Alpha Phi Alpha update
I'd hoped that it was going to happen before writing Sunday's editorial praising the strong stand taken by Alpha Phi Alpha's general president on hazing, but as things turned out, I didn't get in touch with Cory Thornton, adviser to the University of Georgia's Zeta Phi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, until Monday morning.
In the wake of a December hazing incident involving the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter at Fort Vally State University that sent a 19-year-old man to the hospital and saw a 21-year-old man charged with felony-grade assault, the fraternity's national general president has suspended "new member intake" until problems with hazing can be resolved.
According to Thornton, the effort to deal with those problems will begin later this month at a regional meeting of the fratenrity, where the national general president will hold a training session on new member intake.
Thornton said the suspension of new member intake shouldn't hurt the UGA chapter, which has 21 members including a number of underclassmen. The story could be different for some other schools, he said, where Alpha Phi Alpha chapters have only a half-dozen or so members.
Tour Clarke schools
Just passing this along, on behalf of the Clarke County School District:
The Junior League of Athens, Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and Clarke County School District invite all interested community members to attend the third annual “Seeing is Believing” bus tour to be held Tues., Feb. 9. The free public event offers the opportunity to visit an elementary, middle and high school in the school district.
The day will kick off at Clarke Central High School with a light breakfast followed by Clarke County Schools Superintendent Phil Lanoue discussing increasing graduation rates, No Child Left Behind and much more. Shortly thereafter, participants will be divided into four groups that will each visit a different elementary school, followed by a middle school. The lunch program will focus on academic innovation and student achievement, and will showcase many extracurricular and enrichment opportunities available to Clarke County students.
To secure a spot on the “Seeing is Believing” bus tour, RSVP to seeingisbelievingtour@gmail.com by Wed., Feb. 1.
I've attended these tours in the past, and found them to be a good way to get at least a cursory look at what's going on in Clarke County's public schools.
Public art strategies
As many of you will recall, I used my Nov. 15 column to argue that an organic approach to public art -- one that doesn't rely on a government-appointed arts council or similar strategy -- might be the best course for Athens-Calrke County. I thought I'd share this recent e-mail response to that column, from an artist in a major city on the eastern seaboard:
Hello Jim, I just read and really enjoyed your article "Public Art Could Be An Oxymoron".
As a public artist myself, I have endured many community, panel, government etc. meetings during the conceptual stages of creating a public art piece. While I have experienced some exceptions, I do agree that the many restrictions placed on the art piece, from the beginning, usually dumbs down the art and dulls the potential impact it can have in the public realm.
Partially in response to this dilemma you spoke of, I started my own public art project ... . Sure, I now have to do much more leg work (fundraising, grant writing, obtaining right of entries, the list goes on...) but in the end, the creative vision and process has belonged and continues to belong to myself, the artist. While I am still in the midst of completing this first project, I believe self-initiated public art is an avenue I will adamantly pursue in the future. I also hope that other public artists will be inspired to do the same. The DIY movement is up and running through different mediums of craft and small businesses; it is time it comes to the public art realm.
If anyone in the local public-art movement would like to get in touch with this artist, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
- Jim Thompson's blog
- Login or register to post comments
A personal Fodors to CCSD
Jim,
If you want to see some real student achievement and enrichment, ask Lanoue if you can drop in on:
1. An "Encore" class
2. Any "Study Skills" class, a/k/a "let's put a coach to work today."
3. A "Communication Skills" class
4. A "Pre-Algebra" class.
Instead of a dog and pony show, ask for a list of these classes, and see if you can just drop in sometime. Of course, most of these are HS courses, and curiously the HS's are not on the tour agenda. Given that the Supt. is going to discuss graduation rates, this is somewhat of an oddity, don't you think?
Thanks for the tips, Ghost ...
I'd made arrangements under the previous two superintendents to do the kind of 'drop-in' visiting that you suggest, but never did anything with those arrangements. I'll see what kind of arrangements I might be able to make with Superintendent Lanoue, and try to do a better job of following up.
I'll agree with you that these tours are more akin to 'dog and pony' shows than a serious attempt to allow the public to kick the tires and look under the hood of their schools, but the opening sessions (which will, by the way, be held at one of the county's high schools) routinely provide some helpful background for interpreting the results of the various standardized tests administered throughout the school year.
Also, I don't know for sure, but my guess is that Lanoue's talk on dropouts will focus on what the district has been doing to get a better set of numbers on that issue. For instance, in one recent year, the district listed 94 students of whom they had entirely lost track as 'dropouts.' Turns out that a number of those students had moved or were in other circumstances in which they couldn't necessarily be termed 'dropouts.'
For what we are about to receive . . .
Well as long as you are breaking bread, or ham biscuits, or honey buns with the Supt., see if you can get an explanation of the great disparity in per pupil expenditures for CCSD and similarly sized or geographically located school districts.
Something a little more specific than "our high poverty rate" or "our high ESL rate" because there are systems with equally high rates that spend significantly less per student.
I know you don't control the news flow, but with the apparent turnover in BOE seats, this subject seems like a prime project for the ABH.
I can tip you off about this. With all the faults of the CCSD, the HS cafeterias do an excellent job of turning out nutritious and appealing meals, especially in these budget challenged times. Nothing wrong with having a meal there. Well, except for when Tommie Craft took the ice tea out of the CSHS cafeteria.
Anyway, the supt. and principals will pass a brick if you ask for a list of the courses listed above.