GA-FL At a Glance
Student gets top ACT score
VALDOSTA, Ga. — A county student earned the highest possible composite score on the ACT, a college entrance exam. Lowndes High School student Edward Walker earned an ACT composite score of 36.
On average, only about one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score, according to an ACT press release. Walker said he spent about six hours studying for the exam, taking two practice exams. He had taken the ACT before when he was in 10th grade and had scored a 34. “I just wanted to see if I could improve,” he said. He said receiving the highest possible score wasn’t expected. “I was really surprised,” he said. Walker’s mother, Monique Walker, said her son had been sick prior to the test. She initially planned to cancel having the scores sent to universities, as she said they didn’t know how well he would do having been so sick the previous week. But that changed when they found out his score Feb. 21. Walker said he found the math section of the ACT to be the most difficult portion. He said, for math, it’s necessary to know the underlying concepts. His advice for the other sections on the exam was to “logic your way through the questions.” Wanting to pursue biomedical engineering, Walker said his top college choices are Georgia Tech, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, John Hopkins University and Rice University. Walker is involved in the quiz bowl team, JROTC academic quiz bowl and StellarXplorers and the math team and club. Outside of school, he is involved in Boy Scouts and has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
Advocates for foster kids are sworn in
MOULTRIE, Ga. — Recently, Colquitt County Juvenile Court Judge William M. McIntosh swore in four local residents — Michelle Cooper, Brenda Griffin, Eleanor Titus and Jennifer Marion — as Court Appointed Special Advocates in Colquitt County Juvenile Court. CASAs complete a training program (no previous experience necessary) and are sworn in as officers of the court. They are then assigned a foster child or children in a sibling group to advocate for. CASA volunteers review records, interview teachers, neighbors, parents, etc. and meet with the child at least once a month. They submit written reports to the Juvenile Court judge when the child’s case comes before the court, making recommendations on behalf of the best interest of the child. CASA volunteers spend an average of five hours a month on a case. CASA of the Southern Judicial Circuit will hold orientation 11 a.m.-1 p.m. or 5-7 p.m. April 2 at the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, 912 First Ave. S.E. For more information, contact Melanie Webb at (229) 225-4338.
Sorority hosts stress management workshop
TIFTON, Ga. — Delta Lambda Zeta’s 2nd Annual “Sister 2 Sister” Workshop is set for Saturday, March 31. The workshop, “Don’t Say “Yes” to “Stress”” is 10 a.m.—noon at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Dr. Regina Allen-Wilson will lead the workshop. Along wth founding A/W Associates, Allen-Wilson is an author, inspirational speaker, life coach and ministry leader. Allen-Wilson holds a Doctorate of Religious Studies from GMOR Theological Institute of America along with an MBA. Her children’s books include “Something About My Face” and “Bobo and The Pooch.” For more information and to register for the workshop, visit www.deltalambdazeta.org. The GMA is located at 1392 Whiddon Mill Road.
Library seeking ‘Letters of Support’
LIVE OAK, Fla. — The Live Oak Public Library is seeking help from the community. The library is seeking “Letters of Support” from the community for a “Museum on Main Street” application through the Florida Humanities Council. “Museum on Main Street” provides small and underserved communities access to Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibits. The current traveling exhibit is “Crossroads” Change in Rural America,” which if granted would be on display in the Live Oak library for six weeks. The application will also allow funding for related programs hosted at the library prior to, during and after the exhibits have come to Live Oak. The library is asking anyone that is interested in supporting the Live Oak branch’s intent to host the Smithsonian exhibit and the programs provided, to drop off a letter of support to the Youth Services desk at the library before Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Letters can also be emailed to srrlyouth@neflin.org or faxed to 386-364-6071, “Attn: Youth Services.”
For more information about “Museum on Main Street,” please visit its website at https://museumonmainstreet.org/.
Coming home: Ware to direct Bandy Heritage Center
DALTON, Ga. — Adam Ware, a sixth generation native of northwest Georgia with roots stretching back to 1840, is returning to his hometown from Orlando, Fla., to lead Dalton State College ’s Bandy Heritage Center of Northwest Georgia as its new director. Ware, a 2000 graduate of Dalton High School, is currently a historian and research librarian for The Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando. He has a doctorate in American religious history from Florida State University where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Dreaming of a Hillbilly Heaven: Religion, Emotion and American Country Music, 1925-1954.” He earned a master of arts in religion and a bachelor of science in psychology, both from the University of Georgia. As director of the Bandy Heritage Center, Ware will oversee the college’s public history program which celebrates the rich history and culture of Northwest Georgia. The Bandy Center was established in 2008 through the generosity of Dalton businessman and carpet pioneer Jack Bandy. Activities of the Bandy Center focus on public outreach programming as well as heritage tourism; future plans include curation of an archival collection and exhibits concentrating on the Northwest Georgia area as well as research and publishing activities which promote a more complete understanding of the region’s heritage. Ware will join the Dalton State community May 1.