At the MLK Park ceremony Saturday, two undeniable benchmark indicators revealed by the crowd. 1. Overall it was a very small crowd for such a great American. Hardly any families, airmen, students and young adults. 2. Even more alarming, so very few in the crowd were white. Do these two benchmark indicators mean blacks and whites have little respect for Martin Luther King, his sacrifice, his achievements and his dream for all Americans, his slaying? Or little respect for themselves?
It's already hard enough to get parents and buses to pick children up by 4 p.m. Now that the day is extended, there's no telling when the students will get picked up from school.
Utilities: Manage your budgets. Drive your vehicles longer before replacement. Tighten your belts instead of going up on our taxes. Get off our backs. Elections are coming.
VPD officers do their jobs to the best of their ability, and that includes ticketing cars parked illegally. Perhaps before you get mad, read up on the laws. People are such hypocrites when it comes to officers, they want them to do only what they want them to do when it is convenient for them.
The picture from the Valentine’s Day Dance appearing in the Saturday edition of U.S. Air Force Major Steven Simone swinging his daughter Ava is a masterpiece — hope it gets some sort of award for your photographer Paul Leavy — he really captured the moment.
While I have empathy for those who have lost family in the current wars, I think families in search of truth fail to remember that soldiers die during wars. They are soldiers, not diplomats. They are trained to kill and be killed. It is the harsh reality regardless of the cause of death.
I have used roundabouts all over the United States. The problem with the one at Country Club is not that people can’t drive or that it is in the wrong place, the problem is the city engineers did not build it big enough. It needs to be about five times bigger than it is. You cannot build a dot and expect people to get around it. If they will get some more property over there and make it a little bit bigger, it will work just fine.
Consolidating the Valdosta and Lowndes school systems would be the worst mistake this county has ever made. We need to consider community schools. Less crime, each person would know each other from grades K-12, the football teams will play each other, less expense and less travel. It doesn’t matter if it is a 5A team or 1A team you can still have a good football team and accomplish a lot.
What We Think
Rant & Rave for Wednesday, February 10, 2010
- What We Think
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Leaving NCLB behind
Georgia schools may be sighing in relief today, following the announcement that the U.S. Department of Education granted a waiver to the state, along with nine others, from the rigorous requirements of the No Child Left Behind act.
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Don’t jettison landmark
While we respect the request to relocate the F-86 aircraft from outside Mathis City Auditorium to the new Moody Air Force Base Airpark, we would hope the city and MAFB would reconsider moving it.
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Shame in Berrien County
Unfortunately for Sherrie Williams of the Berrien County school-based health clinic, she talked to The Times and praised the program that she oversees. This pride in her work led to the loss of her job.
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Grading policy: A second chance?
In clarifying the Lowndes County Schools’ controversial grading policy, Superintendent Dr. Steve Smith spoke of second chances.
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Be up to any weather challenge
Georgia’s Severe Weather Awareness Week starts today and runs through Friday. The idea behind the week is to prepare Georgians for weather emergencies and how to keep these situations from becoming tragedies.
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Parents and schools
There is a lot of talk lately about school systems and grading policies, and how all of a child's problems come back to a lack of parenting. But is it really that simple? Can it be a case where the school systems are so focused on the problem few that the majority of students are ignored?
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Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To Brooks County High School engineering and technology teacher Don Morgan and his students. They recently received national attention for their work with biodiesel fuel. They collect used cooking oil from area fast-food restaurants then process this oil into biodiesel. Morgan hopes to next interest the Brooks County school buses into running on the fuel created in his class. This classroom not only prepares students for the future but may prepare all of us for an alternative energy source.
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Take me out to the ball park
The Valdosta State baseball season begins today. The Blazers host Lindenwood at 2:30 p.m. Nothing beats quality baseball played in warm weather with a great venue like Billy Grant Field.
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What We Think: Signing Day
Wednesday was National Signing Day, the day when high school athletes across the country make official announcements about what school they’ve chosen to sign with.
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School policy fails expectations
Lowndes County Schools recently implemented new grading guidelines for students. These guidelines have left many parents upset ...
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Leaving NCLB behind
