See how Athens-Clarke County compares to overall state education statistics.
**Graduation/dropout rate data and test score data were obtained from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement 2004-2005 Annual Report Card
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Athens-Clarke County Education Rates Below State Levels
By Elissa Ewald
See how Athens-Clarke County compares to overall state education statistics.
**Graduation/dropout rate data and test score data were obtained from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement 2004-2005 Annual Report Card
See how Athens-Clarke County compares to overall state education statistics.
**Graduation/dropout rate data and test score data were obtained from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement 2004-2005 Annual Report Card
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Clarke County: Bored of Education
By Elissa Ewald
In his time working in the food industry, David Ragsdale experienced a lack of basic literacy and mathematic skills from his fellow employees—cashiers unable to pronounce product names and add up correct amounts of change for customers were common occurrences.
Now a Clarke Central High School Language Arts teacher, Ragsdale, 33, knows one thing for sure.
“Basic literacy,” Ragsdale said. “You can’t survive in this world without it.”
The education system, however, in Athens-Clarke County is struggling compared to other counties in the state.
In 2005, the dropout rate in Clarke County schools reached 8.1 percent, three percent higher than that of the whole state of Georgia. The graduation rate in the county was at 60.5 percent, nearly ten percent lower than the state as a whole.
Katt Gaines, 15, a freshman at Clarke Central, can see the effects of the high dropout rate at her school on a daily basis.
“I’m only a freshman, and a lot of the kids in my classes don’t show up to class, and if they do, have no idea what is going on,” Gaines said. “You can tell a lot of them are counting down the days until they can leave. They don’t really see the point in wasting their time with school.”
Ragsdale can see this attitude in the students in his classroom, as well.
“I tell them, ‘Look around. Where are the people you went to 9th grade, 10th grade with?’” Ragsdale said, “but most of them can tell you why it is easier for them to sell drugs than get a real job.”
In order to convince his students to attend more classes, Ragsdale makes calls home and discusses absences with other teachers in the building when one of his students has gone missing.
“Parents are our biggest assets,” Ragsdale said, “We are beginning to meet in the local housing communities to discuss how we can help them help their kids.”
Ragsdale still strives to show his students that the issues in the books they are reading in his language arts class are applicable to their lives.
Members of the community, like Lewis Shropshire, former president of Motel Enterprises, have also decided to get involved with the education system in Athens.
“From the business standpoint, I know that you can not succeed in the business world without a basic high school education,” Shropshire said, echoing Ragsdale’s concerns for the students of Clarke County.
In order to improve the state of Athens education, Shropshire became a member of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, choosing to focus his efforts and knowledge as a businessman into mending the way Clarke County thought of learning. The committee he is a member of has focused its efforts on extensive discussion and exploration of alternative education methods, and opened their first school in August, J.J. Harris Elementary School, which they are hoping to turn into a charter school.
“We try to focus on kids in pre-K, first, and second grade, before their habits are formed,” Shropshire said, explaining why his committee has chosen to focus on elementary aged kids in Clarke County.
Efforts to improve education in elementary schools cannot be seen by Gaines, who is already in the school system.
“You never know who just might never come back the next day,” Gaines said.
For teachers like Ragsdale, this can be discouraging.
“It’s so crazy,” Ragsdale said. “I just hope to God that people still want to learn. Life would be really boring if there was not anything to learn.”
Edited by Robert Carnes
In his time working in the food industry, David Ragsdale experienced a lack of basic literacy and mathematic skills from his fellow employees—cashiers unable to pronounce product names and add up correct amounts of change for customers were common occurrences.
Now a Clarke Central High School Language Arts teacher, Ragsdale, 33, knows one thing for sure.
“Basic literacy,” Ragsdale said. “You can’t survive in this world without it.”
The education system, however, in Athens-Clarke County is struggling compared to other counties in the state.
In 2005, the dropout rate in Clarke County schools reached 8.1 percent, three percent higher than that of the whole state of Georgia. The graduation rate in the county was at 60.5 percent, nearly ten percent lower than the state as a whole.
Katt Gaines, 15, a freshman at Clarke Central, can see the effects of the high dropout rate at her school on a daily basis.
“I’m only a freshman, and a lot of the kids in my classes don’t show up to class, and if they do, have no idea what is going on,” Gaines said. “You can tell a lot of them are counting down the days until they can leave. They don’t really see the point in wasting their time with school.”
Ragsdale can see this attitude in the students in his classroom, as well.
“I tell them, ‘Look around. Where are the people you went to 9th grade, 10th grade with?’” Ragsdale said, “but most of them can tell you why it is easier for them to sell drugs than get a real job.”
In order to convince his students to attend more classes, Ragsdale makes calls home and discusses absences with other teachers in the building when one of his students has gone missing.
“Parents are our biggest assets,” Ragsdale said, “We are beginning to meet in the local housing communities to discuss how we can help them help their kids.”
Ragsdale still strives to show his students that the issues in the books they are reading in his language arts class are applicable to their lives.
Members of the community, like Lewis Shropshire, former president of Motel Enterprises, have also decided to get involved with the education system in Athens.
“From the business standpoint, I know that you can not succeed in the business world without a basic high school education,” Shropshire said, echoing Ragsdale’s concerns for the students of Clarke County.
In order to improve the state of Athens education, Shropshire became a member of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, choosing to focus his efforts and knowledge as a businessman into mending the way Clarke County thought of learning. The committee he is a member of has focused its efforts on extensive discussion and exploration of alternative education methods, and opened their first school in August, J.J. Harris Elementary School, which they are hoping to turn into a charter school.
“We try to focus on kids in pre-K, first, and second grade, before their habits are formed,” Shropshire said, explaining why his committee has chosen to focus on elementary aged kids in Clarke County.
Efforts to improve education in elementary schools cannot be seen by Gaines, who is already in the school system.
“You never know who just might never come back the next day,” Gaines said.
For teachers like Ragsdale, this can be discouraging.
“It’s so crazy,” Ragsdale said. “I just hope to God that people still want to learn. Life would be really boring if there was not anything to learn.”
Edited by Robert Carnes
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Economy Causes Education Shuffle
By Sarah Smith
A mother with grown children goes back to school. An apprentice loses her position with the end of her education in sight. A man begins work on his second degree after 20 years as an architect.
These people are just three of the many students caught up in the great shuffle the failing economy is causing in education.
Tracie Boutwell, a homemaker from Augusta, Ga., is a recent empty nester. Both of her daughters are now off at school, and she finally has time to spend on herself. But because of the sagging real estate market, Boutwell is spending that time getting a new job.
“I needed to do something to help with retirement,” she said.
The value of the real estate that the Boutwells had invested their retirement money in has sunk with the market. To provide for her family’s future, she is going back into the work force.
But before she goes back to work, she’s going back to school. Boutwell worked as a nurse for eight years, mostly in pediatric psychiatry. She loved working with children, but the medical field doesn’t appeal to her as it once did. So, she is working towards a master of arts in teaching. Experiences in substitute teaching have given her a good view of her new chosen profession.
After being in the classroom, she “comes home physically tired but emotionally charged,” she said. She started the 18-month program this summer, so she hopes to be in the classroom by this time next fall.
Though she is going back to work after so many years, she has a positive outlook.
“I’m really kind of excited about it,” she said.
Shelley Cain is on the other end of the spectrum. The suffering economy has put an end to her education at an architecture firm.
“There’s just no jobs,” she said.
Fewer people need architects in the current economy. No one has extra money to spend, and banks are wary to lend out money, she said. Because of this lack of work, the architecture firm where Cain was apprenticed in Pensacola, Fla., had to let her go.
Cain started her apprenticeship at Ron Williamson and Associates eight years ago. She previously worked in the marketing and sales part of real estate, but picked up a love for architecture from being around the designers.
With two more years of training, Cain would have been able to take the test that qualifies apprentices to become licensed architects. For now she’ll have to wait a little longer; her education is on hold while she tries to find a job.
“Right now I’m looking for anything,” she said. “I have a lot of skills I can offer.” These skills range from running a business to waiting tables, but her search has been fruitless so far.
Jim Murphy has already achieved what Cain can still only dream about: he has been an architect for 20 years. But the current lack of work is forcing him to go back to school for a second degree. He is studying electrical engineering in an attempt to expand the amount of work he can do.
“I get work occasionally,” he said. But there is very little work to be found in his field. This gives him more time for school, but it’s also discouraging to him, Murphy said. He hopes to be able to work in designing for the commercial industry once he receives his degree. It will be four years before he reaches this goal.
“I hope by the time I finish school there’s a rebound in the economy,” he said. At that time he hopes to be designing buildings for the commercial industry with his new degree.
For now, there is little monetary help for people like Murphy who are going back to get a second degree.
All students, no matter what their educational past, can fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), said James Mooney, Associate Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University of Georgia. But those who have already received their baccalaureate degree can only hope for federal loans, not scholarships such as the Pell Grant that only first-time university students can receive, he added.
The government “wants to invest in first degrees,” Mooney said. Some work places participate in programs such as the Work Force Investment Act, which can pay for schooling. But this program usually only covers retraining or two-year tech schools. There’s not much in the way of scholarships for people such as Murphy and Boutwell. They must rely on the pay-off their current education will have in the future.
Boutwell, Cain, Murphy and many others must continue to hold on to the hope that the economy will recover, and life will return to what it was before. But for now they take action in whatever way they can, whether it means going back to school or simply searching for a job while their dreams wait.
Edited by Autumn Eckenbrecht
A mother with grown children goes back to school. An apprentice loses her position with the end of her education in sight. A man begins work on his second degree after 20 years as an architect.
These people are just three of the many students caught up in the great shuffle the failing economy is causing in education.
Tracie Boutwell, a homemaker from Augusta, Ga., is a recent empty nester. Both of her daughters are now off at school, and she finally has time to spend on herself. But because of the sagging real estate market, Boutwell is spending that time getting a new job.
“I needed to do something to help with retirement,” she said.
The value of the real estate that the Boutwells had invested their retirement money in has sunk with the market. To provide for her family’s future, she is going back into the work force.
But before she goes back to work, she’s going back to school. Boutwell worked as a nurse for eight years, mostly in pediatric psychiatry. She loved working with children, but the medical field doesn’t appeal to her as it once did. So, she is working towards a master of arts in teaching. Experiences in substitute teaching have given her a good view of her new chosen profession.
After being in the classroom, she “comes home physically tired but emotionally charged,” she said. She started the 18-month program this summer, so she hopes to be in the classroom by this time next fall.
Though she is going back to work after so many years, she has a positive outlook.
“I’m really kind of excited about it,” she said.
Shelley Cain is on the other end of the spectrum. The suffering economy has put an end to her education at an architecture firm.
“There’s just no jobs,” she said.
Fewer people need architects in the current economy. No one has extra money to spend, and banks are wary to lend out money, she said. Because of this lack of work, the architecture firm where Cain was apprenticed in Pensacola, Fla., had to let her go.
Cain started her apprenticeship at Ron Williamson and Associates eight years ago. She previously worked in the marketing and sales part of real estate, but picked up a love for architecture from being around the designers.
With two more years of training, Cain would have been able to take the test that qualifies apprentices to become licensed architects. For now she’ll have to wait a little longer; her education is on hold while she tries to find a job.
“Right now I’m looking for anything,” she said. “I have a lot of skills I can offer.” These skills range from running a business to waiting tables, but her search has been fruitless so far.
Jim Murphy has already achieved what Cain can still only dream about: he has been an architect for 20 years. But the current lack of work is forcing him to go back to school for a second degree. He is studying electrical engineering in an attempt to expand the amount of work he can do.
“I get work occasionally,” he said. But there is very little work to be found in his field. This gives him more time for school, but it’s also discouraging to him, Murphy said. He hopes to be able to work in designing for the commercial industry once he receives his degree. It will be four years before he reaches this goal.
“I hope by the time I finish school there’s a rebound in the economy,” he said. At that time he hopes to be designing buildings for the commercial industry with his new degree.
For now, there is little monetary help for people like Murphy who are going back to get a second degree.
All students, no matter what their educational past, can fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), said James Mooney, Associate Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University of Georgia. But those who have already received their baccalaureate degree can only hope for federal loans, not scholarships such as the Pell Grant that only first-time university students can receive, he added.
The government “wants to invest in first degrees,” Mooney said. Some work places participate in programs such as the Work Force Investment Act, which can pay for schooling. But this program usually only covers retraining or two-year tech schools. There’s not much in the way of scholarships for people such as Murphy and Boutwell. They must rely on the pay-off their current education will have in the future.
Boutwell, Cain, Murphy and many others must continue to hold on to the hope that the economy will recover, and life will return to what it was before. But for now they take action in whatever way they can, whether it means going back to school or simply searching for a job while their dreams wait.
Edited by Autumn Eckenbrecht
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