VALDOSTA —
Area business representatives and schools gathered in the Lowndes High School Cafetorium on Thursday night for the Community Partners in Education Awards Ceremony.
Guests were treated to heavy hors d’oeuvres that were prepared by the Lowndes High School culinary arts program students and entertainment by the Lowndes High Ladies Chorus.
“We certainly appreciate your continued involvement throughout the year,” said Lowndes County Schools superintendent Wes Taylor.
Taylor, along with Superintendent of Valdosta City Schools Dr. Bill Cason, presented 80 nominated businesses and volunteers with trophies as appreciation for their hard work and dedication over the past year.
The 2012 CPIE overall winners were: CPIE of the Year, Small Business: Valdosta Custom Cabinets (nominated by Lake Park Elementary School); CPIE of the Year, Large Business: New Jerusalem Baptist Church (nominated by Southeast Elementary School); Partner At Large of the Year: Chick-fil-A on St. Augustine Road (nominated by Southeast Elementary School); Volunteer of the Year: Pam Annas (nominated by Southeast Elementary School); CPIE Coordinator of the Year: Jean Mackie of Westside Elementary (nominated by Patricia Faulk from Starbucks).
Pam Annas was thrilled to be named volunteer of the year, but most of all, she just enjoys her time with the children.
“I’m honored and I didn’t expect anything like this,” said Annas.
Annas was a kindergarten teacher for 33 years and according to her, volunteering (at the urging of Judy Cumbess of Southeast Elementary School) helped fill a void in her life.
“I really do miss the children,” said Annas.
According to the nomination form submitted by Southeast Elementary School, Annas represents the idiom of “there’s a hero inside each of us” as the school watched her turn from Clark Kent to Superman.
“She certainly reached hero status in the halls of Southeast when we all heard that she single-handedly kept order with 21 kindergartners,” the nomination form read.
Charlie Crews of Chick-fil-A on St. Augustine Road was also thrilled to be named Partner At Large.
“We’ve been here for 30 years and we just like the community and helping it,” said Crews. “It’s a pleasure to be a part of it.”
Chick-fil-A not only filled stomachs at Southeast Elementary School, but they also filled hearts. They provided breakfast biscuits for the schools Walk Your Child to School event, encouraged parental involvement by sponsoring several monthly Lunch and Learns and provided dinner for many individuals by way of coupons that granted full meals as door prizes.
Valdosta Custom Cabinets went above and beyond for Lake Park Elementary School by providing bicycles for deserving students each nine week period. They also motivated teachers by providing gifts and gift cards.
New Jerusalem Church came through for Southeast Elementary School by providing volunteers all year long to read with students, providing
Thanksgiving baskets for parents and also school supplies for teacher gift bags. However, the biggest impact came when they began the school’s very first clothes closet which students utilize after accidents and incidents when parents cannot be reached.
Along with these awards, various schools were also named as CPIE Schools of Distinction.
“Each year, school coordinators work on a checklist to achieve the goals of CPIE,” said newly appointed CPIE Advisory Council chair Angela Hobby of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.
These goals include faculty and staff orientation to CPIE, school kick-off, sign in sheets, action plans, publicity and news articles, program evaluation and school activities.
“This is a big list and not an easy task,” said Hobby.
The 2012 CPIE School’s of Distinction were: Lowndes Middle School, Clyattville Elementary School, Westside Elementary School, Moulton Branch Elementary School, Hahira Middle School, Lake Park Elementary School, Pine Grove Elementary School, Horizon Academy, Lowndes Alternative Program, Southeast Elementary School, J.L. Lomax Elementary School, S.L. Mason Elementary School, Valdosta Middle School, J.L. Newbern Middle School, Sallas Mahone Elementary School and W.G. Nunn Elementary School.
“This is my twelfth year on the board ... and this is an incredibly great organization,” said Dan Davis of Davis Creations.
The Lowndes County and Valdosta City Schools CPIE program is the number one CPIE program in the state of Georgia. Because of this distinction and for all they do, the CPIE Advisory Council honored system CPIE coordinators Lynne Wilson of Lowndes County School and Jennifer Steedley of Valdosta City Schools.
“These two ladies make it happen,” said Davis.
In closing, 2011-2012 CPIE Advisory Council Chair Jodi Doss passed the gavel to Hobby who will serve as the 2012-2013 chair.
“It has been an honor serving as the 2011-2012 chair,” said Doss. “They say charity starts at home ... and I’m proud to call Valdosta my home.”
Doss nearly came to tears as she shared her own story of hardship as a child bouncing between foster homes. She stated that because of caring teachers, she was able to graduate high school with a 3.8 GPA. It was those personal experiences that led her to become a partner in education.
“It truly is amazing the passion in this program,” said Doss.
CPIE is a combined effort of the Lowndes County School System, the Valdosta City School System, and the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, whose purpose is to encourage greater student achievement in school systems by developing partnerships between individual schools and area businesses, industries, civic, church and community groups.
If you would like to become a CPIE partner, call Lynne Wilson, Lowndes County Schools System Coordinator at (229) 316-1854 or Jennifer Steedley, Valdosta City Schools System Coordinator at (229) 671-6065 or by visiting either of the schools’ system websites at www.lowndes.k12.ga.us or www.gocats.org.
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