Local administrators help further students’ careers

Athens-Clarke County is one of the most poverty-stricken counties in Georgia, but the city’s economic recession has not deterred the local school system from preparing its students towards a better future.

Despite experiencing rapid population growth over the past 20 years, Athens-Clarke County has been plagued with all the troubles of becoming a middle-sized city.  Along with people, an increase in crime, poverty and congested city life has transformed the once sleepy southern town into an urban community.

As a result of these drawbacks, an exodus occurred among the county’s wealthy citizens to near-by Oconee County.   Oconee attracts people by boasting a better quality of life and wide-open development, along with close proximity to Athens and the University of Georgia.

“Athens has been hit by the flight of affluent, and it results in a snowball effect.  Oconee County offers lower crime rates and a better overall living environment, so Athens is left behind with lower income, education and citizen-involvement,” said University of Georgia Professor Conrad Fink.

One of the biggest causalities of this snowball effect is the public school system.  The average graduation rate from Georgia high schools in 2008-2009 was 78.9 percent, according to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.  Clarke-County’s numbers fell well below the average at 63.3 percent, and have remained sub-par over the past five years.  In contrast, Oconee County boasted a 91.7 percent graduation rate for its students.

Socio-economic status plays the largest role in determining the disparity that exists between these statistics.  According to the Governor’s Office, 58 percent of students in Clarke County fall under the category of economically disadvantaged, compared to only 12 percent in Oconee.

“Tax-payers are needed to fix to fix the public education as well as the influence of parents in the school system,” said Fink.  “Neither of these can occur effectively when so many people are economically challenged however.  People look at the numbers and say we need to improve education here in Athens, but in order to do that, you have to turn around the entire basic structure of the city first.”

Doctor Maxine Easom, who served as principal for Clarke Central High School for nine years and worked within the school district for more then 35 years, believes that the numbers for graduation rate do not represent the quality of education at schools, but rather the economic hardships that many students face.

“Many students must help their families survive by contributing financially at whatever age they can, so people have different opinions on what success is,” Easom said.  “Sometimes finishing school is not part of that plan. Kids with financial issues have more responsibilities and less flexibility. Both these factors contribute to kids not finishing school on the eight-semester plan, although many still graduate at some point.”

Although there is no sugar-coating the numbers, do not be quick to assume that quality of education students are getting is any lesser then in Oconee or anywhere else.  Clarke County has created several programs to help students future their education.  As a result, the school system produces some of the best minds in the state of Georgia.

Over the past decade, Clarke Central High School has consistently sent students to Ivy League schools along with other prestigious universities around the country, said Clarke Central guidance counselor Lenore Katz.

Clarke Central’s diverse student bodies have been the recipients of multiple merit awards and scholarships, such as the Belk Scholarship from Davidson College.  Similar scholarships have been awarded in recent years from the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Spelman College and the University of North Carolina.

One of the school’s newest programs, called the Scholarship Club, helps students research and apply for collegiate scholarships.  As a member of the club, the student must fill out a minimum of 25 applications that could potentially reward them with financial aid.

Katz and other counselors try to help their students further their education by providing individualized career advisement to upperclassmen.  Students meet twice a month with a counselor to help them recognize opportunities in specialized subjects, such as English, art, business and technical studies.

Clarke County administrators are not the only ones doing their part to help students take the necessary steps toward college.  The University of Georgia in recent years has taken on a pro-active role in reaching out to the local school systems with multiple programs to help students.

The Young Dawgs Program provides high school students with internships in their desired study of interest.  Within the corresponding department, University staff members each mentor a individual student and assign them several different projects to give them a taste for the major as well as build their resume.

Caleb Hayes, a junior at Clarke Central, currently interns at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where he spends three mornings a week helping create a magazine about high school journalism programs.

“It’s a really cool experience just to be able to spend time at the University and around the professors,” Hayes said.  “But the work they have me do also helps me grow as a writer and helps me prepare for college.  I imagine interning at UGA also doesn’t look to bad on a college application.”

Katz said a great relationship has developed between Clarke Central’s counselors and UGA administrators to help underprivileged minorities. Programs such as Multiple Initiatives and C.A.R.E. help minority students with their college applications.  The University has even started to help out both formally and informally at the local middle schools.

UGA students have also gotten involved in the process with local fraternities forming the Collegiate Candidates Program, which helps underprivileged students with tutoring and college applications after school.

“I realize we might not have the best scores necessarily, but I don’t feel a lack of quality in the education at all and I think the exposure to so much diversity among the students help prepare us for real world experiences,” Hayes said.  “Our administration team puts forth a huge effort from the time we are freshmen to help us graduate and get into college.  I also believe we benefit from UGA being right down the street.  They give us lots of opportunities to be involved and make an effort to recruit students from right here in Athens.”

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Partying Peaks at UGA

By Brooke McMillan

aThEENs staff

A national publication recently ranked the University of Georgia as the top party school in the nation, but Athens area teens’ perceptions remain unchanged. They still consider attending the university, and do not think less of it just because it was ranked No. 1 in the country for parties. “Despite the title, it’s a well rounded school with good academics and sports,” said 16-year-old North Oconee High School sophomore Preston Devancy.

The Princeton Review released the ranking in early August which they came to by surveying over 100,000 students through email. The party life is stereotyped as a huge component of the college experience—participation optional. UGA sophomore Cayla Miller defines partying as a bunch of people together celebrating any type of event with music and drinks with or without alcohol. Likewise, 16-year-old sophomore Caleb Hayes from Clarke Central High School defines partying as a bunch of friends and people having fun with music and drinks.

A busy night on Broad St in downtown Athens, Ga.

 

The public university spans across a large campus in Athens, Ga reaching Downtown Athens. This location boasts streets lined with bars of every style creating a perfect place to promote partying. The official Downtown Athens website lists 79 bars and taverns. Although Downtown Athens caters to and contains those partiers age 21 and older, checking licenses at the door, there is a whole section of Athens that most of the college partiers do not see.

There are three public high schools in the Clarke County School District, and two high schools in nearby Watkinsville, Ga. Clarke Central High School sits closest to UGA, centered on Milledge Avenue, which is commonly referred to as “Fraternity Row,” sandwiched between fraternity and sorority houses.

Many local high school students are affiliated with the college through activities such as the local swim club, Athens Bulldog Swim Club. The team practices in the pool at Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activity where they catch a glimpse of the college campus at daily practice.

“It’s a good school, nice area. I did hear that is has some big parties, but that it is still pretty challenging,” said Joey Materne, a 17-year-old senior at Oconee County High School.

When considering different colleges many teenagers said that their most important decision is whether they feel as though the school is a good fit for them. Other criteria included possible distractions that the area presents. Academics are extremely important as well, but such a ranking would not change their minds. Materne said that many of his friends’ siblings who attend UGA still keep their grades up despite the vast party scene downtown and the temptations it presents.

Other area teens did not realize UGA became known as the No. 1 party school. Junior Ashley Cown, 17, of North Oconee High School admitted that she heard the news on a local radio station, but did not really believe it was true.

Socially, the Athens teenagers said they do not feel like partying has increased among their high school friends. Cown giggled when asked if her friend’s have changed socially.

“No, everyone still feels the same,” she said reinforcing the attitude that they do not need to compete with the college students who have partied to the top of the list.

Raised in Athens – Why Leave for College?

By Rémy Thurston

aThEEns Staff

Many people come to call Athens, Ga. home during their time at the University of Georgia.  Some college students though, have called it home for a much longer time period – having never lived anywhere else.  These few students’ opinions range between regret and contentment, yet they all continue to ask themselves if they made the right choice.

The University appeals to many local high school seniors because it is close to home, has relative affordability and comparable benefits to offer its student population compared to other institutions.

“Amongst our class of 280 students, UGA is probably in our top two or three schools to apply to,” Truitt Broome, the Clarke Central High School college counselor, said.

But staying in the same town where one grows up has its negative aspects as well.

“I wish I had gone to another town for college. Honestly, Athens is getting old,” Joe Hopper said. Hopper, 19, a sophomore at UGA, has lived his entire life in Athens and graduated from Clarke Central in 2009.

Hopper walks across North Campus to go visit his mother at work.

His mother has a job on North Campus so Hopper has a long memory of the university from visiting his mother at work when he was younger.  He admits the campus, and North Campus especially, has changed dramatically since those times, but he still feels like he would have preferred a more deliberate change of pace.

Hillary Davis, 19, a junior and animal science major, agrees that she would have liked to have gone elsewhere for college, but that the pricing of out of state schools prevented her from doing so.  Originally, her dream was to attend Auburn University’s more prestigious equine program.

“It’s harder to grow up and get a sense of living on your own when your parents live 10 minutes away and you can go get your stuff and borrow money more easily,” Davis said.

UGA sophomore Ella Grace Downs disagrees. She too graduated from Clarke Central in 2009, but is quite enthusiastic about her decision to stay in Athens for college and feels there are other factors that outweigh the routine nature of her surroundings.

Downs takes a break from campus by taking advantage of downtown with her friend Christopher Looft.

“Most expect it [UGA] to feel too close to home, but sometimes UGA is too big,” Downs said.  She feels as though the campus is a city all by itself.

“When I went into UGA it was like it was an even bigger town [than Athens]. It’s weird to think about living here for five years and completely ignoring the campus.”

As a high school student, there are factors to take into consideration, but the predominating piece of advice that all the former Athens teens would give to current juniors and seniors looking for someplace to spend their college years is to work hard and get involved.

Davis explains her belief by saying, “Kids need to get more involved with the community than they think they need to be to get noticed because UGA is looking for applications outside Athens.”

Hopper has another reason for high school students to be motivated and to focus and achieve higher standards for themselves – scholarships.

“Try as hard as you can to get a scholarship to get out of state. If you’ve lived here long enough, you want to go somewhere else. Scholarships are the only way to do that.”

Whether or not students would like to leave the state for their college educations, it is clear that it is not a choice to be taken lightly.