore, has sole responsibility for creating the image the parent has of that school. He urges the secretaries to greet each visitor or caller warmly, to make each caller feel that his or her concerns and problems are important and to remember always that the schools are for students and that they belong to the parents and other taxpayers.
Workshops such as those in Dalton and Rome are examples of what systems throughout the state are doing to emphasize the importance of the school secretary to their staffs. Lowery says that when the Dalton system has secretarial workshops, they are usually begun with the question, "How many of you have replied, 'Oh, I'm just a secretary,' when asked what your job is?" Hands go up all around the room. The secretaries are then admonished never to answer that way again.
"We want them to know - and believe - that they're much more than 'just a secretary,'" says Lowery. "We want them to know the important role they play in building community support for our schools."
April 21-25 is National Secretaries Week-a special thank you to Georgia's excellent school secretaries.

Shane Smith (center) and James Bowers, students at Roan Street School, Dalton, share classmade applesauce with school secretary Theldra Brackett.

Certified Professional Secretary Edith Alred is secretary to Rome City Schools Superintendent Jesse Laseter.

...

t

M .{ . itf...

HiIil.~1~ I

Georgia ALERT, April 1980. 11

Education New, s In Brief Education News In Brief. EducatiCJ News In Brief Education News In Brief Education News In
Iucation News In Brief. Education News In Brief Education

Mary M. Nix, director of Cobb County school food and nutrition programs, has earned top honors in her field. In May, at a banquet in Chicago, she will receive one of eight Silver Plate awards given annually by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. Winners are selected from categories such as military, hospital and hotel food services. Nix won for elementary and secondary schools. The award recognizes her professional accomplishments as well as the excellent national reputation of the Cobb programs she manages. Nix, a former staff specialist for the Georgia Department of Education, is president-elect of the American School Food Service Association.

The record $3 billion state budget for FY 81 includes about a $112.8 million increase for education. In addition, nearly $68 million for school and public library construction was included in a supplemental appropriation for fY 80.
Included in the education appropriations was $75 million for continued property tax relief and funds for a 9.75 percent teacher salary increase.
The teacher pay plan approved by the legislature will raise the starting teacher salary in Georgia from $9,641 to $10,581. The top teacher salary in the state will increase to $20,130 a year when the salary increase takes effect next September.
Other major increases in the new budget for education include
$5.2 million in maintenance and operation funds which averages out to an increase of $100 per teacher.
$1.2 million for 49 new positions and expenses for post secondary vocational-technical schools.
$1.5 million to expand services to 17- and 18-year-olds in the statewide psychoeducational centers.
$1.9 million for continuation of the fuel adjustment provided in the FY 80 supplemental appropriations bill.
a 12.5 percent salary increase for school bus drivers, effective July I, 1980.
$5.8 million to change the retirement formula for school personnel from the best five years to the best two years.

State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel told participants in the Governor's Conference on Education that Georgians would soon have an opportunity to participate in reviewing and setting goals for the State Board of Education.
Meetings have been scheduled in each of the 10 congressional districts, with the board member from that district presiding. Meetings will be held in the evenings and are scheduled as follows - first district, May 28, Statesboro; second district, May 12, Albany; third district, April 29, Thomaston; fourth district, April 30, Decatur; fifth district, May 5, Atlanta; sixth district, May 27, Newnan; seventh district, May 20, Rome; eighth district, May 21, Eastman; ninth district, May 13, Gainesville; and tenth district, April 28, Thomson.

Results of standardized tests given this year indicate Georgia fourth graders are performing very similarly to fourth graders nationally and are above the national norm in some areas. State eighth and eleventh graders also show continued improvements as compared to both current national norms and previous years' scores.
Each fall, as part of the Georgia Department of Education Statewide Testing Program, Georgia fourth, eighth and eleventh graders are tested on a sample basis to see how they compare with other students nationwide.
In the norm-referenced testing program, fourth and eighth grade students are given the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and are tested in three major areas language, work study and mathematics. Subtests are given in each of the three areas (for example, punctuation and vocabulary in language).
Georgia fourth grade students tested this year performed slightly above the national norm on work study, equal to the national norm on language and slightly below on mathematics. Their best performance was in capitalization, use of reference materials and mathematics computation. The lowest performance was in vocabulary, usage and reading.
The median standard score for Georgia fourth graders was 111.43 as compared with the national norm of 113. The grade equivalent for the Georgia students is 4.09 (about the fourth grade, first month) as compared with the national grade equivalent of 4.2.
This year, the standard score for state eighth graders was 152.37 as compared with the national norm of 160. The grade equivalent for Georgia students is 7.5; the national average is 8.2, which indicates Georgia students are approximately seven months behind the national norm. The difference for Georgia students in 1976 was much greaterthe standard score was 147.40 and the grade equivalent was 7.1.

Reading and spelling were the areas of highest performance for eighth grade students this year, while vocabulary, capitalization and mathematics problems were the lowest.
Eleventh grade students took the Test of Achievement and Proficiency and were tested on composition, reading, mathematics and using information. Because the TAP was changed in 1978, comparison data are available for only two years. However, a comparison for those two years shows Georgia students increasing their standard scores in every area, even though they are still performing about 12 months behind the national norm.
.i Io~ f''Il.'" "of\~..."
1981 Teacher of the Year
Awards Program
Many systems have already begun choosing their local teachers of the year to be entered in the 1981 Georgia Teacher of the Year Awards Program. Official entry forms and information will be sent to systems in April, and these forms must be completed for state entries. Forms will not be due back to the state until after school opens in the fall.
The 1980 program was a tremendous success. Congratulations again to Emma M. Stevens, the great Lowndes County kindergarten teacher who came so close to being chosen as National Teacher of the Year. Good Housekeeping is featuring the 1980 national finalists in the issue currently on the stands.

~
LB

Steal

t:
..'cc":.

This Idea!

~

(j)

Auto tag recently used by Bibb County

'HIC EWeAlIlIt

HARE AHmER
COMMUNITY

/\~l/"-"

BIBB COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

to promote a successful $11 million bond issue, is held by Hunt Elementary School fourth grader Jennifer Cash.

April 1980 Vol. 12. No.2

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News/Feature Editor. Stephen Edge
Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typeselling. Teresa Ross 'Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer. Steve Harvey, Jeanette Lloyd. Elliott Mackie. Julia Martin. Lou Peneguy. Barbara Perkins and Anne Raymond.

The Georgia Department of Education does not discriminate in employment or educational actiuitles on the basis of race. color. national origin. sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

O=::!:-=- Public Information and Publications Services

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Educallon

103 State Office Building

Atlanta. Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 656 2476

EDPREBB

12. Georgia ALERT, April 1980

BULK RATE U S POSTAGE
PAI 0
ATLANTA GEORGIA PERMIT NU~B[R 16

E530602UNIELIBRO UNIVERSITY OF G LIBRARY
THENS

GA 30602

GA ro~IO
E3CO . PI
A~
12/3

JU 6 lSou
DOCUMENTS UGA LIBRARIES

<Jl
"8
..c
JS
2c:o:J U c
~
:a~
~
{!
:J
8
We've Changed Again
The face of Alert has changed many times over the years, but the tempo and philosophy have remained constant to provide a forum for educational thought and to improve the quality of public education in Georgia. With the smaller format and new layout and design we hope to further improve the appeal of the publication to give more readability to articles, to make it easier to mail and handle, and of course, to make it more attractive.
We plan to publish six times a year and will continue to select articles dealing with the important issues of education today, but we hope also to cover some unique aspects of education as well as publicize outstanding programs and achievements. As you can see, we have come a long way, but we have a longer way yet to go. Just as education should never stop, the constant seeking for improvement and for making life more enjoyable should also be endless.
We invite your comments about the magazine and the articles and may in the future include a letters section.
2. Georgia ALERT, June 1980

~ewaywewere
~-~-----
Many people, places and events have been part of the 110-year history of Georgia public education. Pictured here is Superintendent William Clyde Woodall (front center) with the faculty of Columbus Public Schools, c. 1898. If you have photographs of historical interest, please consider sharing them with Alert readers. Any photos submitted will be stored in our files, or we will make copies of the pictures and return the originals to you. Please include factual caption information. Send contributions to Photo Editor, Georgia Alert, 103 State Office Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.

Table of Contents

Element of Risk

3

a new approach to PE

Good Teachers . ..

Will Georgia's Plan

Pay Off?

9

North Georgia Tech. . . . . . . .. 14 a place for living and learning

Bellringers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 16

A look at education's role today . ..

Future issues of Alert will revisit Georgia's Foxfire and take a look at the many spinoffs of this amazing program which caught the imagination of the nation more than a decade ago. Alert staffers will also look at the senior year - what it's like in the 80s, how it has changed in the last 10 years and how new graduation requirements affect seniors.

Other features will take a new look at the Governor's Honors Program, nutrition education and food service programs in the schools, state youth organizations and the arts in Georgia classrooms.

cover Gail Trippett and students in her third grade class at DeKalb's Idlewood Elementary.

Element of Risk

Facing physically and psychologically stressful situations involves the risk of failure. With each success, new situations become less threatening. Project Adventure challenges youngsters to deal with new and possibly risky
situations as a means of helping them discover their capabilities.

Story and Photos by Glenn Oliver

The eighth graders huddle together giggling, talking about how they can reach the 2S-foot-long rope dangling about eight feet away. Their teacher has just presented the problem. "The fire breathing monster is coming toward your city. It cannot be stopped by anything except nitroglycerin. Here is your pail of nitro. Your job is to swing across this IS-foot-wide pit of poison peanut butter without knocking off the trip poles at the beginning and end of the pit, without touching down in the pit and without spilling the nitro. You may use only yourselves and any clothing to reach the rope. Ready, go."

The giggling subsides as the group gets down to the business of following one person's suggestion to tie their shoes into a string long enough to be swung out and snag the rope. Several attempts later the rope is in hand and crossing the pit begins. More logistics confront the group. Who should swing over first? How can the rope be sent back to the others? Who will carry the nitro (actually a pail of water) across? Can the nitro and the team member be caught on the same swing of the rope? Each problem elicits much debate, with first one team member and then another offering possible

answers. The teacher stands mutely on the sidelines, offering only smiles in response to the wails of the youngsters as trip poles are knocked off, participants fall into the poison pit and nitro is sloshed onto those trying to snatch the pail from a ropepropelled team member. With each blunder the team must begin the entire operation from the start. Things are serious now.
But another change has come over the group. What began as 10 teenagers, each one careful not to make any moves that might indicate vulner-

N i t r o C r o s s i n g ..Swinging by rope across a "pit" requires every ounce of effortfrom team members. East Cobb County Middle School students, below left, and teachers in a Project Adventure workshop at Berry College, Rome. ~---.

Georgia ALERT, June 1980.3

ability, has now become an unselfconscious team willing to try anything to get everyone and the nitro across the pit.
"All right!" "Hurray!" "We did it!" "Way to go!"
Wild cheers go up as the last person swings over the pit and into the arms of the others, the nitro having been safely passed off on a previous swing.
The kids are some of the growing number of Georgia youngsters discovering Project Adventure, a new approach to physical education that mixes group games, problem solving, ropes courses and environmental studies to make a total outdoor curriculum. Seeing this program as a way to fill the need for more physical education offerings, Georgia middle and high schools are adopting and adapting Project Adventure through the National Diffusion Network.
The project had its beginnings in 1971 in Hamilton, Massachusetts, where educators and students working together conceived a physical education curriculum utilizing some of the educational concepts of Outward Bound and their own academic theory. Following three years of the initial Title III grant, Project Adventure was well-integrated into the offerings of six school systems in Massachusetts and validated as a national demonstration site by the U. S. Office of Education.

Alan Sentkowski, a native of Massachusetts, has been involved in Project Adventure from the start. He now lives in Savannah and is southeastern director of the national project. "The overall goal of Project Adventure is to actively involve students in challenging situations with an element of personal or physical risk which can be reasonably overcome," says Sentkowski, "in hopes of enhancing their self-concept and pride."
These challenging situations are, according to Project Adventure philosophy, essential elements to living which have been refined out of today's world, especially in the schools. "Adventure is important," says Sentkowski, "because it provides the emotional setting where the students realize they have been involved in something that really mattered. And an accumulation of adventurous experiences can develop an approach to life that accepts the fact that new people, new situations and new possibilities, while they create physical and psychological butterflies, are not necessarily things to avoid."
Theories on what possibilities existed in a carefully coordinated outdoor and physical education program were being developed by Georgia educators in 1978 when word of Project Adventure's success reached Jack Short, state director of health and physical education and recreation for the Georgia-+

On B e l a y Menlo principal Ed Thompson, below, belays students off the balance beam. Facing page, Menlo teacher Charlotte Kennedy, right, on beam with student.

Above, participant at Project Adventure teacher workshop at Berry College, Rome.

4. Georgia ALERT, June 1980

.,.
6 Georgia ALERT, June 1980

The Wall
East Cobb Mi dIe School studen s scramble up a dover the barrier, w 'ch requires the gr up to accept and su rt the efforts of e ch individual.

Department of Education. "We wanted to move physical education programs in Georgia beyond the traditional competitive sport-oriented PE courses, and even beyond simple movement education, which is still a good approach," says Short. "And Project Adventure seemed to offer what we wanted - a program that used the outdoors as a classroom."
Rabun County was the first Georgia school system to receive Title IV-C federal funding for Project Adventure. They began their program in the fall of 1978, following a statewide Project Adventure workshop for 45 Georgia teachers at Fulton County's Milton High School. Since it was the state's first demonstration site, Milton High received a complete Project Adventure course without going through the grant process. The Chattooga and Cobb systems as well as Chickamauga Elementary School received federal funding in 1979 and began Project Adventure. At the same time, Etowah High School in Cherokee County began its program with only local funds.
Major Project Adventure costs are for construction of the ropes courses and training of the teachers to conduct the program. National Diffusion Network guidelines say that national Project Adventure staff members must train local teachers in a workshop setting and must layout and build the ropes course before a program can be called Project Adventure. "Many times schools send their teachers to the workshops first to get them sold on the benefits of the program before allocating money for the necessary hardware," says Sentkowski.
Indeed, the ropes course is the most visible and costly part of Project Adventure, requiring about $1,500 to $6,000 depending on how complete a course is built. Every Georgia school in the program has a course, which includes low elements, high elements and group games stations. Low elements include balance beams, trust fall platforms, a tension traverse, the wild woosey (diverging wires on which two students attempt to walk), bosun's chairs and a fidget ladder. High elements include the two-line bridge, balance beam and zip line, all of which take the students about 40 feet above the ground. Courses are designed with student safety in mind; at all times the youngsters are either securely attached to a rope belay or are "spotted" by fellow students to prevent falls. Group games include the nitro crossing and the wall, a 12foot-high wooden barrier over which teams must climb.
The ropes course is not simply a series of cheap thrills and combat-oriented obstacles that the students perform. "This is not an amusement park approach to outdoor activities," says Bob Moore, physical education coordinator for Cobb County, which has Project Adventure courses in 12 of 13 middle schools. "We don't let the kids just go out and swing on the ropes for thrills." Instead, the group plays both an active and supportive role as each student attempts the various elements of the-+

Menlo School eighth grader, above, gets "quite a ride" on the zip line. Below, an East Cobb Middle School student teeters on the tension traverse. The "spotters" stand ready to prevent a fall. Students leave the Project Adventure experience with a better idea of their capabilities and a realistic self-image. East Cobb Middle School students balance on the wild woosey, above, and catch a friend's trust fall, below.
Georgia ALERT, June 1980.7

course. "The kids come away from this adventure with unique feelings," says Moore. "They're closer as a group. They begin pulling for each other instead of heckling. They get a real feeling of accomplishment in meeting the challenges."
The process of learning to trust oneself in a stress situation comes slower for some youngsters than others. "At first some of our kids would attempt a climb and get half way and back down," says Ed Thompson, principal at Chattooga County's Menlo School. "The girls seem to take to the challenge faster than many of the boys. But we don't rush any of them; they have to learn about themselves."
"The concept of Project Adventure is everything education should be," says Frances Worden, Project Adventure coordinator at Etowah High School, whose course for tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders runs for one semester each year. "The kids get in tune with themselves, they learn to trust themselves and others and they learn how far they are capable of going."
Initiative games and ropes courses are important components of Project Adventure because they combine a joyful sense of adventure, a willingness to move beyond previously set limits and satisfaction of solving problems together. However, ropes and games are not an end in themselves. "The beauty of Project Adventure is its flexibility," says Sentkowski. "Teachers don't have to be limited to belaying kids off a two-line bridge forever. Even that can get boring. But these activities act as a springboard from which students can move to other adventures." These "other adventures" are outdoor activities - camping, cycling, angling, canoeing and others - that can give the students an idea of how classroom principles can be applied to life.
One example of how Georgia schools have married academics and outdoor education under the umbrella of Project Adventure can be seen in the school at Menlo, in the mountains of Chattooga County. With the assistance of county curriculum director Frances Johnston, eighth grade science teacher Marsha Edwards and physical education teacher Charlotte Kennedy designed a semesterlong exploration of outdoor survival skills and ropes course activities that culminates in a two-day camping trip on nearby Lookout Mountain.
Menlo students study maps, astronomy, environmental awareness, plant and animal identification and knot crafts. They have a regulation Project Adventure ropes course and use it with a full range of other outdoor challenges such as cycling, compass reading, .angling, archery and canoeing. Writing skills are developed through poems and stories composed following solo nature walks near the school. Students also learn survival skills such as first aid and fire building and construct their own tents from material donated by a nearby glove manufacturer and camp stoves from tin cans recycled from the school cafeteria. Performance on the trip (Marsha Edwards conducts science class in

the woods at this time) goes toward the final grade in science.
"Project Adventure has worked out well for us," says Thompson, who echoes the feelings of everyone who has tried Project Adventure in their schools. Much of this praise usually comes after

school people realize that, by simply including an element of risk and adventure into the lives of today's information-rich and experience-poor youngsters, they can create a program which provides a means of developing the confidence, fitness and social skills beneficial in life.

Tension Traverse East Cobb Middle School eighth grader helps a classmate balance on the tension trauerse.

8 Ge.orgia ALERT, June 1980

Part Two
Good Teachers.

ill Georgia's Plan

?

Story and Photos by Stephen Edge

Second in a two-part series on performance-based certification (PBC) in Georgia. In the last issue of Alert, part one probed some of the reasons for change; this part will attempt to detail what changes are going to take place, how they will be effected and what they will accomplish.
The newly published History of Public Education in Georgia is dedicated to the public school students of Georgia. Frequently it was the students who were forgotten when program changes were discussed and enacted. But, the unsung teachers of the public classroom were many times forgotten as well. For too long teachers have had to contend with diverse personalities, dispositions, home lives and degrees of student ability and parental concern - and they have had to learn to deal with all this while trying to pursue normal careers and have lives of their own. It is safe to say that many teachers were neither prepared for the difficulties nor able to cope unless they possessed extraordinary ability.
To complicate matters even further, the specter of teacher accountability rose during the early '70s. Tales of students who had gone all the way through school and still could not read roused the public to demand that teachers and public education be held accountable for how much students did or did not learn. Much of the fear of teacher accountability was that teachers' jobs might be on the line if their students did not perform well on standardized tests or were passed up for advancement to the next grade. Teachers and their organizations rebelled; they were simply being asked too much in view of the complicated set of circumstances that made up the modern-day schools.

Some teachers and principals found that they could make themselves look good by teaching to standardized tests and passing poor students on to the next grade. They argued that if a student was left behind his or her peers, a stigma of failure would eventually set in, and besides, every grade was equipped for remedial work. Someone would take care of the problem eventually. Eventually the student took care of the problem by dropping out of school.
H. Titus Singletary Jr. Associate State Superintendent of Schools

Somewhere along the line, highly publicized issues like social promotions, high school dropouts, falling standardized test scores and teacher attrition rates led the public to demand and educators to seek better methods for what was going on in the schools. Happily, many of the seemingly impossible problems reached a head with the passing of the post-World War II baby boom students from the public schools. A kind of quiet settled over the schools in which educators were able to take long, hard looks at what had been going on. Wellthought-out solutions to problems began to present themselves; one of the best was in the area of teacher certification, a solution that not only would insure that teachers were prepared to teach, but also that they would more likely stay in the teaching ranks longer - it is called performance-based certifica tion.
Associate State Superintendent of Schools H. Titus Singletary Jr. said that entry level teachers will be better prepared now - for anything. According to him, preparing a teacher and insuring that he or she has competent skills for success is one of the most critical parts of PBC. "We are not aiming for anyone's failure, we are working for success. Georgia needs good teachers." And Georgia needs to keep good teachers in the classroom. Singletary is enthusiastic about Georgia's PBC. He hopes that the new system will substantially reduce the numbers of teachers who stay in the classroom for only a few years. Singletary feels that Georgia's system of licensing teachers is now better than any state's. For six years different organizations DeKalb County Schools, the Griffin, Okefenokee_

Georgia ALERT, June 1980.9

the loneliness of facing 30 children whose futures depended on what they said and did. PBC, as it is being implemented, will change all that.

What is Performance-based Certification?

Null Tucker, coordinator East Metro Regional Assessment Center
and NE Georgia CESAs, as well as the Teacher Assessment Project at the University of Georgiaworked intensively to develop a set of criteria. These criteria were tested and proved to such an extent, Singletary feels, that they can withstand legal attacks. Beginning teachers who were skeptical when asked to take part in the initial testing of the criteria ended up praising it highly. Many teachers commented that the results of the criterion-referenced tests and performance assessments were in themselves as valuable as anything they learned in college.
A major effort is being made in Georgia to prevent any possible ill feelings about certification. It is felt with great confidence that new certification requirements will greatly help entering teachers better understand what teaching is and will help them become better teachers. Singletary also believes that the new requirements, coupled with Georgia's already excellent staff development program, will eventually give the state one of the finest, most dedicated teachers corps in the nation.
Everyone involved in PBC so far has agreed that the new system is not one geared to failure. Teachers will be tested, both with a pen-and-pencil test and through an on-the-job observation of their teaching skills, to determine if they possess the minimum qualifications to be teachers in Georgia; if they do not, they will be given detailed feedback on the observation and staff development to improve the portions of classroom teaching in which they are weak. "In the past," Singletary said, "we have brought in teachers, given them a classroom, and often, they didn't see the principal again except in the halls. It is no wonder there are so many teachers leaving the teaching ranks after a few years. They had no way of being prepared for what would be happening in the classroom." Colleges had always prepared teachers well in giving them good knowledge of course contents, but had done little in preparing them for a crush of paperwork, disruptive students, irate parents and

Quite simply, performance-based certification is a new way of determining if prospective teachers are qualified to teach in Georgia. It contains three separate parts - college preparation, a teaching field criterion-referenced test and on-the-job assessment. Education officials and persons who worked on developing PBC feel that Georgia now has the best method of certifying teachers in the nation. Experts from different states and several foreign countries are already coming to Georgia to study the system. At least one neighboring state is using Georgia's program as a pattern and adapting the program for use with its teachers - this at a time when officials and administrators are taking long, hard looks at any new program.
Georgia has developed 17 criterion-referenced tests for determining how much prospective teachers know in 32 fields of teaching (early childhood, middle grades and different high school subjects). A number of other tests are being developed for specialized fields. There are mixed feelings about the CRTs. Many veteran teachers think that a college diploma should be enough to signify what a teacher candidate knows, even persons who helped develop the tests admit that anyone who could not pass a CRT should not qualify to be a teacher. And that is exactly the point. If a person was graduated from an approved teacher education program, he or she should have no trouble passing a test of the content knowledge of his or her teaching field.
The way Georgia's CRTs were developed is in itself an indication of how well planned the whole PBC effort is. In 1975 the Georgia Department of Education contracted with National Evaluation Systems, Inc., to work with groups in Georgia to develop the series of tests. These groups were made up largely of public school and college teachers representative of different teaching fields. They selected topics considered most significant to the scope of the teaching field, and after revising and rating objectives developed from these topics, gave them to teachers around the state to rate according to essentiality and time spent teaching them. The committees again rated the objectives based on teachers' responses and revised them. After a small-scale field tryout, 400 items in each teaching field were given a large-scale tryout with college education seniors and first-year teachers. The 400 items were also submitted to review panels made up of members nominated by professional education organizations, state consultants and colleges and universities. Based on the field tests and reviews, at least 250 items were selected in each teaching field from which CRT questions could be drawn. Each teaching field CRT went through the same process to be validated.

The CRTs will be administered quarterly and will assess a teacher's competence measured against an established minimum level. The first CRTs were administered in 1978 to first-year teachers and college seniors planning on a teaching career. Eighty-two percent of the persons taking the initial tests passed them. When prospective teachers fail the test, they are notified to what extent they were deficient, and the test reports give detailed information on areas in which they need improvement.
The overall philosophy of PBC is separation of teacher preparation from teacher certification. After a prospective teacher graduates from an approved institution, then the state board enters, according to Singletary. Before being certified for teaching, that person must prove that he or she can effectively teach and knows the content area of his or her teaching fields. "We're not trying to interfere with academic freedom," he said, "but to separate the functions of the two institutions."
Mary Anders, staff member East Metro Regional Assessment Center
Teachers must pass a Classroom Performance Assessment
The second innovation that performance-based certification brings to teacher licensure is the TPAls, Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments, instruments which have been developed and will be administered with the same painstaking care as the CRTs. Just as Georgia was a pioneer in the CRTs, so is the state blazing a path with on-the-job assessment of teachers. Other states have pen-and-pencil tests of a teacher's knowledge, said Singletary, but Georgia is unique in having a standardized, systematic way of evaluating a teacher's actual classroom teaching skills. People have always been divided on how much of what a teacher does to influence learning can be

10. Georgia ALERT, June 1980

decisively measured. After all, teaching is a unique profession in just the tremendous numbers of interpersonal reactions that occur. But whether those behaviors and interpersonal skills of a teacher which influence learning can be accurately measured is still a concern. According to Null Tucker, coordinator of the East Metro Regional Assessment Center, and Mary Anders, a staff member of the center, who both were intimately involved with the development of the first model assessment instrument in DeKalb County, the final instrument refined by the University of Georgia "has many high-inference indicators." In other words, it calls for a professional judgment by members of the assessment team. However, they are enthusiastic about the program, Tucker because of the continuous involvement of teachers, not only in the development of the instruments, but in the application of them. "Teachers now have a say in the certification process because of the inclusion of a teacher on the three-person assessment teams," he said. "The greatest value lies in that everyone involved in the process learns from it. PBC will have a wide effect in educating teachersbeginning teachers, as well as experienced teachers, serving on assessment teams - in how to manage a classroom and teach students. In this respect, the process is more important than the product." Not only will beginning teachers have the combined knowledge of years of classroom teaching techniques available to them through the instruments and staff development designed to increase their proficiency, but veteran teachers learnIng to be data collectors, and administrators learning to serve on assessment teams, will gain in their knowledge of effective teaching and classroom management techniques.

Jack Lavender, principal of Idlewood Elementary, and Anders often serve on assessment teams for the East Metro region, she as a data collector for the center and he in the supervisor/principal position.
"Teachers now have a say in the certification process because of the inclusion of a teacher
on the three-person assessment teams."
Jill Phillips, an elementary art teacher at Idlewood, is able to use innovative teaching techniques and materials as a matter of course because of the direct influence of performance-based certification on teacher prep programs.

The actual mechanics of the performance assessment show why the process may be said to be more important than the product. A team of three will be selected to assess the beginning teacher - a data collector, a peer teacher and a principal, assistant principal or supervisor - and all will have been trained in assessment procedures and the actual assessment instruments. Each member of the team will be able to see the teacher's lesson plans for a prearranged period and interview the teacher either together or individually. Each team member will then separately observe the teacher's class for a period of one hour and rate him or her according to indicators related to each of the generic teacher competencies.

A profile of scores from the three team members is determined for every competency and its indicators. The indicators are used by team members to ascertain if the teacher exhibits the competency. For example, under Competency I of Teaching Plans and Materials - "Plans Instruction To Achieve Selected Objectives," the indicators are

specifies or selects learner objectives for lessons,

specifies or selects teaching procedures for

lessons,

-

Georgia ALERT, June 1980. 11

Teacher Certification
Rules Simplified
Only two types of teaching certificates will be issued to applicants for Georgia certification next year - professional and provisional.
The one-year professional certificate will be issued to persons who meet all requirements to teach except the legislatively mandated courses in special education and the teaching of readingor those who do not meet the recency of study requirement of the Georgia Board of Education.
The five-year professional certificate will be issued to teachers who meet all requirements, including both satisfactory scores on the board's criterionreferenced tests (CRT) in their teaching fi~ld and on-the-job performance as determined by the board's new Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments. On-the-job assessment is a new requirement of teacher licensing in Georgia scheduled to take full effect next school year.
All other applicants for certification will receive the one-year provisional certificate which will be issued only upon the request of an employing superintendent after July 1, 1980.
Applicants eligible for the provisional certificate will be persons who have not passed the teaching field CRT (for example, a person moving in from out of state or returning to teaching after several years out of the profession). Such a person must registerfor and take the test during the first year he or she teaches. Persons passing the test on the first attempt will have their certificates converted to professional certificates retroactive to the beginning ofthe school year. Those failing the test on the first attempt but passing it later will receive professional certificates effective on the date they passed the test.
The provisional certificate will also be issued to applicants who meet the teaching field requirements and hold degrees from regionally accredited institutions but do not have the professional education courses to meet minimum certification standards. Such certificates will be valid for one year and may be renewed for a minimum of three years or until applicants complete the necessary courses and other certification requirements for a professional certificate.

specifies or selects content, materials and media for lessons,
specifies or selects materials and procedures for assessing learner progress on the objectives,
plans instruction at a variety of levels.
Each of the indicators has expressed descriptors which data collectors will use to determine if the teacher actually exhibited that indicator. Descriptors will be used to rate the teacher on each indicator on a scale of one to five. All elements of the assessment are rated and the scores are determined by computer. Beginning teachers will be rated twice during their initial year of teaching, once in the fall and once in the spring. They must receive acceptable scores on a combination of two consecutive assessments to be qualified for a renewable teaching certificate.
To put PBC into effect, the Georgia Department of Education has established 17 regional assessment centers which will be responsible for a portion of the state's population. Data collectors are staff members of the assessment centers, and the peer teacher is usually a member of the faculty of the school where the teacher being assessed teaches, or at least is a teacher in the same subject area.

Either the data collector or the peer teacher must be certified in the area of the teacher being assessed. The third member of the team must be a principal, assistant principal or supervisor.
Many teachers questioned about PBC had differing views about the whole process. Some veteran teachers felt they would resent having to prove their competence, but most felt it was needed for first-Yllar teachers. Most beginning teachers felt it was needed, that it would be effective in keeping 'out persons who were totally unfit for teaching and would give needed help to young teachers not sufficiently prepared in college for teaching.
Gail Trippett, a third grade teacher at DeKalb's Idlewood Elementary, feels that her college (Spelman) prepared her well for teaching in an elementary school, and that persons graduating from universities with larger schools of education should be just as prepared, if not more so, for taking the CRT and going through performance assessment.
Emma Stevens, Georgia's 1980 Teacher of the Year and a 3D-year veteran, is not so sure the TPAls will fairly assess beginning teachers in all fields. "There is something wrong with the assessment

Patricia Hammond, a former Georgia Teacher of the Year from Lumpkin County, built a comprehensive program of incorporating students with special learning problems into her elementary classroom, butfeels that teachers in the future will have a much lower pupil-teacher ratio and use of more teacher aides.

12 Georgia ALERT, June 1980

instrument when one set applies to all teachers, because each field is so different, especially in special education and early childhood education. The activities of a teacher with severely mentally retarded children have nothing to do with the generic competencies designed for a teacher with a normal class," she said.
Stevens is also concerned about the teachers who prepare assiduously for the performance assessments and then, for instance, "never prepare another set of lesson plans! I have seen teachers who do nothing at all. I'd like to see something done about them," she said. Stevens hopes that the assessment instruments are still being tested and that they will be expanded for specific areas and refined for beginning teachers as well as veterans. "I think the idea of the data collecting (teacher assessment) is good - I just think it needs to be perfected. It is one step forward - to get rid of incompetency in the classroom - but only a step forward. I don't want it to be wiped out because it is not carried to a conclusion."
The performance-based certification program is not likely to be wiped out anytime soon. Teachers who obtain their certificates after May 1, 1980, will receive a renewable certificate only after successfully passing the CRT in their teaching fields and undergoing performance assessment successfully. The program has taken 10 years from conception to implementation, the developing instruments being used extensively in staff development and in teacher education programs. All competencies which survived the extensive testing were completely validated by Georgia teachers who consider them essential to effective teaching - both in knowledge and practice.

What Will New Teacher Requirements Mean for Public Education in Georgia?
Like all new programs, performance-based certification may be looked upon with a certain amount of well-meaning skepticism. And the final plan itself admits to certain limitations - that a high score on a given competency does not prove that a teacher would have taught this way if not given the assessment; there is no guarantee that the teacher will continue performing in that manner in the future; the TPAls in no way cover all the possible competencies; and there are no provisions for competencies which would cover special subjects, as Stevens noted.
Performance assessment being the delicate subject that it is, there is no guarantee either that it will receive wide acceptance. A few people questioned, although enthusiastic about the philosophy and wide implications of the program, thought it might be viewed as adding to the already top-heavy administration of public education. A lot has been said about many teachers not having the admirable frame of mind and love of teaching that their predecessors had in years past, but there are still persons coming into the profession because of their

Gail Trippett epitomizes the dedicated cadre of young teachers who feel that the teacher can make a definitive change in the quality of life for the future through training and knowing how to use the proper teaching techniques and materials.

love of teaching and because they feel they can make a real difference in the world by being teachers. Gail Trippett, the young Idlewood teacher, feels that she can make a difference. "I'm not in it for the money," she said, "but I do think that teachers deserve the same respect as other high level professionals (such as doctors and lawyers) because we are training the minds of these people; and how we deal with students and the type of environment we help shape will determine the quality of life in the future." In a few words she

caught the essence of the possibilities of'PBC for the future: by improving the quality of teachers in the classroom, this program has the potential of improving the quality of life.
It has always been accepted that change in education necessarily is slower than change in the larger society, but that it inexorably reflects that change. It may well be that performance-based certification is not change for the sake of change, but that it is needed to set a basis of change for the future. 0

Georgia ALERT, June 1980. 13

photos by Glenn Oliver

North Georgia Tech teaches its students not only how to make a living but also how to live.
North Georgia Tech

a place for living and learning

by Jeanette Lloyd
Students who find campus life their style and learning a vocational skill their goal find North Georgia Technical and Vocational School in Clarkesville the place to go. The school offers citizens of Georgia a rare opportunity in today's world of escalating education costs, for tuition is free to any Georgian 16 years of age or older. "A student can come to North Georgia Tech for under $300 a quarter including room and board," says James H. Marlowe, director of the school since 1969. "Compared with the costs of career preparation at various other schools, job training at North Georgia Tech is quite a bargain."
North Georgia Tech has the distinction of being the first school established under the Georgia Board of Education's plan to create a state system of vocational schools. The plan was approved in October 1943, and the North Georgia Trade and Vocational School opened February 1, 1944. As the

demand for technical training grew, more courses were added in this area. To emphasize the trend toward technical training, the school's name was changed to North Georgia Technical and Vocational School in 1962. Since 1977, NGT has operated under the department's Office of State Schools and Special Services headed by Peyton Williams Jr.
Today North Georgia Tech is one of two residential, state-supported technical and vocational schools in Georgia (the other is South Georgia Tech at Americus). NGT's 30-acre campus offers students a total living environment, enhanced in recent years by the addition of Carlton Center, a student activities and media center. The school already had a gymnasium with game rooms and an indoor pool.
The Carlton Center quickly became the hub of the campus, giving students and staff alike room to

gather to work and play. An oversized stone fireplace dominates the activity room, where such student events as the Valentine Dance are held. Staff meetings are conducted in the handsome board room with a panoramic view of the mountains. A library, media center, canteen and bookstore round out the center's accommodations.
Marlowe has developed a concept, a dream of what North Georgia Tech should be in coming years. "We see this institution as being unique in that there are things here we can and should be doing that no other school can do," he says. "Because we are vocationally oriented and at the same time a residential school, we have the ability to provide a service in conducting training programs for state agencies, industries and other citizens of this state."
Marlowe's dream is to develop on the North

14 Georgia ALERT, June 1980

Georgia Tech campus a continuing education center for technical education. "We should develop our facilities and pilot new programs here for emerging occupations that, when successful, could be placed in any area school in the state where there is a need for them."
The school is already realizing part of that dream. It has become home base for training programs for project engineers, resident engineers and maintenance foremen for the State Department of Transportation. The State Department of Natural Resources holds training sessions at the school for park maintenance personnel.
When the school numbers its accomplishments, it puts the adult evening short-term program at the top of the list. Last year more than 4,000 adults upgraded their job skills or learned new ones through short-term courses at extension center classes in Rabun, Stephens, White and Towns counties. When the program began in 1970, it had less than 100 participants. Considering the rural locality of the school, that growth is rather impressive.
"The credit for the success of the evening program goes to John F. Dillon Jr., its coordinator," attributes Marlowe. "He has established a real rapport with industry and citizens throughout this section of north Georgia."
Most of the short-term courses are tailor-made to meet specific interests of industries or groups of

citizens. One of the most unusual courses offered to date is a scuba diving course for the area's emergency medical technicians, who need the skill for rescue operations in the mountain lakes and rivers. The course was taught in the school's swimming pool.
"North Georgia Tech is a place where a student can find just about anything he or she is looking for in a residential school," says Marlowe. "Campus living offers health services, career counseling, dormitories for singles, three meals a day in the cafeteria and a wide range of recreational opportunities, including intramural sports. Additionally, the school is in the heart of North Georgia's mountain vacationland, and our students enjoy the many scenic and recreational areas c1oseby."
Each year between 500 and 600 people complete the school's training programs with job entry skills for the labor market. Because the school uses some individualized instructional methods and graduates students year-round, employers in the North Georgia area are able to fill their employment needs as they occur.
There is usually a job opening for any graduate wanting to go to work or willing to relocate, Marlowe says. But not every student is willing to leave the mountains. "We have some students who like the Clarkesville area so much they don't want to move to take a job elsewhere, and these students might have a little trouble finding jobs in their parti-

cular occuptional areas. Most of our students, however, go to work right away."
Students can choose from courses in 24 different occupational programs. The school staff includes professional counselors to help students explore career interests and choose the one best suited to individual needs and goals.
"Many students are making vocational-technical their first choice for career preparation, just as college is a first choice for others," continues Marlowe. "A vocational or technical education leads to a successful and self-fulfilling job just as a four-year college education does. The major difference is one of content, not of quality."
North Georgia Tech's students come from varied backgrounds and some foreign lands. Their reasons for choosing the school are as diverse as their backgrounds, but most share the common bond of striving toward individual career goals. Many simply like the living environment of a school campus, especially the association with fellow students.
"We believe in the total development of an individual," Marlowe concludes, "and we feel that this is best achieved in a campus environment. Students not only learn how to make a living but how to live as well, how to get along with other people. We feel that North Georgia Tech offers a student the full opportunity to grow as a person and to develop the skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in a career." 0

The school encourages a student to study the program which he or she feels will best meet his or her economic and social needs regardless of tradition. More and more females are enrolling in the traditionally male machine shop program because of the promising career opportunities.
~

Enrollment is open to people of all ages and all interests. The masonry program supplies employees for the construction industry.

Georgia ALERT, June 1980.15

Bollpinfjops

Josephine Martin, DOE's Local Systems Support Division director, was honored by more than 750 delegates and guests at the Georgia School Food Service Association's silver anniversary banquet in Augusta on April 18. The surprise tribute began with a standing ovation when Martin was introduced by State Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin. Among many who spoke in recognition of Martin's accomplishments and national reputation were Dave Alspach, southeastern regional administrator, Food and Nutrition Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture; Cal Adamson, associate state superintendent of schools; and Annette Bomar, administrator of DOE's School Food and Nutrition Section.
Martin also heard recorded messages from two legislators who oversee the nation's school feeding programs, Carl D. Perkins of Kentucky, chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and Herman Talmadge, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

For the second straight year, the Georgia Association of Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) will host the National VICA Conference and United States Skill Olympics in Atlanta, beginning June 23. Both events will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center and will involve about 8,000 members from across the U. S.
The U. S. Skill Olympics, one of the largest national student competitions held under one roof, will be held June 26 in the World Congress Center's exhibition hall. About 2,300 VICA members will participate in these events.
More than $5 million worth of equipment and supplies for the contests are contributed or loaned by business firms. In addition business and industry representatives help organize the Skill Olympics and serve as judges.

Educators in search of materials that support their commitment to educational equity for women should contact the Dissemination Center for the Women's Educational Equity Act Program at the Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts. The Dissemination Center is responsible for the review, production and dissemination of all projects funded by the Women's Program staff, USOE, and publishes a variety of curriculum, counseling and career education materials. For information on these materials, write Education Development Center, 55 Chapel Street, Newton, Massachusetts 02160, (617) 969-7100.

.g.S!.l President Carter has extended for nine months the mandatory thermostat controls as a means of saving energy. The restrictions affect many of Georgia's public schools and - with
g; exceptions -require private and public buildings to set their
~ thermostats at 78 degrees in the summer and 65 in the winter. Elementary schools are exempted from these restrictions, but middle schools, high schools and post secondary vocationaltechnical schools must comply.


The State Board of Education has approved new standards for Georgia public schools. Most of the new standards will be fieldtested in about one fourth of the state's public schools during the 1980-81 school year. However, minimum standards will be applied to all schools next year. These will be some standards already in use and some new ones the board feels are needed for schools to maintain minimum standards of quality.


Georgia students will be among the first in the nation to lake part in an exciting new vacation-learning adventure using the art, architecture, technology, environmental programs and show business expertise of Walt Disney World.

Steve Preston
Steve Preston is the new director of the Georgia Department of Education's Division of Planning, Research and Evaluation. He has been with the education department since 1974 and served as director of the Georgia Research and Development Utilization Project and recently as a staff member in the Title IV unit. He received undergraduate degrees from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate from Harvard. Part of his new duties will be to coordinate the development of the Georgia Plan for Education for the 1980s.


"The Wonders of Walt Disney World," a model educational program for students in grades five to 10, will be offered first in Georgia, New Jersey and Florida. It will use the Walt Disney World resort and entertainment complex as a living laboratory to open the eyes of young people to the wonders around them. Four major subject areas are offered - energy, ecology, art and entertainment. The curriculum will combine field trips within the Disney property with classroom experience and has already been tested with sample classes from Georgia and Florida.
For more information write Wonders of Walt Disney World, P. O. Box 40, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830.


A recent inventory taken by the Georgia Department of Human Resources found that 97.2 percent of the students entering Georgia schools for the first time in the 1979-80 school year were in compliance with the new immunization law. The law says that before entering a Georgia school, a child must be immunized against measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and mumps. School systems may allow one 30-day extension for students to complete their shots, but after that, it's no shots - no school.

Predictions are that Georgia will need about 5,000 additional public school teachers next fall. To help school systems locate potential teachers and to inform persons all over the United States about teacher vacancies in the state, the Georgia Department of Education has employed Julia Elfman to coordinate teacher recruitment. Elfman, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a classroom teacher in New Orleans, and most recently, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. She is in the department's Division of Staff Development.

June 1980 Vol. 12 No.3

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News/Feature Editor Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typeselling. Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Steve Harvey, Jeanette lloyd, Elliott Mackie, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins and Anne Raymond.

The Georgia Department af Education does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Services

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

~

103 State Office Building

Atlanta. Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 6562476

KDPR.Kee

~it

's~o\e\OO'O'!
t;.ouc'O\\O(l r>- \...oo'~..'O\

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334

BULK RATE U. S. Postage
PAID
Atlanta, Georgia Permit Number 168

E530602UNIELIBRO

UNIVE~SITY OF GE RGIA

LIBRAR Y

ATHENS

GA 30602

16. Georgia ALERT, June 1980

J<3"!IO UU<319

~eWlymmre

.,

-

Georgia's school food and nutrition programs have improved considerably since 1949. This picture was taken at Clarke County's 51. James Elementary when the national school lunch program was relatively new. Today, most Georgia students eat in modern cafeterias. Menus meet nutritional guidelines, and meals are served at gleaming counters. But good food still brings the same smiles of anticipation.

Teacher Salaries Are Board's Top Priority In '82

An increase in teacher salaries averaging 15 percent is the top priority in the Georgia Board of Education's budget request for FY 1982.
The board will ask Georgia's legislature in January to appropriate $152 million new state dollars to implement recommendations of the Georgia Teacher Salary Study Commission.
Appointed by State Board of Education Chairman Roy A. Hendricks, the commission studied Georgia teachers' salaries and how they are paid. Its recommendations, presented this spring by Chairman William O. Riley of Atlanta, were to raise the beginning teacher salary to $12,132, to keep the index schedule as a way of paying teachers and to extend the schedule from its present 14 years to provide salary increases for teachers through their 19th year of experience.
The state board's budget would effect all these recommendations and would include similar salary increases for other education personnel.
The board's second priority in the 1982 budget is a substantial increase in funds for school systems to use in the maintenance and operation (M&O) of schools. Currently under the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia (APEG), systems receive $1,800 per teacher. The board wants to increase this to $2,600 at a cost of $39.2 million. Funds are also sought for increased M&O for public libraries (from 40 cents to 58 cents per capita) and for area vocational-technical schools.
Further budget priorities of the state board are based on commitments which must be fulfilled, such as the funding of salaries and equipment for new buildings under construction.

In this category are funds to pay personnel to staff new comprehensive high schools, staff to expand the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf to the 10th grade, equipment and other needed programs at new vocational-technical schools in Gwinnett County, at Clayton Junior College and at Coosa Valley Area Vo-Tech School.
The board also places in its top 10 requests funds to complete implementation of performance-based certification, for assessment of writing, speaking and listening skills of students, including materials, training and development. The board will also ask for state funds to replace federal funds at centers for severely emotionally disturbed students.
In all, the board's top 10 priorities would cost $201.6 million in new state funds.
Other priorities in the 1982 budget are
Expansion of the Governor's Honors Program by increasing the number of students served from 600 to 1200; 200 more students would be served at North Georgia College and 400 at a new site to be selected. Cost would be $587,971.
Partial funding (40 percent) of section 12 of APEG to provide 644 instructional specialists in art, music and physical education for elementary grades. Cost: $9,957,657.
An increase of $50 per state-allotted teacher to be used for instructional media, raising the amount from $400 this year to $450 in 1982. Cost: $2,453,900.
An increase of 18 cents per capita, from 40 cents to 58 cents, for public library materials. Cost: $977,220.

A one-cent per meal increase in the state reimbursement, currently 10 cents, for the school lunch program. Cost: $1,480,000.
Funds to replace instructional equipment in vocational comprehensive high schools over a lO-year period. Cost: $1,481,900.
Funding of sick leave for high school program administrators, supervisors, adult agriculture teachers and young farmer teachers. Cost: $32,125.
Funding of sick leave for area vo-tech school personnel. Cost: $177,375.
Funding to replace instructional equipment in area vo-tech schools on a 10-year basis. Cost: $1,192,223.
Funding of sick leave for instructors at joint junior college programs. Cost: $4,188.
The state board is asking $100 million for local school construction, $12.1 million for vo-tech school construction, $5 million for public library construction and $9.9 million for construction at state technical schools and schools for the handicapped.
The board did not request that the legislature again appropriate $75 million in tax relief funds under H.B. 95. With the deletion of this sum from its 1982 request, the board's request for continuation of programs in 1982 totals $22.8 million less than the current year's $1.118 billion in state funds.
The budget request was due to Governor Busbee September 1.

2. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

-<-r= -~ __ -~~

"

A beautiful morning at Lowndes Food Processing Center helps bridge the generation gap. Preparing a winter's supply of vegetables is easy work when performed by these hands.

Back To Natural

Community Canning Has Changed. You Can Taste The Difference.

The Lowndes canning plant stands on a slight rise halfway between the school board office and the high school parking lot. It is of recent construction - tan concrete block, chocolate wood trim, low A-frame roof. The row of six tall rectangular windows, combined with a set of double doors, gives it the country look of a mailorder church. It is located in a small grove of gnarled pecan trees, and the grass outside, as in any such grove, is mown and green. Occasional fits of restless wind disturb the shadows of leaves and branches on grass, but the wind does not perceptibly cool the hot, dry, south Georgia midsummer day.
This cannery, more properly called the Lowndes Food Processing Center, serves the land-based

Story by Elliott Mackie Photographs by Glenn Oliver
society of the coastal plains area surrounding Valdosta. Today, a Thursday toward the end of the season, the pecan grove is filled with pickup trucks and dusty sedans. The double doors are open.
Inside, steam floats up from kettles of simmering vegetables and fruit. Odd noises din the ear. Odd aromas strike the nose. Rinsewater and condensation glisten in shallow pools on the cement floor.
Cover: Cora Camion turns her summer crop of tomatoes into a winter supply ofsoup. Customers process a variety of products at the center.

Families of almost every size and shape and color are engaged in what seem to be random tasks.
Then a bell rings. A button is pushed. A hefty man in rubber shoes turns a crank. The pattern of work becomes apparent.
In the room's bright center a bob-haired woman and a sunblond boy poke wet crowder pods into the thin mouth of a machine. Dry pods are hard to shell, she says, nodding toward a nearby hose. The machine whirrs contentedly, swallowing handfuls of peas in one gulp, spitting bruised pods at a plastic barrel.
To the right, at the rear, a pair of vocational agriculture teachers demonstrate the best way to

Georgia ALERT, September 1980.3

"Enough oregano? One pinch more salt?" A bubbling cauldron of tomato sauce draws Lowndes County neighbors together for an impromptu consultation.

blanch peas for freezing. Blanched - slightly cooked - vegetables retain their fresh color and flavor when thawed. Blanching also reduces the number of bacteria. Like many of the processes at the cannery, it is done with live steam. Shelled peas are placed in perforated trays, covered by a weighted hood, then scalded for two minutes. They are rinsed under cold water and allowed to cool before sealing in airtight plastic bags.
Corn for freezing is blanched on the cob, then cooled. A man in a baseball cap, sitting at a worktable with his family, all of them intently scraping what will ultimately be 37 pounds of cream-style corn, says that blanching keeps the kernels from splattering as they are scraped off the cob. The family had bought the corn from a friend that morning, shucked and silked it at home, then brought it in to process. Use of the facility costs them 74 cents.
On the other side of the room a trim woman in

tortoiseshell spectacles stands over a paunchy kettle. The kettle, which is attached to the floor and heated by steam, contains figs, sugar syrup and sliced lemons. The woman stirs the mixture with a stubbed, flat-blade oar.
Fig preserves, corn and peas are among the variety products of the cannery. Tomatoes are the staple. Much of the day-to-day labor in the canning center is devoted to processing tomatoes in several forms - juice, soup and sauce as well as slices, wedges, chopped and whole.
At one of the long metal tables, a farm couple and their son deftly cut tomatoes into quarters, drop them into buckets. In another section of the cannery, tomato-vegetable soup bubbles over steam in a kettle. Near a window two women and a granddaughter ladle whole cooked tomatoes into a machine that separates skin and seeds from red velvet puree. To their left, a staff member attaches tops to cans of juice. At the rear of the plant, near

Joe Lineberger, processing center director, uses a power winch to lower jars of tomatoes into a pressure steamer.

4. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

Extra care pays off in extra taste. Zelma Richardson prepares tomatoes the old-fashioned way - by hand. Tin cans, inuented in 1810, created a reuolution in food preseruation. Today, electric sealers are used to attach lids to filled containers.
The corn in these freezer bags adds up to months of good eating. Richard Hamlen and daughter Melanie weigh out before leauing the center. Commercial equipment makes quantity food processing safer and more conuenient than home canning.
Georgia ALERT, September 1980.5

Pea-shelling devices are among the center's labor savers. These crowder peas will be canned because Margaret Gaskins' home freezers are both full of fresh produce. David Muskevitcsh, her helper, lives in New Orleans but spends summers in Lowndes County.

the window fans, Joe Lineburger, director of the center, lowers a steel basket of sealed bottles into a pressure cooker. After sterilization the tomatoes will be cooled in a tank of running water. They will then be ready to store.
Community food processing in Georgia dates from 1926. The first crude experiments with secondhand sawmill boilers and hand sealers in Franklin, Hart and Gwinnett counties were useful in proving that farmers reap few benefits from preserving and seIling their own agricultural products. Competition with large wholesalers was uneconomical.
The benefits to be gained lay in another direction. Volume preservation for home consumption was found to be more valuable than small-time canning for the market. Education programs in canning centers helped replace hit-or-miss methods and hand-me-down recipes that were often good but sometimes poisonous. Central facilities with commercial machines provided convenience and safety unavailable in home kitchens. And the opportunities for fellowship and information exchange bound farm families and communities more closely together.
Community canning expanded during the depression years. By 1942 Georgians were operating 383 plants and processing 10 million cans of food annually. But canning went out of fashion in the 1950s and 1960s. The popularity of home freezers coupled with relatively low food prices caused many processing plants to close.

Food processing for home consumption is a backto-basics idea whose time has now returned. Several factors have helped fill the canneries with new customers in recent years. Retail food costs have risen sharply. Backyard gardening has made a comeback. Nutrition education has created an awareness of additives in commercially processed food. And community food processing centers have changed. A few have freezer lockers attached to the plant and operate all year round. The others have placed greater emphasis on helping customers prepare large batches of food for freezing.
Some Georgians believe that the plants are community necessities. Fifty-three counties currently operate vocational agriculture processing programs. A group of Paulding County residents recently demanded that the cannery at Paulding Junior High School, closed for seven years, be refurbished or rebuilt. Funds from a Georgia Department of Education grant are on hand to cover a large part of the cost.
The Lowndes Food Processing Center is owned by the board of education and operated by school system vocational agriculture staff. It has replaced several smaller facilities which closed down when operations were consolidated four years ago. The building was paid for by the county commission. Equipment was purchased with state department of education matching funds and local funds.

The centel is nonprofit. There is a basic processing charge of four cents per can or bottle. Cans are supplied and sold at cost - 25 cents, for instance, buys the number 401 size, which holds about a quart. The processing charge for foods to be frozen is minimal - two ( ~nts a pound. Customers who wish to use jars bring their own. Many do, because glass is presently much cheaper than cans.
Customers must also supply such basics as noniodized salt, sugar, spices and the other ingredients needed for a particular recipe. They prepare their own food using facility equipment and are responsible for clean-up after their work is completed.
The staff performs the actual processing - sealing cans, sterilizing under pressure, cooling. These steps take place in a do-not-enter section at the back of the facility.
Customers are evidently satisfied with the Lowndes center. Machines help make work light. Fans and four-way ventilation cool the room on hot days. The staff assists and instructs, does not give orders. Food is prepared safely and economically. Smiles abound.
People work. Scraping 37 pounds of corn takes work. Fixing soup to fill two dozen jars takes work. Cleaning a scorched steam kettle is hard work.
The customers don't seem to mind. Winter lies ahead. And labor performed with hope for the future sometimes yields a more immediate reward.
A plate of preserves is passed around the center for inspection. The figs retain their ripe, juicy plumpness. Paperthin lemon slices nestle up to the figs in hot, candybrown syrup.
Fingers dip. Flavors and sensations flow. Dark. Traditional. Rich.
Smooth. Tangy. Natural. Delicious.
Homemade.
"Frances Jordan's Fig Preserves"

6 Georgia ALERT, September 1980

Governor's Honors Program

In' The Good Old Summertime

by Julia Martin

The Georgia Department of Education Governor's Honors Program (GHP) is a six-week summer learning experience for 600 intellectually gifted and talented public and private high school juniors and seniors. Students are nominated by their local school systems in academic, fine arts or vocational areas and are chosen for participation on the basis of test scores, academic records, written evaluations by teachers and interviews with GHP personnel. Students attend the program in a major study area such as social studies, music, science, German, math, entrepreneurship, dance or communications.
Class time is specifically geared to be unlike regular classroom work. For example, communications students write daily journals, work with radio, film and television equipment and produce a student newspaper. Social studies classes have several days of mock United Nations sessions debating world issues and voting on amendments. Dance

students have daily technique classes in ballet, modern, jazz or tap, study improvisation and composition and choreograph and perform their own works.
In addition to a major study area, each student selects two interest areas such as band, chorus, physical education or college and career guidance. Band and chorus members give several concerts throughout the program. Career centers on the
"Every little step she takes" A GHP summer means nonstop activity.

campuses offer audiovisuals and written information on different careers. Guidance counselors discuss career possibilities with the students, who also get opportunities to visit with recruiters from some of the nation's best colleges.
When GHP began in the summer of 1964, 400 students were chosen to attend the program at Wesleyan College in Macon. All course areas offered today, except vocational education, German and dance, were offered that first summer. In 1976, the program was expanded to the North Georgia College campus in Dahlonega to accommodate 200 additional students. This summer the Wesleyan section moved to the campus of Valdosta State College in Valdosta.
The State Board of Education hopes to increase GHP to 1,200 students, with 200 more at North Georgia College and 400 at a new site. This increase has been included in the board's budget request for 1982.

"One singular sensation" Extraordinary experiences are the GHP routine.

"One thrilling combination" Concentrated study is the GHP key.

.

"0
5" ~
~
G)
m
:l :l
Q;:.
'.."..
Georgia ALERT, September 1980 7

I Don't Want To Go Home

For an inside look at GHP 1980, Shannon Terrell, a communications major on the Valdosta campus, shares her journal with ALERT
readers. She is a senior at Griffin High School where she is a member of the chorus, concert choir, Beta Club and Thespians.

June 21 - Oh! I'm bone tired and the day is nowhere near over! After riding for hours Iarrive at GHP to discover an unbelievable line for registration. I stood in line about an hour. A very boring hour at that. I suppose the only redeeming factor was that I met so many new people! ... We finally got the luggage into the, room and it's time to go to our orientation. In the orientation every single department head got up and introduced everybody in their department. Also there were some of the most corny jokes told ever. Anyway, the meeting stressed that we were Honors programs students and were to be on our best behavior at all times, etc., etc. After the meeting all 400 of us poured out to the dining hall. My feet were screaming for relief and at the first sight of that mammoth line they went into open rebellion. I hurried back to the dorm to finish unpacking - so - no supper for me!
.. At 6:30 was our first major area meeting. I was really nervous and undecided about where Nevins Hall might happen to be. I ambled around for several minutes trying to look intelligent.
.. Room 138-139 Nevins Hall - headquarters of GHP's 60 Communications students. Well? We went in and sat down and started the usual "I'm Shannon Terrell from Griffin - who are you?" Shortly, four adults entered the room.
.. In our small group we tried to learn each others' names. There are a couple of people on the snobbish side and a couple on the introverted side. I'm stuck in the middle I think. Everything will work out ok though I'm sure.
Our dorm meeting was next. One more time we go through the student handbook. Honestly - we're only GHP people, but we can't read!
.. After the dorm meeting we had a disco. I only danced about four dances because it got so hot I couldn't breathe. I went and took a shower and got alternately frozen and scalded. We had another wing meeting to reiterate the rules in case we didn't catch them the first two times. Please!!
Bed time! I'm aching all over. I finally fell asleep at 1:25 a.m. Then - are you ready? I froze to death my first night in Valdosta!
June 24 - It's about time to go register for interest areas. I got "Personal Growth Encounter Group" from 1:15-2:30 the first three weeks and GHP Chorus the six week span from 2:40-3:55. The

June 27 - They're probably going to put me on a newspaper staff because I can supposedly write. I can help out on a news staff I suppose, but I want to have a leadership position. Editorials Board or TV and Radio Acting, Directing, Producing. Preferably Radio Producing or TV Directing. This week we're only publishing a paper so that's what we'll all be working on. Our first meeting will be Saturday at 1:30...
... Our group is so talented! I'll tell you - GHP is a place to get humble in a hurry! ... I feel like GHP is my home. I've been adopted into a tremendous friendly family and I don't ever want to leave...

Shannon Terrell
"I feel as ifI've borrowed life from all of these wonderful people."

June 28 - I went to lunch and we had lasagna

which was really good. On the way back to the

dorm we met a bunch of girls on our wing. We

played "Uno" in our room for about an hour. I

finally told them I was so sleepy - please leave.

I then sacked out and slept until 5:30. I got up and

c.... ate and went back to bed until time to get ready for

. OJ'

the dance recital. (It) was extraordinary... We

5: talked with the dancers afterward and they were

~
5'

very interesting. We then came back to the dorm. I

changed into a nightgown and then the people

started coming. Within the space of 10 minutes

there were 11 people in the room. Even the RA was

here. Then after hours of laughing and ghost stories

it came time for lights out. ..

second three weeks I'm taking "My Future is Imminent - What Should I Do?" from 4:05-5: 15...
June 25 - Now we're in small groups and are sharing our talents. Greg is a composer... There are several state winners in newswriting and Pat Bryant is in GHP Communications 1980. Who is Pat Bryant? Lyricist of "Home Where I Belong," B. J. Thomas' hit! I'm flabbergasted ...
June 26 - Good morning! I'm so tired! I ate a tremendous breakfast because I'm not having lunch. I found yesterday that I don't have time! I'm in class now discussing editorials in the VSC newspaper. Now we're watching a film called "The Red Balloon. " The discussion after the movie was great! ... Break time... Another movie - "Why Man Creates" ... Now we're in journal groups writing! ... PGEG (personal Growth Encounter Group) was about the same as yesterday... Chorus was fantastic . . .

July 1 - Journal groups now. I'm writing a humorous commentary to be published in "Shannon's Corner." ... Now we are watching a film about the production of a newspaper. I never realized it was such an intricate process. Announcements and another film...
July 2 - I wrote letters until time for our TV film session. I then went to guidance session "Finding a College and Gaining Admission." I'm still writing letters and journal entries. Good Lord, I write 24 hours a day...
July 3 - We signed up for media areas. My choices were radio; TV acting, directing and producing; TV technology. I also told them I was stuck between the first two and to put me wherever they needed me. I'll write all day for newspaper and turn in good work. Anyway, they are making the decisions now and I am in writing time.
. .. We came to media groups. Am now in radio. We

8. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

are now brainstorming. Honestly these teachers

G)

iO

think of the neatest things to do.

:l :l

Q

.. Some of these people really think a lot of me. I really feel honored because they are so talented, so

...IcI.I'

intelligent yet so warm and friendly ...

July 5 - We piled into bed at 12:30, then Theresa says, "Shannon, I can't sleep because I'm so depressed. "I asked her what was troubling her, and she said, "Shannon, I don't euer want to go home. " I told her I knew exactly how she felt.

July 8 - Good morning! No breakfast. In class we have just embarked into media groups to brainstorm. I have the responsibility of bringing together a point/counterpoint. .. Kelly and I set up interviews with Tom Dechman, dean of GHP students and Lajuana Modling, GHP director. We are going to work on that tonight. I need to write out interview questions.
.. I am so depressed! I didn't get any mail! I miss home when I don't get letters.
Now we are in first interest area... It was great. We were supposed to state all the strengths about ourselves, then the people in the group told the strengths they saw in me. I came out of there feeling like I could conquer the world! ... Chorus is great. We're starting final polishing for our concert next Tuesday.

.. Kelly and I have an interview with Tom Wilbanks at 6:30. The art exhibit is at 7:00, and the concert is at 8:00. I swear I'm about to drop. Before I go to the

,
Valdosta State College hosted 400 Gouernor's Honors students for the first time this summer.

A mock United Nations giues social studies students experiences not found in their regular classroom.

Productiue study thriues in the relaxed, casual atmosphere that is the GHP trademark.

G) iO :l :l
o .~..

....
Cll
.2
<5
cc
Cll
(3
Georgia ALERT, September 1980.9

...
.'~"

by the end of the week I'm so dead tired I want to

6

crawl up into a nice warm bed and sleep a solid

cc

week. Funny thing is - I've been here almost three

G'"

weeks and the weekend hasn't come yet! There is

always something to do!

This exhaustion causes a real problem - my mind becomes less and less creative because I'm constantly plotting a stolen time of rest. This causes endless frustration for me. I know I have capabilities to write - and write very well at that. Yet there is some spark somewhere in the inner recesses of my mind that simply refuses to ignite! More than that, I worry because everyone around me is putting out these profound writings, and here I sit! Why can't I write? Please God, restore my ability before I go mad! I know I can, but now I can't if you know what I mean.

However, in spite of the frustration and exhaustion, I feel that GHP is the most wonderful and beneficial thing that has ever come my way. Never before have I experienced the closeness I feel with my classmates - people I hardly know. Never before have I had the opportunity to experience such diversified and invigorating learning experiences under such talented and caring instructors. It's wonderful! It's unreal! I love it, and I don't want to go home!

.. We were given about an hour to write. It's break time and I'm still writing... We're off to media groups now. We're going to be taping our point! counterpoint, so cross your fingers! We're in media groups brainstorming now. We're talking about what kind of effect GHP will have on us when 'we go home. It's depressing me, so we'll change the subject. .. Class is over!

.. I skipped lunch and slept til time for our first college seminar. I visited Harvard, Vanderbilt, Duke, University of Alabama, UNC at Chapel Hill. ..

July 11 - I am now licensed as a third class disc jockey by the FCC! Bob (one of my instructors) also told me since I was so interested, I would be able to run the late night weekend program at WVVS. I can't believe it!. ..

The halls are even alive with the sound of music at Dahlonega's GHP. Cloistered in a supportive environment, the students make use of every spare moment to develop their skills.

interview I need to read the short story, write creatively, check on Janna (she's sick)... All missions accomplished, and I'm home!
July 9 - Good morning! I didn't eat breakfast didn't have time. That's the trouble these days - I never have time for anything. In this environment there is so much to do, so much to see and so much

to experience! It's like I'm a little girl again, and I'm inside the largest candy store in the world. All the goodies I could ever want are nearby at my disposal. However, I have only a very short time to experience its pleasure. Here I cram my days full of meaningful and enjoyable activities, afraid to go to the dorm and rest because I might miss something! I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true! Therefore,

July 15 - In class, we broke off into extended writing groups. I finally started something decent! I still need to work on it, but at least it's a beginning. It's about time!
.. I don't have a first interest area now. I wrote letters all afternoon. Our last choral rehearsal went well. My new interest area "My Future is Imminent - What Shall I Do?" begins at 4 and is over at 5:15 . . .
I got out of class at 5: 15 and ran to eat. The line was really long, so that meant I had to eat faster than usual. I got back to the dorm at 5:55. I was supposed to be in the TV studio at 6:30 ... I stayed 20 minutes, then I was at rehearsal at 7:00. The concert went well, although it was so hot I could hardly

10 Georgia ALERT, September 1980

breathe beneath the lights. We got two standing ovations! I was proud to be a part of it.
July 16 - I read the short story that I have been writing in my journal groups. I actually got applause when I finished. . . I have a definite timeslot on WVVS Saturday night from 11-2. Tina and I will be running the show...
July 19 - Went to WVVS. I'm so nervous! Joe gave us a few words of advice, and set us loose. Guess who got the board first - me! I made some major boo-boos I'd rather not discuss. [ promise you - I've never been so nervous, nor will [ ever be that nervous again! [ have a tremendous stomach ache! Tina is on the board now and doing a great job. [ only wish I could have done as well. [ suppose there's always a next time though. The question is, can my nerves tolerate a next time??!! ...
July 22 - Governor Busbee is now speaking in Whitehead Auditorium. Next up is questions from the floor. See ya! [ have a question to ask...
I'm writing on a piece of borrowed paper. Borrowed. That's a good word to describe the way [ feel now. [ feel as though I've borrowed life from all of these wonderful people...
Never before have [met such a group of instructors that are really interested in you, not the grades you make or the SAT, but you! They have become an integral part of my life since GHP began. Their physical presence may not always be near, but their imprint upon my life will be ever close and remembered always...
July 23 - [ came to class this morning and there was a sign on the door - Do not move desks. Do not disturb the teachers. The room was arranged like an ordinary schoolroom. We were instructed to be seated. Everyone was dead silent. We sat there, and David called roll. Miss Terrell. He also told me that I would have to stay after class because I was tardy. They gave us notes and made us read a story. Then we had a pop quiz! I felt so angry, because they made us feel so stupid. There were several visitors in the room and I thought that all our instructors had sold out for the administration. [ started to stand up and tell the visitors that we don't usually operate in this manner. .. Then David said, "Let's go back to the way we were." Great shouts rose from all of us! ...
[n media groups now and we're not doing much of anything because we're winding down production for the last week. Oh no, it's almost over! Don't let it end...
July 28 - Oh Goodness, this is the beginning of the last week. I feel so strange inside... There is so much left to accomplish in such a short time! Whatever will [ do? How can I cope? For six weeks, I've been surrounded by the most talented, receptive and sensitive people that I have ever known. What am [ going to do when [ go home and everybody

thinks I'm crazy? When you attempt to tell about it, the story comes out like a trite and trivial fairy tale. The activities are truly fantastic - please understand that. However, what makes GHP GHP is the emotion and sharing. For the first time in my life I can be myself with no worry about what everyone else thinks. We are all so much alike that we each share a part of ourselves, and are refilled to running over. When I arrived here, I thought that I wouldn't even get to know half these people. Now, each and every one of them is an integral part of my life...
July 29 - Got ready to go to the dance recital. We went straight to choral rehearsal after the performance. That's right, choir practice at 10 p.m. He let us go at 10:56... Lights out. So much to do, so I'm playing with fire again today. With towels stuffed under the door, Theresa and I sit working feverishly. Industrious? Maybe and Foolhardy, definitely! Nite.
August 1 - Morning. Doomsday has arrived. Oh Lord, I feel sick inside. My stomach is in 1,000 knots. I love them so much. ... Anyway - class settled down and we started watching old reruns of our films. Can you believe that? Watching TV on our last day together? [ sat as calmly as I could - so incensed that our last few moments together were going to be spent staring silently at a video machine. [ want to stand up in my chair and shout "Look people - [loue you!" Iwant
....
~'"
.~
:i
...."
Greg Wiggins, another communications student, also shares some of his GHP work with us. A junior at Sprayberry High School in Cobb County, Greg is band captain and plays percussion. He is also a pianist and plays in the jazz band.

to tell you and show you in the last few precious moments, but we all sit like robots staring unfeelingly forward ... The glances swept electrifyingly around the room... Some of the people sat stolid, staring - unknowing. Frustration built within until I could stand it no longer. The room seemed to stifle me. I jumped to my feet and ran from the room. I burst through the doors hurriedly, with force, and dashed up those three familiar half-flights of stairs. Tears of frustration coursed down my face. Silently [ cursed myself over and over for letting those tears come...
[ ran down the hall and into the radio room. This is the place where many productive, happy hours have been spent. Floods of memories engulf my mind... With a small piece of white, dusty chalk I began to scratch out a heart-felt message. [t went something like
To whomeuer - [ cannot begin to express my loue and thanks to you all for making this the most memorable summer of my life. [loue you all with euerything [am. Until we meet again...
I love this place. [ feel as though I'm leaving home. This is my home. Or should I say that this "home" has taught me more about living, loving and accepting than ever before. With my heart breaking, Iturn away from them all. .. Thank you Lord for giving me the once in a lifetime chance to experience this summer. I almost didn't want to come ... I know in my heart that the spirit of GHP will never die.
J.L.
He played her a song, And she listened. With all his emotions, He expressed (Without words) His dilemma. And as the melody Grew deeper, So did his feelings For her. But, though she listened, She did not hear.

Georgia ALERT, September 1980 -11

A portion of the interior of the Mary Willis Library showing many of the original furnishings and fixtures. According to an 1894 catalog of the library, the cost of

building was $15,000 and furnishings and the first collection of books an additional $2,000.

civic organizations are available in many of the state's libraries, and community education classes are often taught there. Some libraries loan house and yard tools for the do-it-yourselfer, and many libraries have special collections of materials that are almost mini-libraries themselves. The Atlanta Public Library has the Ivan Allen Collection of business-related reference works, as well as the Margaret Mitchell Collection of Gone With The Wind memorabilia. Other libraries such as those in Columbus and Macon have large collections of geneological materials.
Books, however, are still the heart of any library, and many are circulated statewide under the DPLS readers's services unit headed by Lucia Patrick. Approximately 140,000 general and reference works - other more specialized titles for children

and for the blind are handled separately - are shelved at the DPLS headquarters in Atlanta.
Of these some 50,000 are circulated among the state's libraries every year. That's a big job, but so is answering the 30,000 requests for information the unit receives each year from individuals and library systems. And so is buying and cataloging new books. Still, there's more.
"We also have on hand microfiche of some 250,000 federal documents and reports including the American Statistical Index," said Patrick. "And we have language cassette tapes for just about any language in the world."
Readers services also publishes occasional catalogs like Georgia Bibliography: County History (1979) and the Selected List of Booksfor Teachers,

which was updated annually and used for teacher training. These publications have not been produced for several years on a regular basis due to budget limitations. The unit also maintains a huge collection of Georgia history materials and subscribes to 800 periodicals.
The newest reader's services project uses an energy resources librarian who will travel around the state this fall giving energy-saving demonstrations and instructing local librarians on what conservation information is available to them. These local librarians, in turn, will serve as resource people in their communities to disseminate additional energy materials.
Two of the more specialized units in DPLS are children and young adult services, headed by

14. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

Osborn, and the library for the blind and physically handicapped, headed by Jim DeJarnatt.
Osborn's unit supervises the buying, cataloging and distribution of 165,000 titles of interest to young readers. Fortunately, storage space is not a problem for these books since most are loaned to regional libraries, which in turn redistribute them to school libraries to supplement those collections.
The children's section is probably best known for coordinating the vacation reading program during the summer months for school children. Many libraries, such as the Roddenbery Memorial Library in Cairo, promote a number of special educational activities like puppet shows and bug-collecting clubs as a complement to the reading program. This year approximately 100,000 children statewide were enrolled in local vacation reading programs.
The library for the blind and physically handicapped under Jim DeJarnatt is housed in a converted facility at 1050 Murphy Avenue in southwest Atlanta at the Old Farmers Market complex. It serves as headquarters for a large collection of Braille, large-type and talking books and cassettes and periodicals. Approximately 20,000 titles are available, and there are five duplicate copies of each item to insure that loan requests can be met promptly. Unlike the reader's services section, most of the library for the blind books are fiction usually best sellers - and textbooks. Each day some 300 to 400 loan requests are processed by the unit, which distributes materials at the Murphy Avenue facility and to 13 subregional libraries around the state.

Like the four other sections of public library services, storage space and sharply escalating costs for supplies and materials are the biggest problems facing the library for the blind. And they are problems that are fast becoming critical.
Book prices have doubled within the last five years and now cost an average of $20 each. Periodical subscriptions rose sharply in the last two years as the cost of paper increased at an average 15 percent a year. And film prices nearly doubled in a oneyear period.
"Not only are prices skyrocketing - while our budgets are not - the quality of many items has decreased substantially and added to our hidden costs," pointed out Patrick. "Books today don't last long. Five or six circulations are as long as many books are good for and then they must be replaced."
In addition books require special care and storage conditions, much the same as paintings in a museum, in order for them to last longer. But less than a third of the library services' books and periodicals can be displayed at anyone time. And there's no room for adequate storage.
While many education department employees look forward to their impending move this spring into centralized quarters at the new Twin Towers government complex on Capitol Hill, DPLS staff members still do not know where they'll be. The new buildings were not constructed to hold the extra weight of so many books, and the Division of Public Library Services will not be moving there.

Library officials agree a centralized facility to house the five DPLS sections in one building is needed.
Library staff note that while some DOE employees make regular use of the library in their leisure hours or in connection with their work, most other state employees remain unaware they can also use the library's resources. But can you imagine what it would be like if they all did?
Perhaps it's best for now that library services remains the department's best kept secret.

Furnishings for the children's wing of the Washington Memorial Library, Macon, were donated by "Friends of the Library." Increasingly, as library costs escalate - and operating revenues don't - many Georgia libraries are turning to similar support groups for volunteer fund raising.

Joe B. Forsee, director Public Library Services
Joe B. Forsee, former director of the Mississippi Library Commission, is the new director of the Division of Public Library Seruices of the Georgia Department of Education. He started with MLC in July 1967 and served as a consultant, assistant director and director.
As director he began publication of a Mississippi union catalog, and the agency cosponsored the state's first Governor's Library Conference. In addition, multiple county library systems were developed, and the personnel grants incentive program was revised.
A native of Tennessee, Forsee spent 15 years in Kentucky before moving to Mississippi. In Kentucky, he served as associate director of the Barren River Library Development District and as director for interlibrary cooperation for the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives in Frankfort.
Forsee graduated from Murray State University and received the master's degree in library science from the University of Kentucky.

Georgia ALERT, September 1980. 15

photos by Glenn Oliver

As in all of the vocational youth groups, FBLA members make classroom study an integral part of their organization. This student is from Redan High School.

Members of vocational student organizations often compete in nontraditional The U.S. Skill Olympics, held in Atlanta this year for the second time, involved occupational areas. This postsecondary student tries her hand at engine repair VICA members from all over the nation. at the U.S. Skill Olympics.
Count 'em! 75,000 Youth With A Purpose

They believe in patriotism, leadership, good citizenship and learning by doing. Some people call them "youth with a purpose." Who are they? They are the nearly 75,000 Georgia public school students who are members of vocational youth organizations.
There are seven such youth organizations in middle, secondary and postsecondary schools across the state which are sponsored by vocational education programs at the local level and the Georgia Department of Education at the state level.

by Eleanor Gilmer and Louis Peneguy
These organizations are Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), Future Homemakers of America (FHA), Georgia Association of the American Industrial Arts Student Association (GAAIASA), Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) and Vocational Opportunities Clubs of America (VOCA).
If it hadn't been for two Georgians, these youth organizations might not be in existence today. It

was the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 that paved the way for vocational education across the nation. Authors of that famous act were U.S. Senator Hoke Smith and U.S. Congressman Dudley M. Hughes, both Georgians.
Most of Georgia's vocational organizations are members of national associations. Advisors at the local level are teachers in the various vocational programs; state advisors are staff members of the Georgia Department of Education's Office of Vocational Education.

16. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

A common purpose of the vocational youth groups is to give members opportunities to put into use through competitive events and special projects what they learn in the classroom. The development of leadership skills, public speaking talents and social competence are other important outgrowths of membership. And, according to many of the members, it's just nice to be a part of a group of students who have the same goals and interests you have.
"Youth organizations are extremely important to vocational education," said Joseph Freund, associate state superintendent of schools for vocational education. "They provide opportunities for students they typically would not get. Through competitive events the students learn to deal with situations they would not get in a classroom."
He said participation in the organizations also helps young people become productive workers in later life. "None of us work in isolation. Students' work in organizations - learning to express opinions, serving on committees and taking leadership roles - helps them when they join the work force."
Many of the "learn by doing" activities are done through competitive events where the student vies individually or as a part of a group for various awards. In most of the organizations the awards program at all levels is sponsored by business and industry.
"As important as competitive events are, it becomes a problem when teachers lose sight of the total vocational program and concentrate just on the winning aspect for their students," said Freund. "It is important that the youth organizations be a part of the vocational curriculum, not the other way around."
Even though the seven organizations have many common goals, they all have individual objectives. As indicated by their names, each promotes a specific occupational area.

DECA members have opportunities to demonstrate leadership and other skills at several major events during the year - a leadership development conference in the fall, district conferences and the state Career Development Conference. At the state Career Development Conference about 1,000 members compete in various events designed around their career objectives and job placement. Included are events in petroleum and food marketing, department and discount store merchandising, restaurant operation, advertising services, finance and credit and real estate.
~@t.liClll"&;S;
UTURE USINESS
ElDERS
'-MERICA
o
FBLA
Members of FBLA are high school students enrolled in business and office education programs. The main purpose of the organization is to provide opportunities for members to develop vocational and career competencies and to promote civic and personal responsibility.
According to State Advisor Helen Cofer, Future Business Leaders in Georgia have many opportunities to demonstrate their skills. Each year at the State Leadership Conference, hundreds of awards are given for various individual and chapter activities in such areas as accounting, business communications, business law, business mathematics and public speaking.
A national project that the Georgia FLBAers have been active in for the past three years is Project Awareness.

"This project has focused in on America's free enterprise system," said Cofer. "The first phase was to promote interest in the American free enterprise system; the second year was devoted to learning more about the system and how it works; and the third year concentrated on bringing free enterprise into focus for all Americans."
An important part of all of the youth groups is the opportunity for members to learn aboutfree enterprise and to apply what they learn to real life situations. This Lilburn student is in a vocational office training program.

DECA
To be a member of DECA, students must be enrolled in a marketing or distributive education class in high school or postsecondary vocationaltechnical school.
According to State Advisor Bill Brady, the purpose of DECA is to develop in members a respect for education in marketing and to promote understanding and appreciation of the responsibilities of citizenship in the United States' free, competitive enterprise system.

DECA Established: 1945 in Georgia; 1947 in nation Membership: 5,400 in Georgia; 200,000 in nation
FBLA
Established: 1949 in Georgia; 1942 in nation Membership: 13,000 in Georgia; 185,000 in nation
FFA
Established: 1929 in Georgia; 1928 in nation Membership: 16,294 in Georgia; 500,000 in nation
FHA
Established: 1945 in Georgia; 1945 in nation Membership: 17,462 in Georgia; 397,849 in nation
GAAIASA Established: 1962 in Georgia; 1965 in nation Membership: 3,000 in Georgia; 14,000 in nation
VICA Established: 1964 in Georgia; 1964 in nation Membership: 11,500 in Georgia; 300,000 in nation
VOCA Established: 1970 in Georgia; no national association Membership: 7,000 in Georgia

FFA
The Future Farmers of America organization is the oldest of the youth groups. It was chartered in Georgia in 1929. The name of the organization is now somewhat of a misnomer, since FFA members are interested in all areas of agriculture, not just farming.
"Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live and living to serve" is an appropriate motto for this group of young men and women studying vocational agriculture in public high schools.
Georgia ALERT, September 1980. 17

Like the other youth groups, FFA has an incentive awards program at each level. Members vie for awards in 22 proficiency areas such as agribusiness, forestry, livestock production, farm safety, soil and water management and horticulture. They also compete in 11 contest areas such as public speaking and parliamentary procedure. All awards are given at the local, district, state and national levels, with members advanclhg from one level to the next.
One unique aspect of FFA is that the national organization has a federal charter under public law 740, passed by the 81st Congress in 1950, and a fulltime national staff located in the U.S. Education Department. There is a national FFA supply service and national magazine.
Advisor of the State Association of FFA is Curtis Corbin, who also serves as state supervisor of agricultural education. Until his retirement in July, Elton Dunn served as state executive secretary of FFA.
In 1979, the Georgia FFA organization celebrated its 50th anniversary. "A Golden Past, a Brighter Future!" was the theme of all activities that year.

FHA
Georgia Future Homemakers of America organization is the largest of the state's vocational youth groups.
There are several unique features about FHA, says State Advisor Carolyn Ellington. For one thing, this formerly all female organization now boasts about 20,000 male members nationally. Another is that the FHA is the only youth organization with the family as its central focus.
"The overall goal of the Future Homemakers of America is to help youth assume their roles in society through home economics education in areas of personal growth, family life, vocational preparation and community involvement," said Ellington.
There are two types of chapters in the state - FHA chapters, which emphasize consumer, home and family life education, and HERO (home economics related occupations) chapters, which emphasize preparation for jobs and careers with recognition that workers fill multiple roles as family members and community members.
Through a national campaign, the FHA organization has tried to get the message across that homemaking is the most misunderstood profession.

Future Farmers of America, such as this student from Jonesboro High School, often use class projects to earn money for themselves and their chapters. The Jonesboro FFA has earned state awards in horticulture and floriculture.

Some of the titles of their national ads are "The average homemaker is not a woman with 2.5 kids and a house in the suburbs," and "When Crusher Lizowski talks about being a homemaker you listen." One of Georgia's FHA members, Tammy Chastain of Canton, serves as a national officer of FHA.
GAAIASA
Industrial arts education students in grades six through 12 have opportunities to develop leadership and personal abilities through the Georgia Association of the American Industrial Arts Student Association.

Through GAAIASA, industrial arts students develop an understanding of industry and technology which helps them make informed occupational choices, said State Advisor Sammy Powell.
Georgia's state association is the second largest in the nation. The national association has been in existence for 15 years as part of the American Vocational Association, but in 1978 it became a separate organization by official charter. Former Georgia Department of Education industrial arts supervisor Raymond Ginn, who recently retired, was one of the leaders in forming the national group.
Through competitive events at the spring state conference, nearly 1,000 members compete for awards in various areas such as drafting, public speaking and technical writing.
Members of the industrial arts youth organization not only learn about the free enterprise system in their classroom studies, but they often get firsthand knowledge through club and individual projects.

18 Georgia ALERT, September 1980

VICA
High school and postsecondary vocationaltechnical students enrolled in trade, industrial, technical and health occupation classes qualify for membership in Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA).
One of the unique features of VICA is the skill olympics held each year from the local to the international levels. The olympics are a series of events in various occupational areas, and students compete against each other and the clock for awards in bricklaying, welding, nursing and other events requiring special skills.
State olympic winners advance to the United States Skill Olympics (USSO), which is staged annually as a one-day event of the National Leadership Conference. Business firms contribute or loan most of the $5 million worth of supplies and equipment necessary for the USSO. The national events involve about 8,000 participants.
For the past two years the national conference and USSO have been held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. According to State Advisor Mike Walker, in 1981 the international VICA conference and olympics will also be held in Georgia.
At the 1980 conference, Georgian Greg Powers, a student at Griffin-Spalding Area Tech, was elected a national officer.

order to establish realistic vocational goals and build respect for the dignity of work.
Georgia VOCA is divided into six regions. One CVAE coordinator is selected to represent each region on the VOCA Board of Directors. Students are represented by 12 state officers on an executive council.
VOCA is the youngest of the vocational organizations. It is only 10 years old. Each year during an annual conference, members compete for various awards and participate in leadership activities.

"The success of VOCA can be measured in part by the number of students who enroll in additional vocational programs with confidence and by the club's 20 percent membership increase in the last five years," said Adams.
These young men and women, who are enrolled in vocational education programs today and are developing many valuable leadership skills through this involvement in vocational youth organizations, will be Georgia's leaders in business and industry tomorrow. It's no wonder they're called "youth with a purpose."

Skills such as cooking are common to several of the youth groups. VICA, DECA and FHA all have awards programs relating to food preparation.

Through competitive events vocational students often learn to deal with situations they might not get in a classroom setting.

Vocational education teachers serve as advisors of the youth organizations. This industrial arts student from Brunswick High School receives help in drafting.

xiT--

VOCA
Members of the Vocational Opportunities Clubs of America are high school students enrolled in Coordinated Vocational Academic Education (CVAE) programs. CVAE is primarily for academically or economically disadvantaged students who need special help in vocational education.
Milton Adams, state advisor, says VOCA's goal is to help members develop leadership abilities through participation in educational, vocational, civic, recreational and social activities.
He says students learn to plan, organize and carry out projects in their schools and communities in

Georgia ALERT, September 1980. 19

N 00

photos by Glenn Oliver

J)

HowSare

Is That Bus?

A recent study by the National Transportation Safety Council revealed that children are 44 times safer on a school bus than in their parents' car.
Although modern school bus construction techniques help, the biggest contributing factor in making bus travel safe is how often the vehicles are inspected. Georgia's efforts in this vital area are exemplary. The Georgia State Patrol, in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Education, conducts summer inspections of the state's 8,000 buses as well as year-round monitoring of bus maintenance needs. These efforts are usually well reported in newspaper headlines statewide. But news stories cannot convey the extent to which each bus is inspected. This photo coverage of

Douglas County's summer bus inspection provides a better idea of the inspectors' attention to detail.
Typically, a team of inspectors from regional state patrol offices scrutinize every bus in a system's fleet, using a checksheet and looking primarily for defects that would jeopardize the safety of students. They check headlight alignment and flasher signal and stop arm operation; brakes and emergency stopping ability; tire tread wear and tire condition; steering linkage and steering wheel freeplay; suspension integrity, looking especially for cracks in springs and mounts; and exhaust system condition. Flaws in any of these areas are cause for grounding a bus until repairs are made and follow-up inspections verify the vehicle's road worthiness.

Georgia ALERT, September 1980.21

Building Career House Ties City, School Together

nuu~E-'#1
Built b\I the students of
THE MACON AREA VaCH'TECH SCHOOL and SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL
loW: ll(6S1tlf flY
HOME
fEDERAL SAVINGS
- AM I.DiIn AsSOCIation of Maoln 'Ktoe:tIt41lQk WIT'W
TIlE 8188 COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION .

Story and Photos by Stephen Edge
When Bibb County Superintendent Paul Hagerty kicked off the Adopt-a-School Program for involving businesses, citizens and organizations in the schools a few years ago, he probably didn't realize how far school people would take the program. One of the most outstanding efforts of community involvement to date has been the building of Career House I by the students of Southwest Macon High School and the Macon Area Vocational-Technical School.
Sponsored by the Macon Home Federal Savings and Loan Association (which put up the money for land and materials), and built entirely by 300 students of Southwest and Bibb Vo-tech and CETA workers, a contract was recently inked to sell the house for $60,000. Joe Defore, an instructor for Bibb Vo-tech who coordinated the planning and building, says that students did everything-from the original blueprinting and construction to the interior finishing of the house. It contains a full basement, built-in garage, back wooden deck and is situated on a beautiful wooded corner lot in a quiet residential neighborhood. Profit from the sale of the house will be returned to the high school and vo-tech school and may be used for noninstructional purposes. The project has been so instructional not only in providing practical experience in building trades and associated careers, but in exemplifying the ideals of community involvement and entrepreneurship, that Career House II is already in the planning.
Building projects like Macon's Career House are conducted at many of Georgia's vo-tech and high schools. This kind of practical experience, says Defore, is something that just cannot be learned from a textbook and in a workshop. Students working in an on-the-job situation and seeing the scope of such work will gain the ability to go directly from school into a meaningful job - which is a further benefit of school and community cooperation.

More than 300 students gained practical experience in everything from blue-printing and wiring to roofing and plumbing in building Career House I. Instructor Defore says that a person couldn't find a more plumbed house; every verticle and horizontal line was checked by dozens of students and instructors.

22. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

McDaniel Names Five Priorities For Georgia Education In The 80s

Georgia's educators strongly endorse State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel's five priorities for public education in the 80s, though they have questions about some of the specific plans he announced for reaching the priorities.
McDaniel outlined the state's education plan and his priorities for the 80s at the annual conference of the Georgia Association of Education Leaders in July. (See listing of priorities in box.) Four mixed groups of system superintendents, principals and curriculum directors reviewed the plan and offered their comments. McDaniel stressed that the plan still needs ideas from local school people and said their suggestions will be considered.
Local educators were unanimous in their approval of the superintendent's intent to improve and perfect ongoing education programs before beginning anything new. "Stop and let the local systems catch up with the state," was a comment from one group. The sentiment reflected what another group said about community education: "M&O should be a top priority instead of seeking funding for any new program such as community education." Two of the four groups favored community education, and a third asked that the term be defined.
McDaniel's proposal to upgrade requirements for local system superintendents received unqualified approval, but his idea that the state school superintendent should be appointed also brought comments: "Either the board or the superintendent should be elected... Who would appoint the superintendent?" Local educators seemed almost evenly divided in their opinions for and against the idea.
McDaniel sees the need for increased state authority to ensure equality of educational opportunity if a local school system fails to fulfill its responsibility. He proposes a constitutional amendment that would allow the State Board of Education to assume the prerogatives of a local school board in such cases. Local educators raised numerous questions on this point: "What would be the terms and condition? How will adequacy be determined? What authority would the state board have in levying taxes? Under what conditions would the local system resume its reponsibilities?" Local educators seemed to acknowledge the need for quality and state standards, but they would like to see quality develop from "vigorous enforcement of current rules and regulations." They approve of the superintendent's proposal for more flexibility in funding, and they fear that local control of schools will be undermined by the proposed constitutional amendment. One group noted that Georgia already has an equalization provision in the Adequate Program for Education Law (APEG) and advocated its funding.

McDaniel's proposal that the state work to fund a program to build new facilities and modernize older ones drew favor.
Comments on the superintendent's evaluation proposals noted that care must be taken in developing tests and that the need exists to evaluate students' mastery of skills at each level. One group said "kindergarten tests are impracticaL"
McDaniel proposed that performance-based certification requirements be extended to professional staff who want to upgrade their certificates. This idea drew the comment that new tests and higher level data collectors might be needed and that such a practice might be difficult or impractical at the local level. Two groups said emphatically that teachers' salaries should be commensurate with their certificates, and one said "Implement the recommendations of the Salary Study Commission." (See budget story on page 2.)
The four groups directed most of their comments toward McDaniel's priority of "improving school programs." Concern was expressed about who would be writing state curriculum guides and whether they would be state mandates. Several groups called on the department to develop statewide curriculum guides, to have its testing staff and curriculum staff work together and coordinate the state guides with local guides and the recently issued "Essential Skills for Georgia Schools." Local educators also want a timetable for the guides.
Two groups agreed with McDaniel that the state should fully fund the APEG section providing for specialists in art, music and physical education. To this priority the local educators would add full-day funding of kindergarten, additional emphasis on guidance and programs for the gifted. One group commented that quality can be improved by lowering the pupil-teacher ratio and making sure local systems maintain their level of funding as state support increases.
As one aspect of evaluation the state will develop an exam for high school graduates. It would be used for the first time in 1985 as a part of full implementation of the state board's new graduation requirements. Several groups noted that such an exam is a new idea and expressed concern that the high school might become nothing more than a remediation center. Local educators called for adequate funding of the competency-based education plan, questioned whether the state is ready for CBE and said, "Let's identify all of what is needed in the near future to implement competency-based education requirements."
The four groups' comments are being reviewed by

State School Superintendent McDaniel and the department of education staff.
The next step in developing Georgia's education plan for the 80s will come this month when the department of education staff meets to plan specific activities, both short and long-range, for accomplishing the priorities McDaniel has identified.
The Tasks Ahead
Priority One: Improlle school programs
develop and provide to school systems stateadopted Cllrriculum guides in all subject areas to be used as planning bases for local instructional programs.
implement Section 12 of the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia (APEG), which provides for instructional specialists in art, music and physical education in the elementary grades.
institute comprehensive remedial programs to undergird new minimum skill standards and graduation requirements.
Priority Two: Ensure equal opportunity
initiate a task force study to propose new formulas for greater flexibility and equalization in distributing funds to local education agencies.
propose a constitutional amendment to allow the State Board of Education to assume the legal prerogatives of a local board of education when the local board fails to pro vide an adequate program and facilities.
work to fund and implement a state program to construct new and modernize older school facilities.
Priority Three: Enhance professional competence extend performance-based certification requirements to
include those who upgrade professional certificates.
work to make Georgia the leader among the southeastern states in staff salaries and benefits.
work toward the passage of a constitutional amendment providing for the appointment of the state school superintendent.
propose legislation upgrading the legal qualifications of local system superintendents by requiring as a minimum a valid professional certificate in administration and supervision.
Priority Four: Strengthen school-community relations seek funding for a statewide program of community
education.
expand the publications and information program at the state level to better inform Georgians on the progress of public schools.
Priority Fille: Elialuate successes and failures fully implement new graduation requirements, with
graduates of 1985 being the first group who must meet all requirements.
set up minimum skill and knowledge standards at identified levels in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.
establish a task force to study ways to assess the educa tional impact of specialized programs such as kindergarten and compensatory education.

Georgia ALERT, September 1980.23

Bollpinfjops

...
.'~"
(5 cc
('5"
Shirley M. Hufstedler
Secretary of Education Shirley M. Hufstedler called for "a new era of close state and federal cooperation" at the annual meeting of the Education Commission of the States (ECS) in Atlanta. The secretary acknowledged that federal regulations, "which once set a relatively high standard for all, now hold back and penalize some states that would go farther and faster than the federal government. ... After years of talking about building a better relationship, we are finally in a position to make it happen," she said. ECS participants, including Georgia Governor George Busbee, State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel and educational policy makers from throughout the country, heard Hufstedler say that "Precious time needed for the education of children has been lost in hours spent filling out forms and observing minor requirements.... We must find workable ways for the federal government to uphold constitutional guarantees without undermining state and local responsibility for education." At a press conference following her luncheon speech, the secretary paid tribute to two great Georgians - Benjamin Mays and Martin Luther King Jr. citing them with the comment that "Georgia has contributed a great deal to our understanding of what great teachers can mean. It

Teacher of the Year Deadline
Nominations for the 1981 Georgia Teacher of the Year are due to the Department of Education by September 26. Finalists will be announced the third week of October. Nominees for the title of Georgia TOTY must be recognized as outstanding teachers in their local systems and nominated by their superintendents. The importance of the program in recognizing classroom teachers both in their systems and at the state level was evident in last year's selection. More than 90 persons were honored by selection as system teachers of the year, and 16 were honored as semifinalists at the state level. Emma Stevens of Lowndes County, the 1980 Georgia Teacher of the Year, was selected as one of four national finalists.
According to State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel, the Southern Educators Life Insurance Company of Georgia will again cosponsor the event with the department. Southern Educators treats the TOTY, the runner-up and their principals and superintendents to an honorary dinner in Atlanta before the ceremonies naming them to their titles. In addition the company awards the TOTY and runner-up $1,000 and $250 respectively. Ceremonies will take place at the November meet ing of the Georgia Board of Education. The TOTY will also be honored by the 1981 Georgia General Assembly and be entered in the National Teacher of the Year Program, which is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Good Housekeeping Magazine.

Outstanding educator awards were presented to five Georgians at the annual conference of the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders. June Baylor, Bryan County, was named Out standing School Superintendent; Donald Murphy, principal of Wheeler High School, Cobb County, was selected as Outstanding Secondary School Principal; E. Reid Mullins, principal of Snellville Middle School, as Outstanding Middle School Principal; Earl G. McCall, principal of L. W. Burnett Elementary School in Douglas County, as Outstanding Elementary School Principal; and James W. Lay of Calhoun City Schools was named Outstanding Curriculum Supervisor. Each of them received $600 from the R. L. Bryan Co.

Howard Stroud, curriculum coordinator, Clarke County Schools, is president of the National Association of Middle

School Administrators. John Yates, principal, Lumpkin County High School, is president-elect of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Mary Nix, director of school food and nutrition programs for Cobb County, is president of the American School Food Service Association.

Thirty-five elementary and high school principals from Japan will visit the Bibb County School System September 21-24. This will be the only stop in the United States for the Japanese educators, who will study various aspects of the Bibb system.

The National Association for Creative Children and Adults (NACCA) has announced that during the 1980-81 school year it will present awards to two creative teachers per grade level and per subject area for grades one through 12. Administrators, teachers and parents of students are asked to nominate teachers in their systems or schools who are recognized as creative teachers. Supporting materials must be provided with the nomination, which must be in by February 16, 1981. For more information contact NACCA at 8080 Springvalley Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236.
Ten Years of GOAL
With the beginning of the new school year the 10th annual Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) program gets under way. At orientations in the vo-tech schools GOAL coordinators encourage students to strive for nomination to the GOAL program. To be eligible a student must be enrolled fulltime in a vo-tech school for two consecutive quarters and be nominated by his or her instructor.
Sponsored by the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce since 1971, GOAL added a new dimension to the program last year. The PRIDE (Proficiency Recognition Indicating Demonstrated Excellence) Award was created to recognize occupational proficiency. The GOAL Award honors leadership, the PRIDE Award skill.
Vo-tech schools will name their winners next March. The 29 school nominees will come to Atlanta to vie for the title of state GOAL winner during three days of state judging and awards activities at the Dunfey Hotel May 26-28, 1981.

September 1980 Vol. 12. No.4

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News/Feature Editor. Stephen Edge
PhOlo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typesetling Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer. Steve Harvey. Jeanette Lloyd. Ellioll Mackie. Julia Martin. Lou Peneguy. Barbara Perkms and Anne Raymond

The GeorgIa Derxmment of Educallon dO<'s not d,SCnl11l11ate In employment or educatIOnal actiVitIes on the l>asls of wee. color. nullonol origm. sex or handIcap.

Puhllshed SIX limes a year by

Public Information and Puhllcallons ServIl e.

~

Office of Admlnlstrallve ServICes

GeorgIa Department of Education

~

103 Slate Office Building

Allanta. GeorgIa 30334

Telephone 1404) 656 2476

B:DPRB:SS

24. Georgia ALERT, September 1980

.s ~o\e\OO?>'l
r:.OUC?>\\00
f>- \,..oO-?>\

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334

E530602Uf\lIE 0
L~IvfKSITY OF GEOKGIA LIB STATE DOCUt1ENTS

ATI-E(\IS

GA 3 J2

BULK RATE U. S. Postage
PAID Atlanta, Georgia Permit Number 168

~ewaywewere

.,

-

Photo courtesy Carl Rooks, principal, Ballard Elementary School

Nathanial H. Ballard posed with the teachers and students and a horsedrawn school bus in front of Community School near Brunswick shortly after it opened in 1915. Ballard was then nearing the end of his 18 years as Glynn County school commissioner (1901-1919) and would go on to serve as state school superintendent from 1923-1925. Community School was renamed for him in 1936, following his death that year. Since then other buildings have been added to the complex, and the original structure now houses the library of Ballard Elementary School.

Letters to the Editor
Oops! Boy, is our face red! Wrong Person Identified
A relative mailed to me recently a picture published in ALERT of Superintendent Woodall with the faculty of Columbus Public Schools, c. 1898. ALERT identified Superintendent Woodall as William Clyde Woodall, and this is incorrect. It was Superintendent William Hardy Woodall, who was my grandfather. My father, William Clyde Woodall, was not a teacher, he was a writer and publisher, and a building at Columbus College was named in his honor.
A lower grade school was named in honor of my grandfather, William Hardy Woodall.
I am understandably proud of both of these men and of their having been honored in such a splendid way.
Ethel Woodall Griders Winder
Thank you for your correction. Accuracy is often a problem with historical photographs, and firsthand information is appreciated. Ed.
Teacher Performance
I want you to know that I read your article on Performancebased Certification (PBC) in the June 1980 issue of Georgia ALERT and found it excellent. I have already decided that I will use it for resource material in basic school administration courses. You provide a comprehensive overview of the total PBC subject. Your objectivity is evident in that you included quotes from those who have reservations about whether the one Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument can apply to all types of teachers. As you say, we will have to wait and see what kind of track record PBC makes.
Thomas A. Carrere, Acting Chairman Department of Educational Leadership West Georgia College, Carrollton

Competency-based Education: A Look At Education's Role Today
Students entering the ninth grade in 1981 will be required to pass a basic skills test before they can graduate from a Georgia public high school. This decision, along with others concerning the state competency-based education program, was made by the Georgia Board of Education at its November meeting.
According to the board, the basic skills test will be given in the tenth grade. Students who do not pass all or a portion of the test will be given remedial help and allowed to take the test again in the eleventh and twelfth grades. The test will be designed to measure basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics, speaking and listening and problem solving.
The test will be field-tested for two years before a decision is made on the minimum score a student must make to pass.
The state board also determined that students completing all requirements for graduation will receive standardized diplomas. Those students not completing requirements will be given certificates of performance which will identify the skills they did master during high school.
Special education students who for various reasons cannot meet the requirements for the regular diploma will be eligible for a standardized certificate of performance based upon completion of the requirements of their individualized education plan.

Contents

Features
Strangers in a Strange Land. . . . .. 3 how foreign students cope
Learning and Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8 in Brunswick, school nutrition is fun
Georgia's 1981 Teacher of the Year. . . . . . . . . . . .. 11 teaches fine arts and brotherhood
Georgia's Magnet Schools. . . . . .. 17 help pull communities together

Departments

The Way We Were

1

Competency-based Education

1

Letters

1

Faces of Education

23

Bellringers

24


Cover: Georgia's 1981 Teacher of the Year, William G. Densmore of Northside High School in Atlanta. Photographed by Glenn Oliver.

2 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Strangers In a
Strange Land...
But Not For Long

Georgia Programs For Foreign Students Help Them Learn New Language and Culture

Story by Julia Martin Photographs by Glenn Oliver
How do you tell a small Japanese girl to walk around the front of the school bus rather than around the back of it? How do you impress upon a 16-year-old Laotian boy that he should stay in a school where he doesn't understand the language rather than work to help his family make ends meet? These type problems are cropping up in Georgia schools more and more these days, and no one sees a time when the number of non-English speaking students in Georgia schools will decrease.
"In the past we only had non-English speaking students in our schools for a few months, or a year at the most," said E. H. Stokes, director of pupil

Young children easily adapt to new surroundings and quickly learn a new language and customs. Vietnamese native True Phan is in first grade at Fulton County's Josephine Wells Elementary in Hapeville.

personnel services for Meriwether County schools. "They were just passing through. But this year we have 12 school age children who are here to stay. They are our first non-English speaking residents."
Why Meriwether County? Why anywhere in Georgia?

of that same nationality usually join them," said Carol O'Neal, coordinator of English and language arts for Clayton County schools.
Who are these foreign students in Georgia schools, and what is being done to help them overcome their ignorance of the English language?

"Many more rural school systems are getting foreign students now because so many churches and civic groups are sponsoring foreign families," said Sarah Moore, bilingual education coordinator for the Georgia Department of Education.
"And once a group is established in an area, others

According to a 1979-80 state survey of 110 Georgia school systems of all language groups in Georgia, there were 929 students in 24 different school systems who speak Spanish; 304 Vietnamese students in 21 systems; and 292 Korean students in 17 systems. Even some students who speak

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 3

....
"

~

. ,r,

~,,~c0;. '. (pf.lf~,
f/y-UAA

)j,,:_ _ ,,;;;;;:...

f.uJ"\ "',.. Lnd a.-r'f"\ I

~ ~.k --. ~ ~('

.\,~",q.~

~/tv.
..

'

~ _PJ~

-~~./

~ 1\'

_~.

~ ) -~ ~I A, ~,-.,'~J

' ~"""~ "A''~ ''' __ ~. ~

'&1. ~~.

. /

1 .,

U'!,'I\ (/,1,

~ ~ ~:;e;;:.. ~-k~~.
~~-~ :'F~2uf~>/'Wi.

~~

-/t;Mf.t~~/tZ~r .~. MJt -L4.
~- t4j7-e-.

'~,T-'0~~~
cdL\:.,~.~~e.~.~,",C"j"L~ .JJ~::V:,t,i..;;";t, ~rJtI .IW-.

Pictures are used at Wells as a means of associating new words to familiar objects. Student artwork displayed in the center often depicts scenes of a far away homeland.

A strange language and a native language must mesh for foreign students to survive.

Cue Nguyen is among the Vietnamese and Laotian students studying English at the Wells center for two class periods each day. The time spent in the center gradually decreases until they are in classes with American students full time.

obscure languages, such as Bulu, Akan, Tamil, Tule and Gujarati, attend schools in DeKalb County.
Although a state survey for the 198081 school year is not complete, sample school systems show quite a diversity of language groups. Six hundred students speaking 46 different languages attend Atlanta schools. Clarke County has 35 to 40 students, mostly speaking Spanish or Chinese, with "quite a range" of other languages. Clayton County has 135 foreign students in their schools, with large Laotian and Cambodian populations. Meriwether County has 12 foreign students including East Indian, Iraqi, Cambodian and Vietnamese. Muscogee County has a large Hispanic population and 54 to 58 other non-English speaking students, mostly German and Saudi Arabian. Muscogee County does not count nonEnglish speaking military children in their schools because these students usually only stay briefly.
One foreign group expected in Georgia schools this year, which did not materialize in large numbers, was the recent Cuban refugees. Even a summer campaign by Atlanta City schools to find Cuban refugees in the city and enroll the children in schools did not meet with much success. "There are not that many new Cubans in our schools this year," said Millicent Wright, bilingual education coordinator for Atlanta City schools. "Either they

4 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

didn't come as far as Atlanta, or else we just haven't reached them," she said.
How are Georgia schools educating these children who speak and understand very little English if any at all?
One successful method is through ESL.
Since the end of the Vietnam War and the first influx of Vietnamese refugees in the mid 1970s, several Georgia school systems have had English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Students in these classes are given intensive English instruction until they know enough English to participate in regular classes. In addition to English instruction, the students may participate in art, physical education, math or industrial arts classes in which a complete understanding of English is not essential.
But as more and more foreign students enter Georgia schools, programs in addition to ESL have been developed.
Perhaps one of the most exemplary school programs in the state for non-English speaking

students can be found in Muscogee County, the first Georgia school system to receive a federal grant for bilingual education. The county started the program five years ago to aid its large Hispanic population. Because of the program's success in the beginning and the small number of primarily Spanish speaking students in the schools today, the program's two bilingual teachers now teach Spanish and English to students in the same classroom.
"So a Spanish speaking student who speaks English well can take advanced Spanish, and a native born student can also learn Spanish," explained Elaina Hershowitz, bilingual education coordinator for Muscogee County schools.
Language study is a two-way street in the elementary schools as well. Muscogee combines ESL with the Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program in nine county schools, mostly in grades one through three. "This program is very popular with the community," Hershowitz said. "When the children come home speaking Spanish, the parents love it. Everyone is real

excited." A foreign culture program for fourth graders in 16 Muscogee County schools also helps students understand their foreign schoolmates better. Students in smaller language groups Korean, Chinese, Swiss, German and Polish attend ESL classes from two to five times a week.
Because of a concentration of Vietnamese and Laotian students in Fulton County's Hapeville schools, a special learning center was established at Josephine Wells Elementary School. Two teachers and one Vietnamese aide work with the children from the basics to more advanced levels.
"There's a high school close by, and those foreign students come over two class periods each day. So we teach children from first grade through age 19," said Evelyn Manning, one of the teachers at the center. "We use the 'show' method a lot in communicating. We sometimes use other students in a buddy system, to make the foreign children feel more a part of the school," she said. "It's not such a problem for the younger children to fit in easily and learn the language, but the high school students seem to be a lot lonelier. The young chil-

When he masters English, Somchit Phothong will be trilingual. His Chinese father and Laotian mother each taught him their native tongues. Somchit has

been studying at the Josephine Wells center since his arrival in the U.S. last spring.

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 5

dren usually stay in one classroom, but the high schoolers have to move from class to class. They are usually well educated, but they just don't know English. So we schedule them into classes that they enjoy and in which they will have some contact with their American classmates."
The Vietnamese aide in the center is 20 years old and graduated from an American high school. He works with the students who speak the least English and his help is invaluable, according to Manning. The children are working their way out of the center and are being mainstreamed immediately.
Efforts to recruit foreign parents as volunteer helpers in the schools has not been as successful in other areas as with the aides in Hapeville, but it is an area school personnel are constantly working on.
"We try to encourage parents of foreign students to come to PTA. We send notices in their languages,"

Evelyn Manning (above) shares teaching duties at The goal of the Wells center is to get the youngsters into the regular classroom as soon as possible. Van

Wells with Kathleen Tracey.

Hoang now knows enough English to receive instruction from first grade teacher Penelope Wickey. .

said Atlanta City's Wright. "But it is hard to get them to come because the parents usually work so hard," she said.
What about the regular classroom teachers who must somehow communicate with the foreign student? Clarke County schools has a staff development program to teach classroom teachers about ESL methods. The Georgia Department of Education has planned several workshops this year for teachers having foreign students for the first time. Muscogee County has printed a handbook for regular classroom teachers.

"We have one bilingual education teacher for 135 students in 22 schools," said Clayton County's O'Neal, "so we are still having to rely a lot on each school's counselor and classroom teachers. There just has not been enough time nor programs for teacher preparation, although our teachers are interested and really want to help," she said.
The U.S. Department of Education this year proposed a bilingual education policy which would require local systems to teach foreign students in their native languages until they could learn English. The proposal caused such a stir in

Congress and education circles that it was tabled until mid 1981. The implications of such a federal policy would cause great problems in Georgia schools.
"It's hard enough to find someone to speak these different languages, much less someone who is also a certified teacher," said the state education department's Moore. "That's just another area that will need developing if the policy is approved by Congress."
But in the meantime Georgia schools and foreign

6 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Vietnamese aide Khanh Tran (right) works closely with Wells students in their initial efforts to learn English.

.. ..--- .. FULTU ClnTY lUll

ij

Q.

:n: t:.J~\U~n:!>H''''J''''~

"

BlUCATIU
.DW""0

.

-.AlII.",

eSo~u.

, ~ ..
...~

_

I

J

June Z5. 1_

~S.'-'5h

OuCr.aP>u(ecn~~t:"'t~i}'.1l(c(a)J'

we need )'Our help. Wt11 )'OU pltue fill In the rOllO'flnt
t.;)~~ 1L1",~".J'I~utn'..a~Q._~~ ., A~..1t ,,\,..,:a.'~J n, f~'~~tl'}.Oft ch c~t1d _\lOUI" , . . bI~n the, .ges of 5~1~.
~~)2Io1.o_. ,"~IlJou""'UCt30~,..,".~.... t.:J"""~ ""!r? C_... s'!l"", !'t.
r

~.d:&"l~'"

Alfen Reg. No'.!

_

(." .. a\~g,(.",,~.Ule..!\z.;

~~becn~~e~~~~~_------------

Date f'rst enrolled in school In U.S . .,.-

_

~~ ~ I;......~. ~,.),$J tJu~~\A"1"1...'

!I'll"" of school 't'-~Hl"'

c~I"'t~--o:fr<'l5'<~" n~o.wl""_,luf."nd' ...

e. T~nk 10U for )'our help.
:r.. Q...o~ra.:ll'r.,.A~~"""'''O Sincere,l,y~,.) .3:.

~:l,.

",rttl, G. McClure:
't..""'n.i') . Coordln.tor o( Foreign l.ngUJges
\..~~,.:..,.u ~.. ~. t,.,) ........ .,.,

Georgia schools not only work with foreign stu dents, but also must communicate with parents.

Dear Parent:

t"....:s:.. ~,',J<I

~

S It

W<"I-S

I

pl . . (s_u_r e.

t q qh,;iove

your ~

.c..hild,

e.' {) \ c \

~ .. "'J'I")_ .., .....$,:'\ tI' ...~ t"..-:'.f".:.l_'-' (.~t... )
progress chlrt 15 5,-" below:

, 1n the s _ r prog,...
'<! \ . Q:tlr--.:a"J>i\". .5~,,.. ,:,;..,,),

~~> ~." ~ 1'~~" :~~"'''Ilo.,~ <:.!':J-:>~...:".r "'.2.:/~ ,">,,,):> ,

EXCell~ Go9fI SltisflC:tory
'l:.-~-:>.. ~ 0

-

Ustenlng
.so '., ,~

../

Speaking

.i::

s ~.

../

Relding... '. I .,;, ")

,./

.' Writing ..... '~')

../

IIork Ind Stucly Hlbl ts
" .... y,~Lj~ln

../

C.. ")l,. .. _-,t),)

If you hlYe suggest10ns ~nce",1ng your c:hlld's progress, wr1te ~ 1n your nat1ve llnguage

=:..l ...~.....,

.~J:"",

'.
'---

~0E._n""",.) Lt.').\:,;u"

"&tllrC'\IoI.3..\..";\~'f

_.:)}

. t1'"

"'a.I'.."S"'t

...

~

~
'-AJ'l

,

~ , .eru u

~,~-"",

1n the sect10n below Ind have your chlld bring this report Dack to the telcher.

,...."

-:>""'\., '':j \..,)':.."J....:...."\-' ~~",C:\:-,~~

"

.

\<

:

' r'

: ...

, ...

. \.

.

.

u

cY-_..b
"U.,"tj.,Q,V'

L

,

.

e

>

i

"

<
..C,

~\

'\ .... 7- ~

Q1&Sl';I~r > ~ '&-

Parent's suggest1ons:>

~/N PUI' I;);

/12, RJ,)

II,.;) ~ An.

,r);;/

/?~/

u}"j~'f"

l c " L ..a .. '~1.. ~... ..:>,.--.)

'<1.~

I
/ '\

~ Q'

~ *,""~'-Iq 'Le,, c.>, '",./ illYa', :1"' ~ 'J;;; 7P~ ~ 9.....'\i -,; "'$I ~.1-76.J.1.)<..,l,.I&,'./Q>~I6,1.~,::h(r)r/i;f))/~/(-Jj!)~/>,~j~l!}r'I;./r',(~1'{J).IQ,.//.'f"J.l.l,ALJ(lI)llJi~l'/l)\1)(I(()JVJ-::J:I:,:"/-,0)I.V;Iy,EJ>:l;Jp)JA'..Jr.../',v)'1t1'iIY~~v~"'Wl$l'lVr.Ie<l.it"

OIYv\ ssgnatur

19J." eS'''C:'511-' ~

,';iv:
~~~(;;:)

Reports sent home to parents of foreign students not only inform them in their natiue language of their child's progress, but also show them the English translation. This report is in Laotian.

Students like Oat Vo and Loi Le (center) come to the Wells center well educated, but with no knowledge of English. They are anxious to learn, howeuer, and spend much time huddled with aide Tran reuiewing and pronouncing long lists of uocabulary words.

students seem to be faring well in spite of their communication problems. The problems are being tackled; grants are being sought; teachers are learning to cope; and parents are being involved. With more and more attention being focused on bilingual education, the small Japanese girl can be taught bus safety rules, and the 16yearold Laotian boy can feel a part of a new school and further his education for a more productive job and a brighter future in his adopted land.

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 7

"Your great-grandmother probably made biscuits just like these." "Nooo, Miz Blount!" Nutrition education is linked to other school subjects when Blount and Ballard Principal Carl Rooks tie on aprons
for the monthly nutrition club meeting. They explain that early American settlers relied on homegrown and homemade food like the biscuits on the cart. By encouraging students to help prepare food at school, they are also teaching self reliance and a useful skill. Lessons
frequently move on to math (weights and measures), geography (the origin of a particular food) or social studies (the relation of Georgia to Mexico, of corn pone to tortillas). The club meeting ends
with reinforcement - hot biscuits, honey and plenty of milk.

"Mrs. Gordon bakes all our fresh breads and cookies. Do you like them?" "Yeeesss!" Blount introduces staff and students during an assembly at the beginning of each school year. She encourages children to associate good food with people who prepare it. "Youngsters need to know that all food doesn't come from a store or out of a box." The year's first PTA meeting is another opportunity for education. "I give the parents a short talk about the program, I show them the kitchen,answer questions and serve refreshments. Ballard parents are very supportive, and my teachers help me in any way they can."

"We don't want anybody to be left out," says Blount of her birthday club. Once each month those celebrating birthdays - teachers as well as students - are honored with special cake and ice cream, golden paper crowns and places ofhonor at a holiday table on the cafetorium stage. The parties give everyone at Ballard a treat - and a pleasant tie to school food service. "I wouldn't want to give up my birthdays," Blount says. "I'd rather give up anything else."

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 9

"It's most important for children to learn to eat different foods," says Blount. "Many children don't have them at home because so many parents are working." Blount holds monthly tasting parties to introduce new foods to very young children. Her methods evidently work. School breakfasts and lunches are planned to include a variety of healthy foods. Half of Ballard's youngsters eat breakfast at school,
and 95 percent eat lunch. Plate waste in minimal.
"And now ... the story of the hungry alligator!" This puppet show is an annual tradition at Ballard. Older students look forward to teaching nutrition through paper bag puppetry. The script concerns an unhappy and unpleasant Okefenokee reptile. His behavior improves and his outlook brightens up when he begins eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on a regular basis. The performance is greeted with applause and squeals of delight.
-".,
"Most children don't care for most vegetables." That observation was one of Blount's first lessons in school food service, which she joined in 1958. She decided to do something about it. Her extensive program of nutrition education is the result. Ballard students eat their vegetables willingly - and stand an excellent chance of growing up to be healthy adults. Research has shown that children's eating habits are set by about the third grade. "Children learn better together," says Blount. And the group learning activities that involve everyone at Ballard take thought, hard work and experience. At the end of a school day, when relative quiet reigns in the kitchen, Blount retreats to her office. Paperwork takes many hours. But she also finds time to prepare materials for teaching and serving. In September she passed out menu survey sheets to determine Ballard's favorite foods. (They are hamburger, pizza, watermelon and peaches.) She tried out a game of nutrition bingo during a fall club meeting. (A complete meals wins - in any direction.) At present she is testing a set of food picture cards for second and third graders. There is always something new at Ballard Elementary. And always someone using it - Margaret Blount.
10 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Music Has The Power To Bring About Brotherhood

Story by Stephen Edge Photographs by Glenn Oliver

"I have been provided with the daily opportunity to give. I seem to be involved in the daily lives of my students totally... I would not have it any other way. Once you get caught up in this people business, it is hard to think of anything more rewarding." This is how Billy Densmore of Northside High School in Atlanta describes his feelings about teaching. Densmore, who is Georgia's 1981 Teacher of the Year, has taught at Atlanta's Northside High School for 15 years. But this simple

statistical statement cannot begin to tell the impact his years of teaching have had on arts in the public schools and on the lives of his students.
In 15 years Densmore has transformed the musical and performing arts program at Northside from less than ordinary into a brilliant success. Ten years ago he launched the school on its greatest venture, the Northside School of the Performing Arts, which allows students from all over the metropolitan

Atlanta area to study together and perform in the best school of its kind in the state.
Densmore's dream is to create from this beginning a Georgia School for the Arts, which would bring together talented youngsters from all over the state to live and work in an ideal environment. As director of the School of the Arts Densmore coordinates the instruction of more than 400 students daily and the schedules of 10 instructors

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 11

Densmore personally teaches more than 400 students daily in uoice, chorus, musical drama and technical theater. Chris Flemister and Sherri Ellis rehearse a number from "The Wiz" under his coaching.
In addition he superuises 18 full-and part-time instructors in band, orchestra, modern dance, ballet, musical instrument, sound and set design and in other areas. Conductor J. Lynn Thompson leads the traueling show's orchestra as well as other school groups, such as string and small ensembles.

12 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Densmore's students get opportunities neuer before Q paration, experience and public exposure in the touring
in 17 different areas, which include dance, chorus, voice, band, technical theater, ballet, drama and orchestra.
Densmore, a graduate of Georgia State University with a master's degree in choral music and choral conducting, thought about going into the ministry before he decided to become a teacher. In addition to teaching at Northside, he has been a minister of music in different churches for 27 years; he has given private voice lessons for 25 years, developed an Urban Music Program for Atlanta's schools and

about brotherhood," he says. And he proves what he says. He established the first racially mixed choir in Georgia, effectively integrating his own church. He also brought the first blacks into a local women's club by surprising the members with a racially mixed choral group. When his Northside choral group gave a major performance with the Atlanta Symphony at the Wheat Street Baptist Church, Densmore found himself having to defend the choice of a site to people who wanted to see the performance. He felt it was making the school available to as many different groups as possible. Densmore feels he is meeting human needs by taking culture and brotherhood into areas that seldom receive attention for the positive things they are doing.

The Northside School of the Performing Arts

But Densmore's greatest contribution to both music and social understanding came about through the establishment of Northside's School of Performing Arts. It is a school within a school, in which students in driving range of Atlanta can take a concentrated course of study in drama, music theater, scenic and lighting design or dan<;:e. Students from outside the Atlanta system or students from private schools must pay tuition to attend the school for the performing arts, but there is no effort to attract an elite. Densmore will accept students who pass his audition and show a potential for talent. Students and their parents must sign a contract stating a number of things, primarily that the student will maintain good academic standing and adhere to the rules of the school. Poor whites, poor blacks, rich kids - all are welcomed if they want to improve the talent they have.

'able in professional pre:how. Eric Tigner, Sherri

Ellis and Mike Perez perform exuberantly in the closing number of "Southern

Fanfares," the 1980-81 version of the touring show.

.

sang with, conducted and developed productions for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Densmore is an extraordinarily skilled voice coach who can demand a correct accent as well as inflection and tone quality. He expects perfection from his students, knowing they will excel if they can escape the feeling that mediocrity is acceptable. His small classes go far beyond teaching voice; he painfully gives every student individual attention in carriage, enunciation and a thousand other details of sitting, standing or just how to listen. In his larger

(175 students) two-hour afternoon class, he is the same way, pausing for seconds to correct a student, to stop talking, to redirect a student's attention, then picking up immediately with the instruction. He does it so smoothly that often a student doesn't feel he or she has been corrected.
For a music instructor and performer of note, Densmore talks a lot about social problems such as poverty and racism. He believes that he can improve the world and help solve some of its problems. "I believe music has the power to bring

Students attend the school of the performing arts during the afternoon and often must spend long hours practicing and rehearsing after hours. But it is worth it to the students; they cannot receive the kind of instruction offered at Northside anywhere else except through private instruction or in special schools outside the state. In addition to voice and choral and stage production studies provided by Densmore, students can also study a number of other alternatives taught by experts on a full- or part-time basis. Regular students at Northside High School and part-day students who come in from elsewhere can study ballet, theater and classical dance, stage setting and design, orchestra, ensemble, band and a number of other fields in which they not only receive instruction, but practical application.
The practical application aspects of the student's instruction are the most highly visible part of what Densmore does. Every year students are chosen through audition to participate in a performing group which puts on a full scale production encompassing all areas of instruction. This year's production is entitled "Southern Fanfares," and it involves 20 students in a song and dance troupe with

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 13

an 18-piece orchestra and a road crew made up of student sound and lighting technicians, stage hands and other support personnel. To date Densmore has coordinated eight touring shows which have performed all over Georgia, the United States and in Europe. In 1976 "Footlights and Fanfares" was the only bicentennial show chosen to tour military installations of Europe. Another touring show was able to travel to Brussels with Atlanta's Friendship Force for 11 days.
Densmore believes these kinds of productions are extremely valuable, not only for the high quality of performances that are required, but also for the confidence-building and experience it gives his students, many of whom want to become professional entertainers and instructors. They are important for another reason - the money earned by the students is put back into the school, supporting it to a higher and better future. More than $50,000 was earned during the last school year, and the money is used to hire special instructors and purchase equipment, costumes and musical instruments.
The production is the quintessential element in the school for the arts. Densmore's choral groups have performed for two seasons with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, forming the base for the production of Bernstein's Mass, which drew rave reviews in Georgia and elsewhere. Densmore coordinated and directed all the choral groups in the production, actually conducting the chorus under the overall direction of Robert Shaw. Shaw called the participation of the Northside students "The Lord's Star in the history of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra." In addition the students under Densmore's direction have performed in more than 35 musicals during the 15 years he has taught at Northside. He has personally produced and directed 11 plays, five operas and nine oratorios.
Densmore feels that his best personal effort was in directing and preparing the music for Bernstein's Mass, which was performed by the Atlanta Symphony and several combined choruses, including a choral group and a dance group from Northside. He was especially pleased that a former student, Richard Woods, played the very difficult part of the celebrant.
But no matter how successful the productions are, Densmore doesn't forget the fact they are put on by public school students. When the performing tour group was presenting the enormously popular show, "The Wiz," they also gave 11 free performances for inner-city school students who could not afford the regular performances.
Although Densmore has had unusual success with a fine arts program in the public schools, he is not steeped in his own importance. He continues to give free voice lessons after school to students who need a little extra but cannot afford it. He says one of his most rewarding experiences is when a deserving student receives an expensive scholar-

ship to study at a conservatory or college. He is extremely proud of the accomplishments of his students, some of whom have performed on Broadway or sung and played with symphony orchestras. "It's a fabulous opportunity to work here," Densmore says. "I wouldn't work in a private school; I've been offered positions many times. But I think the unique thing is that if you can get it done in an urban school, you can save the world."
For a person out to save the world, Densmore was pessimistic that he could be chosen Georgia Teacher of the Year. "I couldn't believe it when I was notified I was Northside's Teacher, much less one of the state finalists." But he adds with a characteristic gleam in his eye, "I always thought they only chose academic teachers."
He will be nominated by the Georgia Department of

Education for the title of National Teacher of the Year, which will be announced in a White House ceremony next spring. For being named Georgia's Teacher of the Year, Densmore received $1,000 from Southern Educators Life Insurance Company of Georgia (cosponsor with the department of the program) at the November meeting of the Georgia Board of Education. He was also presented a handpainted, framed certificate from the department. Another part of the Teacher of the Year Program is the presentation to the following year's General Assembly. Densmore should welcome the opportunity to speak before the legislators since he has been involved in trying to improve fine arts programs in the state through professional organizations such as the Georgia Music Educators Association and as chairman of the Allstate Chorus.

All Densmore's instruction stresses vocational aspects as well as scholarship and arts-consumer applications.

Touring shows not only include performers and orchestra members, but lighting and sound technicians and a road crew as well.

The result of all the students' hard work is a production unrivaled anywhere. At a recent United Way meeting Michael Meridith and other members of the troupe (Tigner, Chris Streater, Andrew Ballard, Matt Fox, Dawn Axam, Tony Ross and Andria Alexander shown) brought the crowd to its feet.

(f)
iii
":0:r
til ::J
i

14 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Densmore has made a real commitment (and personal sacrifice) to remain in the public schools. He has a dream that some day the state may allow the formation of a statewide school for the performing arts. He hopes the commitment the Georgia Department of Education has made to fund music and arts teachers in the next budget and the fact that a choral teacher can become the state teacher of the year may be the catalyst needed for the fulfillment of his dream.

Ladies and Gentlemen, at center stage, the 1981 Georgia Teacher of the Year, William G. Densmore Jr. of Atlanta's Northside High School.

Elizabeth Hommel and Betsy Gardner are studies of concentration in ballet class.

To participate in the program, students must pursue a full academic load and maintain an auerage grade Also a perfectionist in elocution and posture,

score, but they receiue some of the best uoice instruction auailable from Densmore.

Densmore giues students a lot ofindiuidual attention.

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 15

J
c: ..(c::
0.
(
U5
Gregory W. Duncan

Cobb Spanish Teacher Is 1981 TOTY Runner-up

Georgia's 1981 Teacher of the Year Runner-up is Gregory Duncan, an eight-year high school Spanish teacher at Wheeler High School in Cobb County. Duncan is a graduate of Georgia State, with a master's degree from the University of Georgia. An enthusiastically mobile teacher in the classroom, Duncan believes in a totally positive approach. "The role of the teacher," he says, "is to inspire, motivate, reinforce, nurture and encourage." He is head of the languages department at Wheeler and has brought many innovations into the school as well as the system.

Believing that teaching should be fun, Duncan first teaches his students that learning should be fun. He has doubled the enrollment in foreign languages, and today oversees the schedules of eight teachers in 37 sections. Duncan was honored along with the state TOTY at the November meeting of the Georgia Board of Education. He received a hand-painted certificate from the Georgia Department of Education and an award of $250 from the department's cosponsor of the TOTY Program, Southern Educators Life Insurance Company.

Clarke County And Social Circle Had TOTY Finalists

~

LB

c:

..c(::

0.

I.f'!)!

_

Don Berkowitz

Joy Ann Bailey

Two other teachers were finalists in the 1981 program, Don Berkowitz, a science teacher at Social Circle High School, and Joy Ann Bailey, a middle school science teacher at Hilsman in Clarke County. Berkowitz, chairman of the science department at Social Circle, is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, N.Y., and has a master's from the University of Georgia. He has taught at Social Circle for two years. Berkowitz believes that the purpose of education is to enable students to function usefully in the modern world, and he strives to impart to his students the importance of thinking logically and creatively, of accepting responsibility and in successfully relating to others.
Bailey, who has taught school for 12 years, has been at Hilsman since 1974. She also taught in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Watkinsville and at Clarke Middle School. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and has a master's from the University of Georgia. Bailey believes that mutual respect between teachers and students is important. "Openness and honesty with students are essential in an effective classroom," she said. "Without it, trust breaks down and the instructionlearning process is impeded." She believes it is the teacher's responsibility to make this interchange work, because the teacher is the mature member of the classroom.

Congratualtions To 70 System TOTYs
Alice C. Clark, Lumpkin County High; Mary Barrett, Lee County Elementary; Charlotte Barefoot, Fox Elementary, Muscogee County; Bonnie Rhea Tillman, Hubbard Elementary, Monroe County; Carol R. Hickey, Spalding County Jr. High; Rowena Cruce Lovell, Clarkesville Elementary, Habersham County; Charles Cooper, Lowndes County High; Erin Kirkland Gilbert, Barnesville Primary, Lamar County; Jimmy Lee Davis, West Rome High; Vivienne Johnston Hambrick, EvansJr. High, Coweta County; Betty Henley Smith, North Dade County Elementary; Lois G. Watson, Nashville Elementary, Berrien County; Mary Lou Carter, Echols County High; Margaret G. LeCroy, Franklin County Jr. High; Adah Alice Rogers, Rossville High, Walker County.
Margaret Elaine Schleier, Martinez Elementary, Columbia County; Jack A. Sapp, Lyons High, Toombs County; Marguerite Shaw, Ball Ground Elementary, Cherokee County; Barbara Jean Croft, Cass High, Bartow County; Ruth Aldridge Jackson, Alabama Street Elementary, Carrollton; C. Elizabeth Horne, Baldwin County High; Margaret Anne Smith, Fitzgerald Elementary; Karen Ellis, Red Bud Elementary, Gordon County; Ruth A. Glover, Pepperell Jr. High, Floyd County; Erma Brownlow, Morton Avenue Elementary, Waycross; David Edgy, Appling County Jr. High; Whilomenia L. Bennett, Turner County Elementary; Carolyn Slaughter Bean, Troup County High; Artelia J. Reese, Henry County High; Mary Sue Smith, Bryant Elementary, Bulloch County; Berkley Ruiz, Winder Barrow County High; Janet H. Causey, Weir School, Bibb County; Lynn Prince Holt, Sand Hill Elementary, Carroll County; Nancy R. Martin, Marietta Jr. High; Rebecca Sue Cowart, Cooper Primary, Terrell County.
Robert M. Howell Jr., Colquitt County; Louise Smith Bryant, Elbert County High; Moses A. Bandy, West Point High; Sarah H. Hobbs, Emerson Park Elementary, Ware County; W. Beatrice Jones, Morgan County High; William G. Reid, Forsyth County High; Jesse L. Walker, Worth County Jr. High; Lillian Cochran Lynch, Monroe Area High, Walton County; Calvin Epps, Central High, Talbot County; Nancy S. Grantham, Sequoyah High, DeKalb County; Billy Joe Stiles, Rabun County High; Ralph Edwin Hogan Sr., Upson County High; Daniel J. Sutton, Coffee County Jr. High; Shelbie C. Johnson, Gainesville High; Maxine H. Lucas, Newton County High; Dennis Stewart, Heritage High, Rockdale County; Jo Nan Holbrook, Lanier County Primary; Louisa B. Moffitt, Decatur High; Howard Warren, Wayne County High; Oma Lee Herrin, Camden County; and Charlotte Vogel, Lithia Springs High. (Teachers listed in order received by state.)
The 15 semifinalists chosen in the first round of judging at the state level were Mabel Jones Wolinski, Valdosta High; Frederick Alphonzo Wright, Manchester High, Meriwether County; Stephen W. Spellman, Central Gwinnett County High; Ann Faile Millican, Northwest High, Whitfield County; Mary Elizabeth Collins, Comer Elementary, Madison County; Peggy Crew, Northside Elementary, Grady County; Annette Gibbs, Blackshear Trail Elementary, Crisp County; Carol McKenna Saunders, Collins High, Fulton County; Linda Susan Eye, Bailey Elementary, Tift County; Viola C. Freeman, South Hall Jr. High; and Jacqueline T. Winchester, Chappelle School, Thomas County; and Densmore, Bailey, Duncan and Berkowitz, the four finalists.
Congratulations to all Teacher of the Year entries. The TOTY program is not an attempt to identify the "best" teacher in Georgia, only to choose a representative of Georgia's teachers to enter in the National Teacher of the Year Program. Certainly, all teachers selected by their schools and systems each year are outstanding teachers and should be proud of their accomplish ments. Many of the state entrants spent a great deal of time preparing their entry forms and supporting materials. If you would like your entry form returned, send a large enough envelope and sufficient postage to Public Information and Publications Services, Georgia Department of Education, 103 State Office Building, Atlanta 30334.

16 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

hat's Black and hite

Field trips are regular treats for Walker students. Parent volunteers help teachers supervise an outing to the animal shelter.

And Has Lots ofPull?

What are the big attractions for Richmond and Bibb County students this year? Magnet schools. C. T. Walker Traditional Elementary and A. R. Johnson Health Professions High schools are drawing students from all over Augusta and from as far as Hepzibah into their inner-city classrooms. And Alexander II school in Macon is filling once-empty seats with kindergarten through seventh graders from throughout Bibb County.
Just what is a magnet school? It is the answer to the riddle, What's black and white and has lots of pull?

Story by Barbara Perkins Photographs by Stephen Edge
A magnet school provides students - black and white, rich and poor, average and gifted - with something special, either upgraded facilities or a special curriculum, which attracts them and pulls them into its classrooms.
When in 1977 Richmond County school officials decided that something had to be done to better promote desegregation and to offset the dropping enrollment in schools in inner-city neighborhoods, magnets were the alternative chosen. After visiting

schools in six other U.S. cities, teams composed of parents, board members, principals and school administrators presented the magnet school concept to Richmond County citizens at public workshops.
The board of education conducted a random survey of public school parents to find out what their major concerns for their children were and what they felt the focus of the schools should be. Parental response coupled with employment opportunities in the area resulted in the two

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 17

specialty schools opening this fall in Augusta.
Children at C. T. Walker Traditional Elementary School are not allowed to run in the halls; they must walk in an orderly manner. They are rewarded for academic achievement and disciplined for misbehavior. They are given lots of homework and must master the work of their grade before being promoted. The nearly 400 kindergarten through fifth graders are exposed to a strong curriculum of English, math, social studies, music and art.
"Parents around here are concerned about a 'back to basics' education for their children," said principal Jimmy Boozer. "But they feel that the basics don't stop with reading, writing and arithmetic. They want courtesy, respect for others, citizenship and making wise decisions to be emphasized too. That's why Walker is a traditional elementary school."
One thing that adds to Walker's traditional flavor is the building itself. Located in a predominately black neighborhood, the well-kept 1934 structure once housed 1,500 black elementary students. Last year its enrollment was under 500. This year's nearly 400 public and formerly private school students are expected to increase in number next year with the addition of sixth and seventh grades to the magnet school.
A few extras Walker has that traditional elementary schools do not usually provide are a full-time student counselor, a full-time art teacher and a community involvement liaison person.
Parents play a big part in Walker's program, according to Boozer. When they enroll a child, parents must sign a contract pledging to work with the school to make sure that their child attends regularly and works toward getting a good basic education.

Shelia Davis' cytology class is one of the toughest courses Johnson students must master. Cytology, the biology of cell life, is an important area in health/science fields. Students feel the extra work will payoff when they either begin work in a health field or continue their education at a college or vo-tech school.
Johnson's program combines lecture with lots of laboratory experience. These tenth graders studying cell structures hope to gain practical experience by interning in a county health facility next year. .

At Walker, courtesy, respect and citizenship are part of the basics.

"Our parent volunteer program is also getting underway. A parent who has volunteered at the school many times in the past is coordinating activities which are bringing parents and grandparents into the schools as library, clerical and lunchroom helpers, hall monitors, tutors and in other volunteer capacities."
18 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Those who feel that high schools are all play and no work probably have never visited A. R. Johnson Health Professions High, where 97 tenth grade students are receiving concentrated study in various health/science courses. The program of study, in cooperation with the Medical College of Georgia, provides intensive instruction and practical experience for students who plan to enter health careers. In addition to completing the Georgia core curriculum, Johnson students survey health careers and professions, perfect laboratory skills, receive advanced instruction in science courses and, next year, will be able to perform work-study in health facilities in the county. The full program will be phased in over a three-year period, beginning with the tenth grade this school term. The eleventh grade will come in 1981-82 and the twelfth in 1982-83. Students must have signed
parental consent and a "c" average or better to
enter Johnson.
"Our curriculum is challenging," said Principal William Bryant. "But the students work hard to

make the grade because they know this is what they want to do."
Just how hardworking are Johnson students? The following story related by a school official gives an example. The father of a Johnson student spoke to a teacher recently about his daughter's unusual behavior which he attributed directly to Johnson's influence. When the concerned teacher asked what the girl was doing, he replied, "She studies! She's never done that before."
Magnet schools have been one of the most positively accepted projects the county has ever implemented, according to Beverly Barnhart, director of magnet schools for Richmond County. Several factors contribute to this. The schools maintain 50-50 black/white student and teacher ratios and are open to everyone on a first-come basis. Parents now have a choice of sending their children to a regular school or one of the magnet schools if space is available in the magnet schools.
"Parents were so delighted at the idea of a tradi-

tional elementary school that we had 200 more applications than places. Since attendance is voluntary, parents can withdraw their children at any time, but they haven't. And preparing students for health careers, the fastest growing occupational field in this area, makes Johnson a leader in program accountability," Barnhart said.
Magnet schools save money too. Richmond Countians are spending less money by upgrading schools they already have in town rather than building new ones in the suburbs.
Careful planning from the outset has been the key to the success of the project, school officials believe. Two years of planning, research and evaluation went into the making of the final products. Help came from experts in many areas. The Division of Special Services of the Georgia Department of Education, Office of State Schools and Special Services, headed by Peyton Williams Jr., sponsored an eight-day staff development workshop at the beginning of the school year.

A budding young artist practices his mask-making skills in Walker's large art room, staffed by a full-time art teacher.

Georgia ALERT, December 1980 19

While Richmond County was busy planning its magnet schools, Alexander II in Bibb County, the first magnet school in Georgia, had been in operation for a full year.
In 1978 Bibb County asked for and received $55,000 in federal aid to plan a magnet school that would help promote desegregation of the county's schools. Alexander II, an old, historic school near Mercer University, was chosen as the site. The student body had changed over the years from predominately white to predominately black, and enrollment had dropped from more than 500 to less than 250. The school, which was built in 1902, was scheduled to close because the building was in bad condition. But community members didn't want to see Alexander II abandoned.
So the school district spent more than $500,000 renovating the building, and with a $75,000 federal grant, Alexander II became a first in Georgia.
Opening in 1979-80 with 450 students - half of them black, half white - Alexander II had to turn away as many as it enrolled. The next year 700 students applied for 50 vacancies.
Lula Lewis's fifth graders learn to read, write and think math and science. Camping trips help them discover many facts about their environment.
20 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

Alexander II in Bibb County faced abandonment. But that was before the community rallied to save it.
Principal Betty Tolbert, (above left) new at Alexander II this year, is proud of the old school and its accomplishments. Named after Elam Alexander, a Macon philanthropist, Alexander II is the only one of four original Alexanders still functioning. Tolbert feels it is the most progressive school the city has. Principal Jimmy Boozer (left) maps out bus routes taken to andlrom Walker. Students from outlying areas, such as Hephzibah, must transfer buses both ways. The school system is working on making the trip shorterfor children who live outside the city.
aI: T A -- , /\
1'1 J oJl
--

,,,,,lIItij;;''''''''''''

Computers add new dimensions to learning.
Students at Alexander II work with five micro computers owned by the school. Small groups spend a few hours three days in the week being exposed to the world of electronic computers. Younger students play math, spelling and social studies games. Older students work on discettes, learn to plot colors and are introduced to basic programs. An advanced or gifted class works strictly on math problems. In addition to instruction from their teacher, children also receive help from volunteers. A parent who has worked with a computer company and a Mercer University student show the children how to make computer work easy.

Georgia ALERT, December1980 21

"One reason for Alexander Ii's success is that it meets the wishes of the community it serves," said Judith Wright, coordinator of magnet schools for Bibb County. "A board survey of Bibb County parents showed that their biggest concern was for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. And their preference for a curriculum centered around an innovative math/science program."
A school day for an Alexander II student is divided into two parts, a language arts session in which math and science topics are the focus, and math and science classes. Environmental education is emphasized strongly; the school is equipped with a greenhouse and laboratory. Students go twice a year on educational campouts. And math/science resource teachers coordinate all activities for the students' benefit. Alexander II is the only school in the district equipped with five micro computers.
Community response to the school has been outstanding. Parents volunteer their services regularly. A senior citizen teaches the children how to play chess. Computer programmers are working with the students on the micro computers. And Mercer University adopted Alexander II under the Bibb County Adopt-a-School program.
"Hardly a day goes by that I do not receive calls from parents wanting to know how to get their kids in. I always emphasize that only children who love math and who love science should apply," Wright said.
Magnet schools are working well in Georgia to improve school desegregation and combat declining enrollment. "The magnet school concept is a big one, and an effective one. Other schools use parts of the same plan; for instance there are other specialty schools in the state and there are a few with 50-50 black/white student ratios, but they are not called magnet schools and they are not funded under the Emergency School Aid Act program as we are. Alexander II is Georgia's. first," Wright concluded.

PRN Donna Weaver quizzes students in her prescription reading class at Johnson on symbols and abbreviations. As prospective doctors, nurses and pharmacists, they will use this information daily.

Curious readers could hardly wait to examine the book supply in Walker's newly renovated library.

- I - I I ; WTJ ; pW

J L! CI"-'I11t'l

It

Mmm mmm good lunches are served in Walker's cafeteria. This youngster makes getting there half the fun.

22 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"""'.....'__



... ......':..I.- ~--'~-~

-'-~""--,":"''':.

.'

...
.'2"
(5 cc
('3"

Faces 0/ Education
Take
A Byte*
0/ This
Apple
*byte ('bit) - n.: a group of adjacent binary digits often shorter than a word that a computer processes as a unit. Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
Using their new Apple II Computer, Principal James Pearce and students at DeKalb County's Rockbridge Elementary School in Stone Mountain watch the video screen as they play one of the many learning games stored in the memory banks. Rockbridge sixth and seventh graders are working with Apple in a six-week computer exploratory course, which culminates in the students' writing their own programs. The micro processor is also being used in a mathematics lab as reinforcement for remedial students and enrichment for high achievers. Apple may also be checked out by Rockbridge teachers as a teaching aid in math, science, social studies or logic. The school received its Apple in the first wave of a DeKalb County project testing the usefulness of computers in the classroom. To date 35 DeKalb schools have taken a byte of the Apple.
Georgia ALERT, December 1980 23

BoIIpinf1oPs

The Cobb County School Board has adopted a new policy on student smoking. The policy will require high school students who want to smoke to get notarized permission from their parents and to take part in an American Cancer Society course

...
.~
6
cc
Q)

designed to show the dangers of smoking. Under the new (3

policy, which goes into effect January I, students will be

required to have a permit even to possess tobacco products on

campus. To get such a permit, students must either bring a

notarized consent form from home or have their parents go to

the school and personally sign the form. The new policy also

forbids teachers and supervisory personnel from smoking while

supervising students in school activities.



Amoco Educational Services will send teachers a free copy of a seven-page listing of energy and economic education materials including additional sources of information. For a copy write Amoco Educational Services, MC-3705, P. O. Box 5910A, Chicago, Illinois 60680.


The average scores of Georgia seniors taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) this year remained about the same as last year's scores, whereas nationally, scores made the biggest drop in three years. However, Georgia seniors are still scoring below the national average.

The state's average score on the verbal SAT was 389, as compared to the 424 national norm and 409 for the southern region. On mathematics Georgia seniors scored 425. Nationwide the score was 466 and for the southern region 445.

While Georgia students continue to score below the national average on the verbal and mathematics portions of the SAT, they exceeded the national average for the third year on all achievement tests. About one in five students who take the SAT also take one or more of the achievement tests given in about 15 academic subjects.
Georgia educators believe one reason Georgia students continue to score lower on the SAT than those nationally is that approximately 50 percent of all state high school seniors take the SAT, while nationally only about one-third of all seniors take the test. This means Georgia scores are based on a much broader sample of the student population than are the national scores.

Setting An Exam. . .ple
Georgia School Superintendent Charles McDaniel tests his knowledge of education administrative techniques with the newly adopted criterion-referenced test (CRT) for school principals, superintendents and curriculum directors. Passing marks on the test are now a requirement for receiving certification.

The Atlanta Historical Society is offering 10 workshops for teachers to acquaint them with the society's resources. A $2 refundable deposit is required to reserve a place for each work shop. For more information about the dates and subjects for workshops, write Madeline Reamy Patchen, Educational Coordinator, Atlanta Historical Society, 3099 Andrews Drive, NW, Atlanta 30305, or call (404) 261-1837.

The Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs is offering free teaching materials on energy suitable for kindergarten and early elementary grades. Upon request, a member of the federation dressed as Susie Sunshine will present a lOminute skit explaining things young children should know about energy. A kit, including a copy of the skit, follow-up classroom activities and handout materials for the children, is left with the teacher. For more information contact Diane Mitchell, Cypress Lane, Route 4, Douglas 31533, (912) 384-3540 or Harriette Hankinson, 54 DixLee'On Drive, Fairburn 30213, (404) 461-7930.

Polaroid Corporation, in collaboration with teachers and school administrators, has developed a program which integrates photography with school curriculum. Polaroid is offering teachers and administrators two free OneStep Land Cameras, factory reconditioned and fully guaranteed, and The Polaroid Education Project Teacher Guide, with more than 100 pages of photography-based learning activities. The activities are indexed by grade level and subject. They include Language Arts (K-12), Social Studies (K-12), Math (K-6), Science (K-12), Special Education (K-6) and English as a Second Language (ninth grade through adult education).
To qualify schools must furnish proof of purchase for 20 packs of SX-70 film or new Time-Zero Supercolor film. The cameras and teacher guides will be provided on a first come, first serve basis. For additional information write Marnie Samuelson, Publicity Manager, Polaroid Education Project, 549 Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 or call (617) 577-4785.

December 1980 Vol. 12. No.4

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News/Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typesetting. Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Jeanette lloyd, Elliott Mackie, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins and Anne Raymond.

The Georgia Department of Education does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Services

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

~

103 State Office Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 6562476

EDPR.Eee

24 Georgia ALERT, December 1980

~it

~o\e\Oot\'! r:.. '(\\\O(\S
00C
p.. \...oo,+-t\\

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334

BULK RATE
U. S. Postage
PAID
Atlanta, Georgia Permit Number 168

E530602UNIE 0 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA LIB
STATE DOCUMENTS

ATHENS

GA 30602

Contents

BoIIpinl!ops Letters to the Editor

Features

You Gotta Have Art

3

All you really need is art.

We Grow Kids

10

A look at Georgia's Psychoed Centers

Good For you

17

Georgia's School Food

and Nutrition Campaign

Compensatory Education. . . . . . .. 20 It's a basics thing.

Departments

The Way We Were

2

Letters

2

Bellringers

2



Cover: Making pinch pots is one of the earliest forms of art and pottery making. It is the method Stephens County Elementary Art Coordinator Grace Duvall uses to introduce her section on pottery. Photographed by Stephen Edge.

C)
ro
:l :l
Q
.~...
John C. Foster, (D), Cornelia, is the new chairman of the Georgia Senate Education Committee.
Olivia Chambers, a junior at the Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Spring, has been selected for the first USA Women's Basketball Team to compete in the XIV World Games for the Deaf. The games will be held July 23-August 1 in Cologne, West Germany.

Plays, The Drama Magazine for Young People, is actively looking for new one-act comedies and other plays that teenage actors can perform. Originals and adaptations will be considered, and writers may submit manuscripts or queries throughout the year.
Maximum length should be 20 double-spaced pages. Payment rates have recently been increased, and payment is made on acceptance. A style sheet and sample of preferred typing format will be sent on request - enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address scripts and inquiries to Sylvia K. Burack, Editor, Plays, 8 Arlington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116.

The Insurance Information Institute has available upon request a filmstrip entitled "Walking to School Without Getting Hurt." Individuals, schools or civic groups interested in using the filmstrip can write to the Insurance Information Institute, #6 Executive Park Drive NE, Suite 270, Atlanta 30329.

Project Adventure
The Georgia Facilitator Center has certainly enjoyed the subscription to Georgia ALERT over the past year. We have noted that you often highlight schools with new and exciting programs. One such program last summer was project ADVENTURE in Cobb County. This program is a part of the National Diffusion Network, and our agency is funded to help Georgia educators expand improvement efforts by learning from other schools around the nation.
We would be happy to share information about Georgia schools which have adopted exemplary programs. We sincerely believe that their success stories would be in keeping with the focus of Georgia ALERT.
India King Georgia Facilitator Center University of Georgia, Athens
Public Libraries
I have just gotten to the September issue of ALERT and found your excellent article on public libraries.
The article is well written, covers a lot of facts in an interesting manner, and weaves in a number of people and places. I really see no way in which the article could be improved.
Needless to say, we are grateful for your interest in the public library program and the centerspread which your editor gave to the article.
W. T. Johnston, Director Coastal Plain Regional Library
Foreign Students in Georgia Schools
I was most pleased to read the article on non-English and limited English speaking children. The photographs added a dramatic reality to the situation of these children in our state. I have shared the article with a number of friends in the school district all of whom were very impressed by its organization and content.
Elaina Hershowitz, Bilingual Coordinator Muscogee County School District

~eway**re 1#
This little schoolhouse, in which Martha Berry posed with her teaching assistants and students c. 1902, represented the formal beginnings of her day school in Rome, Georgia. Earlier successes in teaching mountain children Bible lessons on Sundays had already established her reputation with local people as a dedicated teacher. Those successes continued as she developed a work/learn system by which students could pay for schooling they could otherwise not afford. The school flourished through the years, and, in 1930, became Berry College.
2. Georgia ALERT, March 1981
! ~

.~.a~~~

Photo courtesy the University of Georgia Library.

lbu
Gotta

(-

\

l_

) (~ ~:::::::~

~

~

\.

Story by Anne Raymond Introduction and photos by Stephen Edge
It was Aristotle who said that the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Although Georgia today is a long way from the Golden Age of Greece, the aim of art has not changed. Still it represents an endless variety of meaning; it brings warmth and understanding and is sufficient unto itself.
And today art is being looked at in a new light by educators who believe that it can provide far more than a creative outlet for youngsters. Most school systems in Georgia have always given their students some kind of arts instruction - if not formal music, band, drama, crafts or elementary drawing and painting, at least the elemental philosophy and beliefs in lessons and texts that art is a desirable thing, that life is not complete without the beauty and inward understanding of nature that art brings.
Georgia legislators are considering state funding of arts programs for the public schools during the 1981 session of the General Assembly. Arts instruction in every public school was the goal of the men and women who in 1975 drew up the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia (APEG) act, the umbrella law which supports all public education in the state. Arts education was written into the law, but has yet to be funded by the legislature. This year funding is a priority of the Georgia Board of Education. The hundreds of art teachers and students and citizens who trooped to the APEG hearings to appeal for state funding for arts programs are still waiting to have their aims realized. But what have Georgia schools been able to accomplish in the absence of state funding? Many have been able to accomplish a great deal because citizens of the community were willing to sacrifice so that their children might have more, might have a greater understanding and feelingfor the people and the world around them.
Georgia ALERT, March 1981- 3

Local Systems Have Taken the Lead in Arts
For the people of Toccoa, the arts have been a community affair that has joined schools and citizens in a close and rewarding partnership.
For fourth grade teacher Mary Steele, art is an important boost to instruction, helping children learn better because they are more relaxed and feel better about themselves.
For the sixth grade student who just discovered he can draw, art has meant self-confidence never before experienced, a feeling of pride that "now I have to draw for everybody."
For his teacher who knew the sixth grader only as a disruptive youngster, art has meant dramatically changed behavior - from discipline problem to courteous, able student.
For a junior high student visiting Six Flags, arts education is the pleasure at connecting the Flying Dutchman there with "the Flying Dutchman" in music appreciation class.
For Stephens County school system superintendent James M. Stephens, arts education is basic to good education. "Art teaches appreciation, and if a person doesn't learn to appreciate what exists in the world, that person is very poorly educated."
In hundreds of public schools and communities all over Georgia, arts education is an important, essential part of good education. Because it is entirely locally funded, arts education varies from one community to another. Stephens County has a long tradition in arts education; Stephens' predecessor James E. Stowe saw the arts as a part of the total development of the child. With unwavering support from the local board of education, the system has over the years developed a complete, sequential and imaginative program that reaches every child from the elementary grades through high school. Under the guidance of curriculum director Louise MacFie, both musk and art are taught, with children at every level given plenty of opportunities to create and perform.
In the elementary schools, art coordinator Grace Duvall gives an art lesson once every six weeks, introducing a new medium each period - drawing and painting, ceramics, fiber and printmaking. Regular classroom teachers learn along with their students, creating artworks and learning how to follow up with art lessons and projects in their own classrooms. Industries in the community contribute yarn, wood, other media and supplies for use by students.
"At this age (K-6) we don't stress talent," says Duvall. "All children have talent to a degree. They all love art; they have a built-in enthusiasm that results in creative work." Elementary students are not graded in art; for that age group willing, active
4 Georgia ALERT, March 1981
,. ".,'

Individualized art programs are stressed at Stephens County High School, where students may study for personal enjoyment or for future careers in the arts.
Stephens County Schools has a vital ongoing arts program in grades K-12. It is strongly supported by the community, which donates materials, provides resource persons and holds periodic exhibitions.

Music students in Stephens County are tracked from the fifth grade through high school, also having the opportunity to study music for enjoyment or for a career.
Georgia ALERT, March 1981.5

East Cobb Middle School student
"Science and art belong to the whole world, and be/ore them vanish the barriers 0/ nationality." -Goethe

participation is the primary goal. "We just want to encourage them," Duvall says.
The art program in elementary schools is reinforced in junior high by Stephanie Walker, who incorporates careers in art, art appreciation and art in the environment with six weeks concentrations in fiber, silk screening, clay, drawing and painting and copper tooling and enameling.
Students learn that art is part of living and to use art to enhance the environment. Art is everywhere in the junior high school- macrame window hangings and displays in the library, in Western theme decorations for homecoming, downtown on the shopping mall and traveling as an exhibit to a sister city in Germany. In Walker's classroom, the "Spaces and Illusions" exhibit from the High Museum in Atlanta waits to be set up.
Seventh and eighth graders who choose art as an elective have classes every other day. Their

enthusiasm for the classes rivals their teacher's. "Seventh graders are so free - so creative," says Walker. "I'll never teach adults again; they want rules about what to do - which color goes with which."
By the time an art student reaches high school he or she has developed full-blown interest and capability. Art students spend a quarter each on drawing and painting, pottery and textiles. Teacher Deborah Hartley plans individualized programs as much as possible, stressing personal art such as life masks and self-portraits. Art history, principles of composition and careers are also part of art studies. In the spring students show their work at the community art festival on the downtown mall. All during the school year there are student art and community-sponsored displays such as women's club exhibits.
The Stephens County music program is just as well-planned and complete as the art program,

Vase by Ron Myers, Georgia Art Bus exhibit

6. Georgia ALERT, March 1981

----~~.;;r,;::.'_.:.:.T7:-._!_.~ ~...,.:.,.

. ...- ._.,,--_~Z!!& 2

41

beginning with chorus and instruments in the elementary grades, the sixth grade honor band, junior high and high school chorus and band.
At the elementary level every child has a chance to learn an instrument. "No child is excluded," said principal Marion E. Smith of Stephens County Middle School. "Parents usually buy instruments, but if a child wants to play and cannot get an instrument, we will find one."
By the time a student reaches fifth grade, ability has surfaced and students are enrolled in music courses for credit. In junior high students choose either art and physical education or music and physical education, alternating their classes each week.
The high school music program extends the instruction begun in fifth grade, offering students chances to participate in symphonic band, marching band, wind ensemble and jazz ensemble, choral music groups, ensemble and advanced groups such as master singers.
Continuity is one of the most impressive aspects of the Stephens County music program. And high school music director Archie Sharretts expects to improve on an already excellent follow-through program by purchasing a computer which can be programmed to track every music student's progress in the county from fifth grade through graduation.
Because of community, administration and board support that has continued strong for many years, Stephens County has developed a fine music and art program funded fully by the county. The system pays 18 to 20 teachers from local funds. A number of these are art teachers.

State Level Efforts
Georgia's Adequate Program for Education Law recognizes that arts education is an important, essential part of good schooling. Section 12 of the law calls for allotment of arts, music and physical education specialists in the elementary grades. The Georgia Board of Education, in seeking funding of this section this year, is asking for about $9 million for 600 specialists. This would provide 40 percent of full funding and at least one specialist for each of Georgia's 187 school systems.
Funding Section 12 would mean that school systems like Stephens would be able to improve their arts education programs significantly, while other systems which have little or no arts programs would have at least a beginning.

Although there are currently no state funds going directly to school systems to support arts education, the Georgia Department of Education does offer personnel and resources for arts education through its Division of Curriculum Services directed by Scott Bradshaw.
Bradshaw has just this year formed a consultative team of arts, humanities and foreign language specialists to work with school systems' developing and expanding arts programs. A State Plan for the Arts has been written with the goal "to establish, expand and improve instructional programs in the arts so that the arts become an integral part of the fundamental education of all students in Georgia."
The plan defines the arts as creative writing, dance, drama, music and visual arts.
Strong support for arts education comes from the Georgia Board of Education. In addition to the budget request for FY 82, the board's Standards for Georgia Public Schools require schools to offer art and music at every level from kindergarten through the eighth grade. A proposed standard, being tested this year, would require music and visual arts to be offered in high schools. Other proposed standards would require written curricula for drama, music and visual arts, would set maximum student-teacher ratios in studio activities and would define music program offerings and resources.
"We are working to develop a comprehensive arts education program for the state as a whole," Bradshaw said. "Our effort has been fragmented in the past, because arts education has been given a lower priority than subject areas such as math and science. Also, there has been no state support under Section 12. But we are working to improve

Students in Sheila Stockhausen's music classes at Bartow's Cloverleaf Elementary round and square dance and sing with enthusiasm.

Bartow has recently funded art and music teachers for every county school. Stockhausen attempts to do more than give her students an appreciation for the arts; she uses it to incorporate academic learning and tries to involve every student in the twice-annual productions she coordinates.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981. 7

arts education throughout the state by stronger leadership, better programs and interest development," Bradshaw said.
Just last month the Georgia Board of Education approved two arts education projects - continuation of a rural arts program begun last year in Fitzgerald and an application to the U.S. Department of Education for $100,000 to develop model arts programs in Clarke, Bibb and Crawford counties. Arts education is an important component of the Governor's Honors Program which could be extended to the establishment of magnet high schools for the arts, humanities and sciences, Bradshaw suggests.
"We especially want to strengthen arts instruction in the elementary school," Bradshaw says. "We will work through developing model programs, staff development and teacher training. As we are now, high schools are more likely to offer art, because trained teachers are more readily available."
Despite the lack of state funding for arts education, many school systems all over Georgia - rural and urban, rich and poor - have realized the arts are basic and have used local funds and effort to include arts in th~ curriculum. Stephens County is one of those. And Cobb is another.
Arts Serve Career, Aesthetic Aspirations
of Students
Wheeler High School teacher Kathryn Hoppe sees the urban/suburban arts teacher in a special role. "Because the Atlanta metropolitan area is such an important center for the graphic arts, I think it is my challenge to develop the arts program for the school and to develop arts abilities in my students," she said.
As head of the fine arts department at Wheeler, Hoppe oversees band, choral and visual arts. A printmaker herself, she teaches printmaking, advanced drawing and silk screening, always starting with the basics.
"I believe high school students should draw well," Hoppe says. She stresses careers in the arts and enlists parents' support.
"We're just not doing enough to give high school art students job entry skills. Careers in the arts are just waiting for these students. And parents need to support a child with talent. They need to realize that a child who chooses an art career is not going to starve," Hoppe said.
"Parents need to take their kids to museums, give them private art lessons, enrich their summer experiences with art." Hoppe has taken a caravan of students to Greenville, S.c., to the Wyeth Museum this year. As part of arts career education she stresses proper presentation of artwork in mats and portfolios.

In many communities arts programs are strong because the people demand it. Hoppe has 160 students this year - "about 10 too many" - and still had to turn some away.
"We are all consumers of art," Hoppe said. "Art is not a frill. It is very much a part of our economy as well as our quality of life." She promotes careers in art-illustration, cartooning, graphic design-and cites Georgia's emerging role as a film production center as an important field for artists.
Across the street from Wheeler High, at East Cobb Middle School, Karon Park coordinates a Unified Arts Program. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders get art in art classes and also in speech/drama, business, woods, metals, orchestra, band, music and home economics classes.

The arts have a rich tradition in Atlanta Public Schools. When funds were cut back several years ago for elementary arts teachers, groups and individuals from the community stepped into their places. One outstanding example of their work has been establishing elementary school art galleries with help from the area III system of/ice. At six schools, exhibits are changed monthly and provide students with a chance to develop communication skills and with enrichment and a chance to develop an appreciation for the arts. During an exhibition of his photographs at Jackson Elementary, photographer Henry Philler explains his techniques to a class of gifted students. This class is using the gallery for a section on creative writing, but it is also used as a place where students can learn and resources of the community can be shared.
"My main job is to get kids to like art," says Park. "It's really an easy job. Art is something kids get excited about. Especially clay. It's harder to get them excited about drawing."
But Park succeeds. Her youngsters like art; they draw and paint and model with great enjoyment. She teaches even perspective with very little pain: "Now, let's locate the floor. If I put a line here, will that be the floor?"
The East Cobb sixth grader is just one of thousands of young students in Georgia who have the chance to enjoy art, to learn early that art is not fearful, mystical, reserved for the talented, but fun, rewarding, exciting - the best kind of education.

8 Georgia ALERT, March 1981

~ --;;.:--' ~--r----- .J~1..1 ....

J

P

.... _R~..,....:....JJ",."",~_",,,,,,;,.

~ .........~...

.-.t

The Georgia Art Bus Exhibits, one of which is currently set up at Griffin High School, take representative works ofGeorgia artists and teaching panoramas to schools in mainly rural areas of the state. The Art Bus was conceived by the Georgia Council for the Arts and Humanities and the Atlanta Arts Alliance, with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and attempts to supplement and heighten the interest in arts programs in the public schoo~. Arl teacher Sonny Bartlett teaches cartooning, pottery and drawing at Griffin with a strong emphasis on personal development and careers in the arts.
Georgia ALERT, March 1981.9

lC)
.c~.o.
.~
6
oc:
"~c:
:>. .D
~ 1:
0-
t'!
<.J

p

-I C1 rzO

I

at SED centers

When a child's world of wonder, learning and growth becomes one of perplexity, confusion and inability to cope; when emotional disturbances make it impossible to do what is expected at home or school; when parents and the local school system are unable to deal with the problem, what happens? Who helps?
Not too many years ago a severely emotionally disturbed child would have been sent to a state hospital or other residential treatment facility. But now, with Georgia's network of 24 PsychoeducationaI Centers for Severely Emotionally Disturbed Children (SED centers) in full swing, these children can remain at home while professiorials experienced with their special needs help them cope with the real world, right in their own communities.
"These are not just problem kids who have gotten themselves into trouble," said Joan Jordan, state coordinator of the psychoed network. "And they are not ones who only suffer physical or mental handicaps; other programs serve those. The ones we deal with have severe emotional or behavioral problems."
Children attending SED centers exhibit unusual, even bizarre behaviors. Some are on medication. "Labels such as schizophrenic, autistic, emotionally deprived don't come close to completely describing what's going on inside these children," Jordan said.
An example is Mark, a seven year old who attends the South Metro SED Center in Atlanta. An

Story by Barbara Perkins Photographs by Glenn Oliver
elective mute with a high IQ and a number of emotional problems, Mark couldn't make it in the regular classroom. After careful examination it was determined that his speech problem was not organic. Mark spoke quite often at home. His unwillingness to speak at school and other unusual actions couldn't be treated at his regular school, even within a special education program. So Mark was sent to the SED center for help.
What causes children like Mark to develop behaviors so different from the rest of their peers? Neurological impairments, biological disorders, disruptive home environments - any number of reasons have been given by mental health professionals. Sometimes no reason can be found. But to help the child cope with the surrounding world, a method for bringing him or her to face reality and to respond to it in an acceptable way has to be found.
"We use the developmental therapy model to reach children," said Linda Dickson, coordinator of school age services at South Metro. This method was pioneered by Mary Margaret Wood of the University of Georgia and used in the Rutland Center demonstration project in Athens, the prototype for Georgia's SED network.
Dickson and her staff work with five to eight children in a group, keeping within the mainstream of normal school experiences. The center operates half-day classes for most children and full-day classes for those who need it. Many school age children go back to regular classes when they leave.

The object is to help them develop to the point where they can go back full time. Some do. Some don't.
Other schools use other models. Some even use behaviorist models. But because of the amount of time each child needs individually, all centers keep their class limits to eight.
More than 9,000 troubled youngsters statewide received this type of individual attention last year, quite a big jump over the 8,000 projected, and a far cry from the 3,000 served in the first year of operation. Started in July 1972 with four centers, the network now comprises 24 centers and reaches children and youth, newborn through 18, from Dalton to Valdosta, from Columbus to Macon and Augusta.
The projected SED population for Georgia is onehalf of one percent. But the percentage served by South Metro is higher. "Each community is different, so each SED center will have some variations," Jordan said. "But they all provide the same basic services."
Those community-based services include educational diagnosis, psychological assessment, remedial services and individual and group activities for children and youth three through 18; a home program for infants; and counseling, group meetings and advocacy with other agencies for families.
The psychoed network is funded by the Georgia General Assembly and administered through the

10 Georgia ALERT, March 1981

Individual academic work is part 0/ the therapy this
14-year-old receives at Fulton County's S.B. Young
Elementary, a satellite 0/South Metro Children'. Center.

SED center therapists

work to eliminate path-



ological behavior and

stimulate normalbehav-

ior by keeping the child's

experiences pleasur-

able. South Metro lead

therapist Thalia Dooley's

simple gesture of ruf-

fling a 10-year-old's hair

produces a bigsmile and

greater self-confidence.

Elizabeth Sosnowski,

support educational

therapist, shares a

warm moment with a

14-year-old in the self-

contained classroom at

S.H. Young.

Lynne Blumberg, lead educational therapist at S.R. Young Elementary, uses special moments face-to-face with her students to break through the barriers of emotional and behavioraldisorders separating them from reality.
12. Georgia ALERT, March 1981

Leaning close to maintain eye contact, S.H. Young lead therapist Marsha Goldberg speaks sounds over and over trying to get a nonverbal 12-year-old to utter some semblance of a monosyllabic word. Elizabeth Sosnowski's soft touch and quiet words keep a 14-year-old calm and on task.
Georgia ALERT, March 1981- 13

Children diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed often use tantrums and other inappropriate behavior as their only response to the pressure of interacting with others. Richard Kelley, lead educational therapist at South Metro, rides out a storm of emotional outburst from an eight-year-old during class game-time.
-
When students' outbursts get outofcontrol, they must cool down duringa time-outperiodeither in a corner of the classroom or in a special room outside class. Below, a South Metro 12-year-old sulks in an in-class time-out while therapists Pam King and Linda Hitchcock lead the rest of the children in exercises.
Occupational therapist Jill Ascher works with South Metro's preschoolers to heighten their motor coordination, body awareness and protective responses. Rolling over the big ball to pick up blocks and watching movements in the mirror wall prove beneficial.
14 Georgia ALERT, March 1981

Blowing a floating scarf during music therapy at South Metro Center teaches adolescents to wait their turn and to develop the concept of objects in space. Marsha Goldberg (below) teaches a nonverbal 12-year-old to use picture cards as a communication tool.

Georgia Department of Education's Program for Exceptional Children. Current legislation before the General Assembly proposes that the network be written into the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia (APEG) Law, and that the local supervisory board of each center become a third alternative for the fiscal agent. At present, only local school systems and Cooperative Education Service Agencies (CESAs) can serve as fiscal agents.
A child entering a center is evaluated and carefully placed with a group that is suited to his or her needs and abilities. At South Metro, infants to six-yearolds are helped in the infant-preschool program, and six- to fourteen-year-olds are placed in the children's program. One may find six- and ten-yearolds in the same class.
Infants are treated at home with their parents. Intervention is emphasized to offset problems and potential problems the children and their families might face.
"Many parents don't know what to do for an exceptional child or where to turn for help. A high percentage of parents with emotionally disturbed children have similar or contributing problems themselves. We can help them some, and we can put them in touch with other agencies who can provide a variety of services," said Jayne Gosnold, infant-preschool program coordinator.
One would think that diagnosing a four-month-old or even four-year-old as severely emotionally disturbed would be a tough job, and it is. Because diagnosis is so difficult, a child does not have to be

tagged "emotionally disturbed" to enter the infantpreschool program, but must show a serious developmental delay, one that puts him or her far behind other children the same age in speech, motor ability or some other important function.
The circumstances surrounding each situation cause close ties to be developed among the parents, the children and the school not equalled in any regular school program, Dickson believes.
Parents must give written consent for their children to be placed at an SED center or to receive special services. Once the child enters a program, the center immediately begins to help both parent and child come to grips with the problems they are facing. Help for the whole family is available for those who need and want it.
Teachers confer with parents regularly. Parent groups meet to discuss problems and plan gettogethers and activities for the children. A social worker serves as liaison between the school and the parents, often providing advocacy they would find nowhere else.
At Sexton Woods, a center in the DeKalb/Rockdale Program, the most extensive in the state, the parent group is strongly supportive of the school. And a sibling group meets once a week.
According to Glenda Molton, program director, it is often hard on a family with normal brothers and sisters of disturbed children. They sometimes need counseling and support, and close contact is maintained with the children's regular school teachers, too.

"School age children who come to our center have usually bombed out everywhere else," said Molton. "Our county has a continuum of services for children with special needs. Children are always sent to the least restrictive program first. We try to

Fridays are fun at Sexton Woods

Class Schedule

8:00-8:45

Homeroom

8:45-10: 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Levels meeting

10:15-11:15 ... Field trips-Levels 3, 4 and 5 Earned activities-Level 2
Academics-Levels D and 1

11:15-12:00

Reading and language arts

12:15-12:30

Lunch

12:30-3:00

Levels 4 and 5 may attend another school
Levels D, 1,2 and 3 go home

A levels system is in effect in the adolescent program. If you're on a high level it means you have more responsibilities and more privileges. How do you advance? Your teachers and peers must vote you in, based on your performance academically and socially for the previous week. Voting takes place each Friday morning at 8:45 a.m. What's in it for you? Special activities and field trips. Swimming, hiking and lots of fun and growth.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981.15

serve them in the regular classroom whenever possible."
But when this fails, when it is clear that the child needs more intensive help, then the teacher, parent or someone else closely involved will refer the child to the SED center. In a few cases, adolescents have even referred themselves.
Class schedules look like those of any other school - math, science, social studies - except periods are adapted to shorter attention spans. However, many unusual activities also take place.
A lot of imitation goes on, a lot of reinforcing simple behaviors others take for granted, a lot of interpersonal development and a lot of one-to-one conversations.
"A lot is going on with these children when to a casual observer it looks as if nothing is going on," said Linda DeMario, center director. "It helps oftentimes just to sit back and watch a child's behavior. You can see progress and setbacks, especially in the way they handle other people." It's easy to observe children because classrooms are equipped with observation windows. Parents, school staff and teachers use this device.
A lead teacher and a support teacher work with students daily. The school also has a speech therapist, consulting psychologist, music therapist and art therapist on staff. Any child who needs help from another specialist has access to the special education department of his or her school system.
Finding enough qualified staff is a problem many centers face. Teacher burnout is high. It takes 100 percent of yourself and more, SED teachers say. "We've been lucky," Molton says. "Dedication is our teachers' middle name."
Sexton Woods' staff are introducing new programs in addition to carrying on already existing ones. The latest one, begun this year, is a vocational program for adolescents.
"When students leave here," said Jackie Boone, coordinator of adolescent programs, "they need to leave with something to help them make a living. They need to support themselves just as the rest of us do."

Art activities give disturbed children an outlet for expressing their emotions. Above, a 13-year-old S.R. Young student fusses over his sculpture. Finished artwork, below left, shows much creativity. Art therapist Bonnie Freireich (center, below) and support therapist Norma Grubbs give positive reinforcement to proud artist at S.R. Young.

Woodworking, horticulture and home living classes serve two functions. They introduce students to the world of work by teaching them skills they will use, and they serve as therapy. "We only allow students we can trust with tools to attend vocational classes," Boone said.
Georgia has been fortunate in having developed SED centers, according to Jordan. "Our network is more extensive than any in the nation. And we believe our children receive the help they need to begin to grow to their fullest potential," she said.
Many grow away from the centers, from the need for special care. But others, though they gain much needed help, will always require special treatment.

16 Georgia ALERT, March 1981

School Food Is

GoodForYou
and You and You

"Good For You" materials combine fresh colors, eye-catching graphics, four food groups. Banner, student Monica Ward brighten up Putnam County Middle School cafeteria, Eatonton.
...
o.~
I: I:
(l)
6

School food service is not a new idea in America. Programs for hungry students were organized as early as 1853. School boards began operating lunchrooms in 1909. Federal support dates from the depression of the 1930s. The National School Lunch Act of 1946, which formalized school nutrition, is now a respectable 35 years old.
Most people, if asked, would agree that school feeding of some kind is basic to mass education. But balanced meals do not appear by magic. The broad availability of lunches, breakfasts, milk, donated food assistance and nutrition education activities is too often taken for granted. Familiarity can breed invisibility. People can forget. And reminders - promotions - then become necessary.
The Georgia Department of Education has thus developed a promotional campaign for the state's child nutrition programs. "School Food Is Good For You," the campaign's slogan, appears on all items contained in 2,000 color- and graphicscoordinated kits distributed to Georgia schools in January. The kits include posters, bumper stickers, buttons, pamphlets, indoor-outdoor banners, iron-on patches, hanging mobiles and aprons.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981. 17

"Good For You" has several ~ objectives - to increase participa- ~'" tion and involvement in child nutri- ~ tion programs, to heighten public awareness of the programs' benefits, to improve the public image of school food and school food service staff, to add visual interest and novelty to school cafeterias and servmg areas.
Graphics include outsize fruits, vegetables, bread baskets and milk containers, a satisfied hen sitting atop a mountain of eggs, and a quizzical steer whose hide is marked with a butcher's meatcutting pattern. "Good For You" colors are those of healthy foods - juicy orange, garden green and biscuit brown.
:;(;l:)
u
::'E" ~
t:iJ

Department of Education staffers and students on holiday break used assembly line methods to package "Good For You. " Patty Cloer, Sheryl Arnold, Lyn Kirkland, Carla Maddox and Gary Lindsey rolled 2,000 banners on Christmas Eve. Kits were sent to schools in January.

"Good For You" was previewed last summer during conferences for local system food service directors. Irwin Culpepper and Lue Andrews, DOE area consultants, modeled aprons at the Decatur meeting. The response from systems was enthusiastic.

t"

,

' - = C . . . .' P ' ....a..... ? .

"e



.,.

., .

on 'd""

...... _~

G) iO :> :>
Q
l.cl.>.'

Poster, three-piece mobile, banner, aprons and other "Good For You" Eatonton. Kits also included iron-on patches, buttons, pamphlets, bumper materials form a colorful ensemble at Putnam County Middle School, stickers and instructions for local promotion.

"Good For You" was created entirely within the Georgia Department of Education for the School Food and Nutrition Section.
"Good For You" is unique. "To my knowledge," says School Food Services administrator Annette Bomar,

"no state has ever assembled such a comprehensive promotional package for child nutrition programs. I love it."
"Good For You" is also timely. Budget cutting threatens many valuable programs. And one of the cam-

paign's principal points is that school food is not only good but good for you - you the student, the teacher, the parent, the legislator, the taxpaying citizen. You and you and you.
Old ideas are often best. But reminders are sometimes needed.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981 19

It's Basic to the Basics

Story by Eleanor Gilmer Photographs by Stephen Edge

Georgia students are just as different as snowflakes - no two are alike. They come in various sizes, shapes and colors. Just as varied are their levels of ability and motivation. Some excel in reading and English but perform poorly in mathematics and science. Others find math a breeze but have trouble with history and spelling.
As in the rest of society, education through the years has gone through trends. Particular subject areas and teaching methods have received special focus. Remember the days of Sputnik when students were encouraged to take advanced courses in mathematics and science? Vocational education has also received its share, and "innovations" in all program areas have been stressed. But if there's one thing educators will likely agree on, it is that a good foundation in basic skills is necessary for students to excel.
There are two basic skills in particular - reading and mathematics - that a person needs not only to perform in school, but also in everyday life.
Teachers and school administrators have long been concerned with how to best help students who cannot read or work simple math problems and who keep falling farther behind each year. They've found that students are best helped through remedial instruction, either in small groups or individually. The problem is that an already heavy workload and crowded classrooms preclude providing one-on-one or even small group instruction during the regular school day. Where then does this help come from?
One source is through the state-funded Compensatory Education Program (CEP). With the passage of the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia Law, compensatory education was implemented to help students in grades one through four who were performing below grade level. This program was first funded in 1976.
The beginning of compensatory education in Georgia was the state-operated Instructional Assistance Program (lAP), which began in 1971.

lAP, which had a $7 million budget in 1975, was aimed at students in grades one through seven.
Allan Gurley, director of the Special Programs Division of the Georgia Department of Education, says since that beginning the thrust of the state Compensatory Education Program has remained the same - to help underachievers - but the formula for allocating funds and the grade levels served have changed. One thing that hasn't changed significantly, however, has been the amount of state funds appropriated for CEP.
CEP coordinators and teachers often help train regular classroom teachers to supplement their compensatory instruction.

When CEP was first launched, $10.2 million was . appropriated. For the last three years the amount
has remained at $12.7 million. Inflation and other factors have actually brought a decrease of service to systems, says Gurley. "For example, in FY 78, 2,004 teachers or aides were hired with CEP funds. With the inflation rate averaging 10 percent and the appropriation for this program remaining at $12.7 million, systems were only able to employ 1,427 professional and auxiliary personnel for FY 81, a reduction of 577 positions," he said.
Not only have some systems lost funds because of inflation, but a change in the allocation formula in FY 81 has also resulted in a loss for some.
Before this year the funds were allocated on the system's average daily attendance (ADA) and the number of students in need of remedial services. This formula was changed because of a section in APEG that stipulates "... after July 1, 1980, all funds appropriated for compensatory education shall be distributed to local units of administration on a needs basis as determined by appropriate test results."
With this mandate in mind, the Georgia Board of Education at its March 1980 meeting approved a new formula which allots funds according to the number of students who fail to achieve 15 or more of the 20 objectives on the state's fourth grade criterion-referenced reading test. Each system was also required to submit an application outlining its proposed services for the 1980-81 school year. Funds are to be used primarily for students in grades three through six. However, with special permission from the state board, and based on a needs assessment, a system may use a portion of its funds for first and second graders.
Some local school administrators are not happy with the new formula. "We feel we are being penalized for doing a good job," said one north Georgia superintendent.
Another system that has complained about the new formula is Towns County, which lost $10,000 this

20 Georgia ALERT, March 1981

" _.

~~~.~.~...

"~:l....

year. The Towns County Association of Educators, in a letter to the state school superintendent and the state board said, "The new policy seems to conflict with basic principles of education, as it removes incentives for quality teaching. Schools whose teachers are working hard to improve the performance of students on the criterion-referenced test are penalized by having funds cut off for the next year."
In spite of the fact that some administrators are not pleased with the new formula, most agree that the Compensatory Education Program is a good one and has benefited their students.
Ann Culpepper, assistant superintendent for Bibb County Schools, says CEP is one of the best pro-

grams in the state. She says it, along with other programs, has made a significant difference in achievement of Bibb County students. Teachers in the system try to identify a child's problem early, she says, and the program is monitored closely and accurate records are kept.
There has been a push by some educators, legislators and others to move the grade levels to be served by CEP into high school and to tie the program more closely with the new high school graduation requirements. In fact, in his budget request to the legislature this year, Governor George Busbee is asking for $5.9 million to serve 26,000 ninth graders who achieved less than 75 percent of the objectives on the eighth grade CRT.

This is in addition to the $12.7 million he is requesting for elementary grades.
One of the requirements for high school graduation is that students will be required to pass a basic skills test. Students entering the ninth grade in 1981-82 - those who would benefit from the $5.9 million - will be the first graduating class required to pass that test.
Not all educators agree that CEP should move to the high school level. One superintendent thinks the limited funds systems receive should be concentrated at the elementary level.
Ann Culpepper disagrees. She thinks it would be a good idea to allot some of the funds to the

Lead Reading Teacher Pat Blalock of Bartow County's Cass Primary students that spark to change them into avid readers and learners, she School tries to incorporate as many subjects as practicable into uses reading and math games, recitation and creative writing, among teaching reading. Believing that every attempt should be made to give other techniques, to spur the imaginations of her students.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981.21

Muscogee and Bartow Counties Prove CEP Makes A Difference

Some students participating in the compensatory education program at Cass Primary School in Bartow County gained as much as 12 months in one year on the state criterion-referenced reading test.
Last year, there were 48 students who participated in the special program at Casso They were identified through CRT scores and their grade levels in reading.
According to Hellen Brown, coordinator of reading and language arts for Bartow County, the school's reading specialist works with the students for 30 minutes each day. After working with students, the specialist uses the rest of the day to work with regular classroom teachers to develop teaching materials.
Since reading is important to every subject, Lead Reading Teacher Pat Blalock tries to incorporate other skills into the intensive reading practice. Students may learn how to use math skills in one of the word games where they compete with each other to make sentences from words on tiny blocks of wood. In another session, students are allowed to hold and pet "Handsome," the school mascot hamster, while writing words and phrases describing him.
Careful records were kept on each of the students and their reading scores carefully charted. At Cass every teacher's students are kept on master charts in the reading center's workroom. A date and bar graph indicate when students achieve objectives. Students who fall behind are marked in red, and a different date indicates when they catch up. At the end of last year all of the students had made gains - many very significant gains.
In the Bartow County compensatory education program, a reading specialist is funded for 11 of the 12 schools in the system. State funds poy for part of the program and local funds are used for the remainder.
Brown says the program has helped teachers identify areas where the students are the weakest and has helped them work toward specific objectives.

Muscogee County schools use the lead, or resource, teacher approach in their compensatory education program, which involves 29 of the system's 40 elementary schools. Thirteen schools have full-time resource teachers. The other eight teachers each serve two schools.
Tom Walters, director of the Muscogee program, says the teachers work port of the day directly with lowachieving students and port of the day with teachers to develop teaching materials.
The Muscogee County program concentrates on the third and fourth grade levels. Because of this emphasis, students have made significant advances in the fourth grade criterion-referenced test reading scores, according to Walters.
"Our teachers have become oriented to teaching toward objectives," said Walters. He said even though CEP is not the only reason Muscogee students are achieving more, it certainly has made a difference.

Hellen Brown, reading/language arts coordinator for Bartow Schools, and Blalock discuss Cass' method of tracking students' progress.
The look of immediate comprehension and response passes from student to teacher in a one-on-one reading session.

22. Georgia ALERT, March 1981

Students gently handle Handsome, Cass' hamster/mascot, while writing descriptive words and phrases. Blalock finds that students perform much better when the task is coupled with something they

really want to do and that they can read and add and multiply remarkably well when playing word parcheesi or word scrabble. The aim of course is to channel that zest for fun into a zest for learning.

secondary level. "High school teachers generally are not oriented to teaching basic skills," she said.
One of Culpepper's concerns is a new rule that ties the state compensatory education funds to Title I federal funds. This regulation says that students eligible for federal compensatory-funded programs (Title I) must also receive their share of help through state-funded programs.
"In other words, if 40 percent of a system's population is eligible for Title Ifunds, then 40 percent of the state funds must also be used for those students," said Gurley.
State education officials think real improvements have been made in the Compensatory Education Program in the last two years. This has been primarily due to the funding of a consultant in the Georgia Department of Education to work solely

with CEP. Bert Griffin works in the Divisiun of Special Programs. One of Griffin's first duties was to begin monitoring local systems to ensure compliance with state laws, regulations and guidelines. He is also working on the establishment of a uniform method of evaluating the effectiveness of the program at the local level.
Gurley's staff and the Standards and Assessment Division staff are researching a better formula for allotting funds. This formula would project the percentage of eligible fourth grade students (based on combined CRT reading and math scores) to the enrollment of grade levels one, two and three in each system. Likewise, the percentage of eligible eighth grade students will be projected to grade levels five, six and seven.
"This will yield an appropriate number of eligible students in grades one through eight in each system. From this, a total number of educationally

deprived students statewide can be determined and, thus, a per pupil allotment can be calculated," he said.
Statistics recently gathered by the state education department indicate there are more than 140,000 Georgia students achieving below grade level. Only just over 58,000 of them are receiving help through CEP. This leaves nearly 82,000 students to be served.
Even with the great number of students who need remedial help, Georgia test scores have continued to climb over the past several years. Fourth graders are now performing at about grade level. When you analyze why fourth graders are performing so well, a lot of factors must be considered. But many people will agree that the help these fourth graders have received through the state Compensatory Education Program has made a real difference.

Georgia ALERT, March 1981 23

Hendricks, Stembridge Complete State Board Service

The terms of Georgia Board of Education Chairman Roy Hendricks and Vice Chairman Asbury Stembridge expired December 31, 1980. Hendricks, of Metter, represented the First Congressional District on the board, and Stembridge, a Macon resident, represented the Eighth Congressional District.
Hendricks, who served for 15 years on the board, was first appointed by Governor Carl Sanders in 1966 to fill a one-year unexpired term. At the end of that year he was reappointed by Governor Lester Maddox for a full seven-year term and reappointed in 1974 by Governor Jimmy Carter. He served as chairman of the board all but three years of his term.
Stembridge was appointed to the board in 1973 by Governor Jimmy Carter to fill an unexpired term and was reappointed in 1974 to a full seven-year term. He was elected vice chairman in 1976.
For 20 years Hendricks served as chairman of the Candler County Board of Education. He served as a classroom teacher and principal in Metter public schools. Upon leaving the employment of the public school system he became a businessman and farmer.
During his 15 years on the board, Hendricks saw many changes and new developments occur in public education. Once, when asked what he would like to see happen in public education, he remarked, "My desire is to see more individual attention given to the needs of those who will not go to college with emphasis on the socially and economically deprived. I want every boy and girl to have the opportunity to develop a skill or trade commensurate with his or her native ability."
Stembridge, a native of Milledgeville, is a businessman in Macon. He attended the Georgia Military College and Mercer University. He is active in a

::rCssol Q
~.
"<

Roy A. Hendricks

number of civic and professional organizations, particularly the Lions Club. He is past district governor of Lions International and was selected

Program, a summer program for gifted high school juniors and seniors. During his tenure on the board, GHP was expanded to two college campuses, and

as Lion of the Year. He has served as chairman of at his suggestion, funding has been requested for a

the Georgia Post Secondary Education Commis- third location.

sion, a member of the State Commission on Compensation and as a board member of the Department of Community Development.

Thomas Vann Jr. of Thomasville succeeds Hendricks as chairman of the board; Saralyn Oberdorfer of Atlanta is the new vice chairman,

One of Stembridge's special interests while serving on the state board was the Governor's Honors

and Larry Foster of Jonesboro is vice 2hairman for appeals.

March 1981 Vol. 12 No.6

Alert Staff

Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton

News/Feature Editor. Stephen Edge

Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver

Graphics. Elaine Pierce

T ypesell ing Teresa Ross

.

Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer. Jeanette Lloyd.

Elliott Mackie. Julia Martin. Lou Peneguy. Barbara Perkins and

Anne Raymond.

The Georgia Department of Education does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis of race, color. national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Division

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

~

103 Stale Office Building

Atlanta. Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 6562476

B:DPRB:ee

24. Georgia ALERT, March 1981

Georgia Department of Education
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Received
MAR 25 1981
OOCUM UGA LIBRArnm

BULK RATE U. S. Postage
PAID
Atlanta, Georgia Permit Number 168

E530602UNIELIBRO

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

LIB RARY
ATHENS d

GA 30602

'$

~ewaymmre -!#
The education these Savannah area students received in 1935 was largely a result of the philanthropy of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford. On their 70,000 acre estate at Richmond Hill outside Savannah, the Fords established a health and educational system for both black and white children. Students received vocational skill training by helping to build the school building and academic training when the building was completed.

Photo courtesy Georgia Historical Society
, ::a~

World's Best Students To Match Skills Here

Contents

The Georgia Association of Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) will host the International Skill Olympics beginning June 14 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. This will be the first time in the 30-year history of the competition that it will be held in the United States.
Students from 14 nations in Asia, and Europe and from the United States will compete in 33 different contests in craft, industry and service trade areas. The three-day event will be open to the public without charge from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The internationaJ event will be sponsored by the Georgia Department of Education and national VICA VICA is the student organization for youth and adults enrolled in vocational education programs that prepare them for careers in the trade, industrial, technical and health occupations. In Georgia 11,000 members belong to over 200 clubs in public high and postsecondary schools.
At the close of the International Skill Olympics, VICA will stage the United States Skill Olympics (USSO) as part of its national conference. It will be held June 18 at the World Congress Center and will be open to the public. More than 2,500 VICA members will compete in 36 different skill contests. Many of the winners will qualify to compete in the 1982 International Skill Olympics.
VICA activities are supported by business, industry and labor organizations to promote the USA free enterprise system.
Mike Walker, VICA state director, will coordinate the activities of Georgia members attending the events in addition to his duties as sponsor and host of the events.

Features
A Look At Senior Year . . . . . . . . . .. 3 Step Into Tomorrow

Comprehensive High Schools . . . .. 9 They Do It All

The King and I

15

A School Play

Testing 1-2-3-4

19

How Students Prove Themselves

Departments

International Skill Olympics

2

The Way We Were

2

Letters

2

Faces of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 23

Bellringers

24

Cover: LaGrange High School student Carlos Spence uses a level to check his masonry work. He is a student in one of Georgia's 151 comprehensive high schools which offer expanded opportunities to study both academic and vocational offerings. Students may prepare for entry level jobs or postsecondary study upon graduation. Photograph by Stephen Edge.

Letters to the Editor
Arts Education
I was so thrilled to receive the March issue of your magazine! My children are even more pleased - they really feel important, being in a magazine. You've done a lot for the morale of my group. I think what you're doing for the schools is great.
Sheila Stockhausen Cloverleaf Elementary, Cartersville
Psychoed Centers
I want to commend you on the article and photographs on SED centers that appeared in the March 1981 issue of Georgia ALERT. The article reflects an understanding that could only come from extensive research and reflection. The sensitivity to the problems of these children and their families is also noteworthy. It was an excellent article.
Arthur E. Bilyeu, Director Program for Exceptional Children Georgia Department of Education
Reader Inquiry
Georgia ALERT is an excellent uptodate way of keeping educators abreast in Georgia.
What I would like to know is how to get featured in this publication.
We have an open classroom in the sixth grade that has drawn much attention from educators throughout south Georgia. We have an open media center with our own closed circuit television system. I believe our system deserves recognition too.
Sampson Herndon, Principal Appling County Elementary School, Baxley
Stories in ALERT are entirely researched and written by staff members of the Public Information and Publications Division of the Georgia Department af Education. Usually stories are selected because of their importance in showing the positive aspects of public education. We select sites for photographing through suggestions from department subject area specialists or by receiving reports on good basic programs from persons such as yourself. Thank you for your interest. Ed.

2 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

-,-.~~.

~~~--- -- ~

- "T'J~.""I'~""'9';--'-""~_..IA 'r

.- ~"

Wendy Mitchell
I thought senior year was gonna be so hard. I was real nervous every time I thought about it. I thought, 'You have to get all those credits or you won't walk.' But now since I'm here, it's not as hard. Being inducted into the National Honor Society has been the most important part of my senior year.
To me it's been worth it to go through my senior year. Certain parts I've hated, but yet when I combine everything, I've loved it. I'm graduating - it's something I've always wanted. Iwanted to graduate with my class - not before or after - but with all the kids I started off with. And it has been worth it.

"This year has been the most important to me," says Wendy Mitchell, a senior at Jordan High in Muscogee County. "I'm graduating - it's something I've always wanted."

Joe Greenhaw treasures his senior year because it's his last year at home and among friends he's known for four years.

Joe Greenhaw
All my life I've known that going to college was what I wanted to do. I feel my education has prepared me for that. This year I took some courses as a joint enrollee with Columbus College and was able to keep up quite well with the rest of the students. I'll be going to the University of Georgia in the fall. I want to eventually become a doctor.
I'd rate my education an eight. I've been kind of lazy. All through school I'd do just enough to get by with high grades, with not much effort. I'd never go in depth with a subject. But this year a special program for gifted students challenged me to go all out to really learn things and to do something great for my school and win recognition for myself.
This year has helped me grow and mature. I took a class at college over the summer, and I was kind of like a little baby in the group. I didn't really fit in. I needed this year in high school to be ready for college full-time next year, maybe because I'm only 17 and most kids around here are 18.
I know I've grown up because when I was younger, I used to look up to the "older" seniors. Now the younger students look up to me. And my teachers treat me like an adult. I like that. I like being treated like an adult and acting like an adult and thought of as an adult.

Karen Kravtin
Members of a graduating class have something special together - special activities, special feelings. I wouldn't miss enjoying these with my friends for anything. I thought about graduating early, but I'm glad I didn't. This year has given me extra time to grow up, and I really needed that. I see it now. Last year I wouldn't have been ready for college; now I am.
My parents treat me differently now that I'm a senior. I guess they realize I'll soon be going out on my own to face the real world. My teachers treat me differently too, like an adult, like an equal of theirs. I love the respect they give me.
Academically this year has been my very best. Socially it hasn't. Most of my friends are older and graduated last year, especially my boy friends. But I've managed to keep busier than ever. I like being busy.
I'm president of our student council this year. I feel it has helped me get ready for a lot of the problem-solving and decision-making I'm going to run into out there. I think my school has done a pretty good job of preparing me for success because I plan to major in journalism in college. And here I've had a lot of experience in meeting different people with different viewpoints and lifestyles.
I'd rate my education an eight. Some of the courses we have to take are minuses, but the teachers are pluses.
Robin Diamond
I think public school is better than private school because you are with all kinds of people and you have to learn to work with all kinds of people.
I think I've gotten a lot of guidance here, especially in the music department. There is a lot of respect between student and teacher. I appreciate the teachers who are hard on me and make me settle down and work.

4 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

, I-;r"~~

Johnny A. Moore
I thought of senior year as a transition from teenager to adult. It looked like it was gonna be hard, but it seems to be easy. I've enjoyed it more than I expected.
I think public education is obligated to give me a solid foundation in the basics so that when I get to college, I won't have to take lower level courses. As far as public education giving me the background I need for next year, I would say yes it did in math; science, no.
That bothers me. The United States wants a better military, a better science department. But yet they cut the student aid and most of the programs students need in order to get their degrees to become these people. If they want a good defense department, why not let this person go to college, major in civil engineering or math so he could fly this computerized plane or repair this computerized tank, instead of getting someone who has just dropped out of school and goes into the army. There's not much hope in training him to do that.
Public education is equipping me for what I want to do, but for college we need the money to get where we're going. If you don't have the money you're just held back.
I've enjoyed being a senior because all my life I've wanted to be in charge. I like the status of being a leader. The younger students really look up to seniors. If they have problems someone will come to me and pull me aside and talk to me. It does things for your ego.

Stuart Lewis

I had really looked forward to my senior year. I was worried about the work while playing sports, but I've learned more this year than I've ever learned. It's been a challenge and I've enjoyed it. I've had a lot of good teachers.

younger and how I wanted to be treated. There was one big senior playing baseball who took me under his wing. I get a real good feeling just thinking about it and that maybe I've done the same for someone else. I hope I can leave an impression like that.

I think the most important thing about my senior year is that I've taken a lot more responsibility. I grew up a lot through athletics. As one of the few seniors on the baseball team, I'm looked up to as a leader by the younger players. It has been important in making me aware of the responsibilities I'll have next year.
I remember how seniors treated me when I was

What did I like best about my senior year? Well, you're with friends you've been with for a long time. You enjoy that closeness. In some ways it's a year you can relax. You get to know a lot of people a lot better.
Senior year - that's when you get to be the boss. Your fun comes in. You've got all the rest of your life to work.

Angela Smith, Johnny Moore and Stuart Lewis (second, third and fourth from left) join classmates in a physics experiment at Jordan. All three view their senior year as a time to grow up and learn to take more responsibility.

Angela Smith
I was scared thinking about my senior year. I didn't know what it would be like. I signed up for a tough schedule - trig, physics, English. But now that I've been through most of it, it was a lot easier than I had thought. I believe I've accomplished everything I wanted to.
I think they're preparing us pretty well with the subjects we're taking and also the counseling we get here. The world situation is bad, but I think we'll be able to handle it."! know the four years I've been here I've grown up a lot, learned a lot, matured a lot.
I'd rate my public education an eight. It does lack in certain departments. They could do away with some subjects and put in others like world history and some other sciences besides biology. It's the only required one. We took physics on our own.
The most important part of my senior year is that I found out what I really want to do. I wouldn't give up my senior year for anything.

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 5

Del Moon
My parents and teachers give me a little more - no - a lot more responsibility now that I'm a senior. I enjoy being a senior, some. We've had some /un activities and have a few more to go.
I'm taking some required courses this year and some others I just like, for instance forensics. I like acting and drama, but I don't really know that I'll go into that. Next year I plan to go to a local college and sample the courses there and mainly just enjoy being a freshman.
I don't think what I'm learning in school is preparing me to face some of the problems out there in society. I know I'll come up against them, things like the draft. But I don't know that we can do anything about them, anyway. The government controls things like that.
I'd say senior year has been worth it for me because all my classmates will graduate then, and I want to be one in the number.
On a scale of one to 10, I'd rate my education a seven.

,a\
Del Moon (center) is pursuing his interests in drama and chorus during his senior year.

As part of her distributive education course, Lhorn Cady works part-time as a counter clerk

in a dry cleaners. To make extra money was her reason for choosing DE.

I:

ri

Lhorn Cady
I plan to go to college next year, and I believe I'm prepared for that. Hardaway is a tough school, so I figure if I can make it as a senior here I can make it as a freshman in college. I'm not sure exactly what I'll be majoring in. I'm really interested in law, but that takes a long time.
I don't think I'm ready to face the world all on my own yet. This year has taught me that. My parents moved to Houston last fall, and I'm living with my older sister. I didn't want to spend my last year in school in a strange place; I wanted to be with my friends. When I graduate, I'll move to where my patents are and stick under their wings for another year or two.
Senior year has been harder than I expected. I saved most of my hard subjects for last, and they really keep me running. Then, I work as part of the distributive education program, and that keeps me going too. And it won't let up for a while because I plan to work this summer, too.
I think it's a shame that I couldn't graduate early. If I'd been able to I would've moved to Texas with my parents. Then, too, if I'm going to go into a field that might take eight to 10 years of college, Iwanted to get a head start.
Even though I would have rather graduated early, I think this extra year has been good for me. It gave me time to mature, and it gave me a chance to learn things about myself I might never have found out.

6 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

Joy Lynn Lee
The thing I like most about senior year is the idea of getting out - the idea of growing up, of becoming adult, of having more freedom, more responsibilities and more fun activities. I wouldn't have missed this year.
I didn't think about senior year until I was ajunior, then I thought it would be something new and different. I'm even more excited now that I'm into it and almost out of it.
I didn't want to graduate early because I find that when you try to take short cuts they seldom work out to your advantage.
I'd rate my education a seven and a half. Some of the new courses we have to take are not relevant.
And I feel I would have gotten a better education if discipline in our school was better. But that doesn't mean something is wrong with education. People's home lives are changing, and this is reflected in their school lives. Some of my classmates would act a lot better in school if they got enough attention at home.
I'm a gymnast. But I'm quitting. At one time I thought that would be my career; this year I burned out.
I'm majoring in education in college next year, and I think my schooling has prepared me for that.

Donald Dudley feels electronics training will make it possible for him to always have a good-paying job.

Donald Dudley

Being a senior? I thought I was gonna be at the top. All the underclassmen would look up to me, and I figured it was gonna be great. I just couldn't wait to be a senior. Well, up to this point it's been okay, but not great.
But I know my school is helping me though, because I'm learning a lot of things I'm interested in and about things that will help me on down the road. I'm taking electronics training because that field will have a lot of job openings in the future. Our society is getting to be sort of space-ageish, and the market will be open on those kinds ofskills. Also, I'm going into the navy when I graduate, and I wanted something to back me up.
I think I'm getting ready right here to face some of the problems in this country. For instance, I believe that by learning a skill and working and being a part of the work force, I'll pretty much be in a

position to help someone else and to teach them what I know. I believe if I do this, I'll be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.
I'm glad I went through senior year. It brings you and your classmates closer together. Some of these faces you'll never see again. The fellowship really comes together that last year.
I also got to play varsity football and it was a great feeling. I liked it when the little dudes would come up to me and say, 'Man, you play football? How many passes you catch?' Then they'd ask my advice on what position they should play. They trusted that I know what I'm talking about. They look up to me. Another thing, football taught me to
strive real hard to get what I want, even if my
back's against the wall, never quit.
With my training and football and all things combined, I'd rate my education a seven.

Mark Aston
Senior year goes by quicker than you think. It hasn't been easy for me. I've had some tough decisions to make. And I've been kept busy with sports and my studies. I'm going to Auburn on a football scholarship to major in business management. Working part-time at Wendy's has shown me that I'd be pretty good in management.
I didn't want to graduate early. Why rush life away? What are we all in such a hurry for? Once we get out, we'll have many, many years left to work. I'm taking advantage of this special year now.
It would be nice if my school could prepare me for all the problems I'll meet in this world. But it can't. I'm not sure it should try. Families should teach us a lot of the things we need to know. And other things we can only learn by finding out for ourselves.
But I feel on the whole I'm ready to try to make it. I can read, write and do arithmetic. I think every graduate should be able to do those things. No basic skills - no diploma. It's not fair to anybody for a school to graduate a student who is as dumb as a doorknob.
I'd rate my education a six. Simply for the reason that discipline and other problems have kept some teachers from teaching me as well as they should.

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 7

Todd Rovig
I would rate my public education about a nine. I could have gotten more if I had stayed in school longer and not worked part of the day. I could have done a lot more, but you can't do both. You get educated on your job, though, and you get paid, too. You don't get paid to go to school.
I think I'm prepared to go into the world outside of high school. Through the DE program I've been working a long time, so I think I'm ready. I'm looking forward to graduation. I'll go to college and work part-time. I'm ready to get in there, finish and get out.
You figure if you get to be a senior, you've accomplished everything you're supposed to. It's been a lot of fun.
Being a senior, the teachers treat you more as an adult. They respect you a lot more. When you're a freshman the teachers make you do all this homework and then when you're a senior they just give you a book and say do it. Senior year has been worth it. I've learned a lot.
Kevin Phifer
I thought senior year was going to be really hard. Actually, it's been much easier than I expected. I'm taking the few required courses I have left in the mornings, then at noon I go to work as part of my distributive education course. I chose that because I wanted to make some money.
I'm working for R.c. Cola now, and they've asked me to stay on. This summer I'll probably move into their data processing department. They might want to send me to school for a while to get some training to back up what I'm learning on the job. That's okay with me as long as it means a better position and more money.
I feel that education ought to help you reach the point where you can learn on your own, where you know how to find different resources for more learning. I think I'm prepared to do that careerwise. So many people at my school have so much ambition. Seeing them want to do so much - you want to do a whole lot too.
If I'd had a choice I'd have graduated early. Senior year is alright for some people, but I'm ready to get out there and get at it. The only thing which held me here is these required courses. Many of them are mickey-mouse things I learned a long time ago. But senior year has been good for me in some ways too. It gave me time to mature, and that's going to help me a lot.
My parents, and teachers too, let me do basically what I want now as long as I act responsibly. This wasn't always the case. But they're really letting me grow up now.
8 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

__-::.

.. - ',,-.--

.-

,...-. -.,..,...--..",~;;:------:---,,.-

Comprehensive

High Schools

Do It All

Story by Carolyn Smith Photographs by Stephen Edge

Along with the fundamentals of masonry, Jimmy Davidson is learning to take pride in his work. . Last summer Jimmy Davidson, a student at LaGrange High School, agreed to join the Marines this year after graduation because he didn't think he would be able to find ajob. Since then Jimmy has had second thoughts. Last fall LaGrange became a comprehensive high school when the vocational facilities were completed and he enrolled in the construction course and "fell in love with bricklaying." A few months later Jimmy was the winner of a school VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) competition in bricklaying, which included a $200 scholarship to the area vocationaltechnical school. He was also offered ajob by one of the contest judges, the owner of a local masonry company. He still has his commitment to the Marines, however, and he'll have to honor it.
It is for students like Jimmy that comprehensive high schools are so important. According to Curtis Kingsley, coordinator for comprehensive program development for the Georgia Department of Education, students in comprehensive high schools get more variety in what they are exposed to and what they can do once they graduate than students in strictly academic or vocational high schools.
"Basically, comprehensive high schools prepare students for entry level jobs in several different occupations in a broad area, prepare them for college or provide the basis for specialized training for those students wishing to go to technical school after high school," he said.
Comprehensive high schools combine traditional academic and vocational curricula in one setting, but vocational offerings depart from the usual approach of teaching one specific skill. Instead, students learn multiple skills to prepare them for entry level employment in a variety of related fields. Called the "cluster" concept, it is used extensively in comprehensive high schools.
The same construction course that prepared Jimmy Davidson to become an excellent beginning bricklayer also taught him basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring skills.
Regardless of what a student plans to do after graduation, comprehensive high schools can usually help prepare them to do it.
Georgia ALERT, May 1981 9

Katherine Underhill, a junior drafting student at LaGrange High School, would like to become an architect and is considering attending college to pursue that career.
Rhonda Hammond, also of LaGrange, wants to work as a typesetter for a newspaper. When she graduates this June with course experience in graphic arts, she should have no trouble finding a job.
Tim Jackson, a senior in the health occupations class at Lithia Springs Comprehensive High School said he "was always interested in the medical field and when we studied specialty areas in class I did a report on nursing anesthesiology and got interested in it." Now Tim plans to become a certified registered nurse anesthesiologist after high school.
Each of these students will be prepared after graduation to get entry level jobs in their fields or go on to technical school or college for jobs that require more formal education.
Author James B. Conant terms comprehensive high schools an American phenomenon. In his book, The American High School, Conant maintains that the move to broaden the fields of instruction in colleges and universities during the nineteenth century resulted in recognition of not only the classics, but applied sciences and practical subjects as well. This trend continued later in the high schools, and with the enactment of child labor and compulsory school attendance laws after World War I, schools were expected to educate all the youth of a city, whatever their interests and abilities.

Katherine Underhill, a beginning drafting student, works on a geometric construction problem in her class at LaGrange High School.

Comprehensive high schools evolved from these changes and their responsibility was to provide (1) a general education for all students, (2) elective subjects students could use right after graduation and (3) programs for students whose careers depended on more education at a college or university.
Development of comprehensive high schools in Georgia has been more recent. The first schools opened in 1965 at Savannah, Marietta, Columbus and Chamblee as pilot projects following the federal Vocational Education Act of 1963, which provided the initial funding. With state matching funds Georgia advanced from that beginning to its present position as a leader in comprehensive education in the Southeast.

"We've had a lot of support for the program since it started here in Georgia, from the State Board of Education, the General Assembly and the Governor. There is still a lot of support for it," said Kingsley.
Strong support has brought the total operating now to 151. Funds are available for an additional 35, and the goal is to have 250 by 1990, enough to have a comprehensive high school availal;>le to each student in the state. Presently they are available for 75 to 80 percent.

Typesetting is one skill students like Rhonda Hammond learn in graphic arts. Others include layout, design, photography and printing.

10 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

Classes in comprehensive high schools are set up and conducted as much like the work world as possible. Health occupations student Karen Treadwell practices giving medical attention to a dummy for practical experience.

As a result of the development of comprehensive high schools, much of the stigma attached to vocational education is being erased since more students are taking advantage of vocational courses.
Don Remillard, vocational director of Lithia Springs Comprehensive High School, asserts "comprehensive high schools provide avenues for youngsters to be involved in vocational education. I think this is one of the strong points. So many more kids have an opportunity to be involved in vocational education when the classes are right there in the school."
Eris Parker, senior counselor at LaGrange High School, adds that in comprehensive high schools "students find out if they are interested in a particular field and also if they are capable of succeeding in an area."
Karen Treadwell, a senior at LaGrange, tested her interest and aptitude for a profession. She was in an automobile accident last summer and "after I had some x-rays it amused me that those cameras could see inside you." So Karen decided she might like a career in radiology. She enrolled in the health occupations class at school and did well enough to win a scholarship to technical school in a VICA contest. In the fall she will continue her studies in radiology at Troup County Area VocationalTechnical School.
For a Georgia high school to be designated as comprehensive, it must meet specific requirements. Along with the academic courses prescribed by the state and local school systems a minimum of five occupational clusters must be provided if the student body numbers less than 1,000. If the student population is over a thousand at least seven occupational clusters must be offered.
Depending on needs, schools can offer vocational classes in electronics, construction, drafting, distributive education, metal working, electromechanics, health occupations, child care, graphic arts, transportation (auto and small engine mechanics), food service, cosmetology, agriculture or data processing.
Emphasis is on job preparedness, and vocational classrooms mirror actual working conditions. Future beauticians wash, cut and style hair in a classroom set up like a beauty shop. Transportation students change oil and repair motors in a garage. Students in a child care course actually run a day care center for neighborhood children.
Individualized instruction is used primarily in teaching occupational clusters. "Vocational classes are set up as individualized programs so that each student is able to move through the program at his or her own pace and ability level," Remillard explained.
A graphic arts class may be composed of students just being introduced to the course, as well as more advanced students involved in different phases of design, layout or typesetting.
Georgia ALERT, May 1981 11

A health occupations student gets instructions fr. teacher on caring for an infant. This student will be ready to enter the job mark. beginning welder when he completes the course of i tion at Lithia Springs Comprehensive High School.
This construction student works independently on assignment while. his classmates study other areas. Individualized instruction is used extensively in vocational classes.
Laying a Foundation for Careers
Students in Georgia's 151 comprehensive high schools have the opportunity to prepare for ca.reers in many fields. Regardless of their long-range goals, students can acquire job skills for immediate entry into the job market.
12 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

Arts as well as academics are an integral partofcomprehensive high schools. A student at the left rehearses with LaGrange High School band.
The practical matter of learning to type absorbs the attention of the business education students below.

Students watch as the instructor in an auto body repair class shows them how to repair damage to a boat.

1m the
it as a Istruc-

Cosmetology, the art of improving one's appearance, is one of the most popular courses taught in comprehensive high schools.

Professionalism is stressed in vocational education classes. This graphic arts student must turn out high quality work.

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 13

As would be expected, it is not easy to find teachers who are experts in all the areas under one cluster. To remedy this situation the Georgia Department of Education gives assistance.
"We have a staff development program in which teachers, as part of their certification process, get skill development courses in areas in which they need help," Kingsley said.
The program often uses private industry as resources. "Teachers of metals occupations, for example, can go to the Georgia Power Training Center during the summer and develop skills in that area," he added.
"One of the main problems facing comprehensive high schools," Kingsley continued, "is being able to get students into the right programs and giving them enough guidance and information about the different jobs and occupational programs for them to make a good selection."
In most schools the counselors handle this responsibility, but some schools have opened career centers like the one at Lithia Springs. Sylvia Baker, director of the center, uses printed and audiovisual materials to assist students in determining career goals and choosing a college or technical school. She also brings in speakers to give more career information.
"The people who come in and talk to the students give a more realistic view of working. They provide more information about the job than just the salary. They tell the students about day-to-day aspects of the job," she said.
In spite of the problems, the positive aspects of comprehensive high schools are many. A 1977 study requested by the State Advisory Council on Vocational Education to evaluate comprehensive high schools in Georgia stated, "The comprehensive high school system is working well. Administrators, instructors and students feel that the comprehensive high school provides a richer, more intensive and more rewarding education for students than do strictly academic high schools."

Douglas County's Lithia Springs Comprehensive High School (above) is one of the newest schools in Georgia. LaGrange High School (below) is a combination of the old and new. It became comprehensive last fall when the vocational facilities were completed.

A more recent study published last year by the University of Georgia found 86 percent of those polled indicated that regardless of their future plans, every student should leave school with marketable job skills. A substantial majority suggested that learning several different skills is preferable to learning only one:
Faculty and students are also supportive of the schools.
"The students are proud of what they are doing. They are a joy to teach because they have some direction in their lives," said Laverne Batten, home economics teacher at LaGrange High School.
W. J. Webb, vocational supervisor at LaGrange thinks comprehensive high schools "give students more options and an interest in school. A lot of students who are not interested in going to college

feel there is nothing in school for them. With comprehensive high schools there is something for everybody.
A student commenting on his vocational class added, "When you're asked something that you learned in class and you can answer it, you just feel good."
And Karen Mitchell, a cosmetology student at Lithia Springs, who has recently completed the 1,500 hours of classroom instruction necessary to take the state exam to become a licensed cosmetologist, said, "I'm using everything I learn in class" at her part-time job in a local beauty shop.
According to Joseph Freund, associate state

superintendent for vocational education, the job market also emphasizes the need for comprehensive high schools. "Labor demands in the last 10 to 15 years have narrowed. Specific rather than general skills are required and stress the need to push for the completion of the program to provide a comprehensive high school for every student in the state," he said.
By providing not only basic general education, but also job training for young people, comprehensive high schools are making a substantial contribution to the state and the economy, and when the building program in Georgia is completed, there should no longer be any students in the predicament of Jimmy Davidson.

14 Georgia ALERT, May 1981


~ I" a"
A School Play
Story by Julia Martin Photographs by Stephen Edge
Many Georgia public schools produce plays each year. But what goes into making them successes? Dublin High School thespians, under the direction ofLynn Wooddy, perform two full-length plays and three one-act plays each year. Their showings in state competition over the years have been consistently high. Five times they have placed first in one-act competition. This spring ALERT followed the troupe through six weeks of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes work, culminating in the final performance. Through the help of many people in the community the Dublin High thespians put on a show fit for a king.
Georgia ALERT, May 1981 15

Curtain Up
Anna Leonowens (Lee Blanchett) and her son Louis (Bill Nelson) arrive in the Kingdom of Siam from England. Anna has been employed by the King of Siam (Carl Baldwin) as school teacher to his many wives, princesses and prances. In an attempt to westernize his nation through Anna's instructions, the King and Anna often disagree as to what is right and wrong. Anna, thinking that the King will never modernize his country, plans to return to England. But through the urging ofLady Thiang (Sandra Nix), Anna remains.
16 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

.~
til
~ ,!2
.".3..,
'f
til
~
J ~: ~ :~ l ~

I

c:..

E.

iii'

:s::

- ---

~s'

Rehearsal
Rehearsal for "The King and 1" began in March, with the final performances April 30, May 1 and 2. But the actual work began weeks before with Director Wooddy's play and cast selection, plans for costumes, props and lighting and hundreds of other tasks needed to produce a schoolplay.
Wooddy's philosophy that "high school theater is for the educational experience, not for the most polished production" is shown through his casting. Roles are given to the students who have worked the hardest rather than to those who might have a better voice or be better actors, but who may not have worked as much.
The 46 cast members, ages five through 18, practiced each weekday afternoon from 4:15 to 6:30. As rehearsal progressed, 16 orchestra members, one pianist and five technicians combined for the afternoon sessions.
Wooddy says that fewer students are staying after school these days to participate in activities such as drama clubs because so many have afterschool jobs. But, in Dublin, the show does go on.
Georgia ALERT, May 1981 17

Behind-the-Scenes

"It's a community effort," Wooddy says of his plays. "The King and I" was no exception.
Four mothers sewed 37 costumes; only 12 outfits were rented. A furniture upholstery company donated velvet and brocade for the costumes. Others were remade from clothes donated by community members.
Saturdays were busy behind-thescenes days. Cast members constructed the sets for the main stage and two side stages and sold enough ads to produce a 16-page program.
Catherine Wooddy worked on Saturdays teaching the actors and actresses their songs. She also taught the 16 children in the play the proper demeanor of princesses and princes.
Band director Cecil Pollock led the orchestra through rehearsals and the performances while choral director Laura Bidez directed the singers on stage.
Like these behind-the-scenes people, Wooddy is a volunteer himself. He got into play directing much to his surprise. "My first principal 30 years ago told me to direct the school play. I wondered why he picked me, but

I considered it an honor. When Ifinally asked him why I was chosen (as 1was beaming with pride), he said, 'I always stick one ofmyfirst year teachers with the job.'So much for my ego," Wooddy said.
But that experience has caused Wooddy to stick with teaching math and coaching drama students for 30 years.

18 Georgia ALERT, May 1981



Tests - students hate taking them, teachers dislike grading them and parents dread hearing the results of them. Yet, most would agree they are a necessary part of education.
Test results can reveal many things. They can tell what students have learned, what they haven't learned and how they stack up against other students their age. They can be indicators of weak curricula and even weak teaching. They can be used to help student, teachers and parents know where the student needs help, and they can be used to criticize or praise a school or system.
Georgia students take many tests during a school year. Most are given by individual teachers to measure retention in specific courses. Others are given on a systemwide basis and still others on a statewide basis. There are many kinds of tests - some measure intelligence and basic skills;

Story by Eleanor Gilmer Photographs by Glenn Oliver
others test for school readiness or college preparedness.
An interest in statewide testing emerged in Georgia in the middle 1960s, remembers Associate State School Superintendent Titus Singletary.
"Proponents of statewide testing thought the program would help us determine how well our students were doing in certain subject areas," said Singletary. "Opponents felt it would result in our teaching toward minimum skills."
It was about that time that there was a real push across the nation for "back to basics," he said. A task force was established by the Georgia Board of Education to make recommendations for a testing program. It was to decide grade levels to be tested, what to test and the time of the year tests were to be administered.

It was not until 1971 that the state testing program

actually began. During that year norm-referenced

tests in reading, language and mathematics were

given to all students in grades four, eight and 12.

The purpose of these tests was to measure how

Georgia fourth, eighth and 12th graders compared

with other students in the nation. The high school

assessment was changed from the 12th to the 11th

grade the second year.

-

"The results of the norm-referenced tests were to provide us useful information as one broad measurement of how our students were doing in comparison to students across the nation," said Singletary. "They were often used, however, to point up how poorly our students were doing.

"We realized we needed assessment information more directly related to instruction in Georgia classrooms and in a form more easily used by

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 19

teachers to plan programs for students," he said. "Some school districts in other states had begun to use tests that measured very specific objectives. These tests were called objective-referenced or criterion-referenced tests. We were very interested in developing some of these tests for Georgia."
In 1973, through staff development an effort was begun in Georgia to identify basic skills for grades four and eight which related to Goals for Education in Georgia and to develop test instruments to measure student progress in these areas. Survey forms received from more than 18,000 teachers established a list of skills considered most essential for students to acquire in order to continue their educational progress.
With the beginning of the CRT program, the state began to give the norm-referenced tests only to a sample of Georgia students in grades four, eight and 11. It was assured this sample would give us accurate data on how the performance of Georgia students compared with students across the nation, according to Stan Bernknopf, coordinator of the Student Assessment Program for the Georgia Department of Education.
"There is still some confusion by the public on the difference between norm-referenced and criterionreferenced tests," said Bernknopf. "Most people have become familiar with norm-referenced scores which compare one student's performance to the performance of a large group of students.
"As an example of the two - Billy may score in the 60th percentile on a norm-referenced test. This means he scored higher than 60 percent of the

"1 think it's fair to use the basic skills test as a requirement for graduation. If kids don't get it in high school, it's their own fault. They are sure going to need those skills when they get out."
Keith Stell, student
students who took the test when it was first given on a national basis," he said. "On the other hand, a criterion-referenced test specifies a standard, and Billy's success is measured on the basis of whether he achieves that standard, regardless of how other students may have performed."
According to Bernknopf, a person would not be able to tell from looking at an item if it came from the norm-referenced or CRT. "The distinction comes in how the test is developed, scored and how the information is used," he said.
In fact, this year for the first time the normreferenced test was given at the same time as the CRT. Certain test items were included in each test to be scored as part of the norm-referenced program.
Changes Have Occurred
Several significant changes have developed in the statewide testing program since it began in 1971, and most agree the changes have resulted in a better program designed to help students.
The Georgia General Assembly got into the act in 1974 when a section on testing was put into the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia law. APEG mandates annual statewide assessment of student progress at a minimum of three grade levels and empowers the state board to adopt such instruments, procedures and policies as deemed necessary to assess the effectiveness of the educational programs of the state.
"The test was neither hard nor easy - just thorough. 1think it's a good test to use as an exit exam, but it shouldn't count as much as other areas because some people really get nervous when they have to take a test."
Jackie Nicholson, student

The state board was not content with the testing of students only at three grade levels, however. The board felt that students' progress should be charted throughout their school careers, and they should be given special help all along the way in the areas where they needed it.
A Georgia Student Assessment Plan was adopted by the state board in 1978. This plan, which has been modified since then, calls for testing to be done at every grade level, beginning with prekindergarten students. Some tests are optional and some mandatory. According to the plan, mandatory tests are to be given to students in the first, fourth, eighth, 10th and subsequent grade levels for those students who fail to pass the 10th grade test. CRTs have been developed at other grade levels by state staff and are available to systems.
"Even though the first grade test has been developed, the funds that the state board requested ($175,000) to administer the test in the spring of 1982 were not appropriated by the General Assembly this year, so administration of this test will be delayed," said Singletary.
How Are Students Achieving?
Since the beginning of the statewide testing program, Georgia students have improved both on the norm-referenced and the state-developed CRT.
"The gains in the elementary grades are especially encouraging and are more dramatic than those on the tests administered to high school students," said Bernknopf.

20 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

Briefly, the results of the CRTs indicate that an average of nearly 80 percent of the state's fourth graders are achieving the various reading skills tested, while 77 percent are achieving the mathematics objectives. This represents an overall growth of about nine percent in reading and in mathematics since tests were given in 1976. In the eighth grade the average percent of students achieving the reading skills has improved about five percent, while average achievement in mathematics improved four percent.
The 10th grade tests were first introduced in 1978. From 1978 to 1979 there was slightly better than one percent improvement in scores in both communication skills and mathematics with the communication skills achievement considerably higher than that in mathematics.
On the norm-referenced tests, Georgia fourth graders are now performing at about the national average. On five of the 11 subtests, fourth grade performance meets or exceeds national median performance levels. Some four to six months growth has occurred over the past four years in the fourth grade.
While Georgia eighth graders lag behind the national sample of eighth graders, they are demonstrating considerable progress. Across the subtest areas there has been three to six months' growth since 1976. Eleventh graders in Georgia still are about a year behind their national counterparts, but considerable improvement has occurred.
Basic Skills Test A Graduation Requirement
When the State Board of Education adopted new high school graduation requirements several years ago, it mandated that students be tested on certain basic skills. In November 1980, the board voted to make passage of a state basic skills test mandatory for graduation. This test would first be given at the 10th grade and would be a part of the criterionreferenced testing program. The board also decided that the basic skills test would be given in the fall and spring of the 10th, 11 th and 12th grades. Students who did not make a passing score in the fall of the 10th grade would have five more tries before graduation time. Students who had met other graduation requirements but who still had not passed the test by the spring of the 12th grade would not be given a diploma, but they could go bdck and take the test numerous times and upon passing, receive a diploma.
This spring, the Georgia Basic Skills Test was given to Georgia 10th graders for the first time on a pilot basis. It will be part of the graduation requirement:; for this year's eighth graders. Before it is given as part of graduation requirements, however, the test will be further evaluated and necessary changes made, and the state board will decide on the minimum score a student will be required to make.

TIps On How To Take A Test
Few people like to take tests - in fact, many people get uery anxious before test time. Followins are some helpful hints on how to prepare for a test and how to take the test.
Before the Tt
Know all you can about the test before you take it.
The night before the test get a good night's sleep.
At til. Tnt
Concentrate. Don't allow yourseH to be distracted by noises.
Know how much time you have and how many items are on the test.
Allot time wisely. Do not take too much time on anyone item.
Do not stop because others have fmished - use all the time you have.
Avoid unnecessary clock watching. It breaks concentration and causes anxiety.
Pay close attention to sample exercises. They help you under stand what test itemswiD be like and how to mark youranswer sheet.
Keep test booklet and answer sheet together.
Read instructions or directions carefully before markins any test questions.
Ask questions if you do not understand directions.
Read questions completely, do not give hurried answers.
AntN1flr the easiest questions first. Go back to the hard ones and make your best guess on the ones youdon't know. Try to answer every question.
Use scratch paperslnce you may not mark on your answer booklet.
Check your answers for mistakea.
Since scores from this spring's testing program have not been released, it is not known how students did on the first basic skills test. However, if three 10th graders at Headland High School in Fulton County are an example, students feel good about the test.

Keith Stell, who admits his weakest subject is mathematics, thinks the test should be stronger in math. Be Mulkey thinks it was a fair test, but should be strengthened in English, and Jackie Nicholson thinks the test was neither hard nor easy, just thorough.
All three students like the idea of requiring students to pass a basic skills test as part of graduation requirements.
"In the past, some students have been pretty apathetic about taking the criterion-referenced tests. I think if they know they have to pass a test to graduate from high school they will try harder," said Stell.
Of course, the overriding purpose of the testing program is to see that students leave school with the skills necessary to function as adults. How the test scores are used is the real success of Georgia's program.
When CRT results are returned to a school system or school, many people get involved - students, teachers, parents, curriculum specialists and administrators.
Take Cobb County for example. Emily Corcoran, supervisor of testing, says when test data for the system comes to her she first summarizes it for the system, highlighting those objectives Cobb students scored high and low on. She compares results with past years. She then shares test information with the central office instructional staff.
In the fall Corcoran meets with middle and high school counselors, principals and assistant principals to talk about test results and areas where work is needed. The system's elementary supervisor meets with every elementary school staff to go over test information and discuss what can be done to strengthen areas that need it.
"Our curriculum supervisors all get involved," said Corcoran. "For example, our English supervisor works closely with school English teachers, and our mathematics supervisor works with math teachers to determine how curriculum can be strengthened."
Corcoran says every school is required to submit a plan on how test results will be used. Included in most plans are individual conferences between students, teachers and parents.
"Several schools have developed workbooks and study guides to help students strengthen certain skills," she said.
Leonie Hardie, counselor at Headland High School, says her school also gets involved in student test results.
"We feel remediation is the key," she said. "Our school has established a reading lab, a math lab and a writer's gallery to help our students strengthen certain basic skills. Students use these labs as they need them. For example, if a student in Algebra 101

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 21

is having difficulty in a certain area, he or she would go to the math lab for a specified time each week. There the student would receive individual help, and when the problem is solved would discontinue going to the lab."
One of the real pluses of Georgia's program is the reporting system used in the assessment program. There are CRT report forms tailored specifically for teachers, students and for parents.
A report on each student is given to the teacher. It lists each item tested and includes computergenerated statements indicating whether the student achieved the objectives and, if not, some suggested areas for further instruction.
Another report allows the teacher to quickly identify students who did not achieve an objective. All these student reports are designed as instructional tools. Teachers can use them to plan activities, select materials and form instructional groups based on identified strengths and weaknesses of the students.
Test reports at all levels - from the state to the individual school and classroom - help curriculum supervisors analyze possible curriculum needs as they relate to the objectives tested. Such information is used to aid in curriculum planning and revision, allocation of instructional resources, selection of materials and planning for staff development needs.
There are still areas to be worked out in Georgia's statewide testing program, and there will probably continue to be opponents. But those involved with the program feel good about it. They think Georgia students are being helped and will leave school better prepared to take their places in society because they will be equipped with the necessary basic skills.

"We feel remediation is the key. Our school has established a reading lab, a math lab and a writer's gallery to help our students strengthen certain basic skills. Students use these labs as they need them."
Leonie Hardie, counselor

"I thought the basic skills test was basically easy. It probably could be strengthened in English. English is not my best subject, but I think I did well on that part of the test."
80 Mulkey, student

Test Yourself
Sample Items From G.eorgia Basic Skills Test

Which of the following would correctly complete the information requested below?

APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT

Name:

Street

Address:

_

City:

State ipCode_

A. Ricky Jones

C. Ricky Jones

118 Main Street

Valdosta, 31601

Valdosta, Georgia 31601 D. Ricky Jones

B. Ricky Jones

118 Main Street

7284290

Valdosta

Valdosta

A survey of the automobile industry indicated a very sharp decline in the sale of some of the cars. Most of these are of the larger types. As much as 34% decline has been noted in some makes.
Since fewer cars are being purchased, auto workers will
A. driue less B. find fewer jobs auailab/e.
C. make more money. D. go on strike.
Hal and Janet decided to earn some money by washing cars. On the first day they made $8.75 and on the second day they made $13.25. How much more money did they make on the second day than on the first day?
A. $2.75 B. $3.25 C. $4.50 D. $3.75

Americus Athens Atlanta Bainbridge Brunswick Carrollton Columbus Cordele Dahlonega

Highway Mileage

..
C
~<

.
0;
C'l
""<

.
C'l
'.";:
..Dc;
ell

<II
".D
E
'0"
U

. .C'l
C
l5
j

..s:;

C
.. ... 0v

cC
:>

~ If)

c
;:

..
0; 0
'"jij
;;>

134 194 95 61 104 72 206 73 118 66 101 257 167 131 92 214 202 247 0 157 231 109 65 84 256 183 234 231 267 0 124 167 164 245 84 80 274 189 198 255 268 189 78 129 118 49 206 209 85 41 115 288 204 251 109 217 124 0 44 93 252 128 166 144 170 97 93 136 67 174 41 88 71 161 303 180 136 141 313 254 301

Yolanda, who lives in Brunswick, is planning a trip for this weekend and will be back for work Monday morning. Her car can be driven about 270 miles on a tank of gasoline. Many gas stations will be closed during the weekend, so Yolanda is not planning to purchase gasoline while on her trip.
Which is the farthest city she will be able to visit?
A. Atlanta B. Columbus
C. LaGrange D. Tifton

22 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

....
Faces of Education
Barre Exams
Ballet instructor Stanley Zompakos, below, corrects Nicole Blue's form in technique class at the Northside School of Performing Arts at Atlanta's Northside High School. Ellen Baird, right, goes through a routine at the practice barre. The Northside School of Performing Arts was formed 10 years ago as a school within a school for students in driving distance of Atlanta to develop their creative and artistic abilities. That distance will expand this fall when the school becomes the first statewide magnet school of performing arts. Major areas of study include dance, music theater, technical theater, instrumental studies and drama. Admission is based on audition and interview. Applicants should contact Billy Densmore, school director, at Northside High School, 2875 Northside Drive NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30305.

"

'~

,...

>ClI

G)

.~

it)

6

::l ::l

cc

Q

ClI
<3

~.

Georgia ALERT, May 1981 23

BoIIplnJjops

NO SHOTS ... NO SCHOOL - When school opens in September all high school as well as kindergarten and first grade students must prove they have been immunized against seven childhood diseases. This is a new law passed by the 1981 Georgia Legislature. By September I, 1982, all students must have certificates of immunization.

1982 Teacher of the Year. Georgia's 1982 TOTY Program officially began in April when entry forms were sent to system superintendents. The program honors teachers both in the local system and on the state level. A promotional packet which contains a number of ideas for honoring local teachers was also sent to systems in April. The 1982 Georgia Teacherofthe Year will be chosen from four finalists selected in a two-stage elimination process. He or she will be nominated for the title of National Teacher of the Year in late 1981 and will receive a check for $1,000 from the cosponsor of the program, Southern Educators Life Insurance Company, among many other honors and awards. Only classroom teachers in grades K-12 are eligible, and
,entries must go through the local superintendent's office.
May 1981 Vol. 12. No.7

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver
Graphics - Elaine Pierce Typesett ing Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer. Elliott Mackie, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins, Anne Raymond and Carolyn Smith.

The Georgia Department 0/ Education does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis 0/ race, colar,
national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

O=::!=-- Public Information and Publications Division

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

103 State Office Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 6562476

B:DPRB:BB

Best Three Out of Eight - Four Gwinnett School System counselors received three of the eight national awards given by the American School Counselors Association. Mary Jo Hannaford, coordinator of guidance and counseling, received the ASCA Writer of the Year award. Wayne Brantley, North Gwinnett High School, was named High School Counselor of the Year. Julie Ginger and Beverly O'Neal of Sweetwater Middle School were named Middle School Counselors of the Year.

Top Food Service Awards went to Lilyan Absalom, 28-year veteran of Bibb County Schools, and Margaret Blount, school cafeteria manager in Glynn County, at the Georgia School Food Service Association's Jekyll Island convention in April. Absalom, who retired in 1972, was elected to the Hall of Fame. Nomination is based on an entire career's significant accomplishments. Blount earned the annual Award of Excellence, given to the best cafeteria manager in the state. Her nutrition education program at Ballard Elementary, Brunswick, was profiled in ALERT's December 1980 issue.

The Council for Exceptional Children has elected Mike Weinroth of Gwinnett County Schools as its new president. Kathy Bush, Georgia Department of Education, is the outgoing president, and Mary Jon Cadora, also with the state education department, is president-elect. Installation of the new officers came at the council's annual conference at Unicoi State Park in April.

Got A Question? As part of the national Call Your Library campaign, Johnny Carson has decided to make library questions and answers a regular part of The Tonight Show. The American Library Association is asking for questions and their answers and sources to send to Carson. They should be sent to Questions, Public Information Office, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, Illinois 60611.

Major Goal - Open Schools to the Community. John Yates, Lumpkin County High School principal, is the new president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He assumed leadership of the 35,OOO-member organization at the end of the association's national convention in Atlanta. Yates said a major goal of his tenure would be to open the doors of schools to parents and the community.

Rockefeller Fund to Support Public School Arts. As many as 10 public schools across the nation will be recognized for their outstanding arts programs by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The fund will award $10,000 each year to schools which have superior, imaginative arts programs. The first awards will be made in the spring of 1982, and the deadline for applications from school principal!> is June 15, 1981. Further details on the awards are available from the fund's office, Room 3450, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104.

Presidential Scholars - Fifteen Georgia students were selected as finalists in the 1981 Presidential Scholars Program. Of the IS, nine are from public high schools. They are David Demille, Wills, Cobb County; Brian Pearce and Sheri Colberg, Druid Hills, Atlanta; Lee Schahrer, Parkview, Gwinnett County; Kristoph Wahlers, Central, Clarke County; Kathy Ball, Norcross, Gwinnett County; Sonye Danof(, Academy of Richmond County; Nancy Rosselot, Lakesidz, Atlanta; and Laura Shamp of Heritage High School in Rockdale County.

New Board Member - Richard Owens of Ocilla has been appointed by Governor George Busbee to represent the Eighth Congressional District on the Georgia Board of Education. Owens has served as chairman of the Irwin County Board of Education, as chairman of the Professional Standards Commis sion, the Georgia Advisory Council of Vocational Education and the Georgia Sch'ool Boards Association. He succeeds Asbury Stembridge of Macon on the state board. The Governor must still appoint a state board representative for the First Congres sional District.

First in the Nation - Douglas Smith, Jackson County; Elizabeth G. Hall, Jackson County; James E. Shinholster, Twiggs County; and Rebecca M. McMullen, Jones County, are the first teachers in Georgia - and the nation - to receive certificates based on performance. The teachers received their teaching certificates at the May meeting of the Georgia Board of Education. They are among about 3,000 teachers who will receive certificates this year under the Performance-based Certification Program.

E530601UNI

0

UNIV OF GA LIBRARIES

STATE DOCUMENTS

ATHr:NS

GA 30601

______ ...... ,

..:.~~.:J i'........\

Received

JUN 16 1981

DOCUMENTS UGA LIBRARIES

24 Georgia ALERT, May 1981

~em=_y..-w. ew_.- ere
"
Singletary Remembers

by Eleanor Gilmer

In December H. Titus Singletary is retiring as Associate State School Superintendent - he was the first - and many things have changed in public education and the Georgia Department of Education since he reported to work July 1, 1964.

"The first day I reported to work nobody had prepared for my coming. I didn't even have a desk, much less an office," he said. "I had to borrow someone's desk who was on vacation. I moved around a lot those first few days. The first space of my own was in a glassed-in cubbyhole in the textbook office."

When he joined the department staff at the request of State School Superintendent Claude Purcell, there was one assistant superintendent - Dr. Allen Smith, who handled administrative matters. Singletary was brought in to head up instructional services, whose program managers had reported directly to the state school superintendent.

"Two things had taken place in 1964 which prompted Dr. Purcell to restructure the department," said Singletary. "This was the year the new Minimum Foundation for Public Education Law was passed. An internal audit of the department had also been done which called for a reorganization. At that time, there must have been 14 divisions reporting to Dr. Purcell."

Singletary says he had a lot of advice from program managers about how he should organize the Office of Instructional Services. At that time the department had no uniform staffing pattern, he said, and his first task was to try to decide how to operate. He created the Curriculum Division (it had previously been a unit) and brought in new heads for ETV and teacher education and certification.

"We offered the teacher education position to Cal Adamson (who is now Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services). The board actually appointed him to the position, but he went to Savannah instead," he said.

"Another frustration I had was budgeting - It was

'. long before the day of zero-based budgeting," he

~X;{.;~:, :\id. "Dr. Allen Smith wrote the budget for the

. t~:n;~~, J.partment. He was the power as far as budget

,. f;';?','.-i;.
1~~:'~\~I;.'.:.-~.:::~)".\...

: ,.3S

concerned.

When I came with

the

department

I

worked

many

"J. ' ..... _

'" ~;::.. ng hours. I had responsibility for instructional

<;.~.f ~ices, vocational education and state-operated

.<. . .1Is. Each day I'd get to the office at five and
..l~. 0' ",
:::,"'{ ..'1cks of purchase orders - for lard, grits,
','[:i;n.. : >'i other supplies for the state schools. I was
,.~:?{:~,: "':,;';, .

'{:::'::'~':"..: ;a ALERT, October 1981

~, .. :<F/C;'l:}:',:'::<:'

'.

. . r .' _,

....

A lot of things have changed in the department and in education since Titus Singletary came to work in 1964 (including Singletary).
very frustrated because I wanted to be looking at programs that affected students.
"One big responsibility I had was working with the State Board of Education," he said. At that time, on the night before the official board meeting, the members would meet at the old Henry Grady Hotel to transact business. Office heads were responsible for taking their own notes. The public was not invited." He even recalled a time when a reporter crashed the meeting and it ended up in a fist fight between the reporter and a board member.
Soon after that, the meetings at the Henry Grady were cut out, and board committees instructional and administrative - were appointed to make recommendations to the full board.
In 1978 Singletary was named associate superintendent for the Office of Planning and Development. He still has responsibility for many of the areas he had when he joined the department staff in 1964. Since that time, many improvements have been made in education and in the department. Many would agree that Titus Singletary has helped bring about a lot of those improvements.

Contents

Features
A New Beginning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 A Look at the First Day of School

Teacher Vacancies

7

They Have Many Reasons for Leaving

Differences Make Good Policy. .. 12 The State Board of Education in Action

People Who Make Schools Go . .. 17 They Create Learning World

Departments

The Way We Were . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2

Bellringers

24



ALERT welcomes readers' comments and questions. Write to ALERT, Georgia Department of Education, 103 State Office Building, Atlanta 30334.

Accolades for ALERT Published since 1966, Georgia ALERT has been a consistent winner in national competitions with its peers. This year brought another Award of Excellence for Educational Communications from the National Association of State Education Department Information Officers. The judges called ALERT "The Life Magazine of Education."
Cover: Essie Eason leads her kindergarteners from playground to classroom on the first day of school at Mitchell Elementary in Atlanta. They will make the walk many times before June, but this first time is special. Photographed by Glenn Oliuer.
.. Jr t:

ANew Beginning
Photographs by Glenn Oliver
The first day of school - THE big day for children in the very early grades marks the climax of many days of preparation. It is a day in which virtually everything is new - shoes, clothes, book bags, friends, pendls, teachers, activities. Forget (for the moment) budget cuts, state standards, immunization rules, test scores. This new beginning takes the spotlight. ALERT spent the first day photographing kindergarten and first grade children in four schools Mitchell Elementary in Atlanta, and Hickory Hills, Banberry and Park Street elementaries in Marietta.
New Hours Sleepy headed, mid-morning droop is a common, but not terminal, first-day malady.
A first-grader in Carol Culver's class at Park Street Elementary exhibits the most common symptom.
New Teachers The "I'm glad you're going
to be my teacher" hug starts the year off right. Banberry Elementary School student gets to know teacher Laura Osoinach on the play yard.

New Pencils Learning to write, learning to
manipulate such a large pencil, learning to keep letters within the lines, learning, learning, learning ... it begins early on the first day in even the simplest assignments.

.(-
Ind. class match
Georgia ALERT, October 1981 5

~.-"':

,.. ....... ....... -;"'-;

: ---,""":,,":,, ,-;-

the worst times. A first-grader in Donna Milton's Elementary discovers a new use for her desk.
-,- .1~~- "7"n-""_ . ~,_.='"=

New Book Bags Some people call them "totes." In years past they were "satchels." They still
rank as a must-have item for starting to school and as the first item to be left on the school bus.
New Activities Essie Eason's kindergar-
teners romp on Mitchell Elementary's playground. A Mitchell first-grader in Sally Williamson's class discovers learning can be fun with letter match games.
Georgia ALERT, October 1981 5

New Friends Meeting, learning names,
sharing favorite TV shows and just being kids is the highlight of recess for children at Banberry Elementary.
New Way of Walking Single file, hands to your sides, good spacing between your neighbors ...
ready, march! Being selected as the line leader by the teacher is just as special for a youngster as being picked first for kickball by friends. Hickory Hills students practice good walking habits in the cafetorium.
New Experiences The missed ride
home - it does happen, and usually on the first day. Anne Mack, first grade teacher at Hickory Hills, cheers up youngster whose first day just lasted a little longer than her friends'. 6 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

Teacher Vacancies

The Long and Short of It

by Stephen Edge
Georgia public schools faced a bright future after the passage of the 1975 Adequate Program for Education Act, the umbrella law for education in Georgia. The state's public schools were heavily involved in a number of innovative programs essentially designed to rebuild the education system: a new set of public school Standards, the statewide testing program and performance-based certification of teachers all seemed to offer great promise.
Almost all the plans for the future hinged on having a well trained cadre of teachers - teachers who knew how to teach, who were specialists in their fields and who could effectively run a classroom so learning could take place.
But a strange thing happened in the mid 70s. Many teachers began leaving the public schools, and the numbers of college students going into education fields started to fall rapidly. For years there had been a surplus of good, qualified teachers, but the day came when it disappeared. It was a scary situation, especially since the state was geared up to put performance-based certification into operation at about the same time Congress called for even more specially trained teachers through the education of the handicapped law.
The greatest single exodus of teachers was during 1980. School systems had to replace teachers (or find teachers for new classes) in more than 7,000 positions among a teacher population of around 60,000. Fortunately, the state saw the trend and took action. In 1979 the Georgia Department of Education hired Julie Elfman to work specifically in teacher recruitment. Through the efforts of her office channels were opened to bring teachers to Georgia from states having surpluses.
According to Elfman Georgia really does have a problem, particularly in the turnover rate. In addition the number of education college graduates has declined nearly 50 percent in the last seven years. "And of the 2,677 who graduated last year," she said, "38 percent did not go into teaching in Georgia." Elfman's efforts to bring teachers to Georgia or back to Georgia have included contacting more than 1,300 teacher colleges, sending vacancy lists to every state's departments of labor and education as well as to teacher organizations in

Georgia school systems are finding it harder and harder to staff classrooms. More than 7,000 teachers left the classroom for various reasons during or after the 1980 school year.
Cnr)
:l :l
Q c' !!l
Georgia ALERT, October 1981 7

every state. In addition she keeps a list of available teachers for systems to use and conducts periodic teacher job fairs for prospective teachers and systems to get together.
Elfman sees the real damage being done in systems far from the metropolitan centers of Georgia rural communities which cannot attract the younger teachers who want to live in cities, and the poorer systems which cannot pay supplements to attract the teachers with specialist degrees.
These systems more and more are having to staff classes with probationary in-field teachers, teachers not fully certified to teach in those classes. In addition some systems are simply dropping courses, such as languages, vocational and other nonrequired classes, if teachers are not available. Needless to say, this affects the quality of education many students receive. Some systems are forced to consolidate required classes if enough qualified teachers cannot be found for them, also adversely affecting the quality of education.
Why do teachers leave the teaching field, and why are college students shying away from the profession which once held so much respect? H. Titus Singletary Jr., associate state school superintendent, has watched the situation develop for two decades. "It seems to go in cycles," he said. "In the early 60s there were tremendous shortages because of Sputnik and the post World War II baby boom." According to Singletary large numbers of science and math teachers were needed then as now, and more high school teachers, too, because of rising populations. Integration and pressure on students to stay in school and go on to college also added to the need for more teachers and for more specialized teachers. To bring those teachers into the field in the 60s, the state began operating a scholarship fund which gave low-interest loans to college students who agreed they would go into teaching. The loans, plus a highly inflated college population in the later 60s and early 70s, helped turn the situation around and created a teacher surplus.
Because there was a sustained surplus over a number of years, many prospective teachers began to choose other careers. Among them were the growing numbers of women and blacks who had once depended on teaching because they were not readily accepted into business and industry's professional circles.
A new phrase, "teacher burnout," also became popular. Teachers leaving the public schools for jobs in business, industry and in colleges and private schools said more and more that they couldn't take it, that teaching was too demanding. Many educators feel that burnout has become nothing more than a catchword used by teachers to explain quitting for different reasons.
According to the recently released Darden Report, contracted for by the Governor's Office, the teacher attrition rate is not as severe as has been indicated. Many teachers intended to return to the

schools, and many others left for noncontrollable reasons, such as spouse moving, pregnancy, loss of contract or not being certified. The report did find many reasons teachers quit the public schools, and frustration figured in a number of them, but not the widely feared "burnout." The number one stated reason was low salaries, followed by too much paperwork, discipline, extra duties and a number of other reasons.

According to many popular polls of the 70s, the public's opinion of the schools and teachers fell along with the national SAT scores. Private schools, springing up to bypass racial integration and the banning of prayers from the public schools, also spread the notion that public schools were not doing their jobs. This led to dissatisfaction among teachers who saw themselves as scapegoats for a host of community failings. They were being asked
G)
ro
:l :l
Q;::. !!1

Although teacher salaries are given as one of the major reasons teachers are leaving, the recent Governor's study of teacher attrition found that there are other reasons as well. Twenty-six percent cited salaries as a major reason for quitting teaching.
Many systems participated in the Georgia Department of Education's teacher job fairs during the last two years. David McLeod of Gordon County attends the fairs to supplement recruiting efforts of the system.
(fl
~ ":0r
:'"l
~
~

8 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

"..... .... ..-.. ~'.;

-:."'C.~.~

.

(Jl
;;;
":0:r
'":::l
!r
~

Teacher job fairs are attended heavily by teachers from out-of-state, because of economic problems. Teachers relocating in Georgia also especially states which are laying off large numbers of teachers attend fairs to make a number of contacts at once.

to do far more, to be better and better, and yet were not being appreciated for the jobs they were doing.
According to State Superintendent of Schools Charles McDaniel, salaries for teachers have always been too low. "Teaching is hard work," he says. "It is mentally and physically taxing. And teachers do not receive the rewards they deserve. In many cases they have to be clerk, parents, police and social workers to their charges." McDaniel also feels that many teachers do not receive the support of their superiors, or of their communities. Nor is teaching looked upon as the important profession that it is.

Raising salaries, certainly beginning teachers' salaries, must be done, and soon, McDaniel believes. "We are losing far too many potential teachers to other professions in college," he says, "and the turnover rate among young teachers with one to three years of experience cannot continue without serious consequences."
One thing the state superintendent worked hard for during the last General Assembly was an incentive raise for teachers passing the performance part of teacher certification the first time. Beginning teachers can now jump several steps from entry level after completing all requirements for certification.

Singletary believes that the new certification requirements offer Georgia's best opportunity for an excellent teaching staff statewide. "For once and all, we've got to do away with the idea that teaching positions can be filled with teachers who are not qualified. The state board and the department have got to take a stand on provisional certificates."
According to Singletary, the state board and the board of regents are supporting the idea of providing a quarter of a million dollars for financial support of students wanting to go into teaching. Instead of student loans the new program would be much like the medical grants-in-aid; students would receive the money to repay existing loans by teaching.
Georgia ALERT, October 1981 9

...
Cll
o.2
c @
<:5
10 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

The quality of personnel in teaching is important in local school systems, too, even in the face of critical needs. Many systems report that finding good teachers to fill certain positions is getting harder and harder.
David McLeod, administrative assistant in Gordon County Schools, says the county has had problems in the past with shortages, but they've learned to recruit from out-of-state. In fact, McLeod says, they've hired some really good, veteran teachers from states that were laying off teachers with as much as 15 years' experience. And some of the teachers had been through good teacher education programs which gave them classroom experience all through college.
Like Singletary, McLeod believes that the state and local systems need to invest in the best people possible. According to him statistics have shown that it isn't the size of the class that matters, but the expertise of the teacher. "I'd rather see better qualified and higher paid teachers with larger classes," he says. "They'll get the job done." McLeod sees the whole problem of teacher attrition as related to the state budget. According to him, in 25 years the education share of that budget has dropped from about 50 to 35 percent. "And every governor for the past 12-15 years has promised to bring Georgia's teacher salaries up to the national level, but hasn't," he says.
Like Gordon County, many other school systems are working overtime to solve their own shortage and teacher attrition problems. Recruiter Elfman says she is also working with communities in finding alternate means of staffing classrooms. One method being explored is for communities to offer scholarships to their local graduates as incentive for them to return to their hometowns to teach and for school counselors to encourage students to consider teaching fields for which there are actual shortages. Another is for staff development personnel in the systems to work with former teachers to get them recertified. She also feels that a lot can be accomplished by reactivating the high school associations for students going into teaching, such as the FTA and SGAE.
But there are some teaching slots which absolutely must be filled. Some required by state Standards to provide comprehensive program and graduation requirements and by federal law to provide educational offerings for all students in least restrictive environments must be filled and in some systems are not, except by probationary in-field teachers.
But measures are being taken to correct the situation. Many of the Cooperative Educational Service Agencies help out by hiring personnel such as speech and language pathologists and audiologists to be shared among several systems.
Specialized teachers such as speech and language pathologists, math and science and many special education field teachers are the most in demand.

Other efforts come from outside the systems. Some systems have taken advantage of the state's relatively new policy under which they can establish cross-system schools, a remedy begun long before teacher shortages became critical.
Georgia's teacher training institutions are helping, too, by encouraging students to go into needed fields and in other ways. Phillip McLaughlin, associate dean of education at the University of Georgia, says one of their major efforts is in setting up courses anywhere in the state where there is a demand for teachers seeking different or higher certification. The university will also contract with systems, CESAs or with the system of Teacher Education Service areas.
Many communities are also working to make the teacher's job easier. A lot of schools encourage parents to come into the schools, which helps with discipline problems. Volunteers can also take nonteaching loads off teachers by taking up lunch money, supervising recess, marking papers and filling out forms.
Elfman sees the need to do something about teacher pay also. She is doing personal research to

compare 50 professions, the pay, experience and the level of education required in each, in an effort to get teaching recognized on the professional level it should be. In addition she believes that colleges should begin to stress even more the teaching fields where personnel are needed, and that a system should be devised for projecting teacher needs at the local school system level.
Hard economic times in other states have been a backhanded boon to Georgia's teacher shortage. Laid-off teachers and college graduates unable to find jobs in other states naturally moved to states with teacher shortages; more than 4,000 teachers moved to Georgia last year.
Many of them came from financially troubled school districts in the West and North: last year Massachusetts and Michigan both lost between 5,000 and 6,000 teachers. The San Francisco school district was forced to cut 1,500 teachers because of Proposition 13. Massachusetts may lose an additional 8,000 teachers this year because of its property tax referendum. In addition McDaniel sees a steadily gaining migration of industries and workers from the North to sunbelt states.

"Whether we keep the out-of-state teachers, or any of our teachers, is going to depend on us," he says. "We are, for one thing, going to have to pay them well. We expect teachers to be professional, and they're going to have to prove ~hey are by on-thejob assessment. So we're going to have to give them a professional's pay. We can't expect them to do the job of the student's parents, the police, the welfare department, the church or anyone else."
In the incredibly swiftly changing world of today there seems to be little sense in it when teachers in northern communities strike for higher wages when the schools are laying off thousands for lack of funds; and it seems just as paradoxical that students could so totally disrupt the learning processes that are for their benefit alone. Georgia is fortunate that these maleficences have not visited the state in greater numbers, that there is time for contingency plans in a state still economically growing and in an educational system with solid plans for the future and a desire to support teaching as a profession deserving of public support and praise.

Clerical duties, record keeping and all kinds ofpaperwork are some of the reasons teachers are dissatisfied with being teachers. Many report that they have no time during the school day and must spend several hours at home grading papers and filling out student reports.

Nonteaching tasks such as lunchroom duty, playgound, bathroom and hallway monitoring also lead to teacher dissatisfaction.
Cl is"
:J :J
Q
<;'
'.."..

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 11

Being an attorney has helped Chairman Tom Vann understand many of the issues that come before the state board. But, most of his understanding of public education comes from his involvement in the education of his own six children, all ofwhom attended public schools in Thomasville.
Board Vice Chairman Saralyn Oberdorfer spends a lot of time in her office at home answering mail, studying board materials and talking on the phone. However, she considers faceto-face communication with those in her district an important part of her responsibilities as a member of the state board.
12 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

DiTferences ake Good Policy
Georgia's Board 0/ Education Sets Direction

Story by Eleanor Gilmer Photographs by Glenn Oliver

There are 10 of them. They are all different - they have different backgrounds, different training, different views about education, and they all come from different areas of the state. Yet they all have one major thing in common. They are avid supporters of public education in Georgia. They are the members of the Georgia Board of Education.
The state board was created by the General Assembly in 1937, which provided that the board should have one member from each congressional district. Members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for overlapping sevenyear terms. Members receive $44 per diem plus expenses for each day they serve in their official capacity.
Tom Vann of Thomasville, who represents the Second Congressional District, is chairman. Vice chairman is Saralyn Oberdorfer of Atlanta who represents the fifth district. Larry Foster of Clayton County represents the sixth district and is the board's vice chairman for appeals. Other members are A.J. McClung, Columbus, third district; Pat Kjorlaug, Decatur, fourth; James Smith, Cartersville, seventh; Hollis Lathem, Canton, ninth; Carolyn Huseman, Athens, 10th; and freshmen members Dent Temples Jr. of Vidalia, first; and Richard Owens of Ocilla, eighth district. State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel serves as the board's executive secretary.
Members of the board set the basic direction for Georgia education. The Adequate Program for Education in Georgia Law states that the board's primary role is to "assure, to the greatest extent possible, equal and adequate education programs, curricular offerings, opportunities and facilities for all Georgia's children and youth and to assure economy and efficiency in administration and operation of public schools and public school systems throughout the state."

"Specifically, I see it as our role to determine policy and to implement the laws of our state which govern education," says Chairman Vann.
The board has many other specific functions which include setting goals and priorities for education in Georgia and approving rules and regulations for the operation of educational programs. It also approves and assures implementation of a comprehensive education plan to meet the individual education needs of Georgia's citizens. This plan must meet requirements of state and federal laws and provide for standards, adequate funding and evaluation.
The board also recommends to the Governor and the Georgia General Assembly actions to improve education by suggesting changes in law, new laws and by requesting funds for public education each year.
In addition, the board serves in a quasi-judiciary capacity. It considers appeals from individuals of decisions of local boards of education and determines action to be taken.
Even though the board meets officially only once a month, (the second Thursday in the month for its official meeting and the Wednesday before for committee meetings and the Committee of the Whole meeting) a lot of work goes on between meetings.
Just reading the materials they receive from the Georgia Department of Education and other sources on items to be considered takes an enormous amount of time, the members point out.
"I received a stack of mail three feet, 8Yz inches tall
during the first month I was on the state board," said Dent Temples, who was appointed to the board in June.
Because the state board is made up of lay members and most of them must spend a major portion of

their time making livings for themselves and their families, various amounts of time are spent on board business during the year.
Vice Chairman Oberdorfer estimates she spends at least two days a week on board business. This time is spent reading, meeting with individuals or groups about public education, on phone calls and attending meetings to educate herself about specific issues.
"It took four days a week in the beginning," she said. "Board members must be generalists - they must know a little about a lot of things. If an item comes up for action that I don't know about, I find out about it through phone calls and personal contacts."
Vann estimates he spends about 35 days a year on board business in addition to the time he sets aside for reading.
Public Welcome to Board Meetings
All of the meetings of the board are open to the public, with the exception of executive sessions in which the board considers appeals and personnel matters. A person who wishes to address the board at its official meeting can do so by contacting the state school superintendent at least 10 days before the meeting and being placed on the agenda.
Citizen input is important to the board. Periodically it holds public hearings on issues such as high school graduation requirements and a study of the state schools for the deaf and blind.
Feedback from people in their own districts is also important to members, although most do not have a formal mechanism to receive it.
"My district is probably the largest in the state, and it's important to me to get input from educators, parents and others," said Richard Owens, who has served on the board only four months. "I've already met with several groups in my district, and I've even

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 13

thought about publishing a newsletter."
All board members interviewed say they always hear from special interest groups about specific issues to come before the board.
To keep members as informed as possible about proposed policies and items to be voted on, board committees are appointed each year to study items in depth and make recommendations to the full board. All of the members serve on at least three committees except Vann, who serves as an exofficio member of all the committees.
There are eight standing committees - Administrative Services, Instructional Services, Planning and Development Services, State Schools Services, Vocational Services, Budget and Legislative, Instructional Resources and State Board of Education-State Board of Regents Liaison.
"The committee system has worked well for us," said Vann. "It allows committee members to get an indepth look at certain issues and make recommendations to the full board. However, everything a committee considers is considered by the full board, and the board does not automatically rubber-stamp committee action."
Serving on committees and becoming very familiar with specific programs make members more aware of problems and needs in those areas. For example, Larry Foster, who serves as chairman of the State Schools Services Committee, has a particular interest in seeing that state schools are considered for funding. These schools don't have local boards of education to look after their interests.
"My feelings are that the state schools (State School for the Deaf, Georgia Academy for the Blind and Atlanta Area School for the Deaf) are being overlooked by the legislature when funds are appropriated," said Foster. "I have written some legislators asking for their support of specific budget items concerning these schools."
Some Actions Have Far-reaching Effect
Naturally, some actions of the board have more farreaching effects than others. Three of the five board members interviewed for this article were asked what they thought the most important action taken by the board in the last several years has been. All three agreed competency-based education (CBE) and performance-based certification (PBC) rank high on the list.
"I think the movement toward measuring ability and responsibility of both students and those in the teaching profession are important," said Vann. "I think our effort to seek more equitable pay for teachers and administrators is also very important."
"Since I've been on the board CBE has been the most important action taken," said Oberdorfer. "Performance-based certification was already under way when I began."
"Even though I'm not in favor of it, I think CBE is probably the most important action taken," said

Even though he is no stranger to public education, freshman board member Richard Owens (left) often seeks advice from State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel on specific issues which come up for board action.

Foster. "If it proves as effective as the staff in the department thinks it will, then the education level in this state will improve." He explained that his opposition to CBE stems from the fact that he is not in favor of so much testing. ''I'm a test opposer," he said.
Foster agrees that higher salaries for teachers is an important issue. In fact, he said he would be teaching school himself if he could support his family. He taught school briefly and is now an attorney.
What are some of the important issues coming up in education in the next year or two?
Just as CBE and PBC were considered important actions of the board, they are still considered by board members as important issues for the future.
"I see a real problem in ensuring the CBE tests are fair and adequate and that they are the correct tests to use," said Temples.
"I suppose our competency approach to education and teacher performance will be an issue to see that

it's fairly and equitably applied and that we do all we can to try to remedy the deficiencies we discover," said Vann.
Foster thinks PBC will be an issue. "I think we are putting far too much pressure on beginning teachers. First, they have to graduate from college. Then, they have to pass a test and receive on-thejob assessment on top of that. After they teach awhile, we then require them to take other courses to keep their certification. I think we are going to see a greater shortage of teachers because of this," he says.
CBE, PBC, teacher burnout and low teacher pay are all issues that must be dealt with in the future, according to Owens.
How to deal with the students who can't graduate is a concern of Oberdorfer. She thinks additional compensatory education funds is one answer.
Georgia's method of education funding is another issue cited by the members.
"Our method of financing is definitely a vital issue

14 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

Larry Foster, Tom Vann, Hollis Lathem, Richard Owens and Dent Temples get together informally after the state board meeting to talk about board business.

~.< \ft.; /7 ~, \.'~ '. ~."'..... t!,.

, ,. ''\

~. t. .l. .\. 'l.. l>,

~

I

I(

..'!OI.IIIiIIk.....\ I.

-....

~4t.9:'~ ~ h ,.. j ~;'.

/",

"~""""""'.">".'.'.""'"

. >.'.

:.

.

,

-~!

II

.~; ;

State education department staff provides background information to board committees. Associate State School Superintendent Cal Adamson talks with administrative services committee chairman James Smith (left) and Tom Vann.

and one that needs careful consideration, especially if the higher court concurs with the decision of the lower court," thinks Vann. He is referring to the Winn decision, which states that Georgia's present method of financing education is unconstitutional. It has been appealed.
"With the economy like it is, we are going to have to provide a better level of education with fewer dollars," said Temples.
One decision that must be made in the near future, according to Oberdorfer, is who will decide how block grants will be used - the state board, the governor or the legislature.
Vann thinks student discipline could be another issue. "However, I think we have more students behaving than not behaving," he said.
When the board convenes each month in Atlanta, there are 10 distinct individuals making joint decisions about education. How a member looks at a problem or reaches a decision is bound to be based on that individual's experiences and training.

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 15

Two of the members are attorneys, one is a politician, four are in business, three are homemakers, four have served on local boards of education - three as chairmen - and four are former teachers. But, perhaps the most important thing is that they are all parents whose children are in or have been in public schools.

"I think our varied backgrounds are helpful rather than harmful to the activities of the board," said Vann. "I think we need all viewpoints. I encourage members to speak out - and they never hesitate to do so."

Even with their different views about education, the

board feels a strong responsibility to see that

Georgians have available to them the best public

education possible. This responsibility and concern

is spelled out in their philosophy and goals.

..

"I feel good about public education in Georgia,"

said Vann. "Like in anything, new ideas and new

approaches can be made. If we work together we

can continue to progress. I think my biggest regret

is that public education seems to be in disfavor

throughout the nation. Frankly, I think we are more

positively good than we are bad. I think public

education is a great American institution."

A reporter from the Atlanta Constitution interviews Larry Foster, vice chairman for appeals,

about the board's action on an appeal.

Profile of State Board Members

Larry Foster is a partner in the law firm of Brown, Foster & Murphy. He was appointed to the board in 1978. He is a native of Atlanta, attended public schools in Fulton and Clayton counties, and is a graduate of Troy State University and Emory University. He is chairman of the State School Services Committee and a member of the Instructional Services and Budget and Legislative committees.
Carolyn Huseman was appointed to the board in 1971 by Governor Jimmy Carter and was reappointed in 1978 by Governor Busbee. She is a past member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross. She is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of State Boards of Education, chairs the Planning and Development Services Committee and is a member of the Instructional Resources and BoardRegents Liaison committees.
Pat Kjorlaug was appointed to the board in 1978. She served on the City of Decatur Board of Education for seven years and as secretary-treasurer for four. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and has been active in many professional and service organizations. She is chairman of the Vocational Services Committee and is a member of the Instructional Services and State Schools Service committees.
Hollis Lathem has served on the board since 1977. He is president of North Georgia Savings & Loan in Canton and vice chairman of the Cherokee County

Water Authority. He attended Middle Georgia College and the University of Georgia. He is chairman of the Budget and Legislative Committee and a member of the Planning and Development Services and Vocational Services committees.
A.J. McClung, mayor pro tern of Columbus and a former high school teacher and coach, is a retired executive director of the Brookhaven Branch YMCA in Columbus. He graduated from Tuskegee Institute and attended Columbia University and George Williams College. He was appointed to the board in 1976. He is chairman of the Instructional Resources Committee and is a member of Administrative Services and Board-Regents Liaison committees.
Saralyn Oberdorfer, appointed to the board in 1976, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Stephens College in Missouri. She is a former teacher and has been active in PTA She is a member of the board of directors of PBS and is a member of the Georgia Telecommunications Commission. She is chairman of the Instructional Services Committee and is a member of the Budget and Legislative and Instructional Resources committees.
Richard Owens, appointed to the board this year, is vice president of the AT. Fuller Lumber Company in Ocilla. He served on the Irwin County

Board of Education for 20 years and as chairman for 11 years. He is vice chairman of the Governor's Committee on Postsecondary Education. He is a former teacher and a graduate of Emory University and the University of Florida. He is a member of the Instructional Services, Vocational Services and Board-Regents Liaison committees.
James Smith is vice president of R.C.A Truck Lines, Inc. and is a director of the First National Bank of Cartersville. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he was appointed to the board in 1976. He is chairman of the Administrative Services and Board-Regents Liaison committees and is a member of the Budget and Legislative Committee.
Dent Temples was appointed to the board in 1981. He is vice president and secretary of Piggly Wiggly Southern, Inc. in Vidalia. He graduated from Georgia Southern College and the University of Southern California. He served on the Vidalia Board of Education for seven years and as chairman for two. He is a member of the Administrative Services, Planning and Development and Budget and Legislative committees.
Thomas Vann was appointed to the board in 1976. He is an attorney and former chairman of the Thomasville City Board of Education. He is chairman of the board and has served as vice chairman for appeals. He has law degrees from the University of Georgia and Harvard. He is a member of the Board-Regents Liaison Committee and is an ex-officio member of all committees.

16 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

. Making Coweta County schools go is sometimes a 12-hour-a-day job for Henry Jensen, who directs both the transportation and maintenance programs for the system.
People ho

ake Schools Go

Schools are open across the state, and students and teachers have settled smoothly into routines of classwork, homework, testing, field trips and progress through the 180 days of school year 198182. Learning was the order of the very first day thanks to the efforts of thousands of people who support teachers, principals and students in such important jobs as maintenance and custodial employees, bus drivers and mechanics, school food and nutrition workers, nurses, secretaries, school crossing guards and numbers of others.
ALERT visited some of these key people to find out how they do their jobs and what they see as their problems and successes. The editors chose to highlight the people and programs that are supported in some way with state funds under the Adequate Program for Education law. Under its

Story by Anne Raymond Photographs by Stephen Edge
provIsions, school maintenance and operations programs are funded at $2,000 per teacher allotted to each school system; the state funds are supplemented by local funds and are used to pay Social Security contributions, custodial and maintenance salaries, building repair costs and costs of custodial supplies.
Maintenance and custodial workers' salaries are usually based on the minimum wage; however, some school systems have salary scales based on tenure, skills and other factors. These employees are covered by the Public School Employees Retirement System.
School bus drivers' salaries are state funded at $3,818 annually effective July I, 1981. Mechanics are paid locally; both groups are covered by Public

School Employees Retirement.
State funds support the school food and nutrition program at the rate of 10 cents per lunch served this year. These funds may be used for salaries as well as for purchases of food and supplies.
The people and programs featured in this article represent only a few of the thousands of people who work hard every day to make Georgia public schools pleasant, safe, efficient, healthful places for students and teachers to be. ALERT salutes every one of you!
1,650 plant maintenance employees 6,500 custodial workers 7,000 bus drivers 1,400 bus mechanics 10,000+ school food workers

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 17

Maintenance Workers

Four boxcars of commodities are coming in and have to be unloaded.
A railing is needed for a handicapped child's safety.
Mrs. Smith's classroom needs a light bulb.
The football field needs to be mowed for Friday night's game.
Can you finish the bleachers in time for the game too?
This antique desk would be beautiful if you could refinish it.
Three classrooms will be needed next year. Please get them built during the summer.
Henry Jensen, director of maintenance and transportation in Coweta County, must fill all these requests and more. He and his assistant maintenance supervisor, Vance Stapler, manage to get it all done - with the help of two plumbers (one doubles as a boilerman), two electricians, two maintenance workers and three groundskeepers. They all work steadily, calmly and with a good

sense of humor, taking their cue from Jensen's own good nature and positive outlook. "I don't watch the clock. I just keep working till the work's done. I guess it comes from being a farmer most of my life."
A former member of the county board of education, Jensen has been maintenance and transportation director for Coweta schools for 11 years. Many of his days last from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., especially during the two to three weeks before school opens.
"It's easy to shut down schools in the spring, but hard to crank up again in the fall," Jensen says. All his staff works year-round, with usually a major construction project to keep them busy over the summer. This year it was redesigning and rebuilding the partially burned gym at Western Elementary School to house not only the gym, but also three classrooms, restrooms and a conference room. System employees did all the work, from design to construction to finish. "It was about a $40,000 project when we finished," says Jensen.
Jensen's responsibilities include all the tasks listed.

Carpentry jobs for Vance Stapler range from building classrooms to trimming a shelf whatever Coweta schools need, he tries to supply.

He and his staff get calls from 19 schools for carpentry, electrical, plumbing, grounds maintenance and other jobs the schools' regular custodians can't handle. Stapler, 14 work orders on his desk, says all the requests will be filled. "Everything is top priority; if I have to I'll go out to a school and help myself. I like to stay busy." Requests such as the railing for the handicapped child really do get priority. During less busy times, the maintenance staff will refinish antique desks or other furniture for use in hallways, offices and reception areas. Jensen recently stripped and sanded the beautiful wood floors in the county headquarters building. The hallway is decorated with old desks, benches, plants and a small oriental-patterned rug outside each door. Jensen's good taste and love of old houses and furniture show up in touches like these all over the county.
A major asset to managing the many facets of school maintenance is a small computer in Jensen's office. Right now - in only the second year of use - it controls heating and air conditioning in three of the county's high schools - a.p. Evans, Central and Newnan. As he and secretary Eleanor Jones learn better how to use it, the computer will keep track of bus drivers and schedules, use of the gasoline pumps and much more. "The possibilities are unlimited," says Jensen. It could also be used to help in distributing USDA commodities to the eight to 12 counties which depend on Coweta as their pickup point for these foods. Jensen's maintenance staff takes care of that, too, unloading and distributing as many as 10 railroad cars over a two-to-threeweek period.
In addition to the carpenters, electricians and plumbers who report directly to him, Jensen has the support of 57 school maintenance and custodial staff in getting the huge maintenance job done. "They do an outstanding job," Jensen says. Their work is good enough to earn for Coweta the reputation for having among the best maintained buildings in the state.
People like John Partridge, custodian at Central High School for 14 years, keep that reputation polished - just like the shiny, spic and span hallways that get swept after every class change.
Partridge says he's never tempted to skip sweeping them just once. Even now, without the CETA workers he had helping until the middle of last year. "We get everything done; we just have to work faster," he says. "We" is four students and one parttime helper. They keep the school and grounds for 900 students. Partridge, who says his "problems went away 14 years ago" when he took his present job, is proud of his work and the results he gets. "It makes people - including me - feel better to come into a clean building. I think kids learn better in an attractive environment. People sometimes

18 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

Eleanor Jones uses a computer to monitor energy use in three high schools as well as performs secretarial duties for Jensen.
don't have much regard for janitorial work, but it's important and it takes skills," says Partridge. Like maintenance staff all over the county, he works long hours, and sometimes he gets a "chance" (his word) to catch up on Saturday some things he can't do during the week.
Partridge's skills and hard work earned him an award from the State Labor Department and a letter from Governor Busbee last year as "Outstanding Supervisor in the 1980 ChattahoocheeFlint CETA Summer Youth Employment Program."

Hallways at Coweta's Central High School are always gleaming. School custodian John Partridge sees to it by sweeping them after every class change.
East Coweta High's football field is trimmed and ready for Friday night's game by the system's grounds crew, (from left), Leo McKinney, Benny Watson and Pat Webb, supervisor. Maintenance director Jensen dispatches the crew wherever they are needed to work on grounds at any of Coweta's 19 schools.
~

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 19

Freddie Wooten, left, and his staff offour mechanics make sure Walker 20 days; four are scheduled each day. The result is a consistently County's 66-bus fleet is always in top form. Each bus is inspected every superior safety record on the road and with the Georgia State Patrol.

Bus Mechanics

Nowhere are there people more singleminded than those who maintain and operate Georgia's school buses.
"We're not hauling a load of stovewood, you know," says Bill Massey, director of transportation for Walker County schools. His attitude typifies the top to bottom focus on safety which characterizes the system's entire transportation program.
Walker County's fleet of 66 buses - 16 of them new diesels - is under the watchful care of Freddie Wooten, in his first year as shop foreman. He has been a school bus mechanic for eight years, a mechanic for 20. As with everyone else in his department, to him the safety of children comes first. "I'd rather work on school buses than any other vehicle," he says, "so I know my own children are taken care of as well as others'."
Walker's buses are inspected every 20 days, four each day. Wooten and four mechanics spend

several hours going over each bus, logging every item checked. During the summer each bus gets a minute inspection by the Georgia State Patrol. Massey and Wooten can both take credit for the consistently superior ratings. This year, among 76 buses inspected, the state patrol found only four problems - three back door buzzers and one loose tie rod end. Wooten seeks and gets help from the community in spotting problems with buses. Each bus is numbered, so a parent can call and notify him if a taillight is out or a tire is low.
"The biggest asset in operating our buses has been the installation of radios in each one," Massey says. "Parents want to know the specifics if a bus is late. And with this system, we can tell them precisely whether a fan belt is broken or there's a traffic problem. The radios have really helped our public relations. "
The radio system also means that help can be very

quickly on its way to a stalled bus. Anticipating occasional breakdowns, Wooten keeps 15 spare buses ready to go, and older buses are scheduled on close-in routes. Buses are retired after seven years in service, usually with about 100,000 miles on them.
Massey and Wooten sing in unison their praise of the county's women bus drivers. "They are very sensitive to the buses' conditions; they want to keep them tiptop and will bring them in if they hear even a slight irregular noise."
Walker County transportation officials are not satisfied with a near-perfect program, however. Massey has sent three veteran drivers to a School Bus Safety Training program operated by the state patrol. When they complete their courses in September, they will instruct all the other drivers in the system and the county will be eligible for a special Department of Transportation grant to upgrade its safety program.

20 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

Bus Drivers

Wilma Pickel wanted to work and stay home, too. So she took a traveling job. If you think that sounds like just the kind of work you've been looking for, don't expect an offer any time soon. Among the 41 women and 24 men who have jobs like Pickel's, there have been only six vacant positions in the last five years.
Pickel is a school bus driver in Walker County.
"It's just the perfect job for a woman," she says. "I can be at home with my kids in the morning, take them to school and pick them up and be with them in the afternoon. Plus - I don't have any parking expenses or special clothing expenses. And I have summers off."
Edna Elder and Inez Wood share their coworker's enthusiasm for school bus driving. "I just like being around children," says Elder, whose son graduated this year after riding his mother's bus to school every day since he was in the second grade. The drivers put in 20-hour weeks. Their responsibilities include cleaning their buses inside and out, scheduling and arranging for maintenance, gasoline

supply and routine checkup - lights, wipers, tires, signals - which takes 15-20 minutes each day.
"I'd rather drive my bus than a car," says Pickel. "I feel like King of the Road in it. Plus I get to meet people and be around children. There are bad days just like in any job - but usually it's great."
The bad days are not that way because of weather conditions - "rain is no problem, and snow flurries get everybody happy and excited." Instead they are people-related - an occasional irritated, overprotective parent, a child who's a discipline problem.
Student discipline is one of the bus driver's most difficult responsibilities, and "it can't work unless the school principal backs the driver."
It's easy to see how important and essential mutual support between driver and principal can be. On an afternoon trip loaded with 75 first and second graders, the principal's authoritative stance at the front of the bus is enough to quiet all 75 excited youngsters. And a few minutes later, when things

Wilma Pickel, school bus driver for Walker County, likes the job because she can work and stay home, too. Walker Transportation Director Bill Massey, her boss, is pleased to have her at the wheel. He agrees with her that driving a school bus is a job well suited to women.

Walker bus driver Edna Elder carried her son to school and picked him up each day from second grade through 12th.
are wound up again -Inez Wood has only to say "All right, students, do you want Mr. Moody to get back on the bus again"? And the chatter immediately subsides to manageable level.
"The children want to get close to you and talk to you; they want to tell you everything," says Edna Elder. She's carrying the second generation of children in her 10 years of driving. "I like to have a whole bus load of kindergarteners. And I like getting up early in the morning and going out for a ride."
Carrying a load of kindergarteners can have its problems. Elder once had a youngster go to sleep in the back of the bus and pop up only as she drove into her home driveway. She had to take' him back almost to the end of the route.
Georgia ALERT, October 1981 21

Inez Wood is one of 41 women who drive school buses for Walker County. Like everyone involved with the transportation program, she is safety conscious. "You never know the mind of a child," she says.

The most serious problem the drivers face is careless motorists who run the buses' stop signs. And "somebody does it almost every day."
Inez Wood has the unending gratitude of a mother who watched from the roadside as Wood stretched incredibly out the door of her bus and grabbed her first grade son by the nape of the neck before he could run into the path of a car that had run the stop sign. "You never know the mind of a child," Wood says. "Especially in the afternoon. They're wound up and ready to go."
The women's routes average about one and one half hours each in the mornings and afternoons. The three - Elder, Pickel and Wood - carryall age groups in all kinds of traffic conditions metro, rural and mountain. To become regular drivers they had to meet Walker County Transportation Director Bill Massey's criteria they must want to drive; they must be interested in children, and they must live in the community. Drivers start as substitutes and undergo three months of training before they can drive a bus with students on it. Substitutes become regular drivers only as vacancies occur.
But not too many positions come open very often. It can be a long wait. "Nobody wants to give up a great job like this," says Pickel.

School Food Workers

22 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

Maybell Howard, Manager of the School Food and Nutrition Program LaFayette Junior High School, Walker County Public Schools

Children up here in North Georgia aren't any different than city kids. They know about pizzas and tacos and health food and junk food. They are hard to please, and we do seem to please them. You have to give them what they want - within reason. I plan out my menus by the week so that the students get a good variety of what they need. These kids will eat vegetables and salads and milk, so that's no problem. I can't stand to see a child go hungry.
I've been in and out of school food service a long time. My husband died in 1960, and I had three children in grammar school. A friend of mine who ran the cafeteria at North LaFayette School asked me to come work with her. I was scared to death. Istayed eight years, then went to the junior high school and worked five years. I've also worked for the medical center for five years in pharmacy, plus about a year at the health department.
When this school was being built Mr. Benson, the principal, asked me to come in and manage the cafeteria operation. Two ladies that had been with me before

helped train the other girls. I now have eight full-time assistants plus a part-time dishwasher and a part-time potscrubber. This is a good group of workers. Look in this oven. These ovens are cleaned every day. Three years old and like brand new.
See that? That's an oatmeal chip cookie. Most of the ingredients in it are USDA commodities, so it doesn't cost much to prepare. The oatmeal is good for you and the chocolate chips make it special. Tastes real good, too. We bake them up fresh.
About 900 students eat lunch with us every day. We had to raise prices this year, but we only went up 10 cents. I don't know what's going to happen - what with the federal budget cuts and all. I hope we don't have to go up again. We'll manage, though. I've never operated in the red and this is no time to start.
I've seen a change in children over the years. Today they want more than mine did. They expect things. And they ask for them. We try to keep kids happy.
lnteruiewed by Elliott Mackie

Custodians

Monitoring the heating and air conditioning system is just one of dozens of responsibilities for Oscar Smith, custodian at Peachtree Elementary School in Gwinnett County.

and Smith will often stay until 7 p.m. and later if there's a PTA meeting or emergency.
What Oscar Smith likes about his job would make many people tear their hair. "I know it'll be here the next day," he says. "It's dependable."
It's evident that Smith also enjoys the school's 1,0OO-plus children. He gives them a Christmas tree every year and they give him surprise parties on his birthday. A student's answer to "What makes Oscar so special?" - "He's a great jazz pianist!"
Everyone at Peachtree Elementary appreciates Oscar Smith. But his biggest fan may be the school's principal, Jerri Berrong, in her first year with that responsibility. Smith's high standards and excellent performance of his job makes hers infinitely easier. He makes the school look good, so the principal looks good, and the community and students think Peachtree Elementary is great.
Smith thinks all those good feelings are quite enough reward for his sometimes 12-hour days.

What makes Oscar so special? Everything!
In all the years I've known him, I've never heard a cross word from him.
He's always there when you need him.
He has such pride in his work. He's so professional!
All you have to do is ask.
He's tuned in. He's so thoughtful. He won't even vacuum if someone is on the phone.
The people at Peachtree Elementary School in Gwinnett County will sing Oscar Smith's praises all day if someone will listen.
Smith has been the custodian at Peachtree for 11 years - since the school's opening day. And his work is so excellent (100 points on maintenance evaluations by the state and county each year; once or twice a 99) that the school looks as new today as when it opened in 1970.
One Peachtree employee commented, "Somehow the school just miraculously stays clean." Smith modestly accepts the compliment, knowing very well how the work gets done. His secrets are setting exacting standards for himself and his staff and knowing his schedule and trying to keep to it. This means knowing that rainy, wintry days mean mud in the front hall - and getting it cleaned up immediately.
Trying to keep to his schedule often means 12-hour days for Smith, who also drives a county school bus mornings and afternoons. He opens school at 6:30 a.m., checks the building once over, then takes his bus on two routes. He's back at Peachtree Elementary at 9 a.m. for the daily routine of main-

tenance - restroom check, sweeping, litter pickup, playground equipment repair, vending machine upkeep, inside plant maintenance, inventory of supplies for the teacher workroom. Always there are the unroutine things - getting balls off the roof, unsticking tiny fingers from holes in desks, repairing broken shoe straps.
Smith gets his assignments from an emergency box in the cafeteria, a regular box in the office or over the intercom if there's a crisis. When emergencies occur, the first thought is Oscar. He'll help school visitors start a balky car or deliver a piece of special equipment from school to school or help a teacher hang a map.
"Some things I do may not be part of my job," Smith says. "But I believe that if you work somewhere you should try to be a part of the place - you should try to help any way you can."
Smith's pride in Peachtree Elementary is evident. The 10 mobile classrooms on the campus this year were not there last year - and they mean extra work - but it doesn't faze him. What does make him uneasy is any kind of project - such as the recent recarpeting of the office area - which could keep him from maintaining the school in perfect order at all times.
Smith took his job with Gwinnett County schools 22 years ago as a driver, and the maintenance work was part of the job. Twice a year he attends training sessions sponsored by the county and state in maintenance. Smith's assistants are Grace Spruill, who reports to work at 10 a.m., and two high school students who work three hours after school. The whole crew works until around 6 p.m. each day,

Custodian Smith is so considerate of the staff at Peachtree Elementary that he. schedules vacuuming at times when it won'tdisturb their telephone calls.

Georgia ALERT, October 1981 23

BoIIplnrjops

Go to the Front of the Class - Five Georgia educators were named Outstanding Educators of the Year at the annual conference of the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders. They are Glenn Keebler, superintendent of Wayne County Schools; Sallie Brewer, curriculum director of Bryant County Schools; Lillian Cantrell, principal of DeKalb County's Henderson Mill Elementary School; Robert Dixon, principal of Martin Luther King Middle School, Atlanta; and John Strelec, principal of Glenn Hills High School in Richmond County. The awards program is sponsored by R.L. Bryan Company, and each educator receives $600.

The Talent Identification Program conducted by Duke University will soon be under way. In this program 12-year-olds in 13 southeastern states are given the SAT to see how they compare with high school seniors taking the test. Last year, Georgia had 398 students whose scores equaled or surpassed the scores of the average high school senior. Fifty-four Georgians had combined math and verbal scores of 1000. Jeffry Jones, a student at Stoneview Elementary School in DeKalb County, was one of the grand winners in the talent search.

He's the Best - James White, who has coached the Swainsboro High girls track team for 21 years, was named Coach of the Year in his sport at the National Coach's Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi. White compiled 264 wins, 13 regional and three state championship teams while at Swainsboro.

McDaniel Gets An A - State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel recently took the 10th grade Basic Skills Tests which will be used as a requirement for high school graduation. On the reading test, his performance exceeded that of 99 percent of all students taking the test. In relation to his total reading score, he was weaker in study skills. In mathematics, his performance exceeded that of 98 percent of all students taking the test. His weakest area on this test was translating fractions to percents and the reverse.

Who's Keeping Score? is a series of programs scheduled for educational television on competency testing. The programs, which will be in a courtroom format, will be shown on channels 30 and 8 on September 24, October 1,8, IS at 6 p.m. and on the eight-station Georgia ETV Network on October S, 6, 7,8 at 10 p.m.

en Ellouise Collins is the department's new director

it ":tlr
'="'

of the Special Programs Division. She has responsibility for the Program for Exceptional Children and

8: for the Compensatory Education Program, which

~ includes Title I ESEA. Before joining the depart-

ment staff she was director of the Teacher Educa-

tion Center for Clayton County. She holds a PhD.

in education administration and graduate and

undergraduate degrees in special education.

Collins has served as a special education teacher,

consultant and supervisor and has taught at the

university level. She has a wide range of interests,

including painting and other forms of art.

Ellouise Collins
en
it
"tl
.- ~
=' m
0-(0
'"

Walter Riley Howard
Walter Riley Howard is the department's new
director of the Division of PostsecondaryITechnical
Education. This division is responsible for the Quick Start Program and for Georgia's network of area vocational-technical schools. Before formation of the division, Howard was a regional director of vocational program management for the department. He holds master's and doctoral degrees from Georgia State and is a graduate of Southeast Missouri University. Howard came to the department from Cherokee High School in Canton, where he was vocational supervisor. He has been with the department for two years. Howard has also taught at the college level and was an instructor in the army. He served as a platoon leader in Vietnam.

October 1981 Vol. 13. No.1

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typeset! ing Teresa Ross Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Elliott Mackie, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins, Anne Raymond and Carolyn Smith.

The Georgia Department of Education does nat discriminate in employment ar educational actiuities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Division

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

~

103 State Office Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

. Telephone (404) 6562476

EDPREBB

Received

E~30602UNlf=
NI Vf- RS I TV n
sr.n[ DOCUr'H~NTS

OCT 16 1981
Od)~UM[~TS
UGA LIBRARIES

24 Georgia ALERT, October 1981

1s

G 30602

Georgia Fourth Graders Reach National Norm on Standardized Tests

Results of standardized tests given this year indicate Georgia fourth graders are performing at the same level as fourth graders nationally and are above the national norm in some areas. Eighth graders in Georgia are performing two months below the national norm, and tenth graders are five months below overall.
The overall grade equivalent for Georgia fourth grade students and those taking the same test nationally is 4.8-about the fourth grade, eighth month. The grade equivalent for Georgia eighth graders is 8.5 as compared with the national grade equivalent of 8.7. For Georgia tenth grade students the grade equivalent is 10.5 as compared with 10.9 for the nation.
When the statewide testing program was begun in 1971, Georgia fourth graders were performing about six months below the national norm, and eighth and eleventh graders were over a year behind.
"I am very pleased with the progress we are making. The emphasis we have been placing on curriculum planning, staff development and improving basic skills at every grade level is paying off in increased student achievement," said State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel.
Overall test performance in grade four this year reached the national norm for the first time. Last year, fourth graders were one month below the national norm. In grade eight, overall performance was seven months below the national norm in the 1979-80 school year.
Since this is the first year tenth graders were tested in the norm-referenced program, a comparison cannot be made with last year's students. However, tenth graders in 1981 were tested as eighth graders in 1978 and were eight months below the national norm grade level.
In the norm-referenced testing program, fourth and eighth grade students took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and were tested in five major areas-vocabulary, reading, language, work study and mathematics. Subtests are given in each of the areas. In terms of performance across specific skill areas, more than 50 percent of the students exceeded the national median for seven of 11 specific subtests for fourth graders and for six of 11 specific subtests for eighth graders.
Tenth grade students are given the Test of Achievement and Proficiency and are tested in composition, reading, mathematics and using information. This

year, there were fewer tenth grade students performing below the national norm than was true of 1979 eleventh graders.
Fourth and eighth grade students made the most improvement in mathematics and work study. Both grade levels scored about four months above the national norm in work study. Fourth graders were two months above the national norm in mathematics, and eighth graders were three months above the national level. Tenth graders performed best in composition and work study or using information.
New proceedures for the norm-referenced testing program were used in the 1980-81 school year. Previously, the tests were administered in the fall to a sample group of students at the fourth, eighth and eleventh grades. For the 1980-81 school year, however, all students in grades four, eight and 10 who were tested last spring with the criterionreferenced tests also received some questions from the norm-referenced test appropriate to their grade levels. The items were apportioned among the students in such a way that all items were answered by representative groups of students from the various regions of the state and from different sizes of school systems.

Student Achievement by Grade and Year

Number of Months Below/Above National Median
...

2 1
,
2
.
.
..
1
I -I .-,9. 11

NAr.oN..... N RM

--

/

./

/

/'

.---

1/

./

/

.--- ./

/ /

/'

/

.--- ./

/ ./

4.hG,. . 8lhGrilde H.,School

12

--1,3.

." -"

/ / /

17

11

19

20

1976

1977

1'78

1979

1980-

1981

Fel'

Fell

hi

F"

Fall

Spring

No O.la

Letters to the Editor
ALERT Is Read All Over
Congratulations on a splendid issue of Georgia ALERT. Not only did I look at all the pictures and captions, but I found myself actually reading the articles, down to the fine detail of Maybell Howard's having Elliott look in the oven. It is excellent work and you all should be proud.
Dr. Ambrose W. Hagarty Public Information Specialist Delaware Department of Public Instruction
School Staff Recognition
A member of our staff at Hillcrest School is worthy of recognition in your magazine. She is our lunchroom supervisor Grace Estes. The faculty and students alike look forward to and enjoy their lunch each day. She has an enormous job and has earned a wonderful reputation. If you need someone to highlight in your "School Food Workers" section, we would appreciate your considering Mrs. Grace. She would be receiving only a small part of the recognition she deserves.
The Faculty and Staff Hillcrest Elementary School, LaGrange
Thank you for your interest. We will be carrying additional stories in the future about the good job school food seruice personnel are doing all ouer Georgia, and Mrs. Estes will certainly be considered Ed.

Contents

Features
Adult Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 A look at Georgia's fast-growing program

Sandra Earle Worsham

9

Georgia's 1982 Teacher of the Year

The Sky's The Limit. . . . . . . . . . . .. 15 for Georgia's top va-tech student

Teacher Salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19 top the education budget request

Departments

Letters

2

Good News (Test Scores) . . . . . . . . .. 2

The Way We Were. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17

Bellringers

20

Cover: Herbert Lee Handy checks his progress in the math lab at the Henry Street Adult Education Center in Savannah. This pretesting ofskills before taking the GED examination helps ensure success. Photographed by Stephen Edge.

2. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

-"of Il, -, -~

,.,

..~- ..

Adult Education

It's Never Too Late To Learn

Story by Barbara Perkins and Photos by Stephen Edge

Much attention has been focused on the public school Johnny who lacks basic skills. But the wellkept secret is that sometimes Johnny's father cannot read either. And his mother may have never mastered the three Rs.
Quite a lot is being done in the state to help grownups who find themselves in need of more schooling. To relate some of the measures taken to bring about that help is only the beginning of the story of Georgia's adult education program.

In the early 1960s the Georgia Board of Education began considering ways to reduce the number of adults who could not read, write and figure and to increase the number of citizens with at least a high school education.
In 1964 the Georgia Department of Education hired its first adult education consultant to coordinate statewide efforts to stamp out illiteracy. By 1966 the federal government had initiated grants for adult basic education (ABE), and Georgia's adult educa-

tion program really got rolling.
The first priority of federal and state educators was to reach those adults 18 years of age and older who were functioning below eighth grade level, so that was the initial population the ABE program served.
In 1975 the state started its first federally funded adult secondary education (ASE) program for those persons 18 years old and beyond who were operating above eighth but below twelfth grade level in certain basic skills. Most of those com-

Armstrong State College welcomes students of all ages into its adult the possibility of an adult education major. Students who use the center education program. Armstrong's College of Education is considering will provide the school with first-hand knowledge of adult needs.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 .3

pleting ASE were able to pass the test for their General Educational Development (GED) Certificate of High School Equivalency. Others could receive standard high school diplomas.
With basic and secondary education intact under the umbrella of Adult General Education (AGE), the board was confident that the means were provided for all Georgians to obtain three educational goals-to acquire basic skills, to continue their education to the level of high school completion and to secure training that will enable them to become more employable, productive and responsible citizens.
In 1978, 16 and 17-year-olds who had been out of school four months or longer were allowed to enroll in adult education classes. The board felt that the high school diploma or its equivalent is such a basic credential that anyone who lacks it loses a wealth of economic and social opportunities. Sixteen and 17-year-old dropouts were proving this by not being able to find jobs.
So, if in 1981 Georgia adults 16 or 56 or 96 find they never learned or have forgotten many of the skills it is so important to master in today's society, if they find they are unable to help elementary school children with homework, if they cannot expect to find a better job or look forward to a job promotion without knowing the basic skills or having a high school diploma in hand, they are able to go back to school and study in a program tailor made to their individual needs.
With a few exceptions Georgians have access to an adult education center, free of charge, near where they live.

Most adult education students follow individualized study programs tailored to their needs. They begin on their own level and learn at their own pace. There is no competition, except with themselves.
Adult Education teachers are counselors too. Essie Beacham discusses with Elliott Sams ways to get more from the time she spends at Henry Street. The center is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and until noon on Friday.

4. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

A person who lives in a rural Georgia county most likely will attend adult classes in the evening at a public school or community facility.
In a large metropolitan area adults usually can choose to go to day or evening classes at anyone of a number of centers located in different parts of the city.
If a county does not have a heavy population of nongraduates or has limited funds, adults might go to a center that has been strategically located to serve several counties at once.
The market for adult education students is high, according to the 1970 state census. At the beginning of that decade less than half Georgia's citizens (49 percent) had a high school education. Of the 51 percent who never graduated, 26 percent had more and 25 percent had less than eight years of formal schooling.
"We have served from 45,000 to over 50,000 citizens each year for the past five years," said Margaret Walker, coordinator of adult education for the Georgia Department of Education. "So the 1980 census, which is not available to us now, should reflect some change."
Just last year alone 19,000 Georgia adults earned their high school equivalency certificates. Nearly a third of those people did so as a direct result of Georgia's adult education program. Almost 5,000 individuals in FY 81 found jobs after discovering AGE. Close to 2,000 of them had been on public assistance.
Statistical data do not tell the whole adult education story either. Perhaps the best way to gauge the benefits of a program that helps adults learn again is to look at the centers and the people who attend them.
It is obvious at a glance that Polk Countians can learn in pleasant surroundings in attractive study areas at their new center in Cedartown.
Carefully observing students at the five-system West Georgia Adult Learning Center shows this is a popular program. Ask anyone of the 185 adults who passed the GED test last year or the 586 students who improved their basic skills. Better yet, ask the 44 who got jobs and 85 who got better jobs what benefits the program gave them.
Skills teaching is in evidence at the south Georgia center serving Seminole, Baker, Miller and Early counties-not only basic skills but also skills that help adults cope with life in our changing society.
For a really close look at adult education, speak with the eight women who recently passed the GED as a result of a small program in Reidsville High School. Then trek over to the nearby state prison program where hundreds of inmates each year prepare to better their lives by taking courses in the prison.
From Reidsville it's just a hop, skip and jump by country standards (about 70 miles) to Savannah, where Chatham County's adult education program

flourishes.
Residents come from every area of the county and from every walk of life to the four adult education centers run by the Chatham County Board of Education. Some come never having learned to read; some come who are successful in their jobs and are now wanting to change fields. High school graduates enter trying to bone up on their reading and math skills in order to pass the SAT or vo-tech school admissions tests; grandparents come who have never before darkened a schoolhouse door.
"Twenty-three years I'd been out of school and I was scared to death to walk through that door again," said Louellen Dyer, an 11th grade dropout

and mother of two boys, 12 and eight.
"I've wanted to come back to school for more than three years. New circumstances in my life made it possible and here I am," she said.
According to Robert Cresswell, director of adult and continuing education for the county, many adults who have been away for a long time are afraid to start school again. But so are some very young dropouts who didn't make a success of the regular school program.
"That's why we try a nice personal approach when dealing with adult students. A relaxed, friendly atmosphere sets them at ease at once," he said.

Hodge Hall, formerly the college president's home, houses the brand new adult education center on the campus of Savannah State College. Teacher Ormonde Lewis assists one of the 25 students who enrolled before the center had been open a full week.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981.5

A relaxed, friendly atmosphere is the order of the day and evening at each of the centers covering the Chatham area-from the big Henry Street facility near downtown Savannah to the small Garden City center on the west side-from the newly opened Savannah State College center in the east to the nearly year-old Armstrong State College center toward the south.
The Chatham County program served almost 2,000 students last year by offering activities that appeal to a wide segment of the community. ABE classes in Savannah and around the state draw tnose who want to learn or brush up on basic skills in reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic.
Most ASE students in just about every program statewide study English, reading, math, social studies and science, the five areas tested on the GED examination. ASE classes in Savannah also prepare students to pass the college board, vo-tech qnd armed services admissions tests and the math section of real estate exams.
Foreign-born individuals get help in adjusting to American society in classes that teach English as a second language (ESL). Many ESL students in the Chatham program who studied English in their native countries, in classes taught by a native of that country, are finding upon arrival in the United States that they cannot understand or be understood by Americans. Now they are learning to speak, read and write English, Savannah-style.
Parent assistance courses, designed to help parents help their children with homework and special school projects, started last year. One parent, who also began studying for the GED test, said she found that by coming to the center she could help her son and herself at the same time.
The 20 percent jump in enrollment last year was due in part to good program management and in part to the excellence of the adult education teachers, according to County Superintendent of Schools Sylvester Rains.
Adult education instructors bring from their years of teaching a variety of teaching experiences. They come from the military, from private and public schools. They all must possess credentials in three areas-academics, classroom management and interpersonal relations.
"It takes special skills to work with adults. You can do some things the same way you would with K-12 students, but many things must be done differently," said Elliott Sams, reading specialist at Henry Street. "There is nothing like it. Nothing compares with seeing adults work hard to reach a goal and the

A soft touch and friendly smile from teacher Patricia Bishop at Armstrong lets a student know she is always there and willing to help.
6. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

..... 9 . , _ r. .. Kl

.. i., .

Ii

.. i

...., - _

Special things such as the volunteer library at Henry Street add to the charm of the center. Additional charm of the former elementary school built in the 1890s is the renovation done to the interior.
Jim Bridgman, a Yale graduate, believes adults need functional, basic mathematics, the kind they will encounter in the everyday world, before being exposed to higher mathematic principles. He gives individualized help to students when they encounter difficult problems.

. ~,,;,\

~.
'"'

"'"

'''''.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 7

glow of satisfaction when they finally make it," he said.
Making it in the adult world usually means being literate. A growing number of educators, however, are dissatisfied with the old definitions of literacy, which were based solely on the ability to read and write at a certain grade level. They now say basic skills should be accompanied by survival skills.
A national report says that an estimated 20 percent of adults in this country function with difficulty when it comes to survival skills in five areas-consumer economics, health, government and law, occupational knowledge and community resources. In Chatham and several other counties across the state, life coping skills classes in each of the five areas have begun to help adults deal with adult situations.

All adult education programs have many things in common. They are governed by the same set of guidelines. State funding regulations say that programs can spend 60 percent or more of their allotment for adult basic education but no more than 40 percent for ASE. Reaching individuals who function below eighth grade level is still the state priority.
"Adult education programs differ from county to county or from center to center in some ways, too," said Walker. "Some programs are full-time. Others are part-time. Ditto for teachers. All do not offer the exact same services; they are based on local needs and available funds."
The state supports its adult education program in both word and deed. The federal government requires that states add 10 percent in matching funds

to their allotment for AGE. Georgia gives close to 20 percent.
Local systems support their own programs by providing facilities and other essentials for the classes. Many communities donate goods and services. Classes are held in churches, vo-tech schools, colleges, businesses and civic club facilities as well as in schools.
So even though the older Johnnys have not shared the limelight with their public school youngster, they and other Georgia adults are learning, and in many instances learning again, skills which will allow them to become better individuals, better producers, better citizens. It is the help of Georgia's adult education program, the support of local school systems and the cooperation of community groups which makes this learning possible.

English as a Second Language classes combine traditional lecture-type English names for common household items. Students from South sessions with individualized study. In this class students are learning Africa, South America, the Orient and other places attend class together.

8 Georgia ALERT, December 1981

Georgia's 1982 Teacher of the Year
A Writer Teaching Writers

A student at Baldwin High in Milledgeville anxiously waits for Sandra Worsham, Georgia's 1982 TOTY, to approve his writing for inclusion in the school's literary magazine, Rain Dance Review.

Story by Julia Martin Photos by Glenn Oliver

As the classroom fills with students, restless and

excited because the school day is almost over, each

of their journals, kept in the teacher's desk drawer,

is placed on their desks. Loud, boisterous

teenagers, many with no pencils, begin to settle

down as Sandra Worsham, Georgia's 1982

Teacher of the Year, slowly counts (while passing

out pencils), "One

two

three

.

free write!"

Twenty-four noisy students become so quiet one can hear the lights buzz. Everyone of the students is writing. They have changed from handslapping and laughing to studies. of concentration; from jokers and complainers to feverish writers. Sitting in a student desk, Worsham concentrates and writes with them.

She moves from her thoughts and writings to read those of a student who silently beckons her. She reads what he has written and then writes questions on his paper to make him think and write more. He is writing of finding his girlfriend with another man.

Worsham writes - "Is that what you want your wife to be like?"
The student writes - "No."
Worsham writes - "What do you want?"

The student smiles at her and once again writes feverishly. The quiet of the classroom has been unbroken.
"Stop," Worsham calls, after 10 minutes. The students push their desks into groups of three and four - small helping circles - and read aloud to each other what they have written.
"I remember a picnic when I was a child. We went swimming and laughed because Ron's mother spanked him for getting in the water ..."
"This morning I couldn't talk to anyone. I don't know why. But I can try to write how I feel. Maybe that will help me understand..."
"When I get out of high school I may join the army or stay here and keep my job at the Quick Stop. My girl wants to go to college and I want to tell her not to go. But I would hate myself. It would hurt me more than it would hurt her if I made her stay when she wanted to go . . ."

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 .9

The students encourage each other's writings, making suggestions for improvements. Others burst out saying, "Oh, yeah, that reminds me of something I can write about."
Worsham's two "Writing for Fun and Fluency" classes at Baldwin High School in Milledgeville, have proved successful in teaching students to write, and popular with students, teachers, parents and administrators.
"I have learned," Worsham says, "that basic students improve in all areas of their writing through constant practice. And they improve more by this method than they do through separate English grammar instruction.
"Because of my discoveries in working with these students, I have begun a series of three composition courses for them - courses which begin with increasing fluency and changing attitude; move to gaining control in structure, audience and voice; and end in work with correct ness, editing skills and publication."
The success of the course in changing students' attitudes toward writing can be seen in their comments.
"This course has helped me a lot. Before Icame to it I used to hate to write. I only wrote when I had to but now I write because I enjoy it."
"Free writing really helped me a lot. It was like having someone to talk with about your problems. I mean someone that wouldn't talk back and have

smart comments and laugh at something that isn't really funny at all. It was something that you could sit down and do at school, home or anywhere as long as you had some paper and a pencil."
In Worsham's next class, "The Lively Art of Writing," the students gather around a large helping circle to read their writings. The honesty and trust that Worsham has built in her classroom and between herself and all the students permeate the air.
Mary reads aloud about her mother's having cancer and being at home in such pain. The other students gasp, say, "I'm sorry," and ask, "How is she now?"
Worsham, from her student desk at the outer parts of the circle says quietly, "Frederick, I think the time is right for you to read yours."
He reads of his being overweight and everyone calling him a girl because his breasts are large. He reads, "It took a lot of courage for me to write this, but I wish everyone would treat others as they would like to be treated. I wish you would realize that I am I and you are you."
Worsham's idea for learning through a helping circle grew from her belief that "in order to learn to write, we all have to write - the teacher, too. And we all have to read to other people what we've written, in a community of writers. We can get their opinions and then improve."
She says, "I think it's a sterile situation in which a whole classroom of students have as their only

Worsham believes it is a sterile situation in which writing students have their teacher as their only audience. The popular helping circle in her classroom allows students to read their writings to others to receive comments and criticism. As the school yearprogresses, Worsham moves to the outskirts of the circle and the students become leaders.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981. 11

audience their teacher. They never see what each other is doing, and I think they can learn so much from each other."
Worsham likes the helping circle for another reason, too. "During the years that I have been teaching, the one most liberating idea that I have had is that I could be a full participator within my classroom, that I was not a leader who merely planned and directed, but that I could indulge myself in my own enthusiasm for learning, not outside of the classroom and apart from my students, but within my classroom and with my students.
"I like the helping circle because I, as an adult, not merely a teacher, love to read and write and learn. The circle allows my students and me to learn together. I can write and read as they do," she says.
Worsham has had several short stories and articles published. But she used to separate her own writing from her teaching. Then one quarter she got so disheartened with gray, formula-written papers and essays students were writing (and forced to write) that she began a creative writing class. She modeled the class after her own procedures of writing when she was at home alone, doing things that worked for her and made her write. They worked for her students, too. And Worsham learned that she could write with her students, that she didn't have to leave her notebook at home.
"I became not a teacher teaching writing but, instead, a writer teaching writers. I wrote with my students, not apart from them. And as I wrote honestly, I taught them to write honestly," Worsham says.
And out of all this writing, a literary magazine has grown at Baldwin High, a product which, Worsham says, improves the community's image of the public school. She supervises the annual production of the Rain Dance Review.
To begin the literary magazine was a dream that Worsham made come true. She realized the time and expense such a project would require, but she felt that it would be worth the efforts.
"I was amazed at the good writing which came from our students, and I thought it a shame that I was the only one to enjoy this writing," she says. So she began asking people in the community to donate money to produce the magazine. She began receiving checks in the mail, sometimes collecting as much as $100 in one day. "I began believing in the people of our community in a way that I never had before," Worsham recalls.
"Students were more enthusiastic than I had ever seen them, coming by my room offering to help and asking for deadlines and forms to follow in order to submit their writing. I felt totally supported by students, administration, school board, parents, clubs and other members of the community.
"And since our first publication I have seen something happen which seems close to miraculous to me. The way the people view the

students of the public school seems to be changing. I have been stopped on the street again and again. People say to me, 'I take that book to bed with me at night,' and 'That magazine - how can those teenagers appeal to me, an adult, the way they do.?'"
Worsham sums it up saying, "The community and our students understand one another better now. How much more could I be rewarded?"
Worsham spreads her enthusiasm for teaching and her good teaching techniques through speeches and workshops at professional organization meetings across the country and at colleges in Georgia and neighboring states. She also opens her classroom to graduate students and student teachers who have been drawn by her reputation as a writer/teacher. This year her influence and reputation as a successful writing teacher will be expanded as she teaches a group of local elementary school teachers how to teach writing to their students.

Worsham's work over 13 years of teaching has begun to bring accolades. In addition to being named Georgia's 1982 Teacher of the Year, she was named District 10 English Teacher of the Year in 1981 and was one of three finalists for the title of Georgia English Teacher of the Year. She is Georgia's nominee to the National Teacher of the Year Program.
But these achievements do not mean an end to Worsham's striving for teaching excellence. Part of her philosophy of teaching is that teachers should "continue to be enthusiastic learners as we continue to be teachers."
She says, "The more I teach writing, the more I see that it is tremendously important (1) that I offer the courses, (2) that I make conditions so that students will want to write, and (3) that I step back and let students grow.
"I love teaching. My students are nice people. We have a good time. We are learning."

Worsham, a published writer, used to write only at home. Each day she was eager to return to
her writing. "But when 1 began 10 minutes 0/ /reewriting each day in my classes, l/ound that 1
could write with my students, not apart/rom them. What worked/or me worked/or them. 1didn't
have to leave my notebook at home anymore," she said.

12. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

"A lot of my students had experienced writing mostly as a punishment for being tardy or talking in class," Worsham said. But through her, they have found that writing can be fun. "And by writing a little bit every day about things which interest and concern them, they become good at writing and see its various uses in their lives," she said.

A student shares a favorite short story with Worsham. Enthusiastic reading and writing are not lost arts in Worsham's classroom.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 13

Linda Wright

(f)
co
":r

Is TOTY Runner-up

':"l
~

~

Linda Wright, an eleventh grade English

teacher at Glynn Academy in Brunswick, is

Georgia's 1982 TOTY runner-up.

Wright, who has been teaching for 10 years, joins her students in the classroom by doing many of the writing assignments and special projects herself. "I share my work with them after their papers are evaluated and returned. Then they can see their own ideas in the work I did, and they feel better about their own achievement. And most importantly, because I have established my competence as a writer for them, they trust and respect my evaluations and comments about their own papers," she says.

Wright is also adviser of the school newspaper. In her column in the paper, she tries "to let students see that teachers are people too, and that we do sometimes understand a great deal about what's going on in their lives and at school."

Martha Parker Teaches English to Gifted Students

Gordon High School students in DeKalb "Education is an opening of worlds," she says.

County learn English from TOTY finalist "It is also a mirror of the world. It is the

Martha Parker. She teaches grades eight business of teaching to compel the student to

through 12.

understand, to express and to discover his or

~

Her philosophy is that "teaching has meaning her relation to that world. The aim of

;B
c:
Q)
..r: 0.

only when it can adapt to and address both the needs and the aspirations of students. It must

education is nothing more or less than to teach us to be vividly, responsibly human."

Q)
U5

challenge as it supports.

Parker has taught for 14 years.

Wendell Jackson Teaches Chemistry, Physics

TOTY finalist Wendell Jackson of North now developing procedures to photograph

Gwinnett High School stresses computer celestial objects through the telescope.

work in his classes to "expose the students to Another class researched, designed and began

modern technology, develop a working construction of a solar heating panel. The

knowledge of modern computer languages project is continuing this year.

and develop student programs which deal specifically with classroom projects."
He and one of his physics classes designed and built an eight-inch reflecting telescope, and are

Jackson, who has been teaching for 14 years, believes the ultimate goal of a teacher should be to stimulate in students an appreciation for learning in general.

(f)
co
":r ':"l
i

14. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

'--'-..

' t " ' r., s-.............~ '01 '+ ...

- -_ ... ". -.-

".==-~

C) ill :l :l
Q
~.

Royce Ann Martin, former Air Force officer and Georgia's top vo-tech student for 1981, credits vocational education with giving her life new direction following a serious plane crash.
The Sky's the Limit

For Georgia's Top Vo-Tech Student

Royce Ann Martin enrolled in vocational school following a very low point in her life. After graduating from college, she had been commissioned an officer in the Air Force and a promising future seemed ahead of her. An airplane crash in which she was nearly killed ended her military career. Today, because of vo-tech training, her future looks bright again.
"I am sold on vocational education and its value to the individual and society," she said. "I wish I had known more about it when I graduated from high school."
Martin had studied aircraft maintenance in the Air Force and was still interested in aviation mechanics when she was released from the military. At the suggestion of friends, she enrolled in South Georgia Technical and Vocational School in Americus.
"I had heard from friends who attended South Georgia Tech that it was a fantastic school and that

by Carolyn Smith
the aircraft maintenance program rivaled any in the country," she said.
South Georgia Tech also offered her a chance to work on airplanes, something she could not do as an Air Force officer.
Because of her academic and leadership ability, Martin received the 1981 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership as the most outstanding vocational technical education student in the state. As the GOAL winner she received a new automobile. The GOAL program also recognizes the vo-tech student demonstrating the highest degree of occupational skill with the PRIDE (Performance Recognition Indicating Demonstrated Excellence) award of$l,OOO. Martin won that, too.
The state GOAL winner serves as a spokesperson for vocational-technical education for one year. Martin speaks to civic clubs, students and business

and industry groups about the benefits of vocational education.
Last year she was invited, along with some of the nation's most prominent aerospace figures, to speak at the annual convention of the American Society for Aerospace Education in Seattle, Washington. More recently she was appointed by Governor Busbee to serve on the Georgia Advisory Council on Vocational Education.
As a spokesperson for vocational education, she frequently encounters people who have a negative opinion of vo-tech training. She said that image is held over from a time when vocational education was not as good as it is today.
"The quantity and quality of vocational education programs have come a long way. It used to be considered the only thing a certain kind of student could master. The better students went to college. Some of that negative image is lingering," she said.

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 15

"We need to change society's idea of what vocational education is. It has taken a back seat for so long that our nation is now feeling the ill effects. Jobs are left unfilled due to a severe shortage of skilled labor, yet millions of people are unemployed. " Martin thinks GOAL, which she would like to see become a national event, is one way to bolster the image of vocational education. "GOAL emphasizes the dignity of skilled labor and helps to dispel the myth that the only worthwhile occupation is held by someone in a white shirt and business suit," she said. "In Georgia GOAL has changed many individuals' perception of vocational education. I have seen it happen. And if a national program could be developed, there is the possibility for greater interest and enthusiasm." Martin said she regrets that she did not know more about vo-tech training when she was in high school. "At 18 I had no idea what I wanted for a career. My mom was a nurse, so she pushed nursing school on me. My father thought a college degree offered the most status and best chance for success, so I went to college," she said. When she graduated from college with a degree, but with no experience, she was unable to find a job. "With a little coaxing from my husband, who had already contracted for military duty, Ijoined the Air Force. After all, I was guaranteed a job for four years and the service was the only employer that offered to train me," she said. Along with her husband she was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
Martin, who believes there should be respect for all forms of work, thinks GOAL has helped to improve the image of skilled labor in Georgia.
..
aa..
'":::<::
-u"
Z

A college graduate, Martin has found the aircraft maintenance program at South Georgia Tech much more demanding than college.

"I enjoy flying, but my vision wasn't good enough for military flying, so I chose to go into the related field of aircraft maintenance," she said.
Two years after entering the military she was giving private flight lessons to a friend, and "He zigged when he should have zagged, and it ended up in a messy accident." As a result of multiple injuries received in the accident, she was given a medical discharge from the Air Force.
She had problems with her memory because of a head injury, and on the advice of her doctors put off enrolling in school for quite a while. After a two year recovery period she decided she was ready to pick up her career training again, even though her doctors were still doubtful.
With a four-year college degree and a military background in aircraft maintenance, she assumed the courses could not be too demanding and enrolled in South Georgia Tech. "I decided it was only a vocational school. How challenging could it be?"
She found out the kind of challenge and education South Georgia Tech had to offer, which she, fortunately, handled very well. Instruction in aviation mechanics includes welding, engine overhaul, physics, advanced math, drafting and aerodynamics.
"The courses are more demanding and require much more work than I ever put into college," she said. "It takes a great deal of planning, skill and mental work to take a wrecked airplane and make it as beautiful as the day it came off the assembly line. I'm proud to be able to do that."

Martin obviously excels at her craft, and said she has had only a few problems with acceptance in what is still considered a man's field.
"Many people don't know how to react to a woman in a field traditionally dominated by men," she said. "A woman mechanic conflicts with their image of a lady. Generally, I feel that I have been treated and accepted very well, but I have had to try harder to prove I could do well."
The biggest disadvantage she faced as a student, Martin found, was that she had never worked on cars or with power tools. Most of the men in the class had. But she said, "I quickly caught up through sheer determination and hard work."
She added, however, that she doesn't feel she has to compete with men. "I'm my only competition. I find that I do best when I compete with myself, and if by improving myself I outdo other individuals male or female - that's fine with me."
According to Frankie Williams, a former instructor who nominated her for GOAL, Martin is an exceptional student.
"She is very motivated and intent on learning everything thoroughly. She has unusual drive and wants to be as good as she can possibly be," Williams said.
Martin expects to finish the two year program at South Georgia Tech in February. Already she has been offered jobs by two aircraft manufacturers, but her long range goal is to go into airport management with her husband.

16. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

~..-

. : ":. _ _ ____ .r~"'~..a.-&--.t..:..-,-

_....L-.--..J:

~ewaywewere 1#

Benjamin E. Mays Remembers
Interview and Photos by Stephen Edge
Benjamin E. Mays retired in December as President of the Atlanta Board of Education. In the 60 years since he graduated from tiny Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and went on to Chicago University for two graduate degrees, Dr. Mays has been a mover of the society and people of modernday America and a shaper of their ideals, dreams and realities. He could not even attend school until he was a teenager, but from the lowly beginnings (his father had been a slave, and his mother never attended school a single day) he became a major force in education in the twentieth century. Perhaps the most honored educator in America today, Dr. Mays has received 47 honorary doctorates from such diverse institutions as the University of Liberia and Harvard. He was Dean of the School of Religion at Howard University from 1934 to 1940, was president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967. After retiring from Morehouse, he became a consultant for the U.S. Office of Education but returned to Atlanta to run for the City Board of Education. He was elected Board President during his first term and served as president for 12 years. Dr. Mays has published literally hundreds of articles and collaborated in more than a hundred books. He published his eighth book this year and is working on a ninth about the impact and unfinished business of the Brown Decision of 1954. Interviewed in his memorabilia-crowded study of his Atlanta home, Mays is still speaking out about the crucial issues which affect education and society, especially the direction education is taking under the Reagan administration, the United Negro College Fund (of which he has been a member of the board since 1974) and the continuing struggle of blacks since the Brown us. Topeka Board of Education decision.
On The Current Administration's Education Philosophy. ''I'm disturbed about it. If you do away with the U.S. Department of Education, where are you going to put it, unless you put it in the executive bri'.lnch, which means the President is controlling it. That will do great damage not only to public education, but also to all black higher education - black higher education, as set forth in the United Negro College fund, for some 41 colleges. It would make it more difficult for them, and the money that they have been getting from the
Georgia ALERT, December 1981 17

federal government by way of tuition grants would be taken away. That's a reduction in enrollment, and if you're talking about going to the bank, borrowing money, the interest is too high; you'd be paying anywhere from 15 to 20 percent interest. A lot of poor whites and poor Negroes won't be able to go to college."
On the Civil Rights Commission. "Now you take the man that Reagan fired from the Civil Rights Commission, Dr. Arthur Fleming. He appointed him, so he had a right to fire him if he wanted to, but here's a man who was a dedicated Republican from way back. That disturbs me. Claude Pepper, who's a Democrat, about 82 years old, he sees through it perfectly, he sees not only what (Reagan) is doing to the economy, but what he's doing to the social problems confronting this country. Idon't think the people are going to let him get away with it. It'll be a terrible thing if he does. I know every president wants congenial people around him. I know that. It's like being president of Morehouse College, I would want a faculty that's in harmony with what I was trying to do. But only in that you ought to be dedicated to doing something beneficial for all the people."
On the Brown Decision. "I think in Brown, the unanimous May 17, 1954, decision of the United States Supreme Court, reflects the court's strength and weakness. Now, that may sound paradoxical, but a decision of the United States Supreme Court is what seven out of nine, six out of nine or even five out of nine, say it is. The United States Supreme Court decision is not necessarily a permanent document, just as the justices come and go, and new people are appointed by the President. The Supreme Court reflects the thinking of the people at the particular time a court passes down an opinion. Fifteen years later a majority of the judges can change that decision. Now let me illustrate again why I say that a court's decision is its inherent strength and weakness. When the May 17, 1954, decision was handed down, we all expected more than that decision could possibly bring. So the South said to the court, 'Wait a while, this is too shocking.' You remember that it was not until a year later that the

Supreme Court gave direction on how the decision was to be implemented. So the South called together the southern governors in Richmond, and they said in essence to the court, 'give us time.' And they (the court) did that. And then they appointed the district court to handle it. Then they went back and dug up a pre-Civil War document, which made it possible for the court to set a state opinion over the federal government. And that meant that we had to go back to the Supreme Court to get that cleaned up. One state after another used that same gimmick to keep from implementing the Brown decision."
Twenty years after the Brown decision was handed down, Mays wrote an article entitled, Living With Brown Twenty Years Later, which he is expanding for his current book. He predicts in the book that the Brown decision will not be fully implemented until after the first quarter of the twentyfirst century. He traces the struggle for black equality from Jamestown to the present, touching on the isolated cases and instances which led to the Brown decision. He sees the greatest blow to freedom for blacks after the Civil War as being the compromise reached with southern politicians over the presidential election of 1876, in which the White House was given to Hayes in return for an end to Reconstruction and home rule in the South. In essence, blacks had their freedom then, and it was taken away again. But in the end, Mays feels, no court or law can ever give anyone freedom. "No man is free if he is black and wants to be white, and no white man is free if he wants to be something else. Until a person accepts himself, he is not free."

18. Georgia ALERT, December 1981

:.

.,~_~ .1

..



1

Education Budget Requests
Teacher Salaries Top The List

In spite of stiff competition for scarce state dollars, a recessionary economy and dwindling federal funds, State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel will continue his push for higher teacher salaries during the 1982 legislative session.
The state education budget request for 1983 seeks a beginning teacher salary of $13,000 for school year 1982-83 with comparable increases for teachers at every level of certification and experience. These would come through conversion to the new salary schedule recommended by the State Board Salary Study Commission last year. A master's degree teacher with five years experience, for example, would make $15,819 in state base pay under the new schedule. A teacher with a doctorate and 14 years experience would earn $24,303. Currently their state base salaries are $14,403 and $21,941, respectively.
The salary package, which totals $112.3 million, also includes adding a fifteenth step to the pay schedule, which now pays teachers only through the fourteenth year of experience; it also provides for all supplements paid school personnel to be based on a percentage of the state salary.
"Teacher salaries have been and will remain my top priority," McDaniel stressed. "Even though funds are tight, we must continue to invest as much as we can to attract and keep good classroom teachers. Tax dollars spent to provide good instruction will pay more dividends than any other investment we can make," he said. McDaniel especially wants to see a higher beginning teacher salary that will encourage young people to become teachers. "We have to be able to compete for the best people, to attract men and women into teaching with salaries comparable to those offered by business and industry," he said. Georgia's base salary for a beginning teacher this year is $11,815 compared to $7,991 in 1978. Many local systems also pay supplements to to the state salary.
The state superintendent will also push for an increase in teacher retirement, bringing the formula from 1.92 to 2.00 at a cost of $7.5 million.
To help school systems cope with inflating costs of operating schools, the state request seeks an increase of $300 per teacher for maintenance and operation at a cost of $14.3 million. "Even so, we will not be paying the full costs of heating, cooling, repairing and maintaining our school buildings," McDaniel says.
The superintendent sees a stable funding program for school buildings as another top priority. "Systems must be able to count on a regular, continuous building fund in order to carry out a sound program," he said. "We cannot give them a million

one year and nothing the next. They have to be able to plan." The budget request seeks $150 million in building funds to take care of projected needs and to catch up on entitlements from the current year under H.B. 905. McDaniel expects Governor Busbee to recommend the issuance of bonds to finance the building program.
McDaniel also puts high priority on $2.2 million to help school systems implement the State Board of Education's new graduation requirements. Because high schools will be required to increase their recordkeeping on individual students as they put the new program into effect, the superintendent will ask the legislature for 387 record clerks, one for each school having a ninth grade.
Other major budget items in the state request include the following.
State-level technical assistance to aid school systems in the effective use of computers in classroom instruction ($54,000).
Funds to purchase high technology equipment for vocational training of students in high speed

tooling and other advanced technologies; also equipment for training in digital, microprocessor and programmable controls and equipment for new comprehensive high schools ($6.8 million). 55 additional psychologists/psychometrists to increase the allotment ratio to 1:3,500 to aid systems in meeting the needs of handicapped students for psychological testing ($960,000). 44 additional public librarians and additional public library materials ($1.06 million). Funding of a full-day kindergarten program at a pupil-teacher ratio of 1:20 ($5.7 million). An increase of 1.5 cents per meal served in the school lunch program ($2.2 million). Additional compensatory educational funds, especially for 51,505 students in the ninth and tenth grades ($10.8 million).
Superintendent McDaniel expects the legislature will spend most of its time wrestling with the state budget. Other legislative issues are likely to concern the governance of psychoeducation centers and the roles of visiting teachers/school social workers. Should issues of curriculum emerge, McDaniel will maintain his position that the state should not legislate curriculum.

Beginning Teacher Salaries in Georgia:
Percent of Annual Increase in State Base Pay Compared to Annual Inflation Rate

Percent
15

10
5
oU 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 Editor's note: Ouer the past 10 years the annual inflation rate has exceeded teacher salary increases by 13 percent. In only four of the last 10 years has the percentage of increase in teachers' salaries (state base pay) exceeded the annual inflation rate. Note that in 1976 teachers receiued no increase, while the annual inflation rate was 9.1 percent.

State beginning teacher salaries for the years shown on the chart are as follows.

1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981. 1982

$5,800 $6,300 $6,647 $6,979 $6,979 $7,468 $7,991 $8,590 $9,641 $10,581 $11,815

I Inflation
Teacher
-Salaries

I

Georgia ALERT, December 1981 19

BoIIpinf1oPs

Patchwork for Education - A colorful and unique quilt was unveiled in the State Capitol as part of American Education Week. Representatives from over 100 school systems worked on the quilt, which will eventually be placed on permanent display in the capitol, according to a representative of the Georgia Association of Educators which sponsored the activity.

In His Honor - A classroom building at the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon has been named the Roy A. Hendricks Classroom Building, in honor of the former state board chairman. The building was dedicated December 13.


The State Supreme Court has reversed the decision of Judge Dan Winn on Georgia's system of financing public education. The Court unanimously upheld the state's position, finding that Georgia's system is constitutional. State Superintendent Charles McDaniel says the Winn Case has served to point up some problems and inequities in Georgia's current education financing system. "These still exist, and I hope that our state will address them in the years ahead as we continue to improve all aspects of our public school system," he said.

They May Be in the Money - The Northside School for Performing Arts in Atlanta has been selected as one of 20 finalists out of 600 across the nation to be considered for a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for Arts in Education. A team from the Rockefeller Foundation will visit the school on January 11. The grant could be for as much as $10,000 for five years, according to Billy Densmore, director of the school.

Curriculum Review, the nation's only publication specializing in evaluations of textbooks and supplementary materials for curriculum planning, has launched a new series of four Subject Editions for teachers. The Subject Editions - in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies - are published five times a year during the school year as is the standard edition of Curriculum Review. For more information contact Irene
Goldman, Editor, Curriculum Review, 500 S. Clinton St., Chicago, Illinois 60607.
Ul ~ ':0r
'":::l
~ ~


She Meets Their Special Needs - Gwen Seanor, a teacher at Fitzgerald Elementary School, uses a special approach to reach her students with special needs. She uses the arts in all subjects to motivate, illustrate and enhance learning activities for her students. Her teaching approach is featured in Arts in the Classroom: What One Elementary Teacher Can Do. For a copy of this publication write The Arts, Education, and Americans, Inc., Box 5297, Grand Central Station, New York, New York 10163.

A Fine Kettle of Fiche - The state education department's Division of Public Library Services recently presented a micro fiche copy of the AtlantaAthens Area Union Catalog to the Carter Presidential Materials Project. The Union Catalog, begun in 1940 by the University Center in Georgia,lists almost two million books owned by participating libraries. Through the Georgia Library Information Network, operated by the Division of Public Library Services, citizens across the state have access to the resources of these libraries through the interlibrary loan services of their regional or county public library systems.

It Makes a Difference - Compensatory education does make a difference in student achievement, according to a study recently completed by the Georgia Department of Education. Reading and mathematics scores from 106 school systems were used for the study, which tested 23,025 students in reading and 14,805 in mathematics. Students tested in reading made an average gain across grades one through eight of a little more than eight months, which is similar to the achievement growth of regular students. The gain in mathematics skills was even better, nearly nine months.

December 1981 Vol. 13. No.2

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver
Graphics - Elaine Pierce Typesetting. Teresa Ross and Gee Je Huddleston Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer. Elliott Mackie. Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy. Barbara Perkins. Anne Raymond and Carolyn Smith.

The Georgia Department of Educal/On does not discriminote in employment or educational actiuities on the basis of race, color. national origin. sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Division

~

Office of Administrative Services

Georgia Department of Education

~

103 State Office Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 6562476

B:DPRB:ee

20 Georgia ALERT, December 1981

Cost $4311.64 Quantity 10M

Received

E530602UNIEL IBRO

UN IV ERS I TY J~~ gf80~A

II BR ARY

ATHENS

GA DOCUMENTS

UGA LIBRARIES

30602

Letters to the Editor
Kind Words From Adult Education
I was quite impressed with the Adult Education story written by Barbara Perkins and featured in Georgia ALERT. The manuscript is indeed well done and accurate. The pictures themselves also tell a story and they so well contribute to the attractiveness and meaningfulness of the narrative.
Margaret L. Walker Coordinator, Adult Education Georgia Department of Education
Thank you for the article on Adult Education in the December 1981 edition of Georgia ALERT. Those of us who work with the program really appreciated the feature. It was very well done.
Susan W. Hackney Coordinator Polk-Floyd-Chattooga Adult Education Program
... And The News Media
I am currently involved with a series of three-minute features on different aspects of education in Chatham County. Your publication, the Georgia ALERT, came highly recommended as resource material by our school board's Public Relations Director, Jeryl Davis. Could you possibly add us to your mailing list? I'm sure the Georgia ALERT will help us in our efforts to promote Georgia's educational system.
Ramey L. Becker News and Public Affairs Director WSVH-FM, Savannah

Contents

~ewaymmre

In March 1940 the Georgia Department of Education moved into offices on the lower level and street floors of the state office building, for which the cornerstone was laid in 1939. A construction project of the Public Works Administration during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term, the building cost $800,000 and housed the state education and health departments. The federal government paid 45 percent of the building costs. Governor at the time E.D. Rivers was told by legislators that the new building was too large and would never be used for anything but "to store hay."
State School Commissioner M.D. Collins moved from the department of education's offices in the Capitol basement with a state staff of 112 employees. Collins' office on the right corner of the new facility overlooked a boarding house next door.
A March 7, 1940 article in the Bainbridge Post Searchlight described the move, "Two chairs, originally bright birdseye maple ... have become the most prized possessions in the new office of

State School Superintendent M.D. Collins. The chairs represent almost all that remains of the original capitol furnishings purchased by General John B. Gordon when he was governor of Georgia.
"In the course of moving his office to the new building, Dr. Collins found the two chairs. One had been in the education department . . . The other had been discarded by some other agency. The school head had them carefully restored and upholstered in red leather. A table purchased by General Gordon at the same time is in another office in the education department."
Street parking was allowed on Capitol Place, which was a two-way street. The "Education" stone tablets over the entrance were swapped with "Health" as the department occupied more space in later years. Last month the department of education vacated this building for a new home, floors 14 through 20 in the east tower of the new Twin Towers Office Building (inset). Next issue of ALERT will feature education's third home on Capitol Hill.

Features

Pretty Near Perfect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 Two Georgia eighth grade classes vie for perfect attendance record.

Behind-the-wheel Emergencies

,6

Looking Tragedy in the Eye

Georgia's Multisystem Schools. . . . . . . . .. 11
Where One + One =Better Education

Computer Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17 Future Shock in Georgia Schools?

Phillip Terry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22 One of the People Who Make Public Schools Go

Departments

The Way We Were

2

Letters

2

Legislative Wrap Up

21

Bellringers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24

Cover: Donna Ferguson, a junior at Tri-County High School in Buena Vista, can take graphic arts at the comprehensive multisystem school, a course that would not have been available in her home county. Photograph by Stephen Edge.

2 Georgia ALERT, June 1982

.... ~:"r;,,\

Pretty Near Perfect

Story by Barbara Perkins and Photos by Glenn Oliver
The persistent, unrelenting determination attributed to U.S. mail carriers and Die Hard batteries is being equalled by Georgia students in two northwest counties. Enthusiastic eighth grade classes in Whitfield and Catoosa counties have set out to come to school every day for a whole school year, and so far, neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor gloom of daybreak nor missed buses nor common flu has stayed one of the little diehards from 8:20 roll call.
Perfect attendance for a school year by an individual student happens in just about every Georgia school system, but whole classes coming to school each day, day after day, month after month, is an uncommon occurrence. So uncommon, in fact, that statewide attention has been focused on the north Georgia groups.

Ringgold
Nat Halverson's homeroom of 20 eighth grade guys at Ringgold Junior High School in Catoosa County didn't set out to make 180 days of attendance. Their initial goal was to break the state record of 82 days set last year by Helen Herring's third grade class at

Goble's eighth grade class at Eastbrook Middle School: 1. Jackie Shipman 2. Karrie Wells 3. Donna Pendley 4. Elisa Langley 5. Kim Clayton 6. Vonda Owenby 7. Anna Garcia 8. Connie Deuerell 9. Laura Duke 10. Shomalee Kurta 11. Joyce Crain 12. Lanee Long 13. Greg Hopkins 14. Teresa Langley 15. Kristi Anderson 16. Teacher Carol Goble 17. Kenny Dillard 18. Shelley Phillips 19. Lon Acree 20. Tim Pike 21. Greg Gallman 22. Prinicpal Jimmy Witherow 23. Steue Cockburn 24. Gary Allen 25. Teresa Dauis 26. Scott Marcus 27. Dana Wright 28. Mark Luckett 29. Maureen Campbell 30. Dauid Lawson 31. Bit Laster 32. Richard Fowler 33. Bill Swafford
Georgia ALERT, June 1982.3

Morris Street School in Dalton and to earn rewards the county board of education had pledged to the winner.
Catoosa County set aside $1,000 (to be used for maintenance and operation) for the school and $300 (to be used for classroom improvement) for the class which broke the state perfect attendance record. What resulted was a 96 plus percent attendance rate for the county and a homeroom well on its way to perfect attendance for the year.
After the class had passed day 83 and was still going strong, Halverson tacked a $100 bill to his bulletin board and said it would go to anyone who lasted a full 180 days. He has not recorded an absence yet.
A local Mazda dealer, father of a Ringgold student, sweetened the pot by matching Halverson's bill with one of his own. Now, for the 20 boys, it's 180 days or bust!
Halverson says the $200 is not the only incentive for the students. He feels the recognition, the feeling of accomplishment, the being treated special is just as or more important.
Each month without an absence earns the class a trip to McDonalds. Spring break was highlighted by a day at Six Flags. And Halverson is asking local businesses to furnish a trip to the world's fair for the class if it makes 100 percent the school year.
Principal Melvin Edwards said Halverson's shop class is an added incentive for the students to come to school. It is one of the most popular classes in the school and open only to eighth grade students, therefore they feel they are getting a treat this year.
Student Jeff Pritchett said he comes to school for the money. Thad Cunningham admitted he does too, but also likes the special activities, especially McDonalds. And Tony Milford, who agreed with them both, added he comes because he doesn't want to let the group down.
Nothing motivates junior high students to feats of grandeur like a bit of friendly competition. After Ringgold students passed the state record they surprisingly found they were running neck and neck with a group at Eastbrook Middle School over in the next county.
The situation has prompted some friendly interchange between the schools. Ringgold's secretary reportedly called Eastbrook's principal and invited their perfect attendance class to come for the day at Six Flags. Eastbrook's principal reportedly said they'd love to, except it would mean missing a day of school. To which the secretary blithely replied, "Oh, don't let that bother you."
Ringgold went to Six Flags alone.
Students are liking school better as a result of the contest. And though it has not been documented that their grades have improved, they say they are finding it easier to keep up with class work.
Edwards and Halverson echoed, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they make it all year."

For some students coming to school each day is a way of life. For others it's new, different,
something they have never tried before.

Eastbrook
The 13 boys and 18 girls in Carol Goble's home- . room at Eastbrook Middle feel they have 180 days in the bag. So confident are they of perfect attendance for this year, they have asked to be put into homeroom together again next year to continue a Guinness Book-like record.
Some of these students have made what seems to them tremendous sacrifices. Two boys who normally go on a hunting trip together each year gave it up this year. One youngster insisted on coming to school with a 102 degree temperature. Teachers kept a close watch on him throughout the day.
Don Thomas, chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Education and a practicing physician, said while he does not make house calls, he will make school calls for any student who needs attention. Luckily, his services have not been required.
Most of the students have brothers and sisters in school, but they do not succumb to the various complaints that on some school mornings leave their siblings in bed gently snoozing.
Many of these youngsters say they will come to school no matter what, even if it means having to walk. A few who made that claim live as far as 10 miles from campus.
What brings these students to school morning after morning without fail? The anticipated thrill of victory and the enjoyment of being celebrities.
Atlanta Falcons player William Andrews has sent them an autographed banner. Western Sizzlin has treated them to steak dinners. A larger-than-lifesize banner congratulating the class on breaking the state record was hung over a major thoroughfare in Dalton. The whole middle school is behind the group 100 percent. A youngster in a lower grade said he was proud of Goble's class because, "It's important when your school has something special going for it."
"Our school system theme for the year is 'Whitfield County - Positive People,' said Principal Jimmie Witherow. "And the kids, with the school and whole community behind them, exemplify that."
Goble claims her homeroom is self-motivated. "They started it all by themselves," she said. When after the first month of school they realized they had been to school every day, a student suggested trying to break Herring's class's record. "We did

that, and from there it was let's make 180 days. Now that we're well on our way, the students are talking about continuing next year. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they make it."
Parallels
State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel said he is both delighted and surprised by the perfect attendance classes.
''I'm delighted because the students, teachers and superintendents in these counties are excited about what's going on. And they have a right to be. They have accomplished a lot and are working toward an even greater accomplishment.
"I'm surprised because these schools are located in an area that gets very cold. You might expect them to have a lower attendance rate than some warmer parts of the state. But that isn't so."
That the schools are in adjacent counties, that both classes are eighth grade students and that neither knew the other was making perfect attendance until both broke the state record are just a few of the parallels involved.
Neither of the classes was specially organized of marathon attenders. Both have students who come to school regularly and some who generally miss a great number of days each year. A student at Ringgold spent 26 days last year out with the flu.
Another coincidence is that both classes contain at least one fraternal twin. Gary Brown at Ringgold is making perfect attendance in Halverson's class. So is his twin brother in another homeroom. Teresa and Elisa Langley at Eastbrook are making perfect attendance together.
A parallel which cannot be attributed to coincidence is the excitement that has been generated among parents and in the community. Both teachers agree that parents have cooperated to the fullest. They have brought their children to school when they missed their buses. They have encouraged them to succeed. Goble sends home thank-you notes each month in appreciation to parents.
The two classes are more than three-fourths of the way to goal. Will they make it? It only takes 180 days ... but who's counting!

4. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

~.

~

.:.'~'

---'1~

Halverson's eighth grade homeroom at Ringgold Junior High: 1. Mike Moore 2. Mark Maharrey 3. Bucky Christian 4. Gary Brown 5. Teacher Nat Halverson 6. Billy Herring 7. Michael Roberson B. Scott Johnson 9. Brian Herndon 10. Mike Burnette 11. Jeff Pritchett 12. Matt Wilson 13. Jeff Ryan 14. Tony Tyrrell 15. Charles Bearden 16. Tony Milford 17. Chris Breneman lB. Principal Melvin Edwards 19. Tony Womack 20. Thad Cunningham 21. Scott Stepp 22. Tony Walker

The Tie
Is Broken
Before going to press ALERT discovered Goble's class at Eastbrook is number one. A student in Halverson's class, after 145 days of perfect attendance, had to miss a day of school because of a death in his family.
Georgia ALERT, June 1982 .5

Skid Control

"Now when we enter the skid pan, I'm going to lock your front brakes. I want you to try to steer the car. You'll find that no matter how you turn the wheel, the car will continue in the direction it was headed when the brakes locked." Gilbert Drake (above right), emergency reaction instructor with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company's skid control school, gives teacher Joe Walls ofAtlanta's Therrell High School/inal instructions prior to entering Rabun County High School's

skid course. At left, Walls tries in vain to steer his car as it slides along the slick pavement. The locked brakes are controlled by Drake via remote control. Driver training teachers participating in an emergency reaction workshop get a more thrilling ride when Drake locks the rear brakes, causing the car to spin 180 degrees (series at right). During training sessions sprinklers keep the chemically sealed pavement slippery.

6. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

--------- ._...

. ~"'~'-"

(

.i i '

hen to Zig and
hen to Zag

Story and Photos by Glenn Oliver

After a long day at work, Quinton was driving home the same route he had used thousands of times before. He had a lot on his mind, and when he rounded the bend, he didn't notice the wet surface left by a shower earlier in the evening - not until his rear tires started to skid. By then it was too late. His car was sliding and swerving uncontrollably.
A skid is terrifying even to someone with years of driving experience. But skidding is a fact of driving and is a major contributing factor in one of every four serious accidents. Yet skids remain a mystery to most motorists. In all probability, Quinton will never understand the real cause of his skid, and even worse, will not know how to handle the same skid if it happens to him again.
Proper driver response to skids as well as other emergency situations can be taught, however. The Georgia Department of Education thinks these skills should be taught to students early in their driving careers and is moving to integrate this training into the present driver

education program in the 45 schools with off-street driving ranges.
Georgia driver education instructors are now learning, through a series of advanced driving technique workshops, how to handle the variety of emergencies they will eventually teach at their schools. Training is coordinated by the department's driver education and traffic safety consultant J.B. Angelo Crowe. ALERT spent a day at one of these workshops photographing 17 teachers being put through the paces on Rabun County High School's new driving range.
Both the classroom and driving range phases of the workshop were conducted by Gilbert Drake of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company's Research Center and Skid Control School in Hopkinton, Massachussets. The training emphasized driver and vehicle capabilities and limitations and covered serpentine maneuvers, constant cornering, off-road recovery, controlled braking, evasive maneuvers and skid control.

Georgia ALERT, June 1982 7

Serpentine Maneuver
Tires squeal in protest as a workshop participant, above, weaves his car through the pylons on the serpentine course. By keeping a constant speed through the pylons, drivers get an idea of how the vehicle will handle in emergency situations. At right, driver training teachers GeneMcDuf/iefrom Marietta's Sprayberry High School and Jerry Arnold /rom Carrollton High School lay out the serpentine course.
8 Georgia ALERT, June 1982

... ~_"."T"'::::-".

._ '.

i,;t

+ .~

Off-the-Road Recovery
With the traffic lane blocked by pylons, the driver is forced onto the shoulder of the road. Returning to the roadway is tricky - the driver must turn sharply onto the pavement and immediately straighten the vehicle to avoid oncoming traffic. When emergencies are simulated on offstreet driving ranges such as the new Rabun County High School facility, right, learning can take place safely.
Classroom Inst'ruction
During the course of an instructors' advanced workshop, Gilbert Drake spends several hours with participants (left and below) rehearsing the theory of emergency driving techniques and offstreet driving range layout. Classroom work emphasizes driver and vehicle capabilities and limitations and allows everyone to visualize the causes and effects of the emergencies to be simulated in the behind-the-wheel part of the program.
Georgia ALERT, June 1982.9

Blow-Out Simulation

A blow-out on the highway can spell disaster if the driver panics. Proper response can be taught through simulation. An emergency reaction

workshop participant, below, brings his vehicle to a thumping halt after a special blow-out valve deflated his tire.

Critique Session
Nervous laughter is the usual driver response after piloting a skidding, spinning automobile on water-slicked pavement. Jerry Arnold listens to Gilbert Drake's critique of his performance behind the wheel.
10. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

Blow-Out Simulator
The special valve used in the simulation is activated by the instructor from the front passenger seat. The tire is reinflated by an air compressor in the car's trunk connected by hose to the center of the valve.

Multicounty High Schools
Comprehensive
Education
In Rural
Georgia

Story by Carolyn Smith and Photos by Stephen Edge

In the tiny community of Draneville, just outside Buena Vista in southern Marion County, public education history was made in the fall of 1975 - Tri-County High School began its first year of operation. As the name indicates, the school serves students in three counties - the first multicounty high school in the state. The merger of the high schools of Webster, Schley and Marion counties also gave each group of students access to a comprehensive high school for the first time.

Comprehensive high schools offer a strong academic program for students who are college bound, as well as a variety of vocational courses to prepare students for entrylevel employment or additional vocational training once they complete high school. Because they provide such a diverse program, the schools can meet the needs of all students in a community. Comprehensive high schools were introduced in Georgia in 1965 for just that reason.

~

But state funding for these schools is based on the number

~

of students enrolled, so the schools are available only to

areas with large student populations. Before Tri-County

and other multicounty high schools were built - all of which

are comprehensive - students in sparsely populated rural

Georgia often did not have the advantage of a well-rounded

educational program. The people in Marion, Webster and

Schley counties decided to remedy this situation and began

planning for the new school in the early 1970s.

"At that time," recalled Jim Gurley, Georgia Department of Education regional director for 17 school systems in the southwest Georgia area, "public schools in this part of Georgia were at a crossroads. The one big thing that this school and others like it have done is to restore confidence, commitment and pride in public education. And it costs us less to get the results collectively we couldn't get alone."

The number and quality of courses T ri-County offers is a big improvement over what was provided by each of the three smaller schools before they pooled their resources.

In the roomy chemistry labs at Mitchell-Baker, students can work independently on experiments.
Georgia ALERT, June 1982.11

It
- _ . ':1"

One feature of Mitchell-Baker is an area which allows students a private place to study.

I
The spacious cafeteria area at Mitchell-Baker doubles as an informal classroom and as a place fo

Students from Webster, Schley and Marion counties now have more variety in vocational courses, such

Schley County school superintendent Arthur T. Miller remembers one problem the school solved for students in his county. "We had to alternate some classes because we were so small. We would offer chemistry one year and physics the next. We did the same thing with bookkeeping and shorthand," he said.
Now, the courses are scheduled every year, and academic classes are divided into three sections so students in each are learning at about the same rate. And vocational courses, once limited to home economics and agriculture, now include graphic arts, health occupations and many more.
Tri-County also offers more extracurricular activities. Before the merger neither school had a football team or much variety in any of their athletic programs.
As the first joint effort by two or more systems, TriCounty has been an example for other multicounty high schools in Georgia. "All of the systems that have built multicounty high schools have been here to talk with us. They have used Tri-County as a model to avoid some of the problems we had," said principal Dennis Tipton.
One of the first problems was to convince the communities involved that a merger would not mean a total loss of identity, but would greatly improve the quality of education for students in all three counties.
"We didn't have nearly the problem we thought we would have," Miller said, attributing the success to the effort that went into communicating with everybody involved. "We had community meetings to explain what was being proposed to parents and students. We also had numerous faculty meetings with all three schools.
"The first principal here, George McGlaun, also met with the student councils of each school, and they decided on a new mascot and school colors," Miller said.
12 Georgia ALERT, June 1982

'''-

,'.,

as appliance repair.

A modern, well-equipped library is essential to every school. Tri-County's combination library and media center houses 15,000 books and rivals any in the state.
Basic photography, printing and design are part of the graphic arts class at Tri-County High.
~

~'

Georgia ALERT, June 1982 13

Mitchell-Baker, now in its first year of operation, is one of the newest multicounty high schools in Georgia.

Teamwork is an important factor in the success of Georgia's multicounty high schools.
A comprehensive education in multicounty high schools includes a strong program ofacademics for college bound students.

Art classes are part of the well-rounded program available to students at MitchellBaker.

14. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

Tri-County is the only multicounty school that serves students from three systems. All the other mergers have been between two. Randolph-Clay High School in Cuthbert opened in 1980. StewartQuitman in Lumpkin and Mitchell-Baker in Camilla began classes last fall. A fifth school, GreeneTaliaferro in Greensboro, is scheduled to open in September. Another - for West Point City and Troup County - is being planned.
When school systems decide that they want to build a joint high school, they must sign a contract spelling out the responsibilities of each. The cost of building and equipping a multicounty school is paid for with state funds, and the school systems pay the operating costs, according to Curtis Kingsley, coordinator for comprehensive program development, Georgia Department of Education. In addition each system must provide transportation for its students once the school is open.
The state requires that the staffs of each school help determine the curriculum and the design of the building. "The local systems also determine where the school will be located. Usually the receiving system is the one with the largest number of students. The sending system agrees to send students to the new school for 25 years," Kingsley said.
The sending system's official representative is the superintendent, and there also may be an informal arrangement to involve each system in decisions affecting the school. However, the school is operated by the board of education of the receiving system.
Whatever usable equipment and supplies each party in the consolidation can provide are donated to the new school. In most cases the buildings that are vacated are converted to either elementary or junior high schools, allowing for expansion of programs for students in lower grades.
It is quite a transition to move from a small school of a few hundred people where everybody knows everybody else to a spacious new building with a thousand or more students. While Tri-County has been open for six years and is over that period, at Mitchell-Baker High School, which is in its first year of operation, the students and faculty are still adjusting.
Early Johnson, who is finishing his senior year at a brand new school, said "I had some doubts about whether I would like it because of the size and because there would be so many new people. But it's pretty and has a lot of things the other school didn't have, and I like the people."
"I just love it," said junior Lynn Vickers. "We get to do a lot more since it is such a large school. We have a lot more room and it's a nice place."
"I don't like being closed in," said Paschael Bryant, a junior commenting on the courtyard to which students are restricted when they go outside during their breaks. "The open classrooms also make it hard to concentrate because sometimes you can hear the students and teachers in other classes."

James Shewmake, who was principal at Baker County High School and now teaches English Literature at Mitchell-Baker, said he misses the personal contact of being in a small school.
"I never see many of the students or teachers because of the size of the school. But we can offer students more variety here, and the value of being able to broaden the academic effort is worth it," he said.
In both counties there were people who were against the consolidation, but now that the school is open opposition is subsiding, according to MitchellBaker Principal James L. Pate.
"There was a lack of total community support in both counties. Many people felt this school would increase taxes tremendously, and it has somewhat. But because of the pride in the school and the

expanded curriculum, I think the opposition is waning," he said.
English teacher Joyce Gurley predicted that opposition would continue to decrease. "I knew this was going to be a great school. I had been in a consolidation before and knew the problems we faced. But once people get over the idea that it will be the end of their town, there is no problem with community support. They realize that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages," Gurley said.
There is one overriding advantage. For the systems that have built them, multicounty high schools have improved the quality of education for their students. By providing them with a comprehensive program of vocational and academic courses, students in these schools now have available to them facilities that are among the best in the state.

Home economics was one of the limited offerings at the three high schools before the Tri-County merger. Now it is one of the many choices.

<. 'It tlI ... 0> ....
Q U.
"ll <:> Q
~
g

Georgia ALERT, June 1982.15

Computer printouts are
becoming as common as
textbooks in some Georgia public school classrooms.
16. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

i-: r'

t

"

'l~~<- ..~_~.-"":;::;A,,"c"'-'''

t

.'-....0' -, -.

~ ..:_~.,._-_ ... _

~..O . , 0 '

'\-'0".':" :.~~

$-m,~.'".'.''' . - _ . ,. ,. ,

'.'1'

Computers

Future Shock In Georgia Public Schools?

Story by Julia Martin and Photos by Stephen Edge

Public schools are responsible for making the public literate. But in today's world, should that charge include computer literacy? Education USA, a weekly newsletter published by the National School Public Relations Association, reports, "Students today will have their futures, and much of their present, dominated by electronic wizardry. And unless they have an understanding of and the ability to use the new technology, they will be as illiterate as persons today who cannot read or write."
Computer literacy entails both an awareness level and a functional level. For students simply to know that computers exist and are used in today's world is not adequate. A knowledge of how to use computers is becoming increasingly necessary.
In his booklet, "School Administrator's Introduction to Instructional Use of Computers," David Moursund argues for computer literacy.
"Students take bookkeeping courses in which they learn by-hand methods. But now use of computers for accounting and recordkeeping is commonplace. Students learn to type, but they do not learn to use a word processing system. But word processing . . . is becoming common in the modern business office.
"Paper and pencil remain essential tools. (But) we need to prepare our students to work with the computer, rather than to compete with it."
Computer-assisted instruction (CAl) is becoming a necessity in today's classrooms. Accustomed to playing video games during their leisure time and possibly having computers in their homes, students may feel a slowdown when they use paper, pencils and textbooks in the classroom.
Many Georgia school personnel are beginning to support the use of computers in schools, not only in the classroom, but also in school offices. Georgia educators who have taken the first steps in computer implementation are more than willing to share their knowledge with others.
DeKalb County Schools began putting computers in their classrooms six years ago. All 23 high schools now have two Apple computers and two terminals

connected to time-sharing units. There is at least one computer in each of the 80 elementary schools. There is a computer lab for training teachers, computers in the central office for payroll and recordkeeping and computers to train parents as school volunteers. There are computer programs for teaching English to foreign students, programs for teaching remedial reading skills to second graders and computer programming to high school students.
Computers in the classroom are no good unless teachers are trained to use them, says Frank Barber, CAl coordinator, DeKalb County Schools. Forty teachers can be trained in DeKalb's computer lab each quarter.
"Six years ago our administration was buying computers for recordkeeping. One of the associate superintendents suggested buying some computers for the classrooms, and it has all grown from there," said Frank Barber, CAl coordinator for DeKalb County Schools. In Paul Horsley's class at Clarkston High, students may take a computer exploration course and three advanced courses. Students get at least 10 minutes each day on the machines during class and can come in before and after school and during lunch. The room is always full of students," Horsley said.

Barber agreed, "When I was a high school math teacher, nothing made as big a difference with my students as their reaction to a computer. More of them got interested in math and its real world applications. They even came to school early."
In Judy Valentine's class at Indian Creek Elementary, two small boys are learning contractions. They squeal with delight each time their answer is correct and the computer screen reads, "Fantastic. You're right. Let's do another one. "
English as a Second Language teachers are using "super-talkers" with the computers, according to Barber. The program enables the computer to pronounce English words to the student who can then repeat the pronunciation.
"A computer program such as this is a great expanded teaching tool for ESL teachers," Barber said. "So many of these teachers have to go from school to school to reach other students, but the computer continues the teaching."
Six elementary schools in DeKalb have a "Computer Moms" program. According to Charlotte Curran, program coordinator, many parents wanted to volunteer time in the schools and wanted to work with the computers.
"A lot of the volunteers are mothers who previously worked as computer programmers but are at home now. In the fall of 1981 we had about 15 parents in a training session to learn about computer software and how to use the computers. We've had close to 100 people go through the program now. They go back to their various schools and help students in the classroom with computers. Some volunteers are even writing programs for the teachers," Curran said.
"But it doesn't matter what kinds of machines or programs you have unless you have trained classroom teachers," Barber said. "They make the difference. "
In DeKalb's computer training lab there are 40 slots each quarter for teachers plus seven computer classes during the summer. Each course is 50 hours.

Georgia ALERT, June 1982. 17

Many Georgia educators believe that public schools must begin producing students who are computer literate.

Students at Peach County High School work on computers donated by The Blue Bird Body Company. Some school systems are able to buy classroom computers with the help of local businesses.

Using computers for school recordkeeping attracts the interest ofmany School, shows Baldwin County representatives how his computer school administrators. B.J. McClendon, principal ofPeach County High eases competency-based education paperwork.

- di

18. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

Learning contractions and computer skills delights this second grader at Indian Creek Elementary School in DeKalb County.
"I have taught about 1,600 teachers to use the computer in some way," Barber said. "At least one teacher in every school has taken the class and every high school has a person taking an advanced computer course."
DeKalb teachers are encouraged to be creative with the computer programs they present to their students in addition to using the software available from the system office.
The success of DeKalb's computer program? Barber said, "There are four major components in any successful program - people, software, hardware and a plan that knits all of those together to deliver what's best to students. Parents and other people in DeKalb are excited about computers because they recognize it's good for the kids - it's something they will have to have."
Barber sees the future of computers in the classroom as three-fold. "We have to keep abreast of computer technology, balance the three factors of people, software and hardware, and find inexpensive ways to get every student to a computer. There's just no way some systems can spend money on computers," he said.
But B.J. McClendon, principal of Peach County High School, has no worries when it comes to money for computers. He has a supportive business community. The Blue Bird Body Company, headquartered in Fort Valley, recently presented the school board with $10,000 to purchase classroom computers and has pledged $20,000 more over the next two years. The high school's five-computer classroom will expand to 30 computers for math and science study.
"The people at Blue Bird just see the value of teaching our students computer literacy. For the ones who stay in the county and work after high school graduation, knowing computers is a valuable skill," McClendon said. "And more and more of our students who go to college need to know computers, too." Blue Bird officials know that it is easier for them to recruit employees when the community's schools offer good programs.
McClendon began using a computer several years ago in his office to keep track of paperwork required for competency-based education requirements. His calendar is filled with appointments with personnel from other school systems who are eager to learn how a computer can ease their paperwork.

.) ....-..

2"7'.....!- ~

. . ...:..~~~.~:...;...J.~."

~'''3.. ...:,"-~.::;;......:...;'~"

-,..-__t -

Georgia ALERT, June 1982.19

J
Projections of the five fastest growingjobs during this decade show that classes at Clarkston High in DeKalb County will get a good head start numbers one, two and five will be computer jobs. Students in computer on the future.

"I'm glad to show them aliI know. It sure works for me," McClendon said.
He also uses the computer to grade tests, list student and faculty addresses, work out the course schedules and register students each semester. In fact, one of the timesavers McClendon is most proud of is his program for the computer to work out course schedules.
"I used to spend two weeks, eight hours a day, during the summer with a secretary and two eETA workers to make out our conflict matrix," he said. "Now with the computer I can type in the proper information in 30 seconds, do another job and in

two hours the computer has the conflict matrix done for me."
Is there any advice for school systems feeling left behind in the educational computer race? Tom Broom, CAl consultant for the Georgia Department of Education, said, "We don't want people to get in a hurry to buy computers. We've got plenty of time to do it right.
"One of the biggest mistakes a school system could make would be to buy a computer and then worry about instructional programs and how the computer will be used. They may find out that the computer they have spent a lot of money on doesn't

fit their needs.
"Systems should have a committee to determine computer needs, whether they're for the classroom or for administration. Once needs are determined, they should then find instructional programs or software that meet their needs. Then they can buy a computer that works for them. They're all different," Broom said.
Broom, Barber and McClendon are only a few of the many in the state who want to see good computer programs a reality in Georgia schools. Working together, the job can be done, and it need not be future shock.

20 Georgia ALERT, June 1982

_

I . C ~ ' ~~...!...._~:' :-....; . . . .

l ...n...,

;" .~...':'.!

C"!"

:" ..... _1,.' ...

Five Percent For Salaries

New Education Dollars Scarce

by Eleanor Gilmer

One message delivered by the 1982 Georgia Legislature was that state dollars were scarce, and few new programs would be funded. In spite of that, public education received 38.1 percent of the $3.9 billion state budget approved for FY 1983.
The budget includes $1.3 billion to continue education programs and activities funded last year. A large chunk of the new funds will go for a five percent salary increase for teachers and other instructional personnel and school bus drivers. The increase will raise the starting salary for beginning teachers to $12,406. The Georgia Board of Education had requested a 10 percent salary increase for teachers.
Over $94 million in state bonds will be sold to construct public schools, vocational-technical schools and public libraries. The budget also includes $75 million which can be used by school systems for property tax relief.
Other improvements for education in the budget include
$6.2 million to increase the formula for teacher retirement,
$5.5 million to provide for high technology training in vocational-technical schools and for a high technology coordinator for the Georgia Department of Education,
$604,000 for equipment for comprehensive high schools where construction is to be completed in FY 1983,
$5.5 million to provide a five percent ($100 per teacher) increase in maintenance and operation for public schools, area vocational-technical schools and public libraries and
$3.6 million to provide remedial instruction for

ninth and tenth grade students achieving below grade level in reading and mathematics.
Funds remained in the budget to continue compensatory education programs for students in elementary grades.
The legislature added another $18 million to the 1981-82 budget for education in supplemental appropriations. Of this, $10.5 million will go for adjustments in the Adequate Program for Education (APEG), $1.1 million for additional funding for pupil transportation, $587,000 to build a public library in Albany and $90,000 to print curriculum guides for local school systems.
Thirty-one bills and four resolutions concerning education passed the General Assembly this session. Since this was the final year of legislators' terms, there will be no carry-over legislation. If a bill wasn't voted on this year, it will have to be introduced again next year to be considered. A summary of three major bills passed this session follows.
House Bill (HB) 782 amends the APEG Law and provides a formula for allotting funds to systems for school food and nutrition programs. It also provides that state funds be sent to systems in 12 payments instead of 10, which will allow systems to pay school food employees during the summer.
The new bill bases payment to systems on the number of lunches served the preceding school year. This is an incentive to school districts to improve productivity, according to state education officials. The bill also establishes state support at approximately one third of the 1981 minimum wage.
"HB 782 does not establish a state salary schedule for the school food and nutrition program;

however, it does require local school systems to establish a salary schedule and a staffing formula," said Associate State School Superintendent Cal Adamson. "This legislation does provide a salary base for 180 serving days and 10 days for preparation, clean-up and training, which parallels the 190 working days for teachers. It also establishes a minimum state performance standard for productivity."
The bill also provides for a supplement not to exceed $100 to school food managers. It stipulates that only one manager per system may receive this supplement.
H B 1436 amends the Fair Dismissal Law to include individuals who transfer from one school system to another. Under the new bill, a teacher receives tenure when he or she teaches three years in one system and signs a contract to teach the fourth year. Should a teacher who has met these requirements decide to transfer to another school system, the teacher will be covered under the Fair Dismissal Law after teaching one year in that system and signing a contract for the second year.
Senate Bill 253 revises the capital outlay provisions in APEG. It allows school systems to receive advance funding for school construction or renovation in emergency situations such as unusually rapid population growth. A system must have a five-year facility plan approved by the state board. Based on a specific formula, each system receives an entitlement for capital outlay each year. Some systems have facility needs that are greater than their yearly entitlements. This new legislation will allow them to receive in advance up to five years' entitlement for specific projects. This law does stipulate, however, that a system must pay at least 10 percent of the cost of the project, but no more than 25 percent.

Georgia ALERT, June 1982.21

People Who Make Schools Go

Phillip Terry, Man ofMany Talents

Story and Photos by Stephen Edge
"My philosophy is to get programs going, someone in place to handle the programs and get on with something else." That is how Phillip Terry explains his approach to work. Terry is administrative assistant to the superintendent in Cook County Schools, officially for federal programs, but he does nearly everything else too.
Terry's first love is for those special students who need a little more - a little more understanding, a little more individualized attention or a little more anything else. He began his education career 16 years ago as a special education teacher in Lowndes County, was an EMR consultant for Cook, Berrien and Lanier counties and, successively, director of special education, curriculum director and administrative assistant (equivalent to associate superintendent in other systems) for Cook County Schools.
As administrative assistant Terry is still in charge of curriculum for grades 8-12 and the county's migrant education program; he also handles all federal programs, including writing proposals, adopting successful programs, compiling and disseminating the mountains of records and reports. Plus - he is personally involved in many aspects of the programs.
In a school system with only 3,000 students (one third of them Title I eligible), Terry feels that a person in his position has to be involved and must make the personal commitment that can mean the difference between an average education program and an excellent one. Terry has made priority personal commitments to the system's Career Planning Center and Academic Resources Center.
The Career Planning Center is a comprehensive career counseling model built upon the system's old counseling program. At the center students can find direct information about almost any career; they can receive enlightened counseling, explore prospective careers, receive information in regular classes about tentative careers and talk to the representatives of many different careers during the system's frequent "career days."

Terry typifies the modern administrator who views his job and the public schools in a positive light and who is actively trying to make a real difference in the lives of the adults and students of the community.

22 Georgia ALERT, June 1982

<{..':.J ".:.-:i" ..f.;r'

-- .

_' . i: . \- : .... ~~ ",. - ;.:,~,.'.\~

...... ,~.,.: J.' :.-' :y'.

Cook County's comprehensive counseling and career program is smiles with Counselor Rubye Fielder and Cook County High School another of Terry's special loves. Here he shares conversation and Principal Dillard Ensley in a corner of the counseling center.

Career counseling will be extended to every student in the system kindergarten through the 12th grade with the implementation of Project MATCH (Matching Attitudes and Talents to Career Horizons) in grades K-8. The adaptation of a successful California model will infuse career information into the elementary curriculum and make elementary and middle school teachers into counselors for their students. Media centers in the four lower schools will house the same information - applicable for younger students - as the high school's career planning center. The younger students will have information about many careers and should be able to "narrow their choices considerably before entering high school," Terry says.
Cook County's Academic Resources Center was designed to be an alternative program of math and language arts. According to Terry, students who have received a prognosis of failure can learn the basics needed in everyday life in the program,

which was built by combining federal programs with the system's existing compensatory education program. According to Terry, students must make the choice themselves (with their parents' approval) which program they will enter. If they fail math and English in a regular program, they still may choose to take the academic resources curriculum in a program tailored to their needs.
Terry delights in seeing people get excited about education. Although his salary is no longer partially paid with migrant funds, he remains very active in the program and encourages the active participation of everyone else. One of the Title I Parent Advisory Committees is chaired by a disabled migrant father who visits classrooms weekly to make up for his own lack of knowledge about the education process.
Three years ago Terry envisioned the idea of an education fair in conjunction with the state migrant conference to get businesses and organizations

involved in and providing resources for migrant teachers and coordinators. The fair was such a success that he was asked to coordinate a similar fair for teachers and parents of migrant children this year.
"The migrant program is a program that works ... for low profile people who wouldn't get help any other way," Terry says with obvious sincerity.
Another low profile person who doesn't get nearly the praise or reward he deserves is Phillip Terry and the many people like him - the behind-thescenes workers who make the public schools what they are, who literally make them go. Though his salary is not as lofty as his ideals, when Phillip Terry crosses the street between the system office and Cook County High School, he is recognized and admired. The students and teachers, custodians and lunchroom workers all take a second to look up and smile, and say, "Afternoon, Mr. Terry." It may be reward enough.

Georgia ALERT, June 1982.23

BoIIplnfjops

Northside School Wins National Arts Award
Northside School of Performing Arts, headed by 1981 Teacher of the Year Billy.Densmore, has won a $10,000 award for excellence from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The ID-year-old school was one of only 10 in the country to receive the award presented for the first time this year.
The Northside School of Performing Arts, which is part of Atlanta's Northside High School, was begun as a magnet program to attract students to public schools. The school has produced several nationally prominent singers, dancers and actors.
A 12-member committee studied each program and visited each school before choosing 10 winners from among 450 applicants. The awards were the first from the Rockefeller Foundation in a five-year commitment to honoring arts education.
Basic Skills Make News - The Georgia Press Educational Foundation, an affiliate of the Georgia Press Association, has developed and published The Newspaper Guide to Basic Skills Instruction. The first of the two-part guide includes lessons and activities to help students use the newspaper to master the basic skills of reading and problem solving. It is available now. The second part of the guide will deal with mathematics and problem solving. It will be available in June. For more information contact the Georgia Press Educational Foundation, 1075 Spring Street NW, Atlanta 30309, (404) 872-2467.

Media Program of the Year - Clayton County is one of three school systems in the United States nominated for the 1982 School Library Media Program of the Year Award. Each is now eligible for the top award and a $5,000 cash prize. According to sponsors of the program, the American Association of School Librarians and Encyclopaedia Britannica, the systems were chosen for their achievement in providing exemplary elementary library media programs. Ernest L. Stroud Jr. is superintendent of Clayton County Schools, and Lee Drury is coordinator of library services.

Werner Rogers
Werner Rogers has been appointed associate state school superintendent for planning and development. He joined the Georgia Department of Education staff in 1979 as staff assistant to the state school superintendent and has served as director of personnel for Clarke County Schools in Athens. In his new position he supervises four divisions, educational development; planning, research and evaluation; staff development; and standards and assessment.
A Two Ring Circus - The Learning Theater Inc. offers schools original musical fables. The Georgia Council for the Arts will match funds for schools booking "A Two Ring Circus" for performances and classroom workshops. Cost for a full day is $230. For more information call Helen E. Mantler at (404) 3733421 or write her at No.9, 75 Rumson Road, Atlanta 30305.

...
Cll .~
<5
cc
Cll
(5
..6'
~
.'0c
0.
Jim Conkwright
Jim Conkwright is the new staff assistant to State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel. He joined the Georgia Department of Education staff nine years ago and previously served as coordinator of guidance and counseling in Pupil Personnel Services. Conkwright has been a classroom teacher and dean of student affairs for two universitites - East Texas State and East Kentucky University.
He's Outstanding in His Field - Curtis Corbin, Georgia Department of Education, was named Outstanding Supervisor of Agricultural Education in the nation at the annual conference of the American Vocational Association. The recognition was based on leadership and contributions toward the improvement of vocational agriculture in the state and nation.

June 1982 Vol. 13. No.3

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton News Feature Editor. Stephen Edge Photo Editor. Glenn Oliver Graphics. Elaine Pierce Typesetting. Gee Je Huddleston Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins, Anne Raymond and Carolyn Smith.

The Georgia Department of Educotion does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published six times a year by

Public Information and Publications Division

Office of Administrative Services

~

Georgia Department of Education

Twin Towers East Atlanta, Georgia 30334

~

Telephone (404) 6562476

B:DPR.B:ee
..

24. Georgia ALERT, June 1982

5?0602U~JIE
UNJ vrp SIT
STATF 0
Ts

o
Gr-CF
S

LT
G .30fO~

Letter to the Editor
Please express my appreciation to Barbara Perkins and Glenn Oliver for the outstanding article on the Eastbrook Middle School "State Attendance Champions." The class made the entire 180 days without an absence. At the end of the school year, the principal, parents, and community members sent the class to Disney World as a reward for their outstanding accomplishment. I have always been a fan of Georgia ALERT magazine and look forward to each volume. Keep up the good work!
James E. Melvin Superintendent Whitfield County Schools

Contents

GOOD NEWS BOARD - Carroll County's Board ofEducation mades good use ofits location at a busy three-way intersection. Passersby get a different school news message posted every week on the four-by-ten-foot announcement board in the office side yard. The news can be positive - praise for student winners in state or regional competitions - or informative - notices that immunizations are needed. Carroll's Public Relations and Art Consultant Jim McKinnon adapted the idea from former NSPRA President Ann Barkelew.

Features

Community Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 How schools work for people

Bookmobiles

8

Libraries go to the people

A Quick Start for Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11 Putting people to work

"Hooky Cop"

18

A visiting teacher keeps kids in school

Departments

Letter to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2

1984 Budget. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .. 2

What are PRiorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17

State Offices Move

22

People in Education

23

1983 Georgia Teacher of the Year

24

Cover: Pratt and Whitney employee John Wesley Brownlee is a second-year tool and die maker trainee in Columbus Tech's Quick Start Program for the aircraft company. See page 11 for story on Georgia's unique Quick Start Program. (Photograph by Stephen Edge.)

State Board Will Seek $1.7 Billion for Education

The Georgia Board of Education will ask the 1983 General Assembly for $1.7 billion for public education for school year 1983-84.
The new budget includes a $109 million package to improve salaries and benefits for teachers and school administrators and asks for a $1,594 acrossthe-board pay raise for Georgia teachers. The board departed from its traditional request for a percentage pay increase for teachers with the across-the-board increase which will bring salaries for beginning teachers to $14,000. The proposed increase would mean a 12.8 percent increase for beginning teachers with a bachelor's degree and a 6.9 percent increase for a person with a doctorate and 14 years of experience. The board did stipulate in its budget that future requests for pay increases should be on a percentage of the salary index.
Included in the pay packet is $7.1 million to add the 16th year to the salary schedule. The present index goes only to the 14th year. The ultimate aim of the board is to add a longevity step every two years after the 14th year through the 24th year. The budget includes $3.7 million to convert supplements paid to school administrators from a constant amount to a percentage of the salaries established by state law. It would also increase the supplement for school food and nutrition program managers.

The largest chunk of the new budget request is $126 million for construction and renovation of schools, public libraries and vocational-technical schools. This construction could be financed by five-year bond payments of $31.5 million.
The board will seek $18.7 million for vocational education. These funds will be used for such items as 73 positions and equipment for Gwinnett Area Vocational-Technical School and equipment for the Heart of Georgia Vocational-Technical School and to buy or rlplace equipment in vo-tech schools and comprehensive high schools. Part of the money will fund 24 positions and equipment to expand the high technology program in vo-tech schools.
Other major budget items proposed for FY 84 include
$2.8 million to provide for a full-day kindergarten program.
$5.8 million to provide additional compensatory education for the ninth grade and to increase funds for compensatory education for students in grades three through eight.
$19 million to provide for a $450 increase in maintenance and operation funds from $2,100 to $2,550 per teacher.

2 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

". .. ~..:~ :;,...~.

Schools are for People

Ideas put into action often get dynamic results. The community education concept is changing the shape of learning in several Georgia counties.
Community education classes such as sign language at Nash Middle School in Smyrna give citizens an opportunity to learn another skill and to meet people from all over the county.

Story by Barbara Perkins Photos by Glenn Oliver
The community education concept is a simple one: that schools, businesses, agencies and individuals join forces to identify and meet community needs; that schools, a common denominator for every community, serve as places for cooperatively planning local educational needs and as centers for community activities.
This simple concept has flexible results. Although their basic aim is to meet community needs, no two community education programs in Georgia are exactly alike. They are designed by each community to satisfy its own residents. But the nearly 20 programs operating around the state all agree on the following five basic ideas that are integral to community education.

Idea 1. Schools are people places.

"We believe that since schools belong to the community, they should be the hub of the community," said Bartow Jenkins, who coordinates community education for Gwinnett County. "People will work together to improve themselves and their neighborhoods given the opportunity. It's the school's responsibility to make that opportunity available by opening its doors to them." This was the philosophy which the community school program in Gwinnett County was founded in 1977. It started with two high schools - Norcross and Parkview - and expanded to 10 schools, each with a community school director, geographically located so that each neighborhood has access to one close by.
What is the nature of these community schools? According to Jenkins they serve as common meeting ground where living and learning join forces. They provide enrichment classes for persons of all ages, and they provide meeting places where school personnel, civic, business and lay leaders, community agencies and education institutions can broaden their objectives and can cooperate in solving community problems.
These schools are open schools. They stay open until 9:30 or 10 p.m. They are free to be used by citizens for self-improvement or community improvement activities. More than 14,000 people took advantage of the community school opportunity last year.
Georgia ALERT, January 1983 3

schools . ..
the hub 0/ the community

Idea 2. Everyone teaches. Everyone learns.

Cobb citizens often learn about community education classes from present or former teachers and students or by word of mouth. A brochure also is mailed to 107,000 homes listing the courses, prices and locations. More than 2,000 classes were filled last year.

The idea that all learning should take place between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. is ridiculous. So is the notion that only people between the ages of five and 18 are interested in learning new things, according to Murray Barber, coordinator of community education for Cobb County. Cobb's community school program has proved both these assumptions to be wrong. Another idea Cobb's program has destroyed is that only teachers can teach and only students can learn.
"Some students in one community education class are teachers in another. And some teachers are students. But they are all community people drawn to the schools by a common interest," Barber said.
The Cobb program is a veteran one which for the past 10 years has effectively provided classes that range from accounting to whittling and just about everything in between. Citizens spent more than two million hours in 2,092 classes last year keeping the teaching-Iearning/learning-teaching process going.

Idea 3. Cooperation reduces duplication.

In Appling County, one of Georgia's fastest growing counties, the local area planning and development commission works with the community education program to sponsor local publications. Footsteps in Progress, a newsletter covering school system, City of Baxley and county commission happenings, eliminated the need for each agency to publish its own and made it possible for citizens to get information from all three agencies from one source. The development commission also cosponsored Apples 'n Dumplings, a handbook for parents of kindergartners. The book will not only be mailed out by the school but also will be distributed in pharmacies, doctor's offices, hospitals and health departments. According to Carlos Crosby, community school director, the schools and other community agencies are continually assessing needs and finding resources to meet them.
Chatham County's community education efforts not only provided an open school facility for community members, but also tapped community resources to be used by the schools. Many civic and education organizations volunteer either space or services.
Vidalia City Schools decided having community education classes in its schools was not quite enough. The city needed community awareness too. The schools sponsored an "All-city Day." Every city department demonstrated its work. This

4 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

\' '

I"",l"
-:

-=-

-- , - ,,-,' . -.::
.......

'

\

\

, \.

, .... . ~' '\' \ \\\" \ "

Calligraphy meets from 7 to 9p.m. on Mondays at Nash. Teacher Doyal Lewis demonstrates the correct hand motions to an attentive student. The popular course is offered in most of the six cluster areas, insuring that most citizens have access to a nearby class.

gave the city a chance to see how schools are run and the schools a chance to see how the city is run.
Cobb County community education is jointly funded by the board of education and the board of commissioners, The community school program and the parks and recreation program have been coordinated so that they share facilities and share the same brochure which lists the schedule of classes. "We worked cooperatively with 70 different agencies and organizations last year. This lets them know what's available at school, and it lets us know what the community has to offer in every area. If there is any way we can eliminate duplicating services, we try to find it," Barber said.
Gwinnett's program is a joint effort among the Buford City School Board, the Gwinnett County Board of Education, the county commissioners and the City of Snellville. In addition to drawing on community resources, Gwinnett has enlisted the cooperation of Gainesville Junior College for a joint

enrollment program, the University of Georgia for a resident graduate program at Lawrenceville and Georgia State University for a "mini-college" conducted at Norcross High School.
Idea 4. The foundation is public support.
Without community support community education could not exist. Teachers come from the community. Students are local citizens. The school facilities they use belong to them. Without the support of local agencies, the job of administering such a program would be extremely difficult.
"As a vehicle for gaining public support for public schools, community education is excellent. We are one of the few counties around that can still pass bond issues. If you ask the average citizens here

Linda Voyles taught shorthand at Nash a few quarters ago. Now she is learning calligraphy.
She hand addresses letters at IBM and can use this skill in her work.

0:;:.

II

c",

~

~ 0::>

~

...~y<:,--.--::;;:.

.... ~ ~ I

.Jr <"""'- ~

I

~~:>~ .c-- ~~

I

I

"/
loc

~r.p.

~
~

I

'? I I ~

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 5

what they think about their schools, they will say they're great," Jenkins said.
Not one bond issue has failed in Cobb County in the past 10 years, according to Barber. He thinks it is a result of community education, especially community schools. It has brought about an awareness among the general public of what schools have to offer and of their needs and shortcomings. So the public supports the schools by word of mouth and with tax dollars. Each one of the six middle schools that serves as headquarters for a community education cluster area (a geographic area) has a citizen's advisory committee. Each also has a community school director who works directly with principals, agencies and individuals in that area.

schools are their resources
Chris Tarascio's uncle gave him a welding set as a wedding present. In a community education class at Osborne Middle School, he is learning to use the tools. "1 work with heating and air conditioning, so what 1learn in this class can help me on the job," Tarascio said. "Here,/orjust 24 bucks, 1can sample enough of welding to know if 1want to do itfull time. You can't beat the price."

Idea 5. Community education is fiscally fit.
It costs money to run a community education program, and participants pay a small fee for most classes. But the quality of the services and the variety of classes could not be equalled for the same amount of money by any other means. In addition, public facilities which otherwise would be used only partially get maximum use. And new ways to save money are always being found through cooperation with different agencies.
Vandalism, which was once a big problem in Cobb County, has been reduced drastically. Barber asserts that if all the money saved on repairs and replacements was put into a coffer, it would go a long way toward funding the present community education program. He would have one believe that the person who used to replace broken windows in the county schools is now in the same predicament as the Maytag repairman - almost out of a job.
Many schools in Gwinnett hold classes until 10 p.m. Then supervisory personnel lock up, which means some schools are not completely dark until after 11 p.m. - "a time when most vandals are sleeping off their six-packs," Jenkins pointed out.
Innovative ideas such as school-based development corporations, like the ones in Brooks County, came as a result of community education. Brooks County is the swine capital of Georgia. Since swine breeding is so important to the community, students run their own swine farm. "Pig Palace" grows specially bred hogs that yield an unusually large amount of pork chops. The profit made from this venture can be returned to the school system treasury. Students earn credit and learn a trade. Local hog farmers get qualified, experienced help.
The swine farm was so successful that Brooks County has now started a school-based development daycare corporation.
6 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

This beginning karate teacher started out as a beginning karate student a good while ago. Now he teaches these youngsters what he has learned about the art of self-defense. Karate, one of Cobb's most popular community education classes, was also one of its first.
Denise Bacon teaches aerobics to women who want to improve their physical fitness and appearance. Last year Cobb students spent more than 173,000 hours in the gyms, in exercise classes and in community sports.

More About Community Education
The technical assistance in forming the schoolbased development corporations in Brooks County came from the Center for Community Education at Valdosta State College. Two other centers, one at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro and another at Columbus College, help school systems all over the state begin, develop or increase community education programs and activities.
These centers are funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation out of Michigan, which seeks to advance the community education concept nationwide. In 1978, 11 percent of school districts in the United States had community education programs. In 1982, 17 percent had begun programs, and it is predicted that by the end of the 1983 school year 22 percent will have a program of some sort.
This growth is an outgrowth of public education's desire to serve the public. Nationwide, 72 percent of the people have no children in school. Community education is a process by which these people and others can use their own resources to meet their needs. Schools are their resources.

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 7

On the Road Again

Story by Eleanor Gilmer Photos by Glenn Oliver

The bright red and yellow van with "Books" painted in bold letters across its sides is like a ray of sunshine to many people in rural areas of Floyd and Polk counties.
The bookmobile, operated by the local public library, is much more than a library on wheels. Its visit is the highlight of the month for lonely, elderly people who have few visitors; a break from a busy routine for housewives and something different for youngsters who have become bored.
According to Nancy Binkley, director of the bookmobile service for the Sara Hightower Regional Library in Rome, two bookmobiles are operated for the two counties and not only serve individuals but also 22 public schools, three private schools, the Georgia School for the Deaf, three preschool centers, a jail, four nursing homes and several nutrition sites for disadvantaged people.
The bookmobiles operate on a four-week cycle. They leave the headquarters abqut 8:30 a.m. and return about 4:30 p.m., depending on the length of the route. Most of the stops are to individual houses.
It takes special people to operate a bookmobile. They must be able to manuever large vans - about the size of a bread truck - down narrow dirt roads, through mountains or swamps and turn them around in driveways designed for cars. They must be willing to endure all types of severe weather, often leave home before daylight and return after dark. But, most of all, they must like and really care about people.
Binkley says she and her two staff members, Sandra Roberson and Betty Mercer, often serve as counselors, social workers, best friends and confidants to the people on their routes.
"Many of our patrons plan their month around our visit," she said. "Some have prepared lunch or refreshments and would like for us to spend the day. It's a real social event for them."
Most of the patrons of the bookmobile in the Rome area are women. Many, like Ruth Russell, live alone. "Aunt Ruth," as she is affectionately called by her friends, has lived in the same house in rural Floyd County since 1910 and has no use for big cities. Although she checks out many talking books which could be mailed to her, she insists the bookmobile stop by her house each month. When

Bookmobile service is a blessing to Edna Cancela of Rome, who spends most of her time caring for her invalid husband. Each month she checks out a load of books from librarian Sandra
Roberson.

asked the kinds of books she likes, she quickly replies, "Old fashioned ones. Modern books have no respect for sex or God."
Mable Baxter, another regular customer, is 85 years old and checks out about 20 books each month. She likes books on religion and the West.
Edna Cancela spends most of her time caring for her invalid husband. She uses the little spare time she has reading and is disappointed when the bookmobile is late or unable to come.
There aren't many days when the big van is unable to make it on a scheduled route, according to Roberson. "When the weather is too severe for school buses to make their routes, we usually don't run either," she said.
Unlike regular public library service, a bookmobile user does not have to have a library card to check out books. No fees are charged for overdue books,

and if a person is not at home when the bookmobile makes its regular stop, books are renewed for another month.
"Some people leave us the books in the carport or on the porch with a note about new books they want," said Roberson. "They may also call us during the month for any books they need."
All of the bookmobile patrons receive special attention, but extra special service is given to home-bound and handicapped people. In fact, two days a month - one in each county - are spent serving these people.
"We know the reading habits of these people, and when we run across a book during the month we think one of them will like, we put it aside," Binkley said. "There are two ladies on one route who each check out about 200 books at a time. Neither has television, and reading is about all they do."

8 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

Summer months are the busiest for the bookmobiles. Many children check out books in connection with the public library's Vacation Reading Club, and others read because they have become bored with summer vacation.
"Many children who use the bookmobile during the summer become avid readers for life," said Binkley. "I have watched many of these students grow up and still use our services as adults."
There's another time when the use of bookmobiles spirals, and that's when the nation's economy is gloomy. There's a sign in the bookmobile which summarizes it well. It reads, "Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
"When the economy is bad people tend to read for recreation rather than spend money," according to Binkley. "They also check out a lot of 'how to' books."
Eighty-jive year old Mable Baxter likes books on religion and the old West.

Jim Darby, director of the Brunswick-Glynn County Regional Library agrees. ''The use of the bookmobile increases tremendously when the economy is poor. To save money many people cancel book club memberships and magazine subscriptions," he said.
Darby got his start in the library profession by working on a bookmobile in Rome. He is a strong supporter of the service.
"Some people think the bookmobile service is on its way out," he said. "I disagree. It's still the cheapest and most feasible form of circulation. We serve people who would never set foot in a public library."
Although some people take advantage of mail service to borrow books, Darby says this is not satisfactory to many. "This does not give the patron an opportunity to browse and to have one-to-one contact with a librarian," he said.
Ruth Russell enjoys visits with Roberson as much as she likes browsing for books. Even though she could check out talking books by mail, she looks forward to the bookmobile's monthly visit to her home in rural Floyd County.

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 9

The Brunswick-Glynn County library operates four bookmobiles and serves a seven-county area of 3,000 square miles. Much of the Brunswick district is extremely rural. Because of the warm climate and access to the ocean, many retired persons live in the area and are big users of the bookmobiles. One of the routes even goes into St. George, Florida.
While the Brunswick librarians don't have mountain roads to deal with as those in Rome do, they have other problems unique to their area.
"One day there was an alligator across the road, and our bookmobile had to wait until the gator decided to move," he said. "Back in the 1940s when bookmobile service in Brunswick began, our vans often had to go out one day and return the next. But the roads now have improved, and we are able to make a route in one day."
About 76 percent of the public libraries in the state operate bookmobiles, according to Joe Forsee, director of the Division of Public Library Services for the Georgia Department of Education. This service is provided entirely with local funds.
Bookmobiles serve people who would otherwise never have an opportunity to check out books, records and talking books. If this service were discontinued, many people in rural areas of the state would no doubt put up a real fight. As one elderly woman from Rome said, "Bookmobiles are a real blessing."
For people living in remote rural areas 0/ the
state, the bookmobile's arrival is often the
highlight 0/ the month. ."'

Alicia Bennett looks overa book on crafts while librarian Betty Mercer (le/t) processes others on travel and antiques for her.

10 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

r
uick Start.
a public education program that works for you!

Story and Photos by Stephen Edge
"We have our own little Silicon Valley growing up out at Technology Park," says Steven Sylvester, "and three of what we call the 'Gee Whiz' companies have used Quick Start training projects to train their employees." DeKalb Tech's industrial training coordinator, Sylvester is not kidding. Georgia's entry into the age of high technology has been heralded by the arrival of companies using highly advanced manufacturing techniques. Marconi Avionics, a British firm and one of the "gee whiz" companies, produces the Heads Up guidance system for tanks and planes. A Rockwell division assembles the Hellfire missile, and the third gee whiz company, Electromagnetic Sciences, is involved in complicated and secret electronic research.
These companies have another thing in common most of their employees were trained in the public schools of Georgia at public expense - specifically in the vocational-technical schools through the Quick Start Program.
Sylvester, the dean of Georgia's industrial training coordinators, is one of 30 who operate Quick Start programs in technical schools statewide. He is pragmatic about what it is exactly that makes Quick Start so great. Agreeing that the state does indeed realize a lot from income taxes, corporate taxes and reduction in unemployment, Sylvester believes that its value is far greater in another area. "The biggest single return, the quickest payback, is in the capital investments these companies make, purchases from local people of property and goods," he says.

A Rockwell trainee begins a course in military specifications soldering at the spacious plant which will produce the laser-guided Hellfire missile in Duluth.

Quick Start Fights Unemployment

Wendell Gurley, off-campus coordinator at Carroll Tech, sees a different value. When the giant CBS Tapes and Records Division of the Columbia Broadcasting System decided to locate in Carrollton, the local Georgia Department of Labor employment office received hundreds of inquiries and applications from all over the Southeast. But, according to Gurley, most of the original 1,800 employees trained for CBS were local people, either unemployed or underemployed, who did not contribute significantly to their share of taxes and

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 11

often depended on unemployment compensation or welfare. So Quick Start does double duty, not only reducing unemployment but also increasing the tax base.
Although huge in its scope (CBS projects 3,500 employees at full capacity), the CBS Quick Start Project is not really unusual. Gurley and the other off-campus coordinators and industrial coordinators mean it when they say they will do it all for a company. Gurley recalls that they initially agreed with CBS to provide a 25,000 square-foot training facility. He then toured other CBS facilities, made a thorough study of the company's needs and worked with training consultants to determine what to teach and what kind of training program to set up. From what they'd learned, they developed training modules using individualized slide-tape presentations coupled with a joblike training situation. Actual on-the-job training came last. After two years CBS assumed responsibilty for the training, but Carroll Tech still produces the training programs. Depending on the needs of each company, this procedure is followed by every school industrial trainer or off-campus coordinator when companies ask for Quick Start assistance in assembling a work force.
Georgia Vo-Tech Schools Provide Complete Resource Pool

Long shadows and morning mist accompany the early morning visit of Augusta Tech and Georgia Dej of Education personnel to a Quick Start training project at Searle Chemicals in Augusta.

Prompted largely by the phenomenal success of the Quick Start Program the Georgia Department of Education made a big decision in 1982 to introduce a crash program of high technology training to the state's system of vocational-technical schools. More and more companies are exploring the timesaving and highly efficient aspects of robotics and electronic and computer-assisted manufacturing.

P&W instructor Royce Glenn and Columbus

Tech's industrial training coordinator, William Augusta Tech students work full- and part-time,

Jones Jr., stand beside computer control.

Augusta Newsprint's current Quick Start project, I

Services Provided by Quick Start
A training program designed specificallyfor each company
Training facilities and equipment paid for by the state
State-paid instructors Screening and testing of job applicants Indepth training of applicants, including
retraining and on-the-job training

Quick Start's Proven Results
Companies save time and money during the crucial start-up period
Employees are ready to go to work the first day the plant opens
Employee productivity is high Employees are screened in the testing and
training program, so turnover and dissatisfaction are extremely low
12 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

Wanda Saed, human resources development manager at Rockwell, is a Quick Start Advisory Council member. Part of the Pratt and Whitney instructional program teaches students pneumatic and fluid pressurization techniques. Irtment Hall employee monitors four-color Sunday supplements. ~signing and producing instructional programs for Jich will use individualized slide-tape presentations.
Georgia ALERT, January 1983 13

While far more costly in the beginning (one completely automatic, computer-assisted machine tool may cost a quarter of a million dollars), the results are astonishing. One worker monitoring several computer-assisted machines may turn out many times the work of several operators on manual machines.
Using the established network of 30 vocationaltechnical schools that blanket the state with a potential labor force of more than 100,000 students, the Georgia Department of Education is rapidly developing a comprehensive program to put high technology practices and applications into training procedures. Six vocational-technical schools DeKalb, Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, Marietta and Athens - have been designated as pilot schools to initiate high technology programs in Georgia. Students completing studies will be eligible for associate degrees in electromechanical, mechanical and electronics technology. Almost $14 million in state, federal and local funds are being expended in a single year to begin the degree programs at three schools and upgrade existing programs at three others. Georgia students will be able to take advantage of such advanced techniques as high-speed tooling, computerized drafting and design, and eventually, microchip electronics and other fields now designated as high technology.
High Tech Already Attracts Quick Start Companies
Of course, the implications for Quick Start are obvious. As more and more manufacturers retool for advanced manufacturing techniques, they will need workers skilled in operating the highly complex machines. William Jones Jr., industrial coordinator at Columbus Tech, says high technology is the future for vo-tech schools. "We are in the middle of a Quick Start project for Pratt and Whitney in which the main part of the plant is highly robotics, so many of the operators will be programmers." The plant, which manufactures titanium fan blades for jet engines, is already paying 66 trainees who have gone on to on-the-job training, and 75 more are currently going through initial training and orientation. When training is completed these highly skilled people will be working in the most advanced plant of its kind in the world today, according to Jones. Columbus Tech, one of the recognized leaders among the vo-tech schools for successful Quick Start projects, also just completed highly successful projects for Westvaco, Union Carbine and TRW, in which about 500 employees were trained.
Quick Start - The Foreign Connection
Quick Start has also had great success in attracting foreign companies to Georgia and in training employees for native Georgia companies. Several foreign companies which recently opened plants in Georgia are Gummi-Metall-Technik (GMT) of Baden, Germany; Portel of Great Britain and TRANSCO, an Augusta venture made up of three

The awesome Albert Presses at Hall Printing and their integral packaging and binding machines dwarf workers on the floor of the 600,000 square-foot plant.

Japanese firms and an American company, opened several years ago. In DeKalb County alone Marconi is from England; a Swedish company, Precon, is building a sophisticated concrete plant for making a new type product; Sampo of Taiwan settled in Technology Park to produce televisions as did Maxell of Japan to produce floppy discs and tapes. Verona, an Italian firm, is using Quick Start to begin producing women's designer shoes in Buford.
Governor George Busbee, during his eight years in office, personally made trips to Europe and the Far East to tell foreign firms about opportunities open to them in Georgia. Governors Maddox and Carter also enthusiastically supported the program and recognized it again and again as being responsible for bringing a large share of new industry to the state.
Georgia Companies Love Quick Start, Too
Augusta Newsprint Plant Manager Richard Sundberg touts Quick Start to everyone who asks his advice about opening a new plant or upgrading an existing plant. The newsprint operation, the largest of its kind in Georgia, recently doubled its capacity by adding a second block-long paper machine. All training of new employees will be done by Quick Start through Augusta Tech. The expansion, which will cost more than $240 million, expects to hire between 300 and 400 new employees when completed. Sundberg is enthusiastic about Georgia's vo-tech offerings and wants the school to set up a permanent apprenticeship program for the giant paper mill. He

also sees Quick Start developing a module to train employees in the company's advancement system as well as meeting other short term needs - for example - getting employees ready for the more advanced techniques to be used by the mill after expansion (many controls and support systems on the new line will be automated and computer controlled). Quick Start has also agreed to retrain the company's current employees in the newer applications and procedures. "(It's) a very important program," says Sundberg. "I do not know of any private firm that could have come near doing what Quick Start does."
Also singing Quick Start's praises in Augusta are the officials of Searle, a Skokie, Illinois-based company building an advanced chemical plant in Augusta. The plant is so advanced that the scale model is insured for $4 million and could not be photographed. According to Ralph Westbrook, offcampus coordinator at Augusta Tech, the Searle project will be the first in Augusta to train a more highly skilled worker than assemblyline level. The project will train 40 process plant operators, seven warehouse workers and 22 quality assurance workers. Scheduled to open in January, Searle produces chemicals for use in making medicine and phamaceuticals and projects that at full production it will employ about double the number of people being trained by Quick Start.
Hall Printing, another Augusta project, has gone to supplementary training with videotape presentations because of the complicated jobs associated with extremely fast printing processes.

14 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

Hall Printing Vice President Richard Gammel praises Quick Start for an extremely smooth start-up at the Augusta plant.

The 600,000 square-foot plant will have a permanent work force of 400 people. It houses three highspeed Albert Presses (150 feet long and three stories high) for printing catalogs and four color Sunday supplements for Montgomery Ward, its parent company. Quick Start was brought into the training picture for Hall after the company experienced some startup problems with their Corinth, Mississippi, plant. Augusta Tech Director Jack Patrick says, "We want to make sure that nothing goes wrong with this project. It has been such a positive experience that it will help with continuity of the program."
Wendell Gurley, off campus coordinator at Carroll Tech, stands before the 25,000 squarefoot industrial training center built before the start of the CBS Quick Start project.

Like many others, Patrick feels the state should put more funds into Quick Start, including some discretionary funds for the schools to use when quick decisions have to be made. Many companies in the Augusta area are asking the vo-tech school for more training than they can deliver, and Patrick feels that the school should be offering even more services in the manner of Quick Start.
Perhaps the most vivid picture of the effectiveness of Quick Start can be seen from an article in Southern Exposure magazine (Vol. 1, No.7) published last year. The South gained almost 900,000 industrial jobs in the decade 1968-78, with more than 55,000 going to Georgia. Quick Start accounted for almost two-thirds of those jobs. According to the article, among the four highest ranking southern states in business climate ratings (the desirablity of locating industry there), Georgia has the highest average salaries, but also has the greatest percentage of union workers and the highest average state and local taxes.

~
Former Quick Start coordinator Alvin Wilbanks briefs Associate State School Superintendent for Vocational Education William P. Johnson and Postsecondary Technical Education Division Director Walter Howard during a flight to inspect Quick Start projects in Augusta.

That Quick Start became such a success is the result of some far-sighted ness and good timing, according to John Lloyd, Director of the Georgia Department of Education's Division of Vocational Program Development. "Until late 1967, the department's activities which later evolved into Quick Start were concerned mainly with cut and sew operations - small textiles and shirt plants. These were the only companies interested in what we had to offer. We just didn't have anything to show the big, diversified manufacturers who were interested in moving South at that time," Lloyd says. "But around that time two things happened which gave the industrial services a boost."
One was the passage by the General Assembly of the Quick Start Act, which established the Quick Start Advisory Committee, allowed the state to purchase buildings and equipment for training, allowed the state to hire short-term instructors and defined Quick Start as a state-administered program with a budget of its own. The second thing that happened legitimized Quick Start in the eyes of industrialists, according to Lloyd. This was the successful initiation of training programs for Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation of New York and Reliance Electric Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Programs for the two companies (sheetmetal riveting and assembly for Grumman and electronics for Reliance) broke the cut-and-sew cycle the old industrial training program had fallen into and helped set the stage for a new system of individualized instructional materials developed from scratch for each new company contracting with Quick Start. Reliance was the first program which called for indepth training of instructors, and both Reliance and Grumman proved to be good friends, giving the new program the best recommendations to other industries.

The beginning of company-specific training materials and using the company's own personnel as short-term instructors paid off for Georgia

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 15

The quality of Quick Start training is seen in an ashtray cut on a computerized machine tool during a training session at the Columbus Tech industrial training center.

Quick Start the very next year, when the program was instrumental in helping land the giant Western Electric plant in Chamblee.
Steven Sylvester, who coordinates Quick Start for Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton and DeKalb Counties, has been an industrial coordinator longer than anyone. He has seen the program take off and has played a big part in its success. According to Sylvester, Western Electric was not only a landmark project for Quick Start, but its impact continues. "From 1972 to 74 we trained 1,061 people for new jobs to construct the new co-ax cable, and since that time we've trained the old people and new workers in two waves to produce the new lightwave guide system cable (fiber optics)." As more experienced workers are retrained to produce the fiber optic cable, new workers are trained to replace them on the old system. From 1980 to the present, according to Sylvester, 1,283 persons were trained (or retrained) in Western Electric's Quick Start project.
For a state to provide such a service as Quick Start - at once so logical and needed - could go against a long tradition of separation of private enterprise and public agencies. But it has proven so successful and critical to attracting industry that surrounding states have imitated the program. Even Florida, for decades the champion at attracting northern industry, recently has started an industrial training program where none was needed before.
But all the people involved in Quick Start agree that it was only the start of a new era of cooperation. The public schools, the nations's most important resource, are the logical starting place and supporting agent of the free enterprise system. Quick Start's success cannot be measured only in the amount of new taxes it brings the state and the part it plays in reducing unemployment, ultimately it will be judged as an integral component of the public schools. As Augusta Newsprint Plant Manager Richard Sundberg says, "We all need to get out and tell Quick Start's story, it's the most worthwhile money any public agency can spend."

Pratt and Whitney Quick Start Instructor Melvin Pede encodes the computer controls for an automatic machine tool at the start of a training session.
Another important part of the Pratt and Whitney project is teaching students to maintain the expensive machine tools and other machinery. Here students work at repairing a machine part on an ordinary machine tool.

16 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

A Matter 0 PRiority

Superintendent Tim Wheeler and his central office staff of three administrators in Jackson County are proving that a good school-community relations program is possible on a shoestring budget.
"I decided last spring that public relations was going to be a priority, and that's where we have put our resources," Wheeler said. The Jackson County Superintendent attended a two and one-half day workshop on community involvement held last winter by the Georgia Department of Education Public Information and Publications Division. But that wasn't the end of it. He took his ideas and enthusiasm home and put them to work.
The new emphasis on school-home communication in Jackson, County began with a "Parent Report Card," sent home with each of the system's 2,500 students last spring.
Wheeler's message on the front of the report card set the tone for the system's new approach to communications.
"Periodically, we give you a formal report of your student's progress ..." Wheeler wrote. "This year, we . . . ask you to send us a report card on our progress ... I assure you ... that your comments will be carefully reviewed."
The Parent Report Card asked respondents to rate Jackson County Schools' curriculum and instruction, methods of reporting student progress, guidance and counseling program, extracurricular activities, discipline, efforts to promote good citizenship, rules and regulations, communication, administration, facilities, bus service, food service and finances. Parents were also asked about their child's attitude toward attending school and were told to base all their ratings on the school their child attended. (The system has five elementary schools and one high school.)
Responses, received from 646 parents, ranged from a high of 42.6 percent at Maysville Elementary to 15 percent at South Jackson Elementary. Average for all schools was 27.5 percent.
The message parents sent Superintendent Wheeler was encouraging. They were pleased with most aspects of school operations, rating everything good or excellent in at least 60 percent of their responses. Only 50 percent rated food services good or excellent, however, so Wheeler immediately put that on his agenda to improve.
Other areas that rated even slightly low - such as discipline, rated unsatisfactory by 10 percent of parents - received extra attention from Wheeler

Story by Anne Raymond

and his staff. To try to improve on that rating, the system has published a discipline code this year for the first time.
The report card results were the basis for Jackson County's annual summer administrators' workshop in August, "Leadership for Excellence."
g-
fi
.gQ
(1)
5 Q ~....

Another new communication effort this fall is a school system folder full of information parents and students need - monthly calendar, discipline code, insurance information, rules for buses, school meals information, letters from Wheeler and from Ann Macbeth, director of instruction and personnel, about the school year priorities and activities. The attractive folder containing these materials is printed with system data - policies on fees, attendance, fund raising, etc. It's valuable information that parents will need to refer to throughout the year.
And that's not all of the new school public relations ideas in Jackson County. Wheeler has stretched his shoestring staff (himself, Ann Macbeth, Administrative Assistant Jeff Sanchez and Enrichment Program Director Susan Rapt) even further.

Jackson County Superintendent Tim Wheeler, above, greets students during class change at Benton Elementary. Below, eighth grader Dwight Standridge checks out the county's newly published discipline code.

In October the system published the first-ever community newsletter.
In September the six schools' faculties and staffs received the first printed report of actions taken by the county board of education the night before. It will be published each month and distributed at staff meeting the morning following board meeting.
Wheeler has begun a series of weekly, fiveminute radio programs aired at 7:45 a.m. Thursdays on WJJc. He tapes the programs himself and plans to stress good news such as the system's excellent showing in FFA competitions this summer.
The system's six schools have instituted quarterly parent conference nights. Parents are asked to pick up report cards at their child's school and to schedule conferences with teachers during the 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. period when they are especially encouraged to visit the schools. "We welcome parents any time," Wheeler stressed. "But we set aside this time to try to encourage them to come."
The system still publishes "Chalk Talk," its staff newsletter which was the primary communication tool until Wheeler's new emphasis on school-community relations.
"We just decided we wanted to improve schoolcommunity relations, and we've had to do it with the staff and resources that existed. Our efforts have been repaid many times over in positive responses and smoother operations," Wheeler said.

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 17

Sammy Boykins' car is his trademark. As school social worker for Thomasville City Schools, he says, "Everybody in this town knows myoid car, and they know what 1 want when they see it coming."

Getting to the Root

the Problem

Story by Julia Martin Photos by Stephen Edge

"They call me the hooky cop. At least that's what the kids call me. Everybody in this town knows my old car and they know what I want when they see it coming."
As school social worker for Thomasville City Schools in south Georgia, Sammy Boykins is often found in the alleys and along the back streets of a town of 3,600 children who should be in school. And when one of those students is absent from class two consecutive days with no communication from parent or guardian, Boykins begins his cases. To him, absentee students and their parents are "clients." The students' reasons for not being in school are numerous and are usually symptoms of

deeper problems.
"School attendance is an important part of my work, but by no means the only part," Boykins says. "If attendance is to be improved, the causes of absenteeism must be dealt with, not just the symptoms."
Sammy Boykins' work illustrates how the school social worker's job has changed over the years. The vision of a truant officer banging on front doors and dragging recalcitrant children bodily to the classroom is obsolete. Today, school social workers get to the roots of the problems which cause children to reject school. And those

problems may include fear of school, a broken home, family responsibilities, a student's being smarter than the class he or she is in or simply having no clothes to wear.
Boykins, whose college training was in guidance and counseling, began his school social work when he was appointed to the job in 1965 by State School Superintendent Charles McDaniel, then superintendent of Thomasville's schools. He attended the University of Georgia that summer for his certification in school social work. Once back home he helped ease the transition of black students moving into the white schools during the 196Os.

18 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

"There was a lot of anxiety in those students," he said. "With their identities being merged into those of the white students and white schools, we feared a great absentee problem among black students. So I worked and worked, counseling them before the integration move was made and we all did pretty good."
But since that time, Boykins' job has expanded. During a regular day of work he picks up referrals of absent students at all middle and high schools in the system. He knows where the students live and if their parents are at home or at work. He feels free to go to either place to determine the problem, to ask parents why their child has not been in school for several days.
"Most parents are receptive to me and my work, but I've had to sell school social work to the community. My job now is much easier since they have been educated about my work. People know I'm a liaison between the home, school and community. They know my role and contact me for help lots of times. Since business people know me, I do have the latitude to go into businesses and talk with parents while they are on the job," he said.
"But I remember one house I had to go to and the woman was inside the fence with a big dog. Istayed outside the fence and talked to her, asking questions about why her boy wasn't in school. The whole time she kept hammering on the fence, never looked up and never spoke. The dog was growling and barking and chewing on the fence post close to my foot. I talked and talked to that woman, tried everything in the book, but she would not answer my questions.
"I guess she saw, though, that I wasn't going to give up, so she finally looked up, smiled and said, 'You want to talk about my boy, Mr. Boykins? Come on inside the fence. Oh, don't mind the dog. He only bites certain folks.' "

Each day he picks up referrals on students who have missed school for two consecutive days ...

... and visits the home or the parent's place of business to determine the reasons for the absences.

r

q

--

. ta;

ezz:

~ ...I'~

~_

.-.

--.-....---

~,-

Boykins keeps close check on his time, making many calls on his "clients" during the day.

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 19

Perhaps bravery is not called for every day in a job, but Boykins called on it that day. "You know," he said with a grin, "she was right about that dog."
But other visits are not so amusing. Boykins believes he has gotten his reputation as a cop by his sometimes having to deal with chronically absent children and their parents through the courts, and by his close work with probation officers. But using the courts is a last resort.
After driving slowly down a bumpy dirt road, Boykins climbed the broken steps of an old house and knocked on the screen door. A small man appeared.
"How you doing, Mr. Boykins?"
''I'm fine, James. Did you know that Kenneth is not in school today? Do you know where he is?"
"No sir. He was in his room last night and I told him to go to school this morning, but when I got up this morning he had already gone."
"Do you know where he could be, James?"
"Well, sir, he runs with that boy just up the street, but they're probably not around here. You know, I

got to go to court in the morning with Kenneth. Can you be there, too?"
"Yes, I'm planning on being there. Now tell me again what he and that other boy did to get in trouble."
"They stole some cupcakes and cinnamon rolls off the bread truck and the police caught 'em. Now I got to take him to court."
"James, can't you get Kenneth to go to school?"
"No, sir. I've tried everything I know. He's so much bigger than I am and he won't do anything I tell him to. Isure don't want to go to jail because he won't go to school. You remember, that happened to me one time. I came home from work and they were waiting on me. I had to pay thirty dollars to get out of jail just because my boy won't mind me. I don't want that to happen again. I just can't control him."
"Well, James, we'll see what we can do about Kenneth and maybe not make you responsible for his actions anymore. I'll see you in court tomorrow morning."
Jeff Loftiss, judge of the juvenile court in Thomasville, and Boykins work together closely.

"Students' reasons for not being in school are numerous and are usually symptoms of deeper problems," Boykins says.

IIhmiXt
'.;.y ,,;:~'!f:'{-,..~,'/j'.
(~: :,~':.<.~,:~~>

.;

~).

"If attendance is to be improved, the causes of absenteeism must be dealt with, not just the symptoms." He is one of many of Georgia's school social workers who get to the roots of the problems which cause children to reject school.
~J

20 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

Boykins works closely with probation officers such as Joan Smith, keeping track ofstudents who have gotten into trouble with the law.

In working with Juvenile Court Judge Jeff Loftiss, Boykins says, "I exhaust every avenue Iknow before filing a petition in juvenile court to get a child back into school. Even then I do itfor help and support for the child."

Loftiss says, "My court tries to assist school systems wherever they can in protecting a child's right to an education. If a child comes to court for the first time on a charge of truancy, he is ordered to go to school while the case is in court. If the child is still truant during this time he or she is punished for contempt of a court order. They may be sent to a youth development center where they are force-fed an education. That usually turns them around and they want to stay at home and go to school."
Boykins says, "I exhaust every avenue 1 know before filing a petition in juvenile court. Even then 1 do it for help and support for the child. My intent is not punitive, but to get help to get the kids back into school."
And Boykins has been successful in his work. Thomasville schools had 95 percent attendance during the 1981-82 school year. "But you know," Boykins says with a shake of his head, "after 18 years in this business 1 still have to guard against getting too involved with a kid. Some of these guys can promise you the world - that they'll behave, go to school, make something of themselves. I'll believe them, too. And when they don't live up to their promises, even when they never meant to in

the first place, they still break my heart."
"One case I'm real proud of, though," Boykins says, "is our enrolling one young man in the Georgia School for the Deaf. As he got older he got restless with school and began wandering around neighborhoods at night, looking in people's windows. 1don't think he ever meant any harm, but he sure could have gotten into trouble.
"His grandmother asked me to do something to help him, so we decided what he really needed was to be in a school setting with other deaf children. So we got him there and he's doing fine. His family misses him, but they know that's where he should be right now. And they're so appreciative of my working to get him there - that makes me feel good."
Boykins is only one of the 194 certified school social workers in Georgia school systems this year, each doing a different job in a different setting, but all aiming for the same results. As school social services historian Elsie Nesbit wrote, "school social work is a demanding role in terms of preparation, performance and personal commitment. It is not an easy role, but it offers rewards that far outweigh the frustrations. "

II

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 21

A Moving Experience

The wait was long. The anticipation was great. Rumors abounded. The day arrived. Papers, pencils, books and typewriters were packed. Trucks were loaded. Lights were turned off in the dust-settled, bare rooms. The Georgia Department of Education had moved out of the Old State Office Building, its home for 40 years, and from the Education Annex on Trinity Avenue.
State staff are now settled into new headquarters on the other side of the state Capitol, occupying floors 14 through 20 of the east tower of the James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Veterans Memorial Building, also called the Twin Towers. The atmosphere is bright. The furniture is new. The view is spectacular.
If you've been looking for us, here's where we are.
photo by Glenn Oliver

What's Where in the Georgia Department of Education, Twin Towers East, Atlanta

Suite No. 1452 - Teacher Certification 1454 - Associate Superintendent, Office of State Schools and Special Services 1470 - Personnel Services

1552 1554 1558 1566 1570 -

Accounting Services Financial Advisory General Services Fiscal Services Division Grants Management, Operational Systems Support

1652 1654 1658 1662 1666 1670 -

Local Systems Support Division, Textbook and Chapter II, USDA Food Distribution Statistical Services School Food and Nutrition Regional Education Services Division Associate Superintendent, Office of Administrative Services Facilities and Transportation Division

1752 1754 1758 1762 1766 -

Vocational Instruction Division Vocational State Planning and Operations Division Postsecondary/Technical Program Division Vocational Program Development Division Associate Superintendent, Office of Vocational Education

1852 -
1854 1858 -
1862, 1866 1870 -

Division of Educational Development, Pupil Personnel Services, Competency-based Education, Educational Improvement Associate Superintendent, Office of Planning and Development Division of Staff Development, Performance-based Certification, Teacher Education and Staff Development, Teacher Recruitment
Division of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Education Information Center Division of Standards and Assessment, Adult Education

1952 -
1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 -

Division of Curriculum Services, Division of Special Programs, Early Childhood and Middle Grades Education Secondary Education Programs Governor's Honors and Georgia Scholar Program, Migrant and Bilingual Education Chapter I, ECIA Associate Superintendent, Office of Instructional Services Program for Exceptional Children

2052 2054 2062 2066 2070 -

Public Information and Publications Division Instructional Media Services Division Budget Services and Federal Relations Office of the State Superintendent of Schools State Board of Education Conference Room

Those Who Did Not Move
Division of Public Library Services, 102 Education Annex, 156 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta Library for the Blind, 1050 Murphy Avenue, Atlanta Audiovisual Film Library, 1066 Sylvan Road, Atlanta

22 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

People In Education

Max Wilson

Norris Long

Max Wilson became director of the Division of Instructional Media Services when operation of the network of public television stations was transferred from the Georgia Department of Education to the newly established Georgia Public Telecommunicaations Commission. His division still works closely with the network to produce instructional television programs.
The new division includes the Media Resources Unit, which has responsibility for film libraries located over the state, and the Media Services Unit, which provides services to and works closely with local school media personnel.
Wilson began his career with the state in 1961 as a television teacher. In 1974 he became director of instructional resources. He is a native of Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a B.S. Degree in agriculture. He received a Master's from the University of Virginia and has done postgraduate work at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.
He is vice chairman of the board of directors of the Southern Educational Communications Association and is a member of many professional and civic organizations.

Billy Johnson
William P. Johnson is the associate state school superintendent for vocational education. Before joining the state staff in 1982, he served for eight years as superintendent of the Laurens County School System.
A native of Bibb County, Johnson has been a teacher, coach and principal in Laurens County and assistant principal in Dodge County. He attended East Laurens High School, Georgia Southern College and the University of Georgia. He holds a B.S. degree in zoology and postgraduate degrees in education and education administration and supervision.
Johnson is active in many professional and civic organizations, including Phi Delta Kappa and the Gideons.
As associate superintendent for vocational education, Johnson administers both secondary and postsecondary vocational programs in Georgia. There are five divisions under his supervision Vocational State Planning and Operations, Vocational Program Management, Vocational Instruction, Vocational Program Development and Postsecondary Technical Education.

Norris Long is director of the Georgia Department of Education's Regional Education Services Division. He had previously served as director of regional services for the Tenth Congressional District.
Long joined the department staff in 1970 as an area consultant for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I. Before that he served as an elementary principal and assistant superintendent in Columbia County and as a teacher and coach in Bremen.
A native of Gwinnett County, Long attended Grayson High School. He received a B.S. degree in health and physical education from Tennessee Tech and a Master's from George Peabody College. He has also done postgraduate work at the University of Georgia. He is a member of the Thomson Methodist Church, Professional Association of Georgia Educators and the Georgia Association of Education Leaders.
Long supervises educational services regional directors who are located throughout the state. These directors serve as liaisons between local school systems and the state education department.
"o:0r
~
cr
'<:
W
":0r
'"::l
~
~

Georgia ALERT, January 1983 23

McRaney Makes TOTY Music

To have students remember you and your influence countered in my 20-year career. Afterward, at a after they graduate is perhaps one of the greatest reception, we recollected old times and travels. We

"o:0r 8"

wishes of a teacher. James McRaney, Georgia's laughed and cried, sharing what had transpired in

er
'C

1983 Teacher of the Year and choral music teacher our lives, and actually grew closer than in earlier

ro(j")

at DeKalb County's Cross Keys High School, has days. We had a true bond within that alumni chorus had that wish come true. He labels the occasion his that stretched across the differing ages of those in-

":0r
'"::l
g;

most rewarding experience.

volved that gave us a wonderfully enriching

~

"I have had the unique experience of having experience ... through the bond of song."

approximately 100 former students return for a Developing within his students traits of responsibility,

special alumni chorus we fonned in December 1976. courtesy, independent thinking, self-motivation,

Choral students who studied with me during 1%7-76 self-confidence, self-discipline and respect for their

were invited to join the current chorale for a re- fellow humans is one of McRaney's strongest beliefs.

hearsal and segment in our annual winter concert," "A teacher is responsible for far more than the

McRaney recalls.

subject content he or she teaches. As a teacher 1

"Responding to my plea, students came from many directions, representing each of the graduating classes 1had taught during the lO-year span, united by their membership in our Cross Keys Chorale."

seek to provide a maturity and trust to which my students feel free to turn for personal problems, family needs and difficulties within the school society," he says.

McRaney's leadership, influence and caring were

"During the performance 1experienced one of the instrumental in his being selected to represent

most satisfying, even uplifting, feelings ever en- Georgia public school teachers during 1983.

..

gg gggg

...
.~
6
cc::
G'"
.D'"
o (5 ..c:
0.

January 1983 Vol. 14 No.1

Alert Staff Managing Editor. Nancy Hall Shelton New Feature Editor Stephen Edge Photo Editor Glenn Oliver
Graphics Elaine Pierce Typesetting. Carla Dean Contributing Reporters. Eleanor Gilmer, Julia Martin, Lou Peneguy, Barbara Perkins, Anne Raymond, Carolyn Smith and Gilda Lamar Walters.

The Georgia Department of Education does not discriminate in employment or educational activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap.

Published by the

Public Information and Publications Division

~

Office of Administrative Services Georgia Department of Education

O=::::!:::-=-

2052 Twin Towers East

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone (404) 656-2476

:B:DP:R.:B:BB

24 Georgia ALERT, January 1983

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Cost: $5053/Quantity: 10,500.

TOTY Runner-up
Faith Kipp'Brown is Georgia's 1983 Teacher of the Year runner-up. She teaches biology and computer sciei"lce at Clarke County's Cedar Shoals High School.

Finalists in Georgia's 1983 TOTY Program were Mildred Greear, a language arts teacher at Pepperell Middle School in Floyd County, and James Pettigrew, a mathematics teacher at Central Lanier B High School in Bibb County.

.. TH,

GA 30602