Dalton-Whitfield Citizens Collaborate with UGA College of Environment and Design Students on the Future of Lakeshore Park

On Saturday, December 10, College of Environment and Design Students Rachel Johnson and Justin Crighton teamed up with City-County Planner Kevin Herrit to host a planning event for Lakeshore Park. Prior to the event, Rachel and Justin prepared three different concepts for the park. Community members had an opportunity to view these proposals and then make comments about what they would like to see in the park. Comments ranged from protecting the habitats of wildlife that call the park home to ensuring that the park is friendly to pedestrians, fishermen, and those interested in recreational sports.

Rachel and Justin will use the citizen’s comments from the event to assist Dalton and Whitfield County in preparing plans for the park’s future development.



UGA student Rachel Johnson works with area residents to plan for the future of Lakeshore Park.



UGA student Justin Crighton discusses possible alterations to Lakeshore Park with citizens.

Students Rachel Johnson and Justin Crighton display one of the designs they prepared for the Lakeshore Park event.

Joint Development Authority, Chamber of Commerce, Public Schools, and Industry Host First Explore Week for Area Students

A common theme in many of 2011 Archway Education Work Group discussions has been the need to expose students to potential career paths in a meaningful way before they exit the K-12 system. As a result of these discussions, the Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority and the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce teamed up with area schools and industry to host the first pilot Explore Week. During this inaugural explore week, 14 juniors from the two local school systems had the opportunity to job shadow with someone in a field of interest. Student and employer reviews of the week were overwhelmingly positive and can be reviewed in more detail at http://daltondailycitizen.com/local/x229375656/Students-learn-about-chosen-fields-during-Explore-Week.
Based on the success of this pilot project, a second Explore Week is planned for Spring 2012.

Educators & Experts Discuss Feasibility of Bringing Free Wireless Access to City, County

On November 18, key representatives from Dalton Public Schools, Whitfield County Schools, Windstream, and Dalton Utilities gathered to talk about the logistics of making free wireless Internet access available to all city and county residents. The conversation arose after numerous parents and teachers articulated the importance of technology and Internet access to student engagement and learning.

At this preliminary meeting, representatives identified possibilities for further exploration. To highlight the importance of the conversation, Brookwood Elementary Principal Will Esthers shared several links from his school’s website showing how students are using technology to enhance their learning.

Meeting participants agreed that the general public is not aware of how critical technology is to a 21st Century education. Accordingly, they agreed to brainstorm about how disseminate that message. In addition, group members agreed to research how the Georgia Technology Authority helped other Georgia communities achieve community-wide wireless.

Birth to Work Education Steering Committee Strategizes About Next Steps

Over the past month, leaders from the Prenatal to Pre-K, K-12, and Higher Education Work Groups have strategized about how the conversations in each of their work groups can lead to education transformation in Whitfield County. These steering committee members summarized the recommendations from each of the work groups into a list of potential initiatives to undertake in 2012. The steering committee is currently working with faculty and students at the University of Georgia to demonstrate why each of the proposed initiatives is important to the future of the community and to develop efficient, effective solutions.

In early 2012, the education steering committee hopes to share their presentation with local leaders to discuss feasibility and funding.

The proposed initiatives are as follows:

Initiative 1: Educate our community on nutrition and healthy lifestyles and their impact on learning.

Initiative 2: Provide universal Pre-K in the face of state budget cuts.

Initiative 3: Make the community the classroom by:

o Making free wireless internet available throughout the city and county; and

o Making portable, internet-accessible technology available to all students.

Initiative 4: Further develop relationships and articulation agreements between high schools, GNTC, and DSC so that students can move seamlessly between the systems.

Initiative 5: Encourage the Board of Regents to phase in an MBA program at DSC in place of the KSU program.

Initiative 6: Focus on Career and College Readiness in 5th – 12th grade by:

• Offering programs like Design, Engineering & Manufacturing (DEM) Camp, EXPLORE WEEK, and DREAM WEEK;

• Showing students real opportunities available to them in the community; and

• Forming partnerships with innovators and entrepreneurs that allow students to develop skills.

Initiative 7:  Form an on-going, community-wide education consortium so that we can keep the community involved in education and continue to discuss long-range/emerging issues.