69 Students Graduate from Design, Engineering & Manufacturing Camp

On Thursday, June 13, 2013, family members and local stakeholders gathered at the Career Academy to celebrate the graduation of 69 DEM Camp participants.  DEM (Design, Engineer, and Manufacturing) Camp is hosted every summer by many sponsors in the community.  It is an opportunity for middle school students to learn more about the carpet industry and allows them to begin to gain interest in a career path for the future.  The graduation was hosted to congratulate the participants and exhibit all of their hard work.  Throughout the week the students were able to do team building exercises, build their own race cars, design their own rugs, take a tour of a plant at Shaw Industries, and much more. 

A schedule for the DEM Camp participants is located at the following link: http://bit.ly/DEMCampSchedule2013



Brian Cooksey, Director of Operations Training & Development at Shaw Industries, presents awards at the DEM Camp graduation.

Participants race the cars they designed at DEM Camp.

 

Readers to Leaders: June Update

On Wednesday, June 5, 2013, the Readers to Leaders Workforce Development Team met to discuss the progress of the R2L initiatives in Dalton-Whitfield County.  Highlights include the following:

·        Reach Out and Read Program:  On June 20, 2013, at 10:00 AM at the Mack Gaston Community Center, Readers to Leaders (R2L) will host a meeting for members of the faith community to learn about the Reach Out and Read (ROAR) program.  ROAR is “an evidence-based nonprofit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.”  R2L and the Dalton-Whitfield County Library Board members have worked in partnership with White’s Pediatrics of Dalton and Rockbridge Community Church to pilot this program in our community this year. To learn more about Readers to Leaders, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/R2LDaltonWhitfield.   

·        Summer Reading/Book Programs:  Three summer reading programs are currently taking place:  Big Red Reads (City Schools), Lunch ‘n Learns (County Schools), and the Library’s summer reading program.  Whitfield County’s Lunch ‘n Learns, which target parents of children aged 3-5, is in its second week and has had positive reception from parents to date.

·        Community Literacy Celebration:  The Second Community Literacy Celebration is currently scheduled for Thursday, July 18, from 4:00pm-6:00pm at the Community Center. 

To check out the plans and progress of this meeting, please click here: http://bit.ly/R2LJuneUpdate.

Welcome to the New Archway Education Professional

On May 29, 2013 members of the newly developed Young Child Executive Committee welcomed Katy Green to the Dalton-Whitfield community as the new Archway Education Professional.  Katy will be working with local stakeholders, local service providers and higher education resources to make sure that children aged birth to 5 are getting the best possible start in life.  Katy’s position, made possible by the City of Dalton and Grow Greater Dalton, is the first of its kind and is supported by undisputed research that early brain development has profound impacts on ultimate educational success. 


Archway Education Professional Katy Green

 

Katy can be reached at kbgreen@uga.edu  

To learn more about Katy, check out the following article:  http://outreach.uga.edu/news/katy-green-hired-as-whitfield-county-archway-education-professional_1541

 

 

 

Third Annual DEM Camp Underway

The week of June 10, 2013, 70 middle school students will take part in the third annual Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing (DEM) Camp at the Northwest Georgia College & Career Academy located at 2300 Maddox Chapel Road.  Campers will have the opportunity to learn about robotics, electronics, carpet design, tour advanced manufacturing facilities, and learn team building skills.  Event organizers invite community members to visit the camp and attend the graduation scheduled for this Thursday, June 13, at 2 PM.  A schedule for the DEM Camp participants is located at the following link: http://bit.ly/DEMCampSchedule2013

Enjoy Family Fun This Summer

On June 28 at 7:00pm, The Young Professionals of Northwest Georgia will host the first “Movies in the Park” at Dalton Green Park next to the Courthouse in Dalton.  There will be a movie, games, and vendors.  The event is co-sponsored by the Downtown Dalton Development Authority and Dalton Utilities.  Bring your family and friends to enjoy all of the fun in your community this summer!



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UGA Student Releases Draft Two Year Strategic Plan for Local Library

Over the past year, University of Georgia College of Education Ph.D. student Roberta Gardner has worked closely with the Northwest Georgia Regional Library board and staff, the Dalton-Whitfield Archway Partnership, and local leaders to create a two year strategic plan draft.  This draft was created to support the local library in the community and to bolster the community literacy effort. 


University of Georgia College of Education Ph.D. student Roberta Gardner

In May, Archway Director of Coordination Sue Chapman shared this draft strategic plan with the Dalton-Whitfield Archway Executive Committee.  The draft includes five proposed initiatives for the library to implement from 2013-2015.  These options included:

1.     Creating satellite library hot spots

2.     Developing a workforce reading and digital literacy program

3.     Starting a mobile library

4.     Training personnel

5.     Supporting the Readers to Leaders literacy initiative

This two year draft plan was recently shared with the library board.  They plan to use it as an outline to create their own strategic plan under the direction of new library director Linda Floyd.  To view this draft plan for the library please go to the following link: http://bit.ly/NGRLDraftStrategicPlan.