Pratt Industries just recently expanded their corrugated paperboard manufacturing and paper recycling facility here in Conyers. They operate a gassification/energy plant to fuel their operations. Their service will reduce land fill use requirements by 80% by recycling waste as well as burning waste in their gassification plant.

“We are extremely proud of all of our schools for continuing to place an emphasis on rigor,” said Dr. Samuel King, superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS). “I commend the students, parents, teachers and administrators for this state-level recognition for the second consecutive year. All of our schools are increasing our Advanced Placement offerings and the number of students participating throughout the district. Research clearly indicates that students who take Advanced Placement courses are more likely to seek and complete higher education. Therefore, our goal is to see more students across all subgroups enroll and succeed in our Advanced Placement program.”

Both Heritage and Rockdale were recognized in the AP Access and Support category and the AP STEM Schools category. “I congratulate my students, faculty, support staff and parents for this accomplishment,” says Heritage Principal Greg Fowler. “Our sustained concentration on rigorous coursework prepares our students to be successful in the most challenging courses. Students are recognizing the benefits of taking AP courses, which may further opportunities in their future.”

Salem High School and the Rockdale Career Academy join HHS and RCHS in the category of AP STEM Schools. “With this recognition, we reaffirm our commitment to raising the bar for all students,” says SHS Principal Tonya Bloodworth. “I am honored to celebrate this accomplishment with such a dedicated faculty and I am thrilled that our students are taking ownership in their education by choosing to engage in such high-level academic courses.”

“Rockdale Career Academy is proud to receive this award along with the other high schools,” says Dr. Miki Edwards, CEO of RCA. “Our ongoing partnership with them to offer students multiple opportunities for rigorous coursework is very important to our academy’s mission. Our AP instructors do an excellent job and we are so very proud of what they do for our students.”

Rockdale County High School was also named in a third category, AP STEM Achievement. “Receiving this kind of recognition energizes us to continue our efforts to increase rigor for all students,” says Principal Georgi Nour. “This year we have created additional opportunities for AP support and acceleration through “flex” time so that all students have the tools necessary to reach for the next level. Being recognized in three categories for the second consecutive year is evidence that our creative focus is working. In addition, our Magnet program is an outstanding model for advanced STEM opportunities and innovation in those concentrated program areas.”

Advanced Placement classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning opportunities to students in high school. Students who earn a three, four or five on the AP exams may receive college credit. RCPS offers AP courses at every high school, including the Rockdale Career Academy and Virtual Campus. Examples of courses include: U.S. History, World History, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, American Literature, World Literature and Art.

The 2012 AP Honor Schools are named in five categories, based on the results of AP exams: – AP CHALLENGE SCHOOLS: Schools with fewer than 900 students with students testing in the four core areas of English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science – AP ACCESS & SUPPORT SCHOOLS: Schools with 30% of AP test takers that are African-American or Hispanic and at least 30% of all AP exams scoring 3 or higher – AP MERIT SCHOOLS: Schools with at least 20% of students taking AP exams and at least half of the AP exams scoring a 3 or higher – AP STEM SCHOOLS: Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science) – AP STEM ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOLS: Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses and at least 40% of the exam scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

To read the entire contents of the letter sent by Georgia Department of Community Affairs please use the link below to download a PDF version of the letter.

Rockdale County Opportunity Zone DCA 01.01.2012

Barge spoke about the bill, which was signed by Gov. Nathan Deal on June 13, at a Career Cluster meeting at the Rockdale Career Academy Wednesday.

“This is not a career/technical initiative. This is not an academic initiative,” Barge said.  “This is both.” The bill requires students who enter high school beginning in fall 2012 to choose a career pathway.

Each pathway will consist of the same core courses, but will diverge based on a student’s career interests. The pathways and course plans will be determined by focus groups of educators and business leaders. “We’re not changing standards, we’re not changing rigor. We’re changing the outline,” Barge said.

Barge said the problem many students face is they do not understand all the opportunities available to them. “We must do a better job with letting our children know what it is they want to do — what is it that’s out  there,” he said. “Education must be relevant. Children must know why they are learning something and how it applies.”

Barge said the point of the bill was to prepare students for all the different career options available to them. “In our society, a college education has always been synonymous with a four-year degree,” he said. “There are multiple avenues to post-secondary education besides a four -year degree. When we talk about not leaving a child behind, if we don’t recognize and embrace that every child is different, has different interests and passions, and we don’t try to work with those, we end up leaving a lot of them behind.”

Rep. Steve Davis, R–McDonough, a lead author of the bill along with Rep. Randy Nix, R -LaGrange, said he was excited to see the bill presented to educators at the meeting.

“This is so much better than what I originally perceived,” Davis said. “It’s really fascinating to where this could go.” At the heart of the bill, Davis said, is a desire to make education meaningful for students. “These kids, they’re bored — they’re wanting to do things that mean something to them,” he said.

Barge said students are not being taught the skills they need to acquire jobs. “Technology has so changed the face of our world that if we continue to educate our children the same way we’ve educated them for the last 50 or 60 years, and expect them to be prepared for a world that looks completely different than it did 10 years ago, we’re crazy,” he said.

For too long academics have been considered a separate entity from career/technical training, according to Barge. HB 186 hopes to “marry” the two paths.

“Post-secondary and business and industry continue to tell us, ‘They’re not ready. They’re not prepared,’” Barge said. “What we’re talking about in a lot of this is a skills gap. And what is a skills gap? What business and industry need to fill the jobs they have and what we’re graduating students with.”

The clusters and pathways, Barge said, will give students an idea about what is available to them in terms of post-secondary education and employment outside of traditional colleges and universities and white collar jobs.

“We cannot continue to churn out young people with no aspirations and no idea what to do, that go off to post-secondary to spend money to get a degree they have no idea what to do with,” he said. “We can’t look at education in a silo away from economic development. What are we doing to prepare our children for this new economy? We have
to prepare our children to be successful, regardless of how they get there.”

More information about HB 186 can be found at
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/sum/hb186.htm

This article originally  published by Rachel Bunn in the Rockdale News

Click here to read the full article from the Rockdale News.

Where: BOC Assembly Hall, located at 901 N. Main St., Conyers.
When: 6 p.m., Tuesday. October 25, 2011

The meeting is a collaboration with the Rockdale County Department of Planning and Development and the Conyers-Rockdale Economic Development Council.

Last week the Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to redevelop 1,600 acres of mostly industrial property north of Interstate 20,  between the city of Conyers and the DeKalb County line. The plan is to re-examine current land uses and find ways to attract business and identify needs in the area. The area has seen a decline in activity in recent years and includes deteriorating structures and environmental hazards.

County Planner Catherine Mercier-Baggett said in a prepared statement. “The county envisions (the area’s) revitalization with a diversity of quality buildings and places that will offer flexible office, research and development, and warehousing space, supported by limited commercial and residential activities. The increase in the mix of land uses and structures is expected to help improve the quality of life for all Rockdale residents and businesses.”

County planners said having an Urban Redevelopment Plan is a first step in the process to promote redevelopment. Establishing an opportunity zone is another step.

The opportunity zone program is overseen by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and offers tax credit for the creation of new jobs. At least 65 opportunity zones across Georgia have been approved by DCA, including in the cities of Covington, Social Circle, Eatonton, and Clayton and Gwinnett counties, Mercier-Baggett said.

The county’s opportunity zone would operate under the same rules as the city of Conyers’ opportunity zone, which is going through the public hearing process for a 141-acre tract running from West Avenue and Ga. Highway 138 and between Green Street and Dogwood Drive.

The BOC will consider public comments from Tuesday’s meeting and take action on the final urban redevelopment plan next month. Opportunity zone designation could be finalized by December.

For more information, email the Department of Planning and Development by at planning@rockdalecounty.org, or call 770 278-7100.

Rockdale County Urban Redevelopment Area Plan Maps (PDF)

Pratt CEO Anthony Pratt, said every day the plant turns 700 tons of waste that would normally go into the landfill into steam and electricity. “Whether you’re an environmentalist or not, we can all agree wasting resources is a terrible thing to do,” he said.

According to the company’s website, the process supplies 100 percent of the steam needed for the recycling process at the Visy paper mill and, at the same time, generates 50 percent of the plant’s needed electricity.

Governor Deal echoed the sentiment. “The plant provides a great example of the kind of advantages of clean energy in what they offer to Georgia and the entire country,” Deal said. “It represents something every one of us should be able to get behind – reduced energy costs, reduced environmental footprint.” Deal cited the resources saved for every ton of recycled paper created at Pratt: “I’m told we save 17 trees, 2.1 cubic yards of landfill space, 3100 kilowatt hours of electricity, and something Georgians have become more conscious of in recent years –14,500 gallons of water.”

The county is considering applying for the designation for the industrial area between Sigman Road, Rockbridge Industrial Road, Covington Highway, and the city/county boarder.

Rockdale County Planning and Development Director Marshall Walker presented information at the Board of Commissioners evening session. He said county staff, along with staff from the Department of Community Affairs, which grants the designation, had walked and driven in the area as well as done an analysis of existing businesses.

Along with being eligible for grants if Rockdale has a designated Urban Redevelopment Area, the county could also designate Opportunity Zones in that area where businesses creating new jobs could receive tax credits. Walker clarified that the county would begin with designating one Opportunity Zone.

“We are just beginning to scratch the iceberg of the opportunities,” he said. VanNess said she was familiar with the tax credits program. “I think that’s a good option for the landowners in this area,” she said.

The city of Conyers designated an Urban Redevelopment Area and an Opportunity Zone last year in the area between Green Street, West Avenue, and Ga. Highway 38 last year.

Amanda Moreno earned a silver national medal in Prepared Speech.

Other finalists include:

Arsenio Archer and Jason Gellman, sixth place in Audio-Radio Production
Mandy Dinsmoor, ninth place in Pin Design
Camryn Bradley and Chase Sickler, eighth place in Video Product Development

Skill Point recipients include Shavonn Bennette and Michael Bodine in Broadcast News Production.

Winners from the events sponsored at the national level will need to raise $800 to travel to Kansas City in June to compete with state champions from all over the country. The RCA students heading to Kansas City for the Nationals in June are:

Arsenio Archer – Audio / Radio Production
Mike Bodine – Broadcast News Production
Shavonn Bennette – Broadcast News Production
Camryn Bradley – Video Product Development
Mark Cisco – Television Production
Mandy Dinsmoor – Pin Design
Jason Gellman – Audio / Radio Production
Mattison Lakstigala – Broadcast News Production
Devin McPherson – Television Production
Amanda Moreno – Prepared Speech
Chase Sickler – Video Product Development
Karley Wilson – Broadcast News Production

Other students who participated at the state conference:
Remington Bayley, Derek Boyd, Maiah Chambers, Christopher Cole, Christina
O’Neal, Kendrea Pitts, Akin Robinson, Saige Rowe, Alex Sibert, Jeff Tindi, Kayla
Watson, Jalynn Wilford, Whitney Winfield.