The Southerner Volume 67, Issue 4

the Southerner S I N C E

HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA

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VOLUME LXVII, NUMBER 4

Dec. 13, 2013

COMMITTEE LEADS SEARCH FOR NEW SUPERINTENDENT W

see SUPERINTENDENT, page 5

MARY CONDOLORA

By Archie Kinnane ith the election of a new school board, the APS Superintendent Search Committee will begin presenting candidates to the board, continuing its quest to find the system’s next boss. Current APS Superintendent Erroll Davis’s contract—previously extended for a year—expires in 2014.

The search committee is headed by Ann Cramer, the wife of Grady physics teacher Jeff Cramer and an active voice in the community. Cramer expects the school board to have chosen a new superintendent by early 2014.

For Cramer and the other members of the committee, the search began nearly a year ago. Members were chosen to represent each group the new hiring would affect, especially teachers, parents, community members and students. Washington High School senior Trevon Fitts is the student representative. He said he has had a very positive experience on the committee.

“The committee treats me as if I’m their own,” Fitts said. “I’m always asked [if ] I have any input into conversations. I’m never left out of

URBAN COWBOY SADDLES UP, HOPES TO CONNECT ALL ATLANTA NEIGH-BORHOODS Senior columninst Ryan Switzer traveled to a ranch on the outskirts of Atlanta to meet with Brannu Fulton, the “Urban Cowboy.” Not only did he learn how to ride a horse, but he also saw the dreams Fulton envisions for the future. Fulton hopes to use his ranch to teach children of all ages to ride horses and build character. He hopes to attract youth from all Atlanta neighborhoods to ride. For full story, see page 12.

Nunn hopes to retake Senate for Dems

By Ben Simonds-Malamud hen Michelle Nunn spoke to supporters from the living room of an Inman Park home on Nov. 3, she did not hide her reason for being there.

“One of the preachers in our Perry Methodist Church said, ‘The Lord loves a cheerful giver but will also take money from a grouch,’” Nunn said, drawing laughter from her audience. Having each contributed $250 to attend the fundraiser, the supporters in attendance were definitely not grouches.

This past July, Nunn launched her campaign for the 2014 U.S. Senate election and has since drawn national attention from across the political spectrum. Her campaign has attracted endorsements from Democrats both from Georgia and from across the country.

Nunn has a strong base of support in Inman Park and in surrounding neighborhoods. Grady teacher Jeff Cramer and his wife, Ann, are among Nunn’s strongest backers. The Cramers hosted Nunn’s Nov. 3 fundraiser with another family. The two couples have also held fundraisers for U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Mayor Kasim Reed.

MARY Claire morris

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Head coach Ronnie Millen, pictured above with his team, has been reassigned while the investigation unfolds. Superintendent Erroll Davis announced the investigation on Dec. 9.

SEE BACK PAGE FOR FULL STORY

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Inman is planning to add eight new classrooms. Construction is planned to begin in late 2014 and will take approximately one year to complete.

a&e

MARY CONDOLORA

APS INVESTIGATING FOOTBALL TEAM FOR ILLEGAL TRANSFERS

THEN THERE WAS NUNN: Democrat Michelle Nunn hopes to win a Senate seat in a solidly conservative state.

Some of the attention Nunn immediate- our parents, and I certainly saw my dad ly drew comes from her name recognition: as someone who was able to make a great her father, Sam Nunn, served 24 consecu- difference in the Senate, and [I] saw how tive years in the U.S. Senate, representing he he changed lives, and helped shape Georgia. In a conversation with The South- what I think was a positive direction for erner, Michelle Nunn discussed the role our country,” Nunn said. “So it’s certainly her father plays in her career. see NUNN, page 6 “We’re influenced by the examples of

10 lifestyle

Stuck in Atlanta over the break with no idea what to do? From ice rinks to winter flicks, the “stay-cation” guide will be sure to keep you busy.

13 thesoutherneronline.com

Graduates who decided to take a gap year before college are spending their year away from school in places such as Oman, Spain and South Africa.

A proposal would make it so drivers exiting the parking lot would have to turn right. The plan has been approved by city planning official Joshuah Mello.

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the Southerner

Editorial Board J.D. Capelouto Orli Hendler Archie Kinnane Eli Mansbach Quinn Mulholland Ryan Switzer Olivia Volkert Alex Wolfe

Give options a shot The holidays are the time of year to be thankful for what we have, and what we all have in common and should be thankful for is our school. With its longstanding reputation for excellence in many areas, Grady is a cultural melting pot that offers each student numerous opportunities for advancement and enrichment. Unfortunately, we often do not take advantage of the educational opportunities presented to us as students. Instead, we see special events as chances to skip class, take a nap or stay home. Grady provides us with career speakers, trips to museums and plays, academy partnerships with local businesses and college advising services, all of which are usually overlooked, underappreciated or poorly attended.

While some of the extracurricular opportunities that Grady offers are better than others and while not every event may be vitally essential, many students almost immediately jump to the assumption that the assembly or field trip does not pose any benefit to them. If we do not give these opportunities a chance, how can we ever hope to reap any of their potential benefits? If students do not participate in these opportunities, how effective can they really be? Increased participation would make them better for all of us.

Failure to recognize the importance of these opportunities outside of the traditional classroom curriculum can have negative consequences. One reason the unique student-teacher internship program at Grady was eliminated was because students and teachers did not take it seriously. Students exploited the program for their own purposes while teachers passively allowed it to happen.

The loss of the internship program is lamentable because the program gave students the opportunity to experience certain aspects of potential careers at school while still taking other classes.

If we are not appreciative of the opportunities our school grants us, we will lose them. By taking advantage of the varied extracurricular events and activities at Grady, we further our knowledge of the world around us and therefore our ability to succeed in that world. An opportunity, whether educational or not, is only what you make it. It is up to us to turn our campus of opportunity into one of realized potential. p

Pressure to exceed distracts students from personal best Dear editors, I loved the message in Margo Stockdale’s opinion article “Don’t be square; embrace inner star” (Nov. 13, page 3). I am familiar with the pressure to excel and to outshine your peers, but I never quite got the hang of it. My unreasonable selfexpectations have been a constant source of displeasure, but no more!

I’ll remember to follow Margo’s principle to be my best, and to “set standards according to what I had previously done and not what anyone else’s best is.” Keep preachin’ Margo!

Grace Hawkins, sophomore

Southerner’s news updates maintain informed public Dear editors, I was pleasantly surprised by the use of The Southerner in social media when the news surfaced about football players allegedly being

Having recently wrapped up the November elections, it is time to look forward to next year’s midterm elections. Several viable candidates have entered the prominent races, and there will be many tough decisions for voters come next fall.

The gubernatorial election is one of the most important elections for which voters will cast their ballots. It is no secret on Grady’s campus that our adviser’s husband, state Sen. Jason Carter, has entered the race. Despite our close tie to this race, The Southerner staff has striven to remain balanced and fair.

Whether you agree with Mr. Carter’s policies or not, however, as an editorial board, we believe there is something on which we all can agree: Kate Carter would be a fantastic First Lady of Georgia.

As an award-winning reporter with a master’s degree from Columbia University, Ms. Carter has spent years keeping ‘em honest as an educational reporter at The Athens Banner-Herald. Before coming to Grady to teach journalism, she was the adviser at The Red and Black, the independent student newspaper at the University of Georgia. She also has experience with businesses and the economy after serving as an editor at The Atlanta Business Chronicle and on the Metro Atlanta Chamber board that selects the Atlanta Small Business Person of the Year.

Though her career achievements are extremely impressive, Ms. Carter’s intangible qualities make her truly special. Georgia would be served well by Ms. Carter’s deep empathy and her refusal to accept injustice in the world. Outraged by unfairness and an advocate for the truth, accuracy and justice, Ms. Carter has taught us the power of reporting to make what is wrong with the world right.

She has a consistently cheery, indiscriminately friendly personality that will serve her well as First Lady, but she also has extremely high standards of excellence, professionalism and ethics. She holds our staff to those standards, but she also lives by them. That’s why we believe, in fact, we know, that Georgia needs Ms. Carter (almost as much as we do). p

recruited illegally. Twitter was the only way I heard about it. The Southerner responded quickly and with accurate information. In this day and age, everyone is on their phones all the time. I commend The Southerner for taking advantage of that by using many different forms of social media.

News is becoming more and more digital. But as that happens, it is also becoming more difficult to find reliable sources. I know I can count on The Southerner to give me the news about Grady and the community in less than 140 characters.

Carolyn Capelouto, freshman

Critique of New York sports teams misguided, untrue Dear editors, I was disheartened to read “Atlanta sports teams suffer same fatal flaw” (Nov. 13, page 16) by Josh Weinstock. Several times in the article Mr. Weinstock made misguided attacks on the New York Jets and New York Mets. How can I say that these attacks are misguided? Even though I’m not

uestion

A First-rate Lady

Dec. 13, 2013

a journalist I think we should review the facts. The New York Jets have won a world championship ... the Atlanta Falcons have not.

The New York Mets have won two world championships, and the Atlanta Braves have only won one championship. In the sports world it is clear that all that matters is winning the ultimate championship each year. Every time an Atlanta Braves fan proudly mentions that his team has made the playoffs 14 years in a row, I think everyone tends to feel sorry for the fan. Basically he is highlighting the fact that Atlanta teams are never winners.

My only conclusion is that Mr. Weinstock is truly a Met/Jet fan at heart, and he simply refuses to admit it.

Alan Wolfe, Grady parent

We want to know what you think!

Love an article? Hate one? Find an error? Tell us about it! The Southerner welcomes letters from any and all of our readers. Contact us at www.facebook.com/gradysoutherner.

f the month

What would you do to get out of taking finals?

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I would jump from a plane and land in tomato sauce” Isaiah Kirk, sophomore

Kill a panda.”

Fritz Meinert, senior

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I can’t tell you; it would ruin my plan.”

Tate Lancaster, sophomore

I like finals.”

Saraphina Codey, freshman

This message was NOT paid for or approved by Kate Carter for Georgia. (In fact, we had to sneak it in the paper.)

Southerner Staff 2013-2014 Editor-in-Chief: J.D. Capelouto Managing Editors: Archie Kinnane, Eli Mansbach Associate Managing Editors: Orli Hendler, Quinn Mulholland, Olivia Volkert Design Editors: Ansley Marks, Rebecca Martin News Editors: Allison Rapoport, Josh Weinstock Comment Editors: Ryan Switzer, Alex Wolfe Lifestyle Editor: Caroline Morris Sports Editors: Ryan Bolton, Ben Searles Photo and Social Media Editor: Mary Condolora

Staff: Anna Braxton, Chris Brown, Nick Caamano, Emily Dean, Riley Erickson, Elizabeth Gibbs, Molly Gray, Carter Guensler, Ike Hammond, Griffin Kish, Brandon Kleber, Gabe Kovacs, Billie Lavine, Lucy Lombardo, Hannah Martin, Katherine Merritt, Mary Claire Morris, Maxwell Rabb, Jenni Rogan, Ben Simonds-Malamud, Jennifer Steckl, Margo Stockdale, Madeline Veira

An upbeat paper for a downtown school Advisers: Kate Carter, Dave Winter

To our readers,

The Southerner, a member of GSPA, SIPA, CSPA and NSPA, is a monthly student publication of: Henry W. Grady High School 929 Charles Allen Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30309

The Southerner welcomes submissions, which may be edited for grammar, inappropriate language and length. Please place submissions in Mr. Winter or Ms. Carter's box in the main office. Subscriptions are also available. For more information, please contact Mr. Winter, Ms. Carter or a member of the staff.

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Dec. 13, 2013

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Madeline veira

Young cancer patients inspire, deserve more funds for treatments

Agency exemplifies model behavior In the modeling world, it seems like every woman is a giraffe: tall, slender and impossibly good looking. In actuality, the women Margo Stockdale who inhabit the real world are more than just giraffes. Average women are more like rhinoceroses, or flamingos or perhaps they cannot be confined to these standards. The modeling industry has done a remarkably poor job representing the majority of the population. One agency, though, is trying to change that.

IMG Modeling, the world’s top modeling agency, famous for signing Chanel Iman and Gisele Bundchen, has recently announced that they plan to begin casting models regardless of age, race or weight, which would be a step towards an all-inclusive and representative industry.

Ivan Bart, senior vice president and managing director at IMG, said in an interview with Cosmopolitan, “I feel like the consumer wants to see themselves. …

Where is the average consumer represented from a size 2 to 10?”

IMG is stripping the industry of labels such as “plus-sized” by casting models

who perform the best, be it on runway, in campaigns or in catalogues. At most companies, plus-sized and regular models are kept on separate lists, but Bart says IMG will no longer segregate them.

The real challenge will be for clients to cast these diverse models. Kate Moss was once the epitome of the perfect white, size zero, heroin chic model. This kind of model would no longer be the norm, and a rejection of that concept of beauty will be healthier for all of us.

Of course, it is certainly not just a size issue. Minorities are also underrepresented in the modeling industry, with only a few names like Iman and Tyra Banks able to break this glass ceiling. At Fashion Week, about 80 percent of the working models are white, and many European companies like Dior and Céline often have no black models wearing their collections.

Former supermodel and casting director Bethann Hardison penned an open letter to the fashion industry criticizing the lack of black models: “Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches design houses consistently use one or no models of color. No matter the intention, the result is racism.”

Facing the accusations, the fashion industry appeared for a time to be com-

mitted to making a change. In 2008, the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Diane Von Furstenberg, advocated for increased casting of minorities among member clients, and prominent fashion magazine Vogue Italia published an issue of all black models.

Since then, however, diversity in modeling has come to a standstill.

Black model Jourdan Dunn, once the cover model of the Vogue Italia issue, complained in an interview with Net-aPorter’s online magazine, The Edit, that she’s encountered many clients who tell her, “We don’t want another black girl.”

Despite being named Harper Bazaar’s model of the year, Dunn continues to face prejudice. In 2013, she tweeted that she was cancelled from a Dior fashion show because of her skin color. That a top model may be denied casting or cut from a show due to her race reminds me of a supposedly bygone era.

IMG’s initiative, though criticized as drastic, is long overdue. When clients only employ white, thin models, they imply that their idea of beauty is likewise white and thin, which dramatically affects the self-esteem of young girls and boys.

The modeling industry may be a jungle, but it is time for them to stop representing only the giraffes. p

Hunger for reality TV is no game I clutched my armrest to contain a yelp of horror as I watched Katniss jump across the movie theater screen. Catching Fire, the all-anticipated sequel to the The Hunger Games and second in the three film adaptations of Suzanne Collin’s bestselling novels, was released in theaters on Nov. 22. The movie features many differMary Claire Morris ent themes that comment on our society.

The story’s messages are important and should be catching fire, but have they burnt to ashes with the audience?

For those who have been living under a rock, the movie is set in the dystopian, futuristic America called Panem. The country is made up of 12 districts and the Capitol, headed by the corrupt President Snow. Every year, one girl and boy from each district are drawn to fight to the death in an event that is broadcast live to viewers across the country. The tributes from District 12, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, are dumped into an arena with only two options: kill or be killed. Leaving her mother, sister and her friend (and potential romantic interest) Gale, Katniss pretends to be in love with Peeta (a genuine act for him) in order to fool the system and win the game as a duo.

Catching Fire begins by depicting the emotional toll the games have taken on Katniss and Peeta. As they take off on a victory tour to all the districts, a threatening President Snow and the upcoming 75th annual Hunger Games thicken the plot.

As the Capitol is engrossed by the tributes (who are televised killing and dying), Collins’ plot offers thematic comments on

our society’s infatuation with reality television. Like The Capitol, Americans obesses over the latest Hollywood fads. Collins effectively alludes to the economic gap of the haves and have-nots by displaying the Capitol people lavishly dressed while the people of the districts starve. As millions of fans fill seats in the theaters and hungrily consume the books, the underlying meaning in the original story is easily lost in the excitement of the film.

The media frenzy surrounding the franchise has rivaled that of Harry Potter and Twilight. The fan base is largely adolescents and preteens, the same audience that has grown up with reality TV shows, magazines hawking the newest celebrity looks and an overall obliviousness to real-world issues. It’s ironic that the hype surrounding the movie is what the books initially set out to criticize. Jennifer Lawrence’s (Katniss) bold new haircut is the topic of countless interviews, and young girls swoon at the sight of Liam Hemsworth (Gale) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta).

The Hunger Games trilogy, however, does not glorify violence like the latest video games or other Hollywood action films. Instead, it shows the brutality of violence and the audience is continually reminded who the “real enemy” is. The Katniss, Peeta, Gale love triangle, unlike the hot vampire romance equivalent, does not consume the plot or overtake the themes of humanity.

Hollywood may have created some crazy fans as the books were transformed into movies, but the messages are there if you pay attention to them. As millions watch the movie, maybe some will open their eyes. The reality is that reality television sucks, celebrities aren’t that special, violence is for villains and there will always be people starving while others have too much. p

You’ve never truly grown up until you’ve watched someone else have to. As a volunteer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, I was assigned to the cancer and blood disorder unit, where most of the patients are fighting for their lives. My job Caroline Morris was to engage in activities with the patients so they could still be kids while in the hospital. Even though the patients in my unit were experiencing harsh and exhausting treatments, there were few dull moments or frowns in sight.

One day as I drew in princess coloring books with a little girl, a wig was delivered to her room. I looked to her not knowing what reaction to expect but was pleasantly surprised to see a huge smile on her face. In that moment I was inspired by her positive outlook when facing adversity, but was also struck with the jarring reality of her situation.

These kids are fighting the battle of their lives, but few in the financial realm seem to be fighting for them. According to the National Cancer Institute, we live in a nation where more children die of cancer than of any other disease, and only 4 percent of U.S. federal funding for cancer research goes to childhood cancer.

In addition, according to an article in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, pharmaceutical companies have dubbed childhood cancer unprofitable because of the enormity of adult cancer diagnoses compared to those of children. Not only is the process to bring a drug to the market timely and expensive, but the human trials required to get a drug FDA-approved are difficult to perform because of the rapid progression of childhood cancers and the smaller population of children with cancer.

The American Cancer Society approximated that 1.66 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013; 11,630 will be children under the age of 15, making up 0.7 percent of all diagnoses in 2013. This may seem proportional to the funding, but the years children lose to cancer prove the funds insufficient.

According to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is 6 years old; for an adult, 67. The average number of years an adult will lose to cancer is 15, but for a child, it is 71.

While working with pediatric patients, I learned that childhood cancer is a very different disease than adult cancer, no matter what type. When cancer forms in an adult, it is usually due to environmental or lifestyle factors. Cancer in a child most often forms due to gene changes within cells during childhood years or before birth.

Because children with cancer are in developmental stages of their lives, their responses to treatments differ from those of adults. Children can tolerate higher doses of chemotherapy and radiation but experience more harmful side effects than adults do. Some of these effects, called late effects, do not surface until later in life. They include learning disabilities, abnormal bone growth, heart problems, thyroid problems, lung, liver and kidney problems and an increased risk of developing cancer as an adult. Late effects are caused by damage to healthy cells due to chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Working with the kids exposed me to the severity of their treatments and more importantly, taught me the strength of the human spirit. The little boy who taught me how to shoot hoops like LeBron was attached to an IV pole. Another boy whose energy was bouncing off the walls was confined to a wheelchair. The little girl who loved glue, paint and everything messy could not leave her bed.

The baby who showed me how funny a funny face can really be celebrated her first half birthday in the hospital, and time will tell if she makes it to her first full birthday.

I left knowing why the funding gap is a major concern to the pediatric community. While in the hospital, these kids endure more pain than most of us ever will in a lifetime.

Their treatments should not be prolonged or made more difficult because the money isn’t there. p

EXCLUSIVELY @ theSoutherneronline.com Vocation classes would give opportunites to students

Electronics in school leaving students behind

Say you are standing in a lunch line and the cafeteria lady offers you a cookie or an apple.

Most would take the cookie every day, thinking that a little unhealthy morsel now won’t add up to a problem later. While the apple is better for you now and in the long run, most are willing to sacrifice these obvious benefits for a good-tasting snack now …

If you’re reading this story, I sure hope you’re reading from The Southerner’s paper version and not on a tablet or smartphone. During my time here at Grady, it seems like technology has been invading every facet of learning, from in-class online assignments to textbooks only available to those with Internet access. I don’t mind using electronics …

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Lessons gained from Fair helpful for all

Dec. 13, 2013

Required Fair unfair for Grady students By keegan hasson

by Penelope realff

Although dreaded by many participants, doing an Academic Fair project is actually one of the best things that high school students can do to get ready for the real world, whether they are planning to go to college or to get a job after graduation. These projects foster real problem-solving skills and get students interested in different fields.

The fair opens doors for students to opportunities they never knew existed. For a change, they get to create the lesson plan, they get to decide what question to explore and moreover, how to explore that question. The students get a chance to control their education. In an everyday class, students don’t decide what is taught, and they don’t necessarily have a connection to the material.

By allowing students to choose the topic of their academic fair project, they get to decide what they want to learn.

After choosing the field they want to learn about and the question they want to test, they get to use one of the most important skills they will need in life: problem solving. This skill, which much too often is pushed aside in favor of rote memorization, is the key to becoming a functioning adult.

By creating the apparatus or survey instrument that will properly test their research question, students get to use their minds in a capacity they have never exercised before.

Many jobs these days, even those that don’t require a college degree, require that you have some experience working with data, particularly data in a computer spreadsheet. No matter the project, these projects collect and organize data and show students and experts how their conclusions support or deny the question that he or she is testing. This skill of collecting data and making it mean something is important in many professions, even those outside of science, math and social studies. This includes starting your own business or becoming a lawyer, where you must make decisions based on collected data.

Because of the massive workload required by the academic fair and because of strict deadlines, some students and parents think the fair is too stressful and should not be required. This type of stress, however, is similar to the deadlines for college papers a student will see in their not-too-distant future. Life is full of deadlines that are longer than a couple days, and learning to manage your time in high school when you still have the safety net of parents and teachers is important to your future success. With time-management skills, you can cope with the demanding deadlines when your job or college degree is on the line.

While many students groan when teachers announce they will have to turn in an academic fair project, some have a change of heart while working on the project. They realize the experience is actually teaching them to become independent thinkers and pushing them towards a successful future outside of high school. The benefits of this project cannot be oversold since it fosters so many important data collection skills students will need, not only now in high school, but for many years to come. p

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Fifteen-year-old Jack Andraka sprang to the stage of the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to claim his $75,000 prize. He had dreamed of winning this “Olympics” of academic fairs for the entirety of his life. Andraka singlehandedly produced a paper test slip that could easily detect targeted viruses and antigens, such as pancreatic and lung cancer. While it may seem incredible that someone so young could venture into the realm of cancer research, Andraka’s invention meant much more than that. Compared to most modern techniques of detection, his device was 168 times faster, 26,677 times less expensive, and 400 times more sensitive. It is heartfelt projects like these that academic fairs are supposed to be all about; however, this innovational standard continues to deteriorate as more and more students are forced into participation.

Ever since fifth grade, I have conducted my annual Internet search for academic fair topic ideas. Contrary to the reason behind academic fairs, I have never conceived a decent idea that could potentially help people; however, I have also never been encouraged to do so, either. Obviously, I have treated these science fairs like I have treated most of my schoolwork: by the book. Year after year, my peers and I have been conducting experiments already executed countless times before. The goal has been to receive a 100 on the assignment, not to go above and beyond and achieve something worthwhile.

The academic fair should be a place for students to go with a true passion for the subject under study. Andraka’s grandfather died of pancreatic cancer; thus, he pursued an invention that could improve the disease’s 5.5 percent survival rate. Noteworthy projects take months, sometimes years, to research and execute. By requiring students to participate in the academic fair, schools are only preventing the possible completion of passionate projects that could actually make a difference in the world. These requirements leave no room for innovation, no room for independent inquiry.

Although most students probably believe that our teachers have no good reason for requiring participation in academic fairs, their original intent was benevolent. The United States continues to fall behind in math and sciences; according to the Program for International Student Assessment, American 15-year-olds are now 29th in the world in math and 23rd in sciences. American education obviously needs a jump-start; however, forcing students to participate in academic fairs is not the way to address this crisis. The problem lies in teaching standards and a haphazard educational structure.

In Singapore, children commit to careers as early as the age of 6 and are able to prepare and study for that career for much longer. This educational model has transformed Singapore from a poor, desolate island to the second-most competitive economy in the world—and no, first place is not held by stars and stripes.

Students here lack the encouragement and proper commitment to go beyond what is required. Academic fairs could play a large role in advancing our innovative standards. For now, however, they are doing just the opposite. p

STUDENT Stan

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Should Academic Fair participation be mandatory for all students?

‘Islamophobia’ spreads as holiday season approaches As the winter holidays approach, my excitement to celebrate Christmas with my family increases exponentially, despite my nonreligious status. I realize that this most wonderful time of the year revolves mostly around the Christian religion, but the Christian focus never really bothered me. I can’t help but Hannah Martin notice, however, that most of us don’t acknowledge many major holidays that don’t have a Christian basis, like Eid al-Fitr, an Islamic feast. I would never know when any Islamic or Jewish holidays are scheduled due to the fact that they aren’t labeled on any of my calendars like Christmas always is.

I specifically express concern for the followers of Islam. Even though many Americans remain oblivious to the close proximity of Christian and Muslim beliefs, many of us suffer from Islamophobia. The burkas and hijabs that Muslim women wear make us all jump to conclusions of radical misogyny and gender oppression; the image of a Middle Eastern man dressed in tra-

ditional Islamic robes makes our country shudder with fear and disdain. And God forbid a Muslim family should come through the airport—they could be planning a terrorist attack; look at them laughing and speaking in a language different than our own—how suspicious!

It’s crazy how we hold such extreme prejudices against our own neighbors. We accuse innocent Muslim people of terrorism when in reality, 96 percent of terroristic acts carried out within the U.S. are committed by non-Muslims, according to the FBI database.

“The whole concept of terrorism is now directed towards Muslims, as though this word was made for us,” said sophomore Nishat Shormi, who practices Islam. “It’s funny really, because Islam truly teaches peace, respect and patience.”

Shormi agrees that many Americans tend to blindly single out and accuse Muslim Americans.

“I wish people would stop and think a little, maybe even read a book or two, about the profundity and clarity of Islam to help them make better and educated judgements.”

Luckily, Shormi said she has found acceptance at Grady, but

many other Muslim-American students across the country have faced prejudice from their peers. According to a 2010 survey by Muslim Mothers Against Violence, 100 percent of Muslim children who responded said that they had been called names such as “terrorist” because of their faith.

Prejudice is never acceptable, but if we are to blindly accuse anyone of terrorism, why not the white, male Christian group we have praised for so long? Remember how we targeted the Japanese after the attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941? We are only scared of the Muslims because the group behind the 9/11 attacks, Al-Qaeda, preached radical Islamic values. It’s time we, as Americans, grow up and become wise enough to distinguish between the good and the bad, rather than blindly accusing an entire group or ethnicity. It’s ridiculous that the only way Americans will discard their prejudices against one group is to shift them to another. It was only after interning Japanese-Americans and robbing them of their property that other Americans discovered Japanese-Americans were every bit as patriotic as they were. Let’s not make the same mistake today with the followers of Islam. p

Runoff elections add four representatives The APS School Board runoff elections, held on Dec. 3, added four new members to the board, bringing the total to six of the nine members on the board.

According to The Atlanta JournalConstitution, only 6.2 percent of registered voters cast ballots, down from the 19.8 percent that voted in the general election.

Runoff election results: District 8 at Large: Cynthia B. Brown, 66 percent Reuben McDaniel, (i) 34 percent District 9 at Large: Jason F. Esteves, 71 percent Lori James, 29 percent Disrict 5: Steven Lee, 59 percent Mary L. Palmer, 41 percent District 6: Eshe’ Collins, 59 percent Dell Byrd, 41 percent

Inman family sues after child bullied Jeffrey Del Bagno, a 12-year-old at Inman Middle School, was allegedly beaten by other students in September 2012. Del Bagno’s nose was broken in three places and he was left with 5 percent breathing capacity, 11Alive reported. Del Bagno’s parents claim to have warned Inman officials about his being bullied. The parents are suing APS, claiming that the attack could have been prevented.

The lawsuit alleges that the parents had emailed administrators five times, warning of bullying. Del Bagno’s father said he sent an email asking for the surveillance video of the incident the day after, asking for the video to be kept. But after filing an open records request, he was told the video no longer existed.

the Southerner

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Dec. 13, 2013

Local group proposes addition for Inman

By Allison Rapoport In January 2013, the VirginiaHighland Civic Association met with APS Superintendent Erroll Davis to discuss a proposed addition to Inman Middle School. The VHCA presented a traffic study to Davis and asked him to consider that data when deciding whether to build an annex, renovate an old school or build an addition onto Inman. Davis chose the last option, despite the VHCA’s worries.

“There are parking and traffic concerns,” said Jenifer Keenan, a VHCA board member. “The buses and drop-off lead to a big backup on Virginia [Avenue], and the surrounding smaller neighborhood streets during drop-off and pickup.

And in particular, the neighbors who live immediately around Inman have said that they have trouble in their morning commute to work because of the traffic that surrounds the school.”

The short-term solution for Inman’s overcrowding problem was to install eight trailers (two classrooms each) onto the soccer field. Presently, only connections classes are in the trailers, specifically health, Spanish, French, a social studies connections class and a creative-writing class.

This only accounts for nine of the 16 classrooms. The rest are used as a computer lab and offices.

Although Davis chose to build an addition, the VHCA has remained optimistic.

“The Civic Association is hopeful that we will be able to provide input on coming up with a better plan to deal with the buses and traffic and help develop a plan for facilitating better drop-off and pickup,” Keenan said.

The size of the addition has yet to be finalized, but there have been preliminary meetings between the

ALLISON RAPOPORT

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FLOCK OF EAGLES: Because of overcrowding, Inman students are forced to walk between classes in the trailers and the main building.

Inman principal, Paula Herrema, and BRPH, an architecture and engineering firm.

“We believe they need approximately eight classrooms,” said Jere Smith, APS director of capital improvements.

There are four proposed designs, some with the eight classrooms jutting out from the front of the building. The other designs show the classrooms flush with the front wall of the building.

Smith is also a member of the project committee for the addition.

In addition to Smith, the project committee consists of Herrema as the chairman, a local school council representative, a PTA representative, a faculty representative, a school board representative, a community representative and David White, who is the executive director for the region.

While the project committee has not had its first meeting yet, it is planned to happen by Dec. 20.

“I think once that project committee starts meeting, we’ll have a lot more information,” said Mary Jo Bryan, a member of the Inman PTA and the Local School Council.

Another meeting that was postponed is the meeting where the Centennial Place Elementary School charter would be voted on.

If Centennial, an Inman feeder school, hadn’t transitioned to K-8, the Inman addition could have been different.

“It would likely have to be bigger,” Smith said. “We’d have to relook at what we’re doing.”

Currently there are 977 students enrolled at Inman. Since Centennial voted to become K-8, the projected amount will remain the same, but if they had do not, the projected popu-

lation would have been 1,037. Once the size of the addition is finalized, it will still take many months before construction is finished.

“We anticipate [the renovation will] start somewhere late next year, 2014,” Smith said. “It will likely take about 12 months to complete.”

Although Keenan and the Civic Association are trying to stay optimistic about the project, she believes that this addition is not an adequate long-term solution for the overcrowding at Inman. Eventually, APS will have to do something more.

“As the student population continues to grow at Inman,” she said, “it continues to have more and more impact on the neighborhood.”

A longer term solution will be hard to find, given the lack of nearby land for building and the community’s desire to not send their students farther away to attend school. p

SUPERINTENDENT to be chosen by early 2014 continued from front page

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said in a press release.

Davis’s salary was $230,157, according to Open Georanything. When I have something school-related, the gia, a website which provides information about public committee understands that I’m a busy senior and they fill finances. Reed wants to raise that figure to $600,000 for me in on the things I missed.” the newcomer, notably more than the incomes of superBefore they could begin searching, Cramer said, the intendents of cities like New York and Los Angeles and committee conducted community meetings and surveys Reed’s own mayoral salary, as well as that of the governor to discover what stakeholders were looking for in their of Georgia and the President of the United States. next superintendent.

Reed thinks the extra money will attract candidates “That was a very wonderfully who might otherpositive experience,” Cramer said.

Over the last couple of months, [the search wise not be inter“What we found is that the comin leading firms] have talked with over 200 people ... Out ested munity is really ready to move on, a school system of that, [they] have had face-to-face meetings with as checkexcited about the possibilities and clearly expecting excellence.” ered a history, inwith over 20.

Based on the meetings conductcluding a CRCT ed from April to July, the comcheating scandal mittee created a report outlining a Ann Cramer which made naprofile for the ideal candidate. headlines. search committee leader tional “The next superintendent of “I’m hoping this Atlanta Public Schools will be exfinancial incentive pected to hold children and their education as their cen- will attract a high-caliber leader willing to accept these montral priority for every strategy and every decision,” Cra- umental challenges and not only heal this troubled school mer said, reading from the document which contains the system, but make it thrive,” Reed said. job description.

Reed has already had donors commit to giving a total of Cramer said that she loved the sense of balance in the $1.5 million over a five-year period to increase the salary. job description.

“Not one penny of this extra compensation will come “People may have diverse views, but you say, ‘Why are from taxpayers,” Reed said. we here?’ We are here for every child, every child to get an Reed pointed to our society’s willingness to pay athexcellent public education,” Cramer said. letic coaches, rather than educators, huge salaries. AccordIn the aftermath of the APS cheating scandal, making ing to USA Today, 17 college football coaches will make the job desirable to top candidates must be a top priority, more than $3 million in 2013. Alabama coach Nick Saban

“

heads the list with a salary of $7 million.

Cramer said that even without the promise of a tall salary, the job is still attracting the best candidates from around the country.

“The system is in a great city,” Cramer said. “It has a manageable number of students, [and] it’s not huge like Los Angeles or something. It is vibrant and diverse and excellent. We are getting wonderful response. People are very interested.”

Cramer appreciated the high level of support from the mayor. She did, however, point out that the school board is the entity which ultimately decides the superintendent’s salary. Cramer said that the salary will be what is appropriate for the school system.

The committee has chosen BoardWalk Consulting, an Atlanta-based firm, and Diversified Search, to lead the interviews with candidates.

“Over the last couple of months, [the search firms] have talked with over 200 people who were either representing organizations or potential candidates,” Cramer said.

“Out of that, [they] have had face-to-face meetings with over 20.”

Once the firms narrow down the candidates, the committee will begin interviewing in either late December or early January.

The committee will recommend about seven candidates to the current school board, but the recently elected board will get to make the final call.

Cramer has no doubt the best candidate will be chosen in the process.

“You will be proud of your city when the school board makes their selection,” Cramer said. “It will be fabulous.” p

news

Dec. 13, 2013

mary condolora

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MICHELLE-ING OUT CASH: Supporters gathered around Nunn at a Nov. 3 fundraiser in Inman Park. “As I’ve traveled around this state, I’m reminded constantly that our people are much better than our Congress,” Nunn said.

NUNN vies for father’s former U.S. Senate seat in ’14

continued from front page

something that has had a tremendous influence on me and my choices, and certainly my choice to run is in part inspired by his legacy of service.”

The strength of Nunn’s campaign will be linked with her ability to fundraise. Though Nunn raised $1.7 million in the first three months of her campaign—more than any other potential candidate in the race—she hopes to garner more than just money.

As the CEO of Points of Light, a volunteer service organization, Nunn has worked for over two decades organizing and mobilizing volunteers. She must now undertake similar tasks for her campaign.

“There are about 800,000 metro-Atlanta voters that vote in a presidential year that don’t vote in a non-presidential year,” Nunn said to the crowd of about 75 in Inman Park. “If we can get 150,000 of those voters to come out and vote, we can win this election.”

In 2008, Barack Obama encouraged young people to support his campaign. To Nunn, youth volunteerism has extreme potential as well.

“In community service I have seen this enormous reservoir of great youth involvement,” Nunn said. “I think in the last 25 years, we see double the rates of participation in young people in terms of volunteer service. I think we’re seeing that [this] generation has really embraced community service.”

As a political outsider, having never held elected office, Nunn voiced dissatisfaction with the current state of government. To some extent, she said the gridlock in Congress has helped her case. For example, Public Policy Polling reported in August that Nunn was either tied with or ahead of every opponent in matchups with potential Republican candidates.

“When we say that each one of [my opponents] voted to one is middle Georgia, where my family is from,” Nunn shut down government, we actually move up six points,” said. “I really hope to run a campaign that embraces the Nunn said. whole state … It will be critical to get Georgians from Nunn launched her 10-city “What Washington can learn small and large communities across the state to be particifrom Georgia” tour of the state in August. Nunn said she met pants, and to be invited into the campaign, and I’m very people on her tour who were tired of inaction in government. excited about that.”

Her mantra of pragmatism, colSupporters were hopeful but It will be critical to get Georgians from realistic. Along with Grady laboration and problem solving echoed throughout descriptions small and large communities across teacher Jeff Cramer and his of her past and hopes for her wife Ann, Neil Schemm hostthe state to be participants, and to be ed the Nov. 3 fundraiser with political future.

The responses to Nunn’s invited into the campaign, and I’m very his wife, Sharon Gay, at their candidacy have been highly home in Inman Park. Schemm, excited about that.” disparate. WABE published a who has lived in Georgia since Michelle Nunn the late 1970s, said Nunn letter on July 24, 2013 that the Georgia Republican Party must overcome hurdles. issued as a “welcome” to Nunn following her announce“Georgia was, up until 2000 … for a southern state, a ment. The letter criticized Nunn’s “far left-wing beliefs,” reasonably progressive state,” Schemm said. “But now I and labeled her as “out-of-touch.” have to say, outside of [Interstate Highway] 285, it is very, Aaron Watson, a former member of the Atlanta City very, very conservative and that we have taken our place Council, attended the Nov. 3 fundraiser to support Nunn. with the rest of the states in the old confederacy.”

“I just think she's a really talented young lady,” Watson While 2014 will be Nunn’s official foray into politics, said. “I've known her primarily through her Hands On At- she considered a U.S. Senate run in 2004. She ultimately lanta experience, so she's got a great sensitivity to important stayed out of the race to focus on her family, which includes issues that I think we really need some attention to on the her husband, Ron Martin, Jr., and their children, Vinson, federal level.”

10, and Elizabeth, 8. As Nunn gears up for the 2014 race, Watson said Nunn’s familiarity with Georgia will help her ap- her family has been beneficial. peal to all Georgians.

“I have loved having the opportunity to involve [my “She's been all over the state, but I think she's also got children] in the campaign,” Nunn said. “Every time we to get out and re-familiarize herself with different parts meet someone new they say, ‘Mom, remember to ask of the state that she hasn't visited lately, and she's doing them to vote for you!’ So they must be catching the bug that,” Watson said. a little bit.”

Nunn seemed ready to include the entire state in her camFor a strong showing in 2014, Nunn will focus on paign for the Senate. mobilizing more than just her children. For now, it’s all “I have a couple home communities in Georgia, and hands on deck. p

“

rtyj

Hall Monitor: APS Trial Update

Judge postpones splitting of cases

By Allison Rapoport The last Hall Monitor Update discussed how several of the 34 defendants in the APS cheating trials were attempting to get their statements to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation thrown out.

They were claiming they were compelled to answer the GBI investigators’ questions by threats of being fired if they failed to cooperate.

There are only two hearings remaining with regards to the motion to get the statements thrown out. So far the judge has denied all of them.

None of the defendants have yet to go with public defenders over their current attorneys.The trial is expected to last six months, and in longer trials, defendants often choose public defenders because private attorney fees become exorbitant.

The judge has yet to make an official decision on the motion of severance that was put forward by the defense, but has unofficially said that he is not planning to sever the cases.

He will make his final decision after the Jan. 6 final plea deadline.

Thus far, only one defendant has

pled guilty, admitting to cheating.

The judge is waiting to make his final decision until after the plea date to allow as many of the defendants as possible to plead guilty. More guilty pleas would minimize the length of the trial.

There has been no update on possible locations of the trial (the Georgia World Congress Center and the Atlanta Civic Center are both being considered). No new motions have been introduced and none of the evidence has been thrown out. p Fourth in a series

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Dec. 13, 2013

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By Anna Braxton and Emily Dean As America’s rising obesity rate draws more attention, APS parents and students are calling for changes in the food served in school cafeterias.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of children living in Georgia are obese, and the state will reach an obesity rate of 53.6 percent by 2030, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 31.6 million students in America bought school lunches in 2012. These numbers suggest that our route to reversing the obesity trend is a healthier school lunch.

Throughout APS, the number of Farm to School programs is growing, allowing students to gain access to fresh produce in the cafeteria.

Lunch Improvement Movement Over the past several years, the APS Nutrition Department has made its menu more healthy and nutritional.The department collaborates with a company called Sodexo, which helps schools plan their menus.

According to APS nutrition director Marilyn Hughes, Sodexo provides all of the kitchen staff, as well as the food for the department.

Hughes said that 65 percent of all students eat school lunches daily. Within the past decade, the menu has not only gotten healthier but also fresher.

“APS’s Nutrition Department is committed to serving foods grown and produced in the southeastern United States,” Hughes wrote in an e-mail interview. “The foods are purchased

by Sodexo from Sysco Foods, Fresh Point Produce and Borden’s Dairy. Commodity foods are provided by USDA.” The department has also focused on offering healthier foods. For example they have eliminated fried food from the menu and started using whole-wheat products. Schools now feature a local “vegetable of the month” to encourage students to try new foods.

“For a couple of years Atlanta Public Schools has been practicing wellness,” cafe manager Marlo Mixon said. “So all of it’s healthy. We

Anna braxton and emily dean

Lard to lettuce: lunchrooms harvest healthier habits

Carrots represent schools with Farm to School Programs.

Information provided by Georgia Organics.

are really rolling into wheat. Everything you see out there is wheat.”

Hughes said the menus at Grady are based on the USDA New Meal Standards.

“APS Nutrition Department utilizes the USDA Food Based Menu Planning System to provide all schools meals with one-third of the recommended dietary allowances for lunch and one-fourth of the recommended dietary allowances for breakfast to ensure consistency of the dietary guidelines,” Hughes wrote.

Despite these standards, some Grady students do not think the cafeteria food is as nutritious as it should be.

“I didn’t think the school lunches were all that entirely healthy, and they don’t really look very nutritious,” junior Jasmine Lawrence said.

Farm to School Over the past 13 years, Farm to School pro-

grams have popped up all over the country.

Georgia Organics Farm to School director Erin Croom said there are now thousands in the country, and they exist in every state.

These programs allow schools and students to get involved in the growing of the food they consume and to receive their food from local farms rather than large farms in different parts of the country. Farm to School also allows students to learn about sustainable food preparation and healthy meal options.

In Georgia there are more than 200 schools involved in Farm to School programs, according to the USDA. APS Nutrition has been collaborating with Georgia Organics for nearly five years. With help from Georgia Organics and support from the surrounding community, schools such as Springdale Park and Morningside elementary schools created their own Farm to School programs.

“In Georgia, our program started about six years ago and we now have, about 40 districts

that are purchasing local food, have school gardens and are working on chef-to-school programs where kids are doing hands-on interactive cooking,” Croom said.

Teresa Groshans started Schoolyard Sprouts about six years ago at the Morningside kindergarten campus, which is now SPARK Elementary School. She wanted to improve the quality of students’ lunches.

“Kids are very much more likely to try things that they have grown themselves,” she said.

“They’re curious about it. They put that plant in the ground, they’ve watered that plant, they watched that plant grow and now they get to pick a leaf off it and taste it.”

With support from the surrounding businesses and parents at the school, the program expanded to Morningside. SPARK now has a full-time teacher dedicated to the garden.

Springdale Sprouts also recently applied for a grant from the Captain Planet Foundation for Hope Hill Elementary.

“What we were trying to do is make every elementary school that feeds into Inman, and then into Grady, have some sort of edible education component so that all the kids in the cluster have it,” Groshans said.

Grady has its own small Farm to School program, which is not affiliated with Schoolyard Sprouts. According to AP Environmental Science teacher and Earth Club sponsor Korri Ellis, the Earth Club started a small garden, which is located between the new gym and the instructional suites, with the goal of teaching students how to grow their own food organically, meaning it does not use commercial fertilizers or pesticides.

APS has received awards for its efforts to improve school lunches.

“Last year, APS Nutrition was recognized with the Golden Radish Award for its participation in the 5 Million Meals campaign, a statewide effort sponsored by Georgia Organics to get more local food in schools,” Hughes wrote. “Our collaboration goals are to continue to increase the number of schools with gardens and increase the locally grown options in our cafeterias.” p

New moot court program appeals to student body

By Jenni Rogan When the newly transformed Law and Leadership Academy opened its doors this past August, the small learning community gained more than just new classes and new teachers. In September, almost 30 students began meeting after school to prepare for the National Moot Court Competition held in Washington D.C. next March. The 2014 problem is set to come out next January.

During the competition, a student from the team individually presents their argument, and the case law to support it, to three judges and their opponent answers questions from judges.

The local team was started by two teachers: Judge Harry Bowden, a new law teacher who previously worked as a judge for the East Point Municipal Court, and Calethea Barbour, a law teacher in her second year at Grady. Before Grady, Barbour spent her time practicing law in New York, both criminal cases and corporate cases.

Kaliyah Bacon, a sophomore on the team, said the kind of work they do during practice requires a lot of critical thinking.

Barbour hopes that because

the program teaches such a wide range of skills it will help students whether or not they are interested in law school. “[Moot Court] will definitely help your social skills, your writing skills, as well as your critical thinking skills,” Barbour said.

Although students from all academies are welcome to join, the moot court team is still considered a part of Grady’s law program. This law program, in addition to the engineering and business programs at Grady, are part of APS’s Career Technical and Agricultural Education program which helps students find possible future careers.

In Bowden’s opinion, moot court gives law and leadership students an extra push into jobs within the legal system. “[Moot court] provides a vigorous training for the study of law,” Bowden said.

Barbour agrees that, when used well, the team will also give students the ability to succeed after law school.

“I hope [students in moot court] will be able to really be competitors in trial court,” Barbour said. “They will be able to represent their clients

Jenni Rogan

Law and Leadership Academy enhances student futures with possible expedited path to Georgia State School of Law

ORDER IN THE COURT: Ray English, a professor at Georgia State University’s College of Law, hands out the agenda for the day’s practice. better and be more successful in the arguments they make.”

To help moot court students even more in their pursuit of law degrees, Bowden is also working with the dean of Georgia State’s School of Law to establish a further connection between Grady’s moot court team and the law school. The plan, which is not yet confirmed, is to allow Grady students who are actively

involved in the moot court team to gain entrance into the School of Law without taking the Law School Admission Test if they successfully get a bachelor’s degree.

Like many of the students interviewed for this story, Bacon is excited by this possible incentive. “[The coaches] are making it seem like if we do this program, we don’t have to take [the

LSAT],” Bacon said. “If I do this program and I don’t have to take the test, I will most definitely go to Georgia State.”

Even if the agreement does not work out, Bowden still has faith that students who work hard in moot court will do exceptionally well in law school. “They will be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else,” Bowden said. p

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Downtown painters find shelter in art Atlanta homeless and local artists work together to draw out talents

Art histories The Peachtree-Pine artists have stayed at the studio from as little as a few weeks to several years. Two artists live there currently, and Beaty estimated that another eight to 10 artists use the studio.

Natural, 38, is an artist who has been living at PeachtreePine since early November. He grew up in Springfield, Mass., where others noticed his aptitude for drawing.

“I knew I could draw when I was in preschool,” Natural said. “It was Christmas holidays, and the teacher asked us to draw Santa Claus ... She went around the class and looked at everybody’s portraits, came across mines and she said, ‘Wow it looks just like the picture, exactly like the picture.’”

NATURAL

Natural moved to Atlanta in 1989, at 14 years old. In the mid 1990s, he danced in a group with his brother called “Masters of Motion.” While in jail in 2007, Natural honed his skills as a portrait artist, using pictures as a guide.

“That’s when I realized I had a gift, a real serious gift,” he said. “I kept getting compliments after compliments. People in the jail that I met wanted me to draw their pictures of their loved ones. And so I drew them, they sent them to their loved ones. Their loved ones started requesting for my work, so I made money while I was locked up.”

Gregory Walcott, 64, is the other artist currently residing at Peachtree-Pine. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he got into art by drawing comic books when he was about 8 years old.

Walcott came to Atlanta in 2004 and began working at an electrical company. In 2008, he got an injury and his knee required a reconstruction surgery he could not afford.

Since the company would not give him a job that required less movement, he became unemployed and his income vanished. Soon after, he came to Peachtree-Pine.

Walcott was never formally trained as an artist, but perfected his style through trial and error. He paints by himself, and calls Tieree Malone, another Peachtree-Pine artist, his partner. Walcott, like Natural, uses images as guides for most of his paintings.

David Roby, 65, works in the Peachtree-Pine studio but lives with his wife in Austell, Ga. His entrance into the art world came in 1969, when, in prison, he picked up drawing and painting skills from other incarcerated artists.

After Roby’s release, his work underwent a dry spell.

“When I was released from prison, I didn’t draw, I didn’t paint,” Roby said. “I learned how to paint when I was there, but I didn’t paint when I was released. So there’s a lot of years that gone by that I didn’t do anything. Just this past six years, I’ve been painting on a regular basis. No more going to prison. I just changed my life and I’m trying to pursue art as a profession right now.”

Roby has painted at the Peachtree-Pine studio for more than three years. He said his favorite medium to work with is oil paint, because it flows so freely and allows him to emulate the images he uses as models.

Michelle Simpson, 33, finishes each of her paintings with the tag “L0ve365.” Simpson’s formative years as an artist took place at Redan High School, in East Atlanta.

“That was pretty much the only artistic training that I had, but over time I realized that no matter what I was doing, it’s something I was always gonna do,” Simpson said.

“So I always had art supplies, always learning stuff and, you know, new techniques, and just working on art.”

Simpson was headed to a charity event at the High Museum of Art one evening when she noticed someone painting outside the studio. “‘Wow, let me go see what this is about,’” Simpson re-

“When people see my art, I want them to relate it in their lives. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. I had some drug issues, some drug abuse issues. So I feel like I have an insight where I can help people in a way with my tribulations and my story … Hopefully I can open up people’s minds with the energy that I put out there.”

called herself saying. “And I found out that if I create artwork out of here that part of the proceeds would go to the shelter … what better true start to have than one that’ll give back?”

Working with what they’ve got Simpson became a part of the art studio this past February. She describes her art as feminine, colorful and bright. Simpson’s work was more abstract than most of the art present at the studio. One of her paintings in the Peachtree-Pine studio featured a locked heart encircled by numerous flying keys.

“One of my main styles I have is called Science of God,” Simpson said, laughing. “It’s actually inspired by a project I had when I was in high school, a geometry project. I didn’t do [the project], but we had to create an optical illusion ... recently, somebody asked me to do something for them, and I created something similar.”

That scientific style has manifested itself in a number of Simpson’s artistic creations. One such drawing in an early stage utilized harsh, geometric shapes alongside a subject from a fashion magazine, modeling a jacket from the Ralph Lauren Collection.

Michelle’s work has been displayed in an art show at Atlanta Tech Village, where some of her pieces remained.

Roby said his favorite artist is Rembrandt, the 17th century painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Roby admires Rembrandt’s use of light, which he said inspired him to experiment with light and shadows in “I’ve Got You” (2008) and “Waiting for Release” (2012).

“I just put some music on and let God do his work, that’s what I do,” Roby said.

His love for music came across in his portraits of Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix. The painting of Jackson, “King of Pop,” won first place in Fulton County’s National Arts Program exhibition of 2009. His portrait of Hendrix won “Best in Show” a year later.

Since artists sell their work directly out of the studio, passersby often see artwork for sale in the window of the building. When art buyers took note of Walcott’s impressive style, the demand for his work increased.

“Me and [Malone], we teamed up most of the time,” Walcott said. “We was getting so much work that the only way we could get everything out and meet deadlines, we did paintings together. He’d take his strong points and do his part of the painting, and I’d take my strong points and do my part of the painting.”

Walcott was working with Simpson on a painting of R&B singer-songwriter Angie Stone when a 9-year-old boy asked if he could help.

“He kept saying, ‘I want to paint! I want to paint!’” Wal-

DAVID ROBY

cott said. “I let him paint, this kid painted the undercoat for Angie Stone’s portrait … first time he ever picked up a brush. I told the little guy, ‘Your name is gonna be on this when we get through with it,’ … it was so cool.”

Natural said he feels most comfortable with colored pencils, but he hopes to work with oil paint and airbrush murals. At a recent meeting of the artists, Beaty commented on the expensive nature of airbrushing tools, but said she would try to bring in a muralist to talk to the artists.

Natural’s most recent work featured a character he calls “Black Superman.”

“There aren’t many black comic heroes, so I just feel like Superman would cause people to think that … anybody could be a hero,” Natural said. “There’s good, strong men in all cultures. I just wanted to twist it up a little bit. A lot of people say that he resembles me, and it wasn’t intentional. I guess it’s just part of my instinct to draw something close to me, so it came out that way.”

All “walks of life” Beaty said that because she is extremely busy and the studio lacks a devoted manager, participation has declined over the last five years.

“Attrition always is taking these artists,” she said. “They come and go because people in this facility come and go.”

Beaty has seen some Peachtree-Pine artists go to art school, and others get on their feet and return to the studio to give back. Natural hopes he can go on producing work at the studio as long as he can make an impact.

“All kinds of—walks of life come through here,” Natural said. “That’s my goal. To touch the poor, the rich, the smart, the not so smart, the conscious, the not conscious people … I am homeless at the time, so thank goodness, this is a blessing, so I can get away and think. Art to me can be soothing, can be like a medicine for myself.”

Roby said he hopes for a more traditional success story.

“I hope to sell some of this work,” he said, laughing.

“My hope is to try and get in some of the artist magazines and have my name put out there. I just wanna become an accomplished artist and be appreciated. It’s a little work, and it doesn’t have to be every day.”

Walcott still suffers from knee problems, and said he is still saving money for the reconstruction surgery. In the meantime, he said he hopes to buy a camera and experiment further with Adobe Photoshop.

Simpson said she is working on getting print quality photos of her paintings so she can sell them. Her plan for the future is simply to keep creating artwork.

Despite their varying styles and aspirations, the artists at Peachtree-Pine constantly strive to improve themselves and their studio, one singing heart at a time. p

All photos by ben Simonds-malamud

By Ben Simonds-Malamud Anita Beaty, the executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, says she asks the same question to each person who arrives at the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter: “What makes your heart sing?”

For nearly three decades, Beaty’s career has centered around homelessness. In 1985, she and her husband joined the board of the Task Force, which operates the PeachtreePine homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta. Twelve years later, Beaty purchased the building adjacent to the shelter as a personal art studio. Soon, she noticed people in the shelter making art.

“I sort of had a hunch that there were a lot of people here who never had the luxury, or the leisure, or the encouragement or the opportunity to discover how creative they are,” Beaty said. “I saw some folks sketching and said, ‘Do you want to paint? Do you want to draw?’”

The art studio swelled to include 19 artists by the late 1990s, when Beaty began offering painting classes with live models on Thursday nights.

“Once we had a model who was also a 12-string guitarist … he was playing Bach and he was living at the shelter, and one Thursday night I remember thinking, ‘This is heaven.

This is actually heaven,’” Beaty said. “I mean, what could be better? The music, a model, a bunch of artists. You could see the lights to the city, it was beautiful. The energy has been—always, I think—really wonderful.”

Only one artist stayed in the studio during the 2001 demolition that made way for a redevelopment that has not yet taken place. Currently the space looks unfinished, with exposed pipes and the feel of a warehouse. Donated furniture—a wooden bar, tables and benches—fills in the spaces between the numerous studio workspaces.

In the last decade, Beaty has organized the art studio as a collective, where each artist has equal say. With the approval of other artists, Beaty said she chooses people from the shelter to whom the collective allots studio space.

“This little girl, her mother was an artist, she used to run around the gallery, playing, painting. She had paint all over her face when I took the picture, but I didn’t put it on there. She was out there in the sun, cause her mother was painting outside. I looked around and she had fallen [asleep] in the chair.

So I said,‘Lemme take this picture, because it’s so cute.’

I think it’s adorable.“

cally over here in the pi ty is at th dy la a of d di I “This is my portrait that she would say], ‘Oh nd [a g in rk pa be d I’ , ow parking lot. You kn ,’ whatever. And ey on m e m so e m ve gi girl, how you doing, t her name, and I found go I d an y, nn fu ly al re st she was ju med ... Hellraiser.” na ck ni as w e sh at th t ou

ON

MICHELLE SIMPS

GREGORY WALCOTT

“Me and my partner used to have a painting called ‘Black Rain’ … one of the artists that didn’t like it destroyed it. But it was a jester coming out from behind the building.

He was making it rain black raindrops. So I was thinking about taking this to another level, and redoing the black rain and using this … I’m finna make this one black rain. ”

8

9

Downtown painters find shelter in art Atlanta homeless and local artists work together to draw out talents

Art histories The Peachtree-Pine artists have stayed at the studio from as little as a few weeks to several years. Two artists live there currently, and Beaty estimated that another eight to 10 artists use the studio.

Natural, 38, is an artist who has been living at PeachtreePine since early November. He grew up in Springfield, Mass., where others noticed his aptitude for drawing.

“I knew I could draw when I was in preschool,” Natural said. “It was Christmas holidays, and the teacher asked us to draw Santa Claus ... She went around the class and looked at everybody’s portraits, came across mines and she said, ‘Wow it looks just like the picture, exactly like the picture.’”

NATURAL

Natural moved to Atlanta in 1989, at 14 years old. In the mid 1990s, he danced in a group with his brother called “Masters of Motion.” While in jail in 2007, Natural honed his skills as a portrait artist, using pictures as a guide.

“That’s when I realized I had a gift, a real serious gift,” he said. “I kept getting compliments after compliments. People in the jail that I met wanted me to draw their pictures of their loved ones. And so I drew them, they sent them to their loved ones. Their loved ones started requesting for my work, so I made money while I was locked up.”

Gregory Walcott, 64, is the other artist currently residing at Peachtree-Pine. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he got into art by drawing comic books when he was about 8 years old.

Walcott came to Atlanta in 2004 and began working at an electrical company. In 2008, he got an injury and his knee required a reconstruction surgery he could not afford.

Since the company would not give him a job that required less movement, he became unemployed and his income vanished. Soon after, he came to Peachtree-Pine.

Walcott was never formally trained as an artist, but perfected his style through trial and error. He paints by himself, and calls Tieree Malone, another Peachtree-Pine artist, his partner. Walcott, like Natural, uses images as guides for most of his paintings.

David Roby, 65, works in the Peachtree-Pine studio but lives with his wife in Austell, Ga. His entrance into the art world came in 1969, when, in prison, he picked up drawing and painting skills from other incarcerated artists.

After Roby’s release, his work underwent a dry spell.

“When I was released from prison, I didn’t draw, I didn’t paint,” Roby said. “I learned how to paint when I was there, but I didn’t paint when I was released. So there’s a lot of years that gone by that I didn’t do anything. Just this past six years, I’ve been painting on a regular basis. No more going to prison. I just changed my life and I’m trying to pursue art as a profession right now.”

Roby has painted at the Peachtree-Pine studio for more than three years. He said his favorite medium to work with is oil paint, because it flows so freely and allows him to emulate the images he uses as models.

Michelle Simpson, 33, finishes each of her paintings with the tag “L0ve365.” Simpson’s formative years as an artist took place at Redan High School, in East Atlanta.

“That was pretty much the only artistic training that I had, but over time I realized that no matter what I was doing, it’s something I was always gonna do,” Simpson said.

“So I always had art supplies, always learning stuff and, you know, new techniques, and just working on art.”

Simpson was headed to a charity event at the High Museum of Art one evening when she noticed someone painting outside the studio. “‘Wow, let me go see what this is about,’” Simpson re-

“When people see my art, I want them to relate it in their lives. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. I had some drug issues, some drug abuse issues. So I feel like I have an insight where I can help people in a way with my tribulations and my story … Hopefully I can open up people’s minds with the energy that I put out there.”

called herself saying. “And I found out that if I create artwork out of here that part of the proceeds would go to the shelter … what better true start to have than one that’ll give back?”

Working with what they’ve got Simpson became a part of the art studio this past February. She describes her art as feminine, colorful and bright. Simpson’s work was more abstract than most of the art present at the studio. One of her paintings in the Peachtree-Pine studio featured a locked heart encircled by numerous flying keys.

“One of my main styles I have is called Science of God,” Simpson said, laughing. “It’s actually inspired by a project I had when I was in high school, a geometry project. I didn’t do [the project], but we had to create an optical illusion ... recently, somebody asked me to do something for them, and I created something similar.”

That scientific style has manifested itself in a number of Simpson’s artistic creations. One such drawing in an early stage utilized harsh, geometric shapes alongside a subject from a fashion magazine, modeling a jacket from the Ralph Lauren Collection.

Michelle’s work has been displayed in an art show at Atlanta Tech Village, where some of her pieces remained.

Roby said his favorite artist is Rembrandt, the 17th century painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Roby admires Rembrandt’s use of light, which he said inspired him to experiment with light and shadows in “I’ve Got You” (2008) and “Waiting for Release” (2012).

“I just put some music on and let God do his work, that’s what I do,” Roby said.

His love for music came across in his portraits of Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix. The painting of Jackson, “King of Pop,” won first place in Fulton County’s National Arts Program exhibition of 2009. His portrait of Hendrix won “Best in Show” a year later.

Since artists sell their work directly out of the studio, passersby often see artwork for sale in the window of the building. When art buyers took note of Walcott’s impressive style, the demand for his work increased.

“Me and [Malone], we teamed up most of the time,” Walcott said. “We was getting so much work that the only way we could get everything out and meet deadlines, we did paintings together. He’d take his strong points and do his part of the painting, and I’d take my strong points and do my part of the painting.”

Walcott was working with Simpson on a painting of R&B singer-songwriter Angie Stone when a 9-year-old boy asked if he could help.

“He kept saying, ‘I want to paint! I want to paint!’” Wal-

DAVID ROBY

cott said. “I let him paint, this kid painted the undercoat for Angie Stone’s portrait … first time he ever picked up a brush. I told the little guy, ‘Your name is gonna be on this when we get through with it,’ … it was so cool.”

Natural said he feels most comfortable with colored pencils, but he hopes to work with oil paint and airbrush murals. At a recent meeting of the artists, Beaty commented on the expensive nature of airbrushing tools, but said she would try to bring in a muralist to talk to the artists.

Natural’s most recent work featured a character he calls “Black Superman.”

“There aren’t many black comic heroes, so I just feel like Superman would cause people to think that … anybody could be a hero,” Natural said. “There’s good, strong men in all cultures. I just wanted to twist it up a little bit. A lot of people say that he resembles me, and it wasn’t intentional. I guess it’s just part of my instinct to draw something close to me, so it came out that way.”

All “walks of life” Beaty said that because she is extremely busy and the studio lacks a devoted manager, participation has declined over the last five years.

“Attrition always is taking these artists,” she said. “They come and go because people in this facility come and go.”

Beaty has seen some Peachtree-Pine artists go to art school, and others get on their feet and return to the studio to give back. Natural hopes he can go on producing work at the studio as long as he can make an impact.

“All kinds of—walks of life come through here,” Natural said. “That’s my goal. To touch the poor, the rich, the smart, the not so smart, the conscious, the not conscious people … I am homeless at the time, so thank goodness, this is a blessing, so I can get away and think. Art to me can be soothing, can be like a medicine for myself.”

Roby said he hopes for a more traditional success story.

“I hope to sell some of this work,” he said, laughing.

“My hope is to try and get in some of the artist magazines and have my name put out there. I just wanna become an accomplished artist and be appreciated. It’s a little work, and it doesn’t have to be every day.”

Walcott still suffers from knee problems, and said he is still saving money for the reconstruction surgery. In the meantime, he said he hopes to buy a camera and experiment further with Adobe Photoshop.

Simpson said she is working on getting print quality photos of her paintings so she can sell them. Her plan for the future is simply to keep creating artwork.

Despite their varying styles and aspirations, the artists at Peachtree-Pine constantly strive to improve themselves and their studio, one singing heart at a time. p

All photos by ben Simonds-malamud

By Ben Simonds-Malamud Anita Beaty, the executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, says she asks the same question to each person who arrives at the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter: “What makes your heart sing?”

For nearly three decades, Beaty’s career has centered around homelessness. In 1985, she and her husband joined the board of the Task Force, which operates the PeachtreePine homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta. Twelve years later, Beaty purchased the building adjacent to the shelter as a personal art studio. Soon, she noticed people in the shelter making art.

“I sort of had a hunch that there were a lot of people here who never had the luxury, or the leisure, or the encouragement or the opportunity to discover how creative they are,” Beaty said. “I saw some folks sketching and said, ‘Do you want to paint? Do you want to draw?’”

The art studio swelled to include 19 artists by the late 1990s, when Beaty began offering painting classes with live models on Thursday nights.

“Once we had a model who was also a 12-string guitarist … he was playing Bach and he was living at the shelter, and one Thursday night I remember thinking, ‘This is heaven.

This is actually heaven,’” Beaty said. “I mean, what could be better? The music, a model, a bunch of artists. You could see the lights to the city, it was beautiful. The energy has been—always, I think—really wonderful.”

Only one artist stayed in the studio during the 2001 demolition that made way for a redevelopment that has not yet taken place. Currently the space looks unfinished, with exposed pipes and the feel of a warehouse. Donated furniture—a wooden bar, tables and benches—fills in the spaces between the numerous studio workspaces.

In the last decade, Beaty has organized the art studio as a collective, where each artist has equal say. With the approval of other artists, Beaty said she chooses people from the shelter to whom the collective allots studio space.

“This little girl, her mother was an artist, she used to run around the gallery, playing, painting. She had paint all over her face when I took the picture, but I didn’t put it on there. She was out there in the sun, cause her mother was painting outside. I looked around and she had fallen [asleep] in the chair.

So I said,‘Lemme take this picture, because it’s so cute.’

I think it’s adorable.“

cally over here in the pi ty is at th dy la a of d di I “This is my portrait that she would say], ‘Oh nd [a g in rk pa be d I’ , ow parking lot. You kn ,’ whatever. And ey on m e m so e m ve gi girl, how you doing, t her name, and I found go I d an y, nn fu ly al re st she was ju med ... Hellraiser.” na ck ni as w e sh at th t ou

ON

MICHELLE SIMPS

GREGORY WALCOTT

“Me and my partner used to have a painting called ‘Black Rain’ … one of the artists that didn’t like it destroyed it. But it was a jester coming out from behind the building.

He was making it rain black raindrops. So I was thinking about taking this to another level, and redoing the black rain and using this … I’m finna make this one black rain. ”

a&e

10

Dec. 13, 2013

Walking in Turner Field’s Winter Wonderland

LARGER THAN LIFE: At Turner Field’s Global Winter Wonderland festival, brightly colored lanterns replicate prominent landmarks and monuments from around the world, and present other beautiful sights and scenes (top left). The Christmas tree (top right) greets attendees as they first walk through the gates, while the International Garden presents a glowing tree and globe (bottom right). India’s Taj Mahal (bottom center) shines incandescently through the night, and the Christmas scene illuminates the night (top right). The Statue of Liberty (near right) neighbors the Sydney Opera House (below), though in reality they are half a world apart.

photos by katherine merritt

After five long months, the time has finally come: winter break has arrived.

Winter vacation is a time for sleeping, relaxing, eating good food, sleeping, visitBy Alex Wolfe ing family, sleeping and anything else you can cram into those two precious weeks of the year. While there are always those lucky people who are traveling over the break, many of us, including myself, will be stuck at home. But fear not!

I am here as your official “stay-cation” planner, so that your limited time away from the confines of Grady is anything but boring.

Movies As an avid moviegoer, I am ridiculously excited to see as many films as the holiday season has to offer. Choosing the right movie to go watch, however, is a decision of the utmost importance. The following are my top choices for each type of movie: Comedy – Anchorman 2 Even if you haven’t seen the first Anchorman movie, you should still be able to follow the hilarity that unravels around Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell. This movie has an extremely strong (and highly comedic) cast around Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Kristin Wiig, plus at least a dozen other cameos.

Drama – Saving Mr. Banks Though technically a dramedy, Saving Mr. Banks follows P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), the author of the original Mary Poppins book series, as Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) attempts to gain the rights from her to make Mary Poppins into a movie.

Family Friendly – Frozen If you are going to the movies with family members of all ages, I recommend Frozen. Not convinced? Watch the short clip of the battle

Alex wolfe

Stuck at home during break? Plan your Stay-cation!

CAN’T WAIT TO SKATE? As winter weather blows in, so does the longing for ice skating. At the Southwest Rink at the Park Tavern, patrons can skate for $20 on Fridays and Saturdays and for $15 every other day. over a carrot between Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer and see if you can get through it without at least chuckling once.

Other Notable Movies – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Best Man Holiday and American Hustle.

The Nutcracker It seems like you can hardly make it two feet during the holiday season without hearing a song from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The ballet follows young Clara, the valiant Nutcracker soldier and the mysterious Drosselmeyer as Clara and the Nutcracker journey into the beautiful Land of the Sweets.

Though many different ballet companies from across Atlanta perform the show every year, only a few present the ballet during our winter break. As the official State Ballet of Georgia, Atlanta Ballet’s version of The Nutcracker takes place from Dec. 6 to Dec. 29 at the Fox Theatre. Tickets range from $27 to more than $100 depending on your seats.

Additionally, Gwinnett Ballet Theatre is performing the ballet at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, on Dec. 20 and 21 at

7:30 p.m. and on Dec. 21 and 22 at 2:30 p.m. . Tickets are between $16 and $24.

Seasonal To celebrate the holiday season, many locations around Atlanta have created their most festive events and attractions. The events at Turner Field and the Botanical Gardens in particular stand out.

The Botanical Gardens are hosting their annual Garden Lights: Holiday Nights showcase, where the gardens will be covered in more than a million twinkling lights. Open from Nov. 16 through Jan. 4, the event is $20 for nonmembers on peak nights and $17 on off-peak nights.

Turner Field has gotten into the holiday spirit as well with their Global Winter Wonderland (see above for picures). This self-proclaimed “multi-cultural lantern festival” exhibits cultures and landmarks from around the world in a bright array of lights and lanterns. Amid the scenery, there are also an array of exhilarating rides and rollercoasters for those of you hoping for a thrill. This Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 5 and costs $25.

Ice skating While we might not have the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink here in Atlanta, we still have dozens of great ice-skating rinks to glide around.

The most notable addition to Atlanta’s ice-skating scene is the brand new ice rink at Atlantic Station. Skate Atlantic Station is a beautiful outdoor rink that can hold at least 600 skaters, but unlike most traditional rinks, it has a center island that divides the ice into two narrow sections. Open until Feb. 14, Skate Atlantic Station offers unlimited skating for only $13.

A little closer to home is the Southwest Rink at Park Tavern, an indoor ice rink that is a little cozier and can hold about 200 people. Skating costs $20 for Fridays and Saturdays, and $15 every other day.

After 8:30, however, only adults are allowed to skate, so make sure to arrive well before then.

Centennial Olympic Park also hosts its own ice rink every season, and skating only costs $10. Skating is not unlimited, unfortunately, as you are only allowed to skate for 90 minutes. Still, this covered rink is more than 7,000 square feet, and well worth a visit.

Visit Santa OK, so I know we are a little old to be visiting Santa, but just in case you or your younger sibling wants to go get a picture with the big jolly guy, here are some of the most accessible Santas in the area.

Both the Botanical Gardens and Turner Field have Santa on site as part of their special events. Santa visits the Gardens on Dec. 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and he arrives at the Global Winter Wonderland as well. He will also be at Atlantic Station until Dec. 24, and though he can be seen from afar at Phipps Plaza, you need a reservation to meet with him in person. p

Dec. 13, 2013

dining

11

Easy as pie: which dessert destination is upper crust?

I had pie-in-the-sky high hopes for The Highland Bakery, an eatery located on Highland Avenue that is known for its wide array of delicious foods ranging from pancakes to salad to mouth-watering baked goods.

When I walked through the door, the sweet smell of, well, sweet desserts beckoned me to the counter. If you want a full pie you must order ahead of time, so I settled on a pumpkin pie bar priced at $1.99, which was topped with homemade whipped cream, garnished with a little chocolate and dusted with cinnamon.

When I took a bite, my taste buds applauded the pumpkin on its flawless, creamy consistency. The bar was not your average pie slice, there was no crust at the end, but I was happy to find that the sides of the bar had a slight flaky crunch that went well with the smoothness of the pumpkin. I then took a bite with the whipped cream and chocolate together and was more than pleased to discover that each component complemented each other very well. This small piece of pie surpassed the first contestant by leaps and bounds.

With my expectations and sugar intake at an all-time high I once

Fourth in a series

uest for the

Best Elizabeth gibbs

When I visit my grandm o t h e r’s house during the holiday season, t h e r e’s Elizabeth Gibbs bound to be a pie in sight. Whether bought or homemade, pies are a tradition for many as the weather cools outside and the festivities heat up indoors.

Typically, I prefer to enjoy a piece of pie in the comfort of my own home, but I decided to venture out in search of the best pie.

When I think of pie I immediately envision the classic American favorite, apple pie.

With that vision in mind, my journey began at Publix on Ponce de Leon Avenue. With an already closeto-full stomach I decided on a mini apple pie at the low price of $3.29.

It was exactly what I expected. The apple slices were moist, and the crust was flaky. It didn’t hold together as well as I would have liked, but at that price, I couldn’t argue too much. For a pie from the grocery store, it was definitely acceptable. Despite the satisfactory taste, I knew the “best” was to be found elsewhere.

RAISING THE BAR: The Highland Bakery offers a unique spin on the traditional pie with a pie bar. They accent their pumpkin pie bar with a fancy flower made of whipped cream. again made my way over to Ponce de Leon Avenue, to the Majestic Diner. This busy 24-hour joint is one of my personal favorites. The food is delicious, and the servers are almost always friendly. This diner does have one major downfall, however: the price.

A slice of pie served a la mode costs around $6 with tax. I tried not to let this fact, however, alter my opinion of the pie.

Immediately, I found that the apples were far more crunchy than

the pie from Publix. I personally prefer a crisp apple over a soggy one, so I rather enjoyed the extra crunch. This slice of pie was definitely on the spicy side in terms of the cinnamon, but the contrast of the sweet flaky crust and the vanilla ice cream on the side balanced the spice nicely.

My journey came to an end as I headed to Trader Joe’s just across the street from Grady. Going in, I had hoped for a high quality grocery store pie. Priced at $6.99, this full pie was only about a dollar more

than the slice I had at the Majestic.

Within the first bite, I noticed that the consistency was much closer to baby food than to pumpkin pie. After I swallowed I became aware of the slightly bitter aftertaste. I then took a bite of just the crust, hoping for some redeeming sweet flaky goodness, but I came up short when I tasted the soft, bland and thin “crust.”

Leaving Trader Joe’s, I realized my quest was at an end and it was time to choose. My runner-up was the Majestic Diner’s apple pie, because it added a twist to the classic American favorite. I recommend this pie to someone who can afford the $6 dollar price tag.

The Highland Bakery won me over with its creamy pumpkin pie, and delicious whipped cream that left me longing for more. r

My sister is an incredibly picky eater. She won’t touch cheese, she hates soup and she is legitimately afraid of pickles. I’ve never understood her strange aversion to food, or the aversion of any picky eater for that matter. I have a theory: any food, no matter how strange, will taste delicious Margo Stockdale when prepared correctly. I decided to test my theory by venturing into the world of the culinary bizarre.

Initially, I found myself questioning what “weird” food really meant. What Americans may refer to as peculiar may be a delicacy abroad. For this reason, I thought it would be best to begin my search for strange eats in Atlanta’s epicenter of international cuisine: Buford Highway.

El Rey Del Taco is certainly the king of Buford taquerias.

The menu is expansive and divided into several sections including quesadillas, snacks, tortas and, of course, tacos.

I ordered one tripa (chitlins and bowels) taco and one cabeza (cow cheek) taco. I was relieved to taste my first bizarre foods wrapped in familiar taco shells. The tacos arrived shortly and didn’t look at all offensive; the tortillas were well formed and the meat nicely browned.

I started with the tripa. The small rings of intestine looked as if they had been pan seared. I took a bite, expecting a delicious surprise, but instead received a bitter disappointment. The irritable chitlins and bowels tasted earthy and dirty, and their chewy texture did not match their crispy appearance. After a quick douse of both complimentary hot sauces, the flavor improved slightly, but I would not order the tripa again.

I hoped the cabeza would restore my faith in my bizarre foods quest, but, alas, it did not. I can’t sufficiently describe the cow cheek’s unpleasantness. The putrid meat possessed a sickly sweet taste lacking any real flavor. I tried to mask the musty taste with the hot sauce, but I put on so much that the moisture caused the taco to fall apart, and I was unable to finish the rest. But I did preserve my appetite for the next spot.

Atlanta Chinatown Mall, located in Chamblee, houses two dine-in restaurants and six food-court-style restaurants. One of the food-court restaurants is Lan Zhou Hand Pull Noodle. The hand pull is no gimmick; several times throughout the evening an employee completed the arduous process of hand pulling long chinese noodles for soups and stir-fries.

The woman at the counter barely spoke any English, so

Photos by Margo Stockdale

Freaky foods frighten customers, enlighten tastebuds

ordering proved to be a bit of an ordeal. After waiting a very long time, I figured my order for pig stomach hand-pulled noodle had been forgotten, and I ordered again. Soon, a waitress brought my order to the table.

The huge bowl of steaming hot pork broth, the pig stomach, bok choy and fresh handmade noodles sizzled at a bargain price of $6.75. My earlier experience at El Rey left me a little weary of the stomach, but the enticing preparation encouraged me to take the first bite. The sweet flavor of the pig stomach shocked me with its delicacy, quite unlike the overbearing sweetness of the cabeza taco.

As I was enjoying my pig stomach soup, a Lan Zhou employee walked over to our table and happily placed down a second bowl. My confused party ogled at the second helping.

It seemed that my original order had simply been delayed and now both sat on my table. Needless to say, I had a lot on my plate (and in my bowl). The appetizing soup pleased me enough, and I certainly had the stomach for extras.

Strange foods are not restricted to ethnic eateries; modern restaurants, or gastropubs, are experimenting with odd gastronomy. The Little Five Points establishment, The Porter, is

OFFAL EATS: El Rey Del Taco’s foul-tasting tripa and cabeza tacos (top left) are not recommended for the faint of stomach.

A Lan Zhou employee works to hand pull noodles (top right) for the tantalizing and authentic dishes the restaurant serves.

The Porter, a funky gastropub in Little Five Points, offers several variations of traditional dishes with a twist, like a pork and foie gras terrine and pickled quail egg (bottom). Don’t be scared off by the dishes’ funky facades; their flavor would satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. one such gastropub.

The regular menu wasn’t particularly adventurous, but their specials offered a few tantalizing options. I settled on the pork and foie gras (fatty duck liver) terrine with drunken raisins, pecans, pickled vegetables, pickled quail egg, bacon jam and bacon powder. It sounded like a glorified eggs and bacon.

The dish, served with bread, a slab of foie gras wrapped in bacon, a teensy quail egg and a dollop of bacon jam along with a dusting of bacon powder, arrived on a large wooden platter.

I first tried the foie gras, which by itself tasted sweet and rich, but mixed with some of the pickled vegetables and topped with a bit of jam and sprinkled with bacon powder, my palate exploded with a perfectly balanced flavor profile. The pickled quail egg popped with a tangy twang and complemented the foie gras and bacon jam. Maybe the chicken came first, but the egg was definitely No. 1 in this dish.

While I may not have proved my hypothesis completely correct, I have at least broadened my culinary horizons.

As a message to all the picky eaters out there (ahem, Hannah Stockdale): try something new once in a while, maybe you’ll like it. r

12

lifestyle

Dec. 13, 2013

Urban cowboy gallops after dream of big city ranch

Mary Condolora

The first time I ever saw Brannu Fulton was three years ago as he was trotting down the middle of the road on a big brown horse at 4 a.m.

Last week, I drove Ryan Switzer down Howell Mill Road, away from the lights of Buckhead and into the neighborhood’s grittier side. I took a right on Bowen Street and though unfamiliar with the area, the two women I saw on horseback finishing up their ride were a sure sign that I was in the right place.

Upon my arrival, I parked my car and found Fulton, the man that has come to be known as the Urban Cowboy, a title that could be given out lightly by local news stations but one that Fulton owns. Fulton is 20-something years old, with a staccato giggle and a near superhuman ability to talk quickly. Adorned in a tasseled, brown leather jacket and of course, boots, Fulton shakes my hand, immediately leads me to the fields and begins explaining his vision.

“We’re just ridin’ around the city until we get this place situated,” Fulton said, kicking at the sand we stand in. Fulton’s ranch consists of a wooden cabin and a few hundred feet of sand, sporadically divided by a few wooden fences and posts.

“This place is going to be riding for veterans and for kids,” Fulton said, “like therapeutic riding. But my therapeutic riding isn’t going to be the typical therapeutic riding. When I think about therapeutic, I just think of you talking to a friend, if you’re feeling down or hurt. I want my horses and this place to ... put a good feeling in your heart.”

Every horse at Fulton’s ranch was previously wild.

BUCKING THE TREND: Brannu Fulton trains his horse at his urban ranch by Howell Mill Road. Fulton tames wild horses by building up their tolerance for activity so they feel comfortable in Atlanta’s busy setting.

Though my knowledge of horses and their training is limited to Disney movies, even I know that “breaking” a stallion is tough. But Fulton has had years of experience.

Fulton grew up in Brooklyn where his grandfather introduced him to horses. His grandfather was a member of the Federation of Black Cowboys, who, according to Fulton, were mostly older guys that used to ride the horses all through the projects.

For the sake of learning in a more conventional setting, Fulton’s grandfather brought him to the elite Jamaica Bay Riding Club.

Fulton aims for his ranch to be more inclusive than Jamaica Bay. “I want there to be a spot where I can take kids from that side of Atlanta,” he says, pointing back to Buckhead, “and the kids

that live in the Bluff, Boulevard, where they can easily come together. So it’s like two kids with two different backgrounds but making them understand how to be friendly and appreciate everybody and use the horse to make them a team.”

Though not much to me, I can tell that this plot of land is a literal symbol of Fulton’s dream, one that hasn’t come without sacrifice.

“People see me and they’re like, ‘Oh you got it made’ but they don’t know the sacrifice.

Like I’m thuggin’ it out! I’m stayin’ right here tonight. No heat! No nothin’! It’s cold!”

I am led inside the wooden cabin and there is nothing in the cabin but a queen-sized bed stacked tall with blankets and a large pile of clothing in sizes that are much too small to belong to the Urban Cowboy.

“These are clothes that people have donated. So say I ride Tuesday, I come in here, get a couple and I just ride around and give this to a kid.”

Fulton is as much Robin Hood as he is Roy Rogers (but without stealing from the rich).

My only prior experience with horses was on family vacation in Tennessee. We found a ranch where we could ride obese ponies along some trails at a pace so slow that we may as well have walked. The horses were so domesticated that they were incapable of any speed greater than two miles per hour. When I ask Fulton if his horses are in the same condition, he smiles as if accepting the challenge. “Oh no no, they can go. Let’s go on a ride,” he says.

I’m given an equestrian crash course as Fulton saddles Opera, my steed. I jokingly ask if he’s ever taken Opera to Club Opera.

“Yeah yeah I’ve been trying to work something out with them,” he says, “but I haven’t met the owner yet.”

We trot down Howell Mill Road past auto shops, where every car window is smashed in, and industrial parks that are gated off for the night, until we reach the waterworks. I’m so distracted by the skyline’s reflection on the lake that I almost steer my horse right into the road. Despite my near accident, I couldn’t stop smiling. There was something special about doing something people have been doing for thousands of years in a place where it seemed so entirely out of place. And though Brannu kept talking at his feverish pace while riding 10 or so feet in front of me, I was only able to pick out one thing he said.

“I’m redefining cowboy,” Fulton said. “It’s bigger than having a horse, or wearing boots and a hat. It’s about your growth and your patience and your heart and your spirit because that’s all a horse needs.” p

Alum recalls fond memories from Grady’s first years

Photo Courtesy of the orator

dent on the campus.

She described Grady as a utopia, relating stories of her “absolutely fabulous” time there. But while Arnold often described Grady as a prep school, the aspect of Grady that she deemed most important was its diversity.

“I can’t ever remember in my experience people not accepting all kinds of other people,” Arnold said.

She explained that there was a lot of religious tolerance for her Jewish heritage but that there was not as much diversity as there is now.

Making Grady High a co-ed school was a big step forward for the feminist movement in Atlanta and gender equality within the state’s education as a whole, but Arnold said racial integration wasn’t yet on people’s minds.

“I just … I don’t think we had any awareness of [racial segregation] at the time,” she said.

While Grady performed just as well as its single-gender predecessor, Arnold was quick to point out how dramatically the social aspect had changed when girls were first introduced to the school halls.

“I think [the boys] had a hard time getting used to us at Grady,” Arnold said. “Well, I mean, it changed for them because you have your distractions when there are females in the mix, and I think you temper your language. Of course, there were high school romances, and that stuff really matters when you’re living it.”

Most teachers, on the other hand, were more accepting. Arnold said teachers held them to the same stan-

Photo Courtesy of Arnold Family

By Carter Guensler As a young girl growing up during the Second World War, Phyllis Arnold went out to the farms to do the jobs of the men who were fighting. The 7-year-old collected tin foil on the street and sold bonds for the war effort, and the sound of the radio filled her home every day.

By the time she started high school, however, the war had ended, and Arnold was determined to excel. It didn’t matter that she was female and Jewish. She simply knew she would get a good education. As luck would have it, Grady High School was created that year, and Arnold became a part of the first graduating class that attended all five grades taught at the school.

In 1947, a massive redistricting took place in Atlanta, and one of Georgia’s most prominent schools, Boys High School, ceased to exist.

It was replaced with Grady High School, the first co-ed public high school in downtown Atlanta.

“Boys High was like no other, but I think Grady offered in that day as good an education as could be gotten in the city of Atlanta,” Arnold said.

Arnold, now 79, still lives in Atlanta. Her mother moved from the small Jewish town of Brest-litovsk, Poland, before she was born.

Arnold’s house was dark when I arrived, and, because it was the Sabbath, she wore all black. She greeted me cheerfully at the door, and upon the mention of Grady High School, her eyes lit up even more, as if she couldn’t wait to share the stories and adventures from her time as a stu-

BLAST TO THE PAST: Arnold attended Grady High School for five years beginning in 1947. In 1952, she was part of Grady’s first graduating class (left). Arnold is now 79 years old (right) and still lives in Atlanta and fondly remembers high school. dard of achievement as the boys, and in some cases, the girls were held to an even higher standard. As in any high school today, some teachers were mean, some were indifferent, and others were genuinely kind.

“I think this guy, Mr. King, might have been my best teacher,” Arnold said. “He taught me, personally, how to write, and some of the girls would come to class knitting. You see, the fad in that day was to make argyle socks for your boyfriend. He was a marvelous teacher. He didn’t stop teaching just because they were knitting. He let it go.”

Arnold was proud of her time at Grady, and as we talked, she seemed most proud of her classes and the teachers that taught them.

“Golly, I still remember Shakespeare class with Mr. Kelly. See, Mr.

Kelly was in a wheelchair because he had a progressive debilitating disease. He taught many years, but when he quit speaking, he left to a nursing home. All his classes went to visit him, he was so beloved.”

Then there were classes in the rooms she called “the portables.” Today, we call them instructional suites or trailers, but their long-standing presence on the campus proves that overcrowding was just as big an issue in 1947 as it is now. There was a potbelly stove in the middle of each portable for heating, and they were set up at the outskirts of campus.

But classes weren’t all that occupied Arnold’s mind. She remembers hanging out with girlfriends at the stadium on Friday nights, cheering on students with whom she had classes.

Since graduating from Grady, alumni from that first class have met every few years to reminisce. Working with graduates from Boys High, they raised enough money for the arch that spans the entrance to the Grady parking lot.

Many from the original group have disappeared or lost touch, but 13 alumni from the committee still meet. She didn’t know all of them at Grady, but even though they weren’t close in high school, Grady provided the alumni with a connection that allowed them to become good friends nearly five decades later.

“I don’t think we had seen the likes of Grady,” she said. “But it’s still phenomenal. You’re a wonderful group, and I think you’ll look back on it the same way we did … as a golden opportunity and a golden time.” p

lifestyle

Dec. 13, 2013

13

Courtesy of reilly lerner

Courtesy of jessie black

By Caroline Morris The gap year—a year off between high school and college— is growing in popularity among high school graduates. Many students are postponing their college education to study abroad, perform community service, travel the world, or make money. A few recent Grady graduates decided to take the road less traveled, taking gap years to pursue interests or decide what step they want to take next in life.

One 2013 Grady graduate, Rachel Citrin, is participating in a gap year program called The National Security Language Initiative for Youth. This program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is a merit-based scholarship program that allows high school grads to spend a year overseas and learn the language and culture of their temporary home. Citrin is currently staying with a host family in Oman and learning to speak Arabic. After her gap year she will enroll as a freshman at Emory University.

“I am very interested in the Middle East, so the opportunity to learn Arabic and live with a host family sounded amazing,” Citrin said.

Citrin attends Arabic class every day and Middle Eastern History and culture classes a few times a week. In addition to attending class, Citrin has immersed herself in the culture. “[My host family and I] meet with family members, go to the beach, shop, cook and travel to different places,” Citrin said. She has gone to many places including Dubai, Nizwa, Jebel Shams, and Bahla.

Courtesy of rachel citrin

Grads spending year traveling world, making money

A WHOLE NEW WORLD: Many graduates spend their gap years abroad.(Left) Jessie Black poses with kids she coached in South Africa.(Top right) Rachel Citrin stands on the Omani Mountains.

(Bottom right) Reilly Lerner poses in front of the Atlantic.

While she has learned a lot about the Omani culture and the Arabic language, Citrin said she has grown as a person as well.

“Most importantly, though cheesy, I have learned to be confident in myself when facing difficulties,” Citrin said. “I am learning so much about Omani culture, Islam and about sharing my culture with others.”

2013 Grady grad Jessie Black decided to take a gap year to figure out what she wanted to do after high school.

“I had a lot of personal problems in my senior year of high school, and I didn't think jumping straight in to college would

be a good idea,” Black said.

“Plus, I had no idea what I would do there, so I decided to take a year off.”

Black spent three months in South Africa, where she volunteered in townships coaching sports.

“I went farther away from home than I've ever been, I've had experiences most people can't say that they've had, I've made friends from all over the world, and have gotten to make a difference in peoples' lives over there,” Black said.

Black chose to go to South Africa because she wanted to travel and make a difference helping people.

“I spent so much time around

people with absolutely nothing, and yet they're still some of the happiest people I've ever met,” Black said.

Although Black doesn’t know what exactly she wants to do, her gap year has helped her determine what direction she wants to go.

“My gap year has been an amazing experience, but it's actually slightly pushed me away from wanting to go to college,” Black said. “It made me realize that there are a lot of other options out there, and that even though I do intend to get a degree in something at some point, I still might hold off for a while.”

Although Grady graduate Reil-

ly Lerner knew that she wanted to attend the University of Georgia and was ready, she decided to take a gap year to travel to Spain with a study abroad program through the Council on International Educational Exchange. She was also hired by the program to write a blog about her year in Spain. Lerner has been in Spain since September and plans to stay until May. “I'm taking daily Spanish grammar and conversation classes as well as doing volunteer activity, cultural tours and of course hanging out with friends,” Lerner said. “I went to Morocco with a cultural immersion program and lived with a host family there for two nights, and had meaningful conversation with local students about politics and religion in the U.S. versus Morocco.”

Lerner intends to major in psychology and study Spanish in college. She wanted to travel to gain new experiences and perspectives, and thought that living in Spain would best help her become fluent in Spanish. One of her goals for this year is to take the Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language test, which she described as the Spanish equivalent of the TOEFL test, which measures ability to speak and write the Spanish language at the university level.

“My host family doesn't speak any English so I was forced to speak Spanish to communicate,” Lerner said. “I have another family here now. I feel like it's important in order to grow emotionally, to travel. To miss home. It makes me appreciate the times with my family much more.” p

Study shows students spending less time getting Z’s

By J.D. Capelouto In 1930, the Soviet Union used sleep deprivation as a way to torture its prisoners.

Nowadays, it’s voluntary—a practice increasingly found among high school students.

Though the ideal amount of sleep for teens is eight or nine hours, a recent study published by the Journal of Adolescent Health found that about two-thirds of high school students get less than seven hours of sleep nightly.

This trend also exists among Grady students, to a lesser extent. According to a Southerner survey of 175 students, 44 percent of the student body gets six or fewer hours of sleep a night. Only one-third of students, however, believe they suffer from sleep deprivation.

Dr. Michael Scullin, a research fellow in the Neurology Department at Emory University, cites stress and electronic devices as causes of sleep deprivation.

“The bright lights that are emitted from these devices ... can simulate our arousal systems and make us think that we should be awake rather than we should be going to sleep,” he said.

Senior Annie Mason, who gets a healthy eight or nine hours of sleep, said she still feels tired during the day. Mason blames this mainly on homework and college applications, and has noticed a general trend of sleep deficiency among her peers.

“I think there are more distractions available to [students] that are portable,” Grady parent and social studies teacher Sara

Looman said, noting technology and time management as sources of sleep loss. She said that because many students partake in multiple after-school activities, it can sometimes be hard to find downtime to work, so sleep time is decreased.

In the survey, when students were asked how stressed they were on a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the most stressed), the average response was approximately a six. For the 44 percent who do not get sufficient sleep, the average stress rank rose to about seven. Twelve responses were disregarded because they were greater than 10.

Some responses were as high as 50, 100, and even 1 million.

The main effect of sleep deprivation that Scullin has noticed is neurobehavioral performance, or ability to stay focused. He said most times, after getting inadequate amounts of sleep, people will think they have acclimated to their environment, but in reality have not.

“We might not have the self-awareness that we’re not able to concentrate as well in class,” Scullin said, “and that is because of the poor sleep we’re given that night.”

Looman has also noticed these effects on her students. Lack of attentiveness, creativity and energy all affect sleep-deprived students, Looman said.

Freshman Ayanna Fayson, who only gets about four hours of sleep each night, has a unique solution to sleep deprivation.

“Every fourth [period] I go to sleep,” Fayson said.

Fayson acknowledges that her sleep loss is a problem, and hopes to solve this issue by decreasing her technology use.

Mason cites this in-school slumber as one of the reasons why she tries to get a sufficient amount of sleep.

“If you’re sleeping in all of your classes you’re not benefiting yourself,” Mason said.

In an attempt to help teenagers catch more sleep, some pitch a delayed school start time as a solution. Scullin, however, thinks that a systemwide time change is not a plausible fix. Instead, he said, teachers and administration should be more aware of how important sleep is in determining student health.

“Teaching students about being aware of their sleep habits and how it might impact them [might] benefit educational learning,” Scullin said.

Still, he and Looman both believe that sleep deprivation is more of a personal issue that can be dealt with individually.

“I think that we need to be more aware of our sleep habits,” Scullin said. “Trying to get to bed earlier, trying to say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to turn on the T.V. in my bedroom, I’m not going to take the tablet or the smartphone into bed with me, I’m going to have to have an isolated environment.’” p

44%

of Grady students get less than seven hours of sleep, an insufficient amount According to a Southerner survey of 175 students and nationally accepted sleep standards

Photo and graphic

by J.D. Capelouto

lifestyle

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Dec. 13, 2013

By Eli Mansbach Since the APS cheating scandal broke in 2009, it has been featured in major news outlets in Atlanta and across the United States. The judge presiding over the case has ties to APS; he is a Grady alumnus.

Jerry Baxter, whose father was a Grady disciplinarian and later the principal of Roosevelt High School, was the third and last child in his family to attend Grady. Baxter said that by the time he got to Grady, there were high expectations for him because one of his older brothers was a star athlete and the other an outstanding student.

Baxter’s time at Grady, 1962-1967, was marked by complications after the integration of public schools.

“When I went to Grady, they were just beginning to get black students, and there were only eight or 10 and they were all hand-picked,” Baxter said. “And then they integrated the athletics. Before, the black schools played the black schools, and the white schools played the white schools. When I got there, they combined the two leagues, and we got beat really bad.”

Baxter said that while he attended Grady, the focus was much more on sports than academic extracurriculars. Baxter played right tackle on the football team in addition to golf, baseball and basketball.

“I was pretty tall so I moved people out of the way to get rebounds, but I got fouled out nearly every game,” Baxter said. “I averaged more fouls than I did points.”

Baxter and one of his childhood friends, Alan Begner, met while in

Kent D. Johnson/AJC

APS trial judge remains unbiased despite school ties

I’LL BE THE JUDGE OF THAT: Grady graduate Jerry Baxter presides over the trial of Tamara Cotman in August as part of the APS trial. eighth grade at Grady, then the first attorney’s office, where he was an as- office called and said, ‘Jerry, you grade at Grady. sistant district attorney for 10 years. need to be by your phone in 10 “[Baxter] was the most popular Though he was not the “star of the minutes, the governor is going to person in our class,” Begner said. office,” Baxter made some friends in call,’” Baxter said. “The gover“He was an excellent athlete [and] ... the courthouse who encouraged him nor called and said, ‘Jerry, I want also a good student.” to apply to be a judge. you to be a judge.’ It was one of After graduating from Grady in “I was 35, and they said, ‘Jerry, the happiest days of my life. I 1967 and majoring in business at the you need to try for a judgeship,’ and couldn’t believe it.”

University of Georgia, Baxter applied I said, ‘what are you talking about.

Despite the achievement, Baxto the law school at UGA. He said he I’m 35, I don’t see that right now. I’m ter said that he was very nervous applied because he was inspired by too young,’” Baxter said. the first time he presided over his brothers, one of whom is a lawyer Nevertheless, Baxter got his name a case because it was a civil suit and the other a doctor. among the list of five candidates sent and not the criminal trials he was “Some people plan what they are to the governor, who appoints a new used to trying. going to be their whole lives,” Baxter judge when a judge dies or retires “I was scared to death,” Baxter said. “I was one of these happy-go- during his term. At the time, the said. “You become a judge, and lucky people. I applied to UGA law governor of Georgia was Joe Frank they give you a robe, and you go and lo and behold, I got the letter Harris. Baxter was turned down into court and everyone stands that said you got accepted.” the first two times but received the up and people do what you say.”

After completing law school, judgeship from Harris for the state Since that trial 28 years ago, Baxter Baxter landed a job in the solicitor court of Fulton County on the third has melded into his role as a judge. general’s office of Fulton County try in 1985.

According to Baxter, however, the but then transferred to the district “The third time the governor’s APS cheating case has been his most

difficult trial yet.

“It was quite a shock when I got the news because nobody ever had a case like this: 35 defendants,” Baxter said. “I sort of freaked out, but then I got thinking that I had to handle this and handle it like my other business. I’m just taking it one day at a time. It’s like the biggest challenge in my professional life is trying to shepherd this case through the system.”

Though a Grady alumnus, Baxter said he will not let his past influence his thoughts about the trials.

“I can give everyone that wants a trial a fair trial and not interject my thoughts or anything,” Baxter said. “You can’t just flush your head out of everything of what you’ve seen or heard, but as far as being fair and giving them a fair trial, I can do that.”

Begner also thinks that Baxter will be able to keep his opinions out of the trial.

“I think that everyone will find out about him that he is a moderate judge but he has a deep sense of fundamental fairness,” Begner said. “He is evenhanded in the way he treats defendants and prosecutors.”

Despite the bad light that has been shed on APS, Baxter sees a positive spin for the school system.

“APS has a great opportunity now with all the changes being made [and] with new and young ideas being brought in that hopefully the Atlanta school system will leave that image and create a better school system where all children … get a good education,” Baxter said. p

By Orli Hendler My mom first suggested it. She thought that, of anyone, I could best elicit my grandmother’s stories. We wanted to preserve Nana’s 89 years worth of memories, and StoryCorps seemed like the perfect opportunity.

StoryCorps is a national project that encourages people to share and record their stories through conversation with a friend or family member. On the appointed day, my mom drove the two of us to the back building of the Atlanta History Center.

After waiting on couches and filling out the appropriate forms, we were led into a darkened room with two tables and a couple extra chairs against the back wall. The room in total was about 11 feet by seven feet. Nana and I sat at one table facing each other with two large padded microphones between us. The facilitator occupied the other table, which held the recording equipment and headphones. My mom sat quietly in one of the extra chairs.

I started with her childhood, then prompted her to lead me through her marriage, career and parenthood.

Some of the stories I’d heard before, like the one of her brother, my Great-Uncle Leon, falling through a glass covering and down a coal chute. When he emerged covered in soot and scrapes and with his arm twisted backward and a gash across his forehead, he interrupted my great-grandmother’s bridge game to tell her, “I think I hurt myself.”

But some were new to me. I didn’t know, for example, that Nana had lived in Miami for a time until a hurricane had caused her to evacuate.

She continually admonished me for not telling her beforehand the questions I planned to ask. She explained that she could have given me better answers, better stories, and I believed her. Her mind seemed to be a deep well of memories, experiences and hidden wisdom. The 43 minutes afforded to us were not enough to capture everything she wanted to share. After our facilitator stopped the recording, Nana continued to share stories about desegregating Atlanta, how kudzu arrived in the South and her relationships with many of Atlanta’s most influential figures.

Once her mind opened, the memories started flowing. Nana had me write down every new memory she came up with after the recording stopped and resolved to return with me to share more of her story.

Nana was eager to share her stories and firsthand accounts of Atlanta history. Of course I learned from them. I learned what life was like 60, 70 years ago, in the small town of Atlanta that grew into a metropolitan superpower. But my StoryCorps experience offered more than just the stories. It captured an everlasting relationship between my grandmother and me. In that one 43-minute recording, we not only preserved her stories, but also the love we share. p

By Carolyn Goldsmith I was pleased from the beginning when Orli asked me to participate with her in a StoryCorps interview. I knew little about the program, but the information I did have had evoked both admiration and curiosity. Additionally, being blessed with seven grandchildren somewhat limits the time one can spend with each of them, and Orli is at a stage which particularly interests me: college entrance acceptance time. I treasure any opportunity I may have to be with her. She is intellectually precocious and, far from my competence, a highly superior athlete.

Abby, Orli’s mother and the fourth of my four daughters, drove Orli and me to the handsome building in the Atlanta History Center, which holds the library of the noted Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett. Curtains across a portion of the spacious room cut off an interview section.

Orli and I were seated there with a small table between us. There was a recording device on the table. The representative of the StoryCorps and Abby took seats, and Orli began to read from a list of questions she had in hand which she had prepared.

Her questions were largely chronological and succinct. I was pleasantly surprised that she remembered the stories I had told her over the years. Increasingly, each incident I recounted evoked other recollections I had not thought of in decades and I added those to the lengthening history. I hoped it was not excessive, but it was almost irresistible to not go on and on.

Photo Courtesy of Storycorps

For senior, preserving grandmother’s stories an act of love

Having this kind of dialogue with a grandchild is not like having it with anyone else. I felt an urgency to convey to her tales of my life and experiences that I am sure I would not have felt with anyone else except another grandchild. At present I am reading a nonfiction book about the history of Southern Jewry in which our family is referred to and I feel the same need to have her read that book. Perhaps this urge to reveal a person’s past to them is a common human trait. Perhaps Orli’s interest in the telling reveals the same trait.

This could possibly be a clue to the widespread interest in the work of StoryCorps. Are we all so eager to recall who we are, what people and incidents formed us, what our ancestors’ earlier world was like? The enormous fund of information StoryCorps is amassing could satisfy a portion of this human need and preserve what might well have been lost. Their work is to be cherished. p

sports

Dec. 13, 2013

15

Knights’ football season comes to unfortunate end confident that we would come out of the game with a win,” Smith said. As it turns out, that second touchdown marked Grady’s high point in a game that quickly unraveled.

A mishandled snap caused Grady to miss the point-after attempt, and the Knights would not score another point. After a barrage of penalties against Grady, a few disputed calls and spots from the referees in favor of Chestatee, and sloppy game play from both teams throughout the remainder of the game, the War Eagles went on to score 41 unanswered points and win the game by a score of 41-13.

“We didn’t play our best,” Jenkins said.

“We came out strong, but when [Chestatee] started scoring and getting some bad calls, it seemed like most of the team lost hope. It seemed like we couldn’t make any good plays without a flag being thrown.”

Though the missed extra point was not the true cause of the loss, special teams errors have consistently plagued the Knights this season and in seasons past. Last season, Grady suffered all three of its losses due to errors from the special teams unit. In a 28-14 loss to Riverdale, two kickoffs were returned for touchdowns in the two-touchdown loss. Later that season in the region championship against Carver, a punt was blocked and a kickoff was returned for a touchdown as the Knights lost 22-19.

Grady’s season against Monroe Area ended dramatically in overtime as a botched extra point led to sudden playoff death as Grady lost by a single point, 21-20. Had Grady won, the thirdseeded Knights would have had home field advantage against fourth-seeded Effingham instead of having to travel as they had done in their 27-17 win over River Ridge in the first round of the state playoffs.

Jennifer Steckl

By Ryan Bolton It was altogether fitting that the 2013 Grady Knights football season would come to a close in the first round of the state playoffs after yet another controversial game, forcing the Knights to fall like the rain that poured upon them throughout the entirety of their final game. As the lower-seeded team, the Knights were forced to travel to Gainesville, where they suffered a loss that would turn their chances of a round trip of high hopes into a one-way ticket to despair.

Freshman quarterback Caylin Newton found himself in a peculiar situation in his first state playoff game as a starter. With starting quarterback Isiah Jenkins injured, head coach Ronnie Millen made the decision to limit play time for the senior and move him back to his preferred position as a running back in the first round of the class AAAA state playoffs.

“With the growth I had seen in [Newton] as the season went on, we thought it would be best to make him our guy for the job, especially with Isiah being hurt,” Millen said.

After defeating Lithonia for the second time in the region play-in game 25-22, the Knights were ranked third in Region 6.

They faced off against No. 2 seed Chestatee High School.

With Newton under center, the Knights scored on the first play of the game from scrimmage on a touchdown pass to junior receiver Marlon Character. After the Chestatee offense turned the ball over on downs in its first possession, the Knights drove down the field to score once more after a run from Hakeem Todd, making the score 13-0 after only five minutes of play.

“After the first two touchdowns, we were

END OF THE ROAD: The Knights’ season began with a lopsided win over Mays High School, but after a promising 13-0 start against Chestatee in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs, the Knights lost, ending their season.

Grady’s special team woes did not end with the start of a new season, however, as the Knights lost the first game of the 2013 season in a heartbreakingly similar fashion. A missed extra point allowed for another Knights single-point loss to Decatur 7-6, leaving Coach Millen’s win total stalled at 99 once more.

Special-teams issues plagued the team throughout the season, yet they were not the only reason that the Knights suffered a 27-7 loss to Carver on Senior Night in the final game of the regular season. The Knights finished off the season with a record of 8-2.

“We worked hard to overcome our issues this season,” Jenkins said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win.”

Despite the playoff loss to Chestatee this

season, Grady currently has the most road playoff wins in Atlanta Public Schools since 1990.

As Grady transitions into its next phase of football, a number of seniors will be lost to graduation: Ezequiel Chandler, Hakeem Todd, Isiah Jenkins, Malik Shannon, Kaseam Smith, Ted Galanos, Joseph Benton, Quantavious Swanson, Tarez Dixon, Widdie Gordon, Xavier Walker, Zavier Pounders, Bryce Harris, Darriun Shelton, Zac Carter and Deion Grimes.

“Even though we’re losing a lot of our senior leaders, we have to step up and play to the best ability that we can with the people we have left,” Smith said. “I feel that we can do just that.” p

GAMES OF THE MONTH Coach Brian Weeden talks to the team in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in a 68-52 win over Marist. The Knights went 2-1 in the tournament overall.

REVIEWvv

North Atlanta High School swim meet

JENNIFER STECKL

By Josh Weinstock The boys varsity basketball team began its season in the John Morgan Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 23-26. The team went 2-1 in the tournament, beating both Meadowcreek and Creekside by fewer than eight points but losing to Fulton Leadership Academy.

Head basketball coach Brian Weeden said the team must improve most on defense.

“Good teams play defense; defense wins championships,” Weeden said.

“Those are the things that can make the difference between a region championship or a state championship.”

Weeden said the team is getting better each day but needs to come together as a team.

“We take games a day at a time but we always want to get better in preparing for the big test,” Weeden said.

The team’s “big test” will be the regional and state tournaments beginning in February.

Since the tournament, the team has beaten Chamblee High School and the Marist School but has lost to Stone Mountain High School and its rival North Atlanta.

“They just gotta keep fighting, keep playing hard and getting better,” Weeden The said. p Grady swim team prepares for the North Atlanta meet on Jan. 9. Sophomore Justin Cucchi swims the backstroke.

Ben Searles

KATE DEGIVE

Boys basketball season update

By Ike Hammond The swim team will compete at the swim meet hosted by North Atlanta High School on Thursday Jan. 9. They will travel to the Adamsville Rec Center in southwest Atlanta for the meet, which will begin at 6 p.m. The team chose not to go the Indian Invite at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Cobb County on Jan. 11 to promote competition among the APS schools.

“I expect our girls team to be very competitive, and our boys team will surprise some of the competition there,” head coach and math teacher John Rives said.

This is Grady’s first time ever competing in this meet, and Rives said he expects the team to finish second overall, behind only North Atlanta.

Grady is also preparing for the City Championship, which takes place on Jan. 28.

Grady competes against a number of schools ranging from Class A to Class AAAA. “Last year Grady’s girls almost won the city meet, but we were barely beaten by the North Atlanta team,” Rives said. “Historically Grady is disadvantaged against larger schools like North Atlanta because of the number of students that they can attract.”

Since many teams compete at both, the NAHS meet will be a way for the team to see how they size up against the competition.

The Grady team has already qualified two individual swimmers and a relay team for the state meet. Freshman Melissa Brown qualified in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, and Junior Lia Pett has qualified in the 100-meter backstroke and the 200meter individual medley. p

ww PREVIEW

the Sports section thesoutherneronline.com

HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA

VOLUME LXVII, NUMBER 4

Dec. 13, 2013

APS INVESTIGATING CLAIM OF ADDRESS FRAUD A

After a preliminary investigation, the system decided to interview everyone involved with the football program, Davis said.

Many had the same address listed on eligibility forms, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“We are ferreting out fraud and want to ensure that all students can participate in a strong athletic program,” Davis said. “We will not tolerate inappropriate conduct by anyone in our schools.”

Davis said parents who signed affidavits with a false address could face criminal charges of perjury.

“It is a criminal act to falsify information on school enrollment documents,” Davis said.

“This is a strain on our resources, including our social workers.

It impacts safety, challenges the district’s communication efforts, and it takes away the opportunity for other students to attend the school through our legitimate transfer process.”

When asked if APS plans to

Mary Claire Morris

By Archie Kinnane and Josh Weinstock PS Superintendent Erroll Davis announced an investigation into allegations of address fraud and illegal recruitment at Grady at a press conference on Dec. 9, saying onethird of the players on the football team may be out of district.

Head coach Ronnie Millen— who has been with Grady since 1989 and recently celebrated his 100th win—has been reassigned while the investigation unfolds.

Representatives from the Georgia High School Association, which oversees high school athletics, have been informed of the investigation.

Superintendent Davis said an anonymous tip was sent to APS offices on Nov. 7, and the investigation began immediately.

“We are always auditing enrollment documents and following up on allegations brought to our attention,” Davis said at the press conference.

GREY (KNIGHT ) AREA: Head coach Ronnie Millen (above) has been reassigned while the investigation into illegal recruitment and address fraud on Grady’s football team unfolds. In 2013, the team’s record was 8-3. perform an audit of all schools and teams in the district, Davis said, “We plan to start with this initial investigation and see where it takes us.”

Grady principal Vincent Mur-

ray was unavailable for comment. He did, however, release a letter addressed to parents, teachers and students. The letter mirrored Davis’s statement nearly exactly.

Grady athletic director Kathleen Washington, who is in charge of certifying everyone who participates in athletics at Grady, declined an interview. APS athletic director Jeff Beggs also declined comment. p

Walker’s shooting prowess helps Knights succeed

By Ben Searles n his freshman year, after playing three junior-varsity games, Tyrius Walker was given the opportunity to debut in a varsity game. He sunk two key free throws to give Grady the victory and earned his spot on the varsity team.

Walker is starting his fourth and final season of Grady basketball and hopes to take the team as far as possible in the playoffs and earn a basketball scholarship.

“He’s a returning player, so, of course, we want him to show the young guys that taste and that feeling that he had in his mouth when we lost against Alexander,” head coach Brian Weeden said. “We want him to have that same taste and feeling for this year’s season.”

Last season, the team lost in the second round of the playoffs to Alexander High School. Walker averaged 19 points and five assists per game as the starting point guard for the season. This year, Walker wants to improve Grady’s playoff record.

“I think we’re going to go far,” Walker said.

“This year we got a lot of talent.”

Walker wants to be a mentor to the players on the relatively young team. Weeden agrees that with a little work, Walker can be an important leader to the team, and sees Walker as a player with the potential to be one of the best point guards in the city.

“I’m confident that he and Avi [Toomer], also a returning player, can lead this team towards where we need to be,” Weeden said.

I

Jenn Steckl

SHOOTING FROM DOWNTOWN: Last year, Tyrius Walker averaged 19 points and five assists per game.

Walker started playing basketball at the age of 7, in pickup games. He attended Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, where he played in eighth grade. Walker lives in a part of the attendance zone where students can elect to attend Grady or Maynard Jackson High School, and Walker chose Grady because he felt that under the leadership of former athletic director and head coach Douglas Slade, he had better chances of earning a basketball scholarship.

In addition to the Grady team, Walker also plays basketball on an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team called Atlanta Select. That team’s coach, Mark Gates, sees great things for Walker.

“He has the potential to play at the next level, whether it’s college or pro,” Gates said.

“Strength-wise, he has every category.”

Gates’s son, Christian, also plays on the Grady team, as a point guard in the 11th grade.

“He’s our go-to guy,” Christian Gates

said of Walker. “If we need a major basket in the game, we would go to him.”

Both his coaches and teammates agree that Walker’s greatest strengths are his high all-around skill level and his shooting prowess. Walker sees his ball handling and his defense as the areas in which he needs improvement.

“Over the years of watching him in his basketball efforts I find him to be a very aggressive, very focused type [of ] player who always puts his best foot forward and always tries to be a leader on the team,” said Cynthia Freeman, Walker’s family friend and mentor.

Currently, three schools are scouting Walker: Alabama State, Alabama AUC and Jacksonville State.

“We see him at a Division 1 school,” Weeden said. “If he puts forth the effort, we’re just waiting to see what he’s going to do.”

Walker is confident that more schools will contact him by the end of the season, but currently sees Alabama State as his top choice.

In addition to basketball, Walker also has a passion for photography and modeling.

He hopes to start his own business of some kind in the future.

Freeman has high hopes for Walker’s future, noting that above all, he is a “good person and that’s more important than any talent he shows on the court.” p

Grady Sports Score Central: November/December Football Nov. 15 (region playoff) Chestatee 41 Grady 13

Basketball Nov. 23 Grady 70 Meadowcreek 64 Nov. 26 Grady 79 Creekside 72

Dec. 3 Grady 63 Chamblee 57 Dec. 6 Stone Mountain 49 Grady 45

Swimming Nov. 23 Grady 70 Meadowcreek 64 Nov. 26 Grady 79 Creekside 72

Oct. 30 (region meet) Boys second place Girls second place Nov. 9 (state meet) Boys 11th place

See complete coverage of games on thesoutherneronline.com and on The Southerner Facebook page.

the Southerner S I N C E

HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA

1 9 4 7

VOLUME LXVII, NUMBER 4

Dec. 13, 2013

SPECIAL SECTION

FAMILY INCOME is now a better predictor of than the

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

RACE. As the DIVIDE between

HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS

grows,

WHAT CAN BE DONE to fix our

TWO-TIERED EDUCATION SYSTEM?

By Quinn Mulholland hristian Coyotl did not have many advantages growing up. Originally from Mexico, the South Atlanta Law and Social Justice School senior lives in the projects and says his parents aren’t at home most of the time. As a result, Coyotl didn’t do very well academically while he attended Crawford Long Middle School.

“I was really in the bottom of my classes there,” Coyotl said. “I really didn’t really care much about school when I got there.

I just usually slept in class and really didn’t listen to anyone.”

Initially, because of his test scores, Coyotl was placed on the advanced track of students. Soon, however, teachers realized that he couldn’t do much of the work he was assigned, partially because English wasn’t his first language. He was then put back into the on-level track. Coyotl was glad to be moved back because he said he felt uncomfortable around the high-performing students.

“I really did not enjoy being around them because I couldn’t relate to none of them,” Coyotl said. “I couldn’t relate to anything they did because they had parents, they went out there, they went places, they could buy stuff, they watched shows, they had cable. I didn’t.”

C

The difference between ily to attend college and is Coyotl and his high-achievapplying to schools such ing peers could have pushed as Princeton and Columhim away from the honors bia. He dreams of one day track, but in the end they becoming a financial adviinstead made him return to sor and philanthropist.

41.1 percent are in a rigorous classes. Coyotl’s Stories like Coyotl’s, district where the average love for community however, are exceedservice and helpingly rare, accordSAT score is in the bottom third of ing those around ing to an extenmetro Atlanta districts him led him to sive Southerner realize that if analysis of demohe succeeded in graphic, test, fi22.4 percent are school, he would nance and other in a district in be able to give school data from 36.2 percent are back to the comthe 2010-2011 the upper in a district in the munity that gave school year, the third middle third him a chance. And most recent year for so he returned to the which data is provided advanced classes with a by the Governor’s Office renewed purpose. of Student Achievement.

“Every time I go out of the class, From the Governor’s The analysis, which examined Office of Student I try to think about them [the childata from 10 school districts and Achievement analysis of dren from his neighborhood], and the 2010-2011 school year 61 high schools across metro Attry to think about what can I help lanta, paints a bleak picture of a them with, what can I do for them, what can city divided, with economically diverse, wellI give back to the community,” Coyotl said, funded, high-performing schools concentrat“because they gave me an education.” ed on the north side, and low-performing, raCoyotl plans to be the first in his fam- cially and economically homogenous schools

Out of all metro Atlanta low-income students...

mostly located on the south side.

Since the time of the country’s founding, the idea of equal opportunity for all, no matter one’s socioeconomic background, has been ingrained in America’s ideology. This idea is inherently tied to the national commitment to a public education system that gives all U.S. children access to economic opportunity later in life. This is the system that Horace Mann, considered by many to be the grandfather of the modern public education system, championed in the early 19th century.

Yet the “great equalizer” that Mann envisioned public education to be has not always served its function. The strong correlation between family wealth and student achievement has been documented since at least 1966, when James Coleman highlighted it in one of the most significant educational studies to date, commissioned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The reasons behind this correlation are less clear. Some argue that the gap results from school funding disparities while others say it is caused by differences in the opportunities and resources students are afforded at home.

What almost everyone can agree on, however, continued on next page

19

continued from page 17 is that a more equitable system is necessary in order for the country to stay internationally competitive and to fulfill the promise of the American dream. Fifty years removed from the iconic March on Washington, a growing number of people are becoming convinced that the march toward educational equity could be the civil rights issue of this generation.

PART ONE: ONE:THE THE PROBLEM PROBLEM PART The

ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Family wealth has always been positively correlated with student achievement. But acof cording to many researchers, the achievement gap between rich and poor is 80 Economically Disadvantaged growing wider.

70 Non-Economically Disadvantaged A 2011 report by Sean Reardon 60 of Stanford University found that 50 the socioeconomic achievement gap grew by 40 percent since the 1960s and is now almost 40 double the racial achievement gap. In other 30 words, family income is now a better predictor 20 of academic achievement than race is.

10 Alethea Raynor, a principal associate at Brown University’s Annenberg Institute 0 9 Eco Am Ma Ma Bio U.S th for School Reform, agrees that povn . Li th th Gra l . o o His gy mi t/C I EO II E de tor c erty plays a large role in determining a E o O s O C L m CT EO yE T CT it/C INFORMATION pE CT student’s academic success.

OC om FROM OC T T pE THE GEORGIA “In many ways educational opporOC GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF T STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, tunity is a reflection of economic opTAKEN FROM THE 2010-2011 portunity,” Raynor said.

SCHOOL YEAR A Southerner analysis of statewide test scores from 61 high schools in four districts (APS, DeKalb County, Fulton County and Decatur City) supports Raynor’s claim. The analysis revealed that “non-economically disadvantaged” students consistently outperformed their “economically disadvantaged” peers by a wide margin on the End-Of-Course Tests. Poorer students had a failure rate 80 percent higher on the Ninth-Grade Literature and Composition EOCT and 40 percent higher on the Math I EOCT. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam that has been administered to U.S. students since 1969, and the Programme for International Student Assessment, a study comparing student performance in various subjects, also show a large difference in scores between rich and poor students.

In February 2013, a national group of education experts called the Equity and Excellence Commission issued a report to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which the authors lamentRichard Kahlenberg, senior fellow, The Century Foundation ed the growing class divide in American education. “While some young Americans—most of them white and affluent—are getting a truly world-class education, those who attend schools ADVERSITY TO ACHIEVEMENT: in high poverty neighborhoods are Christian Coyotl (right), a senior getting an education that more at the South Atlanta Law and closely approximates school in Social Justice school, overcame developing nations.” difficulties growing up to succeed in school. “I really enjoy doing community service,” Coyotl said.

From “I enjoy volunteering, being a student teacher.”

Richard Rubinson, an education expert at Emory University, said the primary reason for the socioeconomic achievement gap is a student’s relationship with his or her family.

“The more kids are enveloped in their family and the more their parents are involved in their school life, involved in their personal life, dis-

PERCENT STUDENTS FAILING

“HIGH-POVERTY schools have WEAKER TEACHERS on average, LESS PARENTAL SUPPORT, as well as INADEQUATE FUNDING.”

DAY ONE

cipline them, oversee them, are involved in the school, all of those things, the better kids do, in terms of achievement,” Rubinson said.

“By and large, those things happen more in higher socioeconomic status families.”

Reardon, the Stanford researcher, argued in an April article he wrote for The New York Times that the gap between rich and poor students starts long before they enter school, and grows only slightly from elementary to high school. Reardon attributed this early gap to two factors: rising income inequality and the increasing amounts of money being spent by affluent parents on their children.

Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, agrees that poor parents haven’t been able to keep up with the amount of resources that wealthier parents can provide for their children.

“Wealthier parents are able to provide a variety of benefits that poor parents are not always able to, including good health care, proper nutrition and a safe place to study,” Kahlenberg wrote in an email to The Southerner.

In addition to spending more money on their children, affluent parents also are able to spend more time with them. According to a 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, mothers with a college degree spend an average of 4.5 hours more time each week with their children than mothers who didn’t graduate from college.

Raynor said low-income mothers often don’t spend time with their children because they can’t. “[If] you are simply working a minimum-wage job, then you don’t have a lot of time, necessarily, to spend with your child, reading to your child, making sure the homework gets done,” Raynor said.

Raynor argued that the financial stress on low-income parents, who often have to take two jobs to support their families by themselves, takes away from time that could be spent with their children.

“Many young people I know here in Savannah, Chatham County, they literally pass their parents when they get home from school,” Raynor said. “Their parents are leaving for a night job.”

The effects of this lost time together and of poverty are devastating and immediate. According to a New York Times piece by Laura D’Andrea Tyson of the University of California-Berkeley, early childhood poverty hurts brain development: “At the age of 3, children in poverty have smaller vocabularies than their peers and a harder time sorting and organizing information and planning ahead.”

Coyotl notices these disadvantages in the children who live in his neighborhood.

“Most of my friends, some little kids as well, during summer, most of them didn’t have parents who took them to day care or summer camps like most fortunate people do,” Coyotl said.

One of the things that motivated Coyotl to apply himself at school was watching what happened to his friends from middle school.

“Most of them are locked up in jail or dead,” Coyotl said.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY Many experts say that, although achievement gaps start long before children enroll in school, their experiences in the schools they attend widen the gap. Kahlenberg argues that the socioeconomic context of the school a student attends has a large impact on his or her academic achievement. He says that the role of schooling in widening the achievement gap was documented as early as the 1966 Coleman report.

“This study has been replicated time and again for almost 50 years,” Kahlenberg wrote. “High poverty schools have weaker teachers, on average, less parental support, as well as inadequate funding.”

The Southerner analysis of demographic data confirms that many low-income students attend economically homogenous schools. The average metro Atlanta low-income student (a student eligible for the National School Lunch Program) attends a school that is 69 percent low income, while the average high-income student attends a school that is 38 percent low-income.

In addition to having more socioeconomic diversity, many schools in high-income neighborhoods also offer students more learning opportunities than those in poorer areas, according to Raynor.

“In some schools, there are opportunities for AP classes, there are gifted and talented programs, there’s band, there’s a school newspaper, and then you look in other schools and they barely seem to have just basic instruction materials,” Raynor said.

A 2004 survey of 3,336 teachers across America by the Peter Harris Research Group revealed that teachers in high-poverty schools reported, among other things, “higher numbers of uncredentialed teachers,” “inadequate physical facilities,” “evidence of vermin (cockroaches, mice, and rats) in school buildings” and “inadequate textbooks and materials for students to use in class or to take home.”

Former Grady teacher Scott Stephens believes that educational resources should be prioritized for disadvantaged students.

“If we’re talking about leveling the playing field, we’re going to have to give some extra help to kids who are low academically, and one way to do that is reduce class size and get them better teachers,” Stephens said.

Teacher quality is another source of inequity cited by many education experts. Stephens said one reason for the difference in school quality between low- and high-income areas is that low-income schools have disproportionately high numbers of inexperienced teachers.

PHOTOS BY Mary Condolora

18

As socioeconomic achievement gap widens, many low-income students battle uneven playing field

COLLEGE BOUND: Two South Atlanta students walk past a motivational poster on their way to class. The South Atlanta Educational Complex, which consists of three small schools, is focused on preparing students for postsecondary education.

“Right now, what we do is put the least experienced teachers in the The reasons behind this funding disparity are complex. A recent low-performing schools because there’s such a big teacher turnover article in The New York Times cited research that showed that “the there,” Stephens said, “and by the time you get experienced, you work United States is one of few advanced nations where schools serving your way up to a good school, like Grady or North Atlanta.” better-off children usually have more educational resources than those Emory’s Rubinson doesn’t believe that teacher quality plays a major serving poor students.” role in the socioeconomic achievement gap.

According to the article, decentralization of funding was a key “Teachers really aren’t the issue,” Rubinson said. “I mean, it’s bet- reason for this inequity. In the United States, the federal governter to have good teachers, certainly, but that’s not what causes the ment provides only 14 percent of school funding, compared with an achievement gap.” average of 54 percent among industrial nations. As a result of this In a November piece for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, decentralization, school districts have to look more to state and local Duke University professor Helen Ladd wrote that “experienced teach- sources for funds. ers, on average, are more effective at raising student achievement.” Ladd The Equity and Excellence Commission wrote in its aforementioned argued that organizations like Teach report that the problem with a For America, which places college system of locally funded schools graduates in disadvantaged schools, is that “people living in propertyresult in high teacher turnover at rich districts can those schools befund their pubcause “more than lic schools more half [of TFA regenerously, and cruits] leave after at lower tax rates, fulfilling their two-year comthan can residents in lowermitment, and more than 80 income areas.” And according percent do so after three years.” to the Educational Law CenThe Southerner found that the ter, only 17 states provide more average low-income student atfunding to high-poverty districts tends a school where teachers have than to low-poverty districts. an average of two years less experiRubinson, however, isn’t conence than those at the vinced that increased average high-income funding for low-instudent’s school. come schools can narCharlotte Davis, row the socioeconomprincipal of the South Atlanta Law ic achievement gap. and Social Justice School, which “Spending per pupil in the employs two TFA graduates, U.S. has gone up like 500 perbelieves that TFA is “an excelcent in the last 20 years, yet the lent program.” achievement gap She does, howhas gotten widAlethea Raynor, principal associate, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University ever, understand er,” he said. the concern that TFA graduates don’t stay long at the school to which Rubinson insists that “it’s not the buildings, it’s not the schools; it’s they are assigned. what happens in the school.”

“I’m looking for teachers with longevity,” Davis said. “I don’t want for What happens in schools, however, can be affected by how much an individual to use this as a stepping stone to something else because funding they receive. And in Georgia, according to an Atlanta Journalthis is my passion.”

Constitution column by Joe Martin, the head of the Georgia School Funding Association, “state allotments to local systems have decreased by 24.8 percent on a per-student, inflation-adjusted basis over the last decade,” which means a more than $30,000 decrease for the typical class. On top of that, Martin wrote, the state has further cut assistance One of the reasons for high teacher turnover rates in high-poverty to the least wealthy districts. schools, according to the 2004 survey of teachers, is that high-poverty The cut in state subsidies means that school districts are increasingly schools tend to have lower-quality facilities. Many experts said that the relying on local sources for funding. According to a Southerner analysis reason for this inequity is that high-poverty schools often receive less of school funding data, more than half of the average metro Atlanta funding than those in wealthier areas. district’s funds come from local tax revenue.

“This is not just the

DESTINY

of the kid on the OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS because the kid on the other side of the

CAN CANNOT

tracks either or contribute to the

ECONOMIC VIABILITY of this community, the STABILITY of this community,

the GROWTH of this community.”

FUNDING FIASCO

A

VICIOUS CYCLE

A growing body of research suggests America is not a land of opportunity, with income inequality increasing and social mobility plummeting, especially in Atlanta. A more equitable education system could increase social mobility, in addition to helping the community, Raynor said.

“In some ways, we are all connected to this destiny,” she said. “This is not just the destiny of the kid on the other side of the tracks because the kid on the other side of the tracks either can or cannot contribute to the economic viability of this community, the stability of this community, the growth of this community.”

The American economy is becoming increasingly top-heavy, with a college education more and more necessary to access high-paying jobs. According to a 2012 Georgetown University study, since 2007, the number of jobs requiring postsecondary education has increased by more than 2 million, and the number of jobs for those with only a high school diploma fell by almost 6 million.

A 2012 Stanford study shows that students from families in the richest 20 percent are eight times more likely to enroll at a highly selective college than are students from the poorest 20 percent of families.

This disparity exists because many low-income students, even if they are high achievers, don’t apply to selective colleges, according to research from the Brookings Institute.

South Atlanta’s Coyotl is the exception. His experience, however, shows that low-income students can apply to top colleges, given the proper motivation.

“I dream so big sometimes that it really gets to my head,” Coyotl said. “I cannot stop and dream small, which [is] really reflected in the schools that I chose, like Princeton, and the University of Rochester and Columbia University.”

Coyotl said at first, the college appliLADY IN CHARGE: cation process was hard, because Charlotte Davis, (left) no one in his family had done the principal of the it before, but then he realSouth Atlanta Law ized that he had to “stop and Social Justice thinking that way and School, believes try to see that I really “low expectations have to go through with are the crutch this and finish this if I reupon which ally want to be educators lean this person.” when they are dealing with continued students on next page who come from highpoverty areas.”

19

continued from page 17 is that a more equitable system is necessary in order for the country to stay internationally competitive and to fulfill the promise of the American dream. Fifty years removed from the iconic March on Washington, a growing number of people are becoming convinced that the march toward educational equity could be the civil rights issue of this generation.

PART ONE: ONE:THE THE PROBLEM PROBLEM PART The

ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Family wealth has always been positively correlated with student achievement. But acof cording to many researchers, the achievement gap between rich and poor is 80 Economically Disadvantaged growing wider.

70 Non-Economically Disadvantaged A 2011 report by Sean Reardon 60 of Stanford University found that 50 the socioeconomic achievement gap grew by 40 percent since the 1960s and is now almost 40 double the racial achievement gap. In other 30 words, family income is now a better predictor 20 of academic achievement than race is.

10 Alethea Raynor, a principal associate at Brown University’s Annenberg Institute 0 9 Eco Am Ma Ma Bio U.S th for School Reform, agrees that povn . Li th th Gra l . o o His gy mi t/C I EO II E de tor c erty plays a large role in determining a E o O s O C L m CT EO yE T CT it/C INFORMATION pE CT student’s academic success.

OC om FROM OC T T pE THE GEORGIA “In many ways educational opporOC GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF T STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, tunity is a reflection of economic opTAKEN FROM THE 2010-2011 portunity,” Raynor said.

SCHOOL YEAR A Southerner analysis of statewide test scores from 61 high schools in four districts (APS, DeKalb County, Fulton County and Decatur City) supports Raynor’s claim. The analysis revealed that “non-economically disadvantaged” students consistently outperformed their “economically disadvantaged” peers by a wide margin on the End-Of-Course Tests. Poorer students had a failure rate 80 percent higher on the Ninth-Grade Literature and Composition EOCT and 40 percent higher on the Math I EOCT. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam that has been administered to U.S. students since 1969, and the Programme for International Student Assessment, a study comparing student performance in various subjects, also show a large difference in scores between rich and poor students.

In February 2013, a national group of education experts called the Equity and Excellence Commission issued a report to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which the authors lamentRichard Kahlenberg, senior fellow, The Century Foundation ed the growing class divide in American education. “While some young Americans—most of them white and affluent—are getting a truly world-class education, those who attend schools ADVERSITY TO ACHIEVEMENT: in high poverty neighborhoods are Christian Coyotl (right), a senior getting an education that more at the South Atlanta Law and closely approximates school in Social Justice school, overcame developing nations.” difficulties growing up to succeed in school. “I really enjoy doing community service,” Coyotl said.

From “I enjoy volunteering, being a student teacher.”

Richard Rubinson, an education expert at Emory University, said the primary reason for the socioeconomic achievement gap is a student’s relationship with his or her family.

“The more kids are enveloped in their family and the more their parents are involved in their school life, involved in their personal life, dis-

PERCENT STUDENTS FAILING

“HIGH-POVERTY schools have WEAKER TEACHERS on average, LESS PARENTAL SUPPORT, as well as INADEQUATE FUNDING.”

DAY ONE

cipline them, oversee them, are involved in the school, all of those things, the better kids do, in terms of achievement,” Rubinson said.

“By and large, those things happen more in higher socioeconomic status families.”

Reardon, the Stanford researcher, argued in an April article he wrote for The New York Times that the gap between rich and poor students starts long before they enter school, and grows only slightly from elementary to high school. Reardon attributed this early gap to two factors: rising income inequality and the increasing amounts of money being spent by affluent parents on their children.

Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, agrees that poor parents haven’t been able to keep up with the amount of resources that wealthier parents can provide for their children.

“Wealthier parents are able to provide a variety of benefits that poor parents are not always able to, including good health care, proper nutrition and a safe place to study,” Kahlenberg wrote in an email to The Southerner.

In addition to spending more money on their children, affluent parents also are able to spend more time with them. According to a 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, mothers with a college degree spend an average of 4.5 hours more time each week with their children than mothers who didn’t graduate from college.

Raynor said low-income mothers often don’t spend time with their children because they can’t. “[If] you are simply working a minimum-wage job, then you don’t have a lot of time, necessarily, to spend with your child, reading to your child, making sure the homework gets done,” Raynor said.

Raynor argued that the financial stress on low-income parents, who often have to take two jobs to support their families by themselves, takes away from time that could be spent with their children.

“Many young people I know here in Savannah, Chatham County, they literally pass their parents when they get home from school,” Raynor said. “Their parents are leaving for a night job.”

The effects of this lost time together and of poverty are devastating and immediate. According to a New York Times piece by Laura D’Andrea Tyson of the University of California-Berkeley, early childhood poverty hurts brain development: “At the age of 3, children in poverty have smaller vocabularies than their peers and a harder time sorting and organizing information and planning ahead.”

Coyotl notices these disadvantages in the children who live in his neighborhood.

“Most of my friends, some little kids as well, during summer, most of them didn’t have parents who took them to day care or summer camps like most fortunate people do,” Coyotl said.

One of the things that motivated Coyotl to apply himself at school was watching what happened to his friends from middle school.

“Most of them are locked up in jail or dead,” Coyotl said.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY Many experts say that, although achievement gaps start long before children enroll in school, their experiences in the schools they attend widen the gap. Kahlenberg argues that the socioeconomic context of the school a student attends has a large impact on his or her academic achievement. He says that the role of schooling in widening the achievement gap was documented as early as the 1966 Coleman report.

“This study has been replicated time and again for almost 50 years,” Kahlenberg wrote. “High poverty schools have weaker teachers, on average, less parental support, as well as inadequate funding.”

The Southerner analysis of demographic data confirms that many low-income students attend economically homogenous schools. The average metro Atlanta low-income student (a student eligible for the National School Lunch Program) attends a school that is 69 percent low income, while the average high-income student attends a school that is 38 percent low-income.

In addition to having more socioeconomic diversity, many schools in high-income neighborhoods also offer students more learning opportunities than those in poorer areas, according to Raynor.

“In some schools, there are opportunities for AP classes, there are gifted and talented programs, there’s band, there’s a school newspaper, and then you look in other schools and they barely seem to have just basic instruction materials,” Raynor said.

A 2004 survey of 3,336 teachers across America by the Peter Harris Research Group revealed that teachers in high-poverty schools reported, among other things, “higher numbers of uncredentialed teachers,” “inadequate physical facilities,” “evidence of vermin (cockroaches, mice, and rats) in school buildings” and “inadequate textbooks and materials for students to use in class or to take home.”

Former Grady teacher Scott Stephens believes that educational resources should be prioritized for disadvantaged students.

“If we’re talking about leveling the playing field, we’re going to have to give some extra help to kids who are low academically, and one way to do that is reduce class size and get them better teachers,” Stephens said.

Teacher quality is another source of inequity cited by many education experts. Stephens said one reason for the difference in school quality between low- and high-income areas is that low-income schools have disproportionately high numbers of inexperienced teachers.

PHOTOS BY Mary Condolora

18

As socioeconomic achievement gap widens, many low-income students battle uneven playing field

COLLEGE BOUND: Two South Atlanta students walk past a motivational poster on their way to class. The South Atlanta Educational Complex, which consists of three small schools, is focused on preparing students for postsecondary education.

“Right now, what we do is put the least experienced teachers in the The reasons behind this funding disparity are complex. A recent low-performing schools because there’s such a big teacher turnover article in The New York Times cited research that showed that “the there,” Stephens said, “and by the time you get experienced, you work United States is one of few advanced nations where schools serving your way up to a good school, like Grady or North Atlanta.” better-off children usually have more educational resources than those Emory’s Rubinson doesn’t believe that teacher quality plays a major serving poor students.” role in the socioeconomic achievement gap.

According to the article, decentralization of funding was a key “Teachers really aren’t the issue,” Rubinson said. “I mean, it’s bet- reason for this inequity. In the United States, the federal governter to have good teachers, certainly, but that’s not what causes the ment provides only 14 percent of school funding, compared with an achievement gap.” average of 54 percent among industrial nations. As a result of this In a November piece for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, decentralization, school districts have to look more to state and local Duke University professor Helen Ladd wrote that “experienced teach- sources for funds. ers, on average, are more effective at raising student achievement.” Ladd The Equity and Excellence Commission wrote in its aforementioned argued that organizations like Teach report that the problem with a For America, which places college system of locally funded schools graduates in disadvantaged schools, is that “people living in propertyresult in high teacher turnover at rich districts can those schools befund their pubcause “more than lic schools more half [of TFA regenerously, and cruits] leave after at lower tax rates, fulfilling their two-year comthan can residents in lowermitment, and more than 80 income areas.” And according percent do so after three years.” to the Educational Law CenThe Southerner found that the ter, only 17 states provide more average low-income student atfunding to high-poverty districts tends a school where teachers have than to low-poverty districts. an average of two years less experiRubinson, however, isn’t conence than those at the vinced that increased average high-income funding for low-instudent’s school. come schools can narCharlotte Davis, row the socioeconomprincipal of the South Atlanta Law ic achievement gap. and Social Justice School, which “Spending per pupil in the employs two TFA graduates, U.S. has gone up like 500 perbelieves that TFA is “an excelcent in the last 20 years, yet the lent program.” achievement gap She does, howhas gotten widAlethea Raynor, principal associate, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University ever, understand er,” he said. the concern that TFA graduates don’t stay long at the school to which Rubinson insists that “it’s not the buildings, it’s not the schools; it’s they are assigned. what happens in the school.”

“I’m looking for teachers with longevity,” Davis said. “I don’t want for What happens in schools, however, can be affected by how much an individual to use this as a stepping stone to something else because funding they receive. And in Georgia, according to an Atlanta Journalthis is my passion.”

Constitution column by Joe Martin, the head of the Georgia School Funding Association, “state allotments to local systems have decreased by 24.8 percent on a per-student, inflation-adjusted basis over the last decade,” which means a more than $30,000 decrease for the typical class. On top of that, Martin wrote, the state has further cut assistance One of the reasons for high teacher turnover rates in high-poverty to the least wealthy districts. schools, according to the 2004 survey of teachers, is that high-poverty The cut in state subsidies means that school districts are increasingly schools tend to have lower-quality facilities. Many experts said that the relying on local sources for funding. According to a Southerner analysis reason for this inequity is that high-poverty schools often receive less of school funding data, more than half of the average metro Atlanta funding than those in wealthier areas. district’s funds come from local tax revenue.

“This is not just the

DESTINY

of the kid on the OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS because the kid on the other side of the

CAN CANNOT

tracks either or contribute to the

ECONOMIC VIABILITY of this community, the STABILITY of this community,

the GROWTH of this community.”

FUNDING FIASCO

A

VICIOUS CYCLE

A growing body of research suggests America is not a land of opportunity, with income inequality increasing and social mobility plummeting, especially in Atlanta. A more equitable education system could increase social mobility, in addition to helping the community, Raynor said.

“In some ways, we are all connected to this destiny,” she said. “This is not just the destiny of the kid on the other side of the tracks because the kid on the other side of the tracks either can or cannot contribute to the economic viability of this community, the stability of this community, the growth of this community.”

The American economy is becoming increasingly top-heavy, with a college education more and more necessary to access high-paying jobs. According to a 2012 Georgetown University study, since 2007, the number of jobs requiring postsecondary education has increased by more than 2 million, and the number of jobs for those with only a high school diploma fell by almost 6 million.

A 2012 Stanford study shows that students from families in the richest 20 percent are eight times more likely to enroll at a highly selective college than are students from the poorest 20 percent of families.

This disparity exists because many low-income students, even if they are high achievers, don’t apply to selective colleges, according to research from the Brookings Institute.

South Atlanta’s Coyotl is the exception. His experience, however, shows that low-income students can apply to top colleges, given the proper motivation.

“I dream so big sometimes that it really gets to my head,” Coyotl said. “I cannot stop and dream small, which [is] really reflected in the schools that I chose, like Princeton, and the University of Rochester and Columbia University.”

Coyotl said at first, the college appliLADY IN CHARGE: cation process was hard, because Charlotte Davis, (left) no one in his family had done the principal of the it before, but then he realSouth Atlanta Law ized that he had to “stop and Social Justice thinking that way and School, believes try to see that I really “low expectations have to go through with are the crutch this and finish this if I reupon which ally want to be educators lean this person.” when they are dealing with continued students on next page who come from highpoverty areas.”

Dec. 13, 2013

special section

THE SOLUTION SOLUTION PART TWO: THE TESTING vs TEACHERS

Photos by Mary Condolora

continued from page 19

Recent educational initiatives aimed at narrowing the achievement gap, including President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” and President Obama’s “Race To The Top,” have emphasized the use of testing in evaluating both stu- know what they’re doing.” dent progress and teacher performance. Lisa Guisbond, Guisbond argued that teachers in America need to be held in an assessment reform analyst at the National Center for higher regard, like they are in Finland, where teacher training Fair & Open Testing, or FairTest, opposes this increased programs are highly selective. use of standardized tests, arguing that it hurts low-income “I don’t want to have my children spending every day with schools the most. someone who feels constantly under attack and derided and “Poor communities ... are the places where you tend to see abused and not treated fairly,” Guisbond said. more narrowing of the curriculum to the tests in subjects, teaching to the tests, perhaps pushing students out, creating for a sort of more high pressure, less engaging academic environment,” Guisbond said.

Another educational initiative Obama has been pushing for South Atlanta’s Principal Davis, however, whose school is 95 in recent months is universal preschool for all children. Durpercent low-income, doesn’t see a problem with emphasizing ing his February visit to a preschool in Decatur, Obama told standardized testing. a crowd, “I propose working with states like Georgia to make “The only way that you can ascertain where an individual is high-quality preschool available to every child in America.” is to assess them,” Davis said.

Kaitlin Pennington, an education policy analyst at the CenGuisbond, however, argued that standardized tests allow ter for American Progress, supports the president’s push for schools to focus only on a select few students, to the detriment universal preschool. of the majority.

“The younger you are whenever you’re getting the informa“Administrators have said, literally, ‘Don’t worry about the tion that you need, the better,” Pennington said, “and so unikids that are way behind. Don’t worry about the kids that are versal pre-K can definitely help with that.” ahead of the class, just focus on the kids that are just about to Research from University of Chicago professor James get over the bar, and then we’ll get the biggest bang for our Heckman backs up Pennington’s claim, showing that “inbuck, the biggest payoff,’” Guisbond said. vestment in early education for disadvantaged children Guisbond likens standardized tests to looking at the dash- from birth to age 5 helps reduce the achievement gap, reboard of a car, and actually talking to and observing students duce the need for special education, increase the likelihood to the windows and mirrors. of healthier lifestyles, lower the crime rate and reduce over“Imagine what would happen if you did not look out the all social costs.” windows or in the mirrors and only looked at your speedomEmory’s Rubinson, however, doesn’t believe universal preeter or your temperature gauge,” Guisbond said. “You’d crash school is the be-all and end-all for narrowing the socioeconomin a moment.” ic achievement gap.

New York Times columnist David Brooks argued in a 2009 “If you send kids to preschool ... they are certainly going to piece that Obama’s plan would be effective because it would do better than kids who don’t go to preschool,” Rubinson said, “increase merit pay for good teachers (the ones who develop “but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna do better than the kids emotional bonds with students) and dismiss bad teachers (the who are already in preschool.” ones who treat students like cattle to be processed).”

Rubinson compared universal pre-K to watching a parade.

Guisbond disagrees, saying that Race To The Top en“At some point, you know, some jerk in front of you couraged the evaluation of teachers based on students’ test stands up to see better, and then once that guy stands up to scores, which, she argued, discourages teachers from work- see better, the person next to him has to stand up and see ing with the most disadvantaged students. better,” Rubinson said. “Pretty soon everybody is standing “If you really want to proup, but now, nobody’s seevide the most needy kids with ing any better.” the best, most experienced teachers, then you don’t want over to have a system that’s going to be likely to punish them for working in that environment,” Guisbond said.

Raynor stresses that there Guisbond points to is a difference between “eqFinland as an example of uity” and “equality.” a country that has per“Equity means in my formed well on internaview, that everyone gets tional exams but employs what they need, and that the opposite approach of may not always be the same U.S. education reformers. thing,” Raynor said.

According to Guisbond, According to this conFinland also has very few cept, the most disadvanstandardized tests, and taged students should teachers are given a great get more resources than deal of autonomy in the the least disadvantaged, classroom, as opposed to according to Raynor.

America, where “we sort Stephens echoed this of base our system on sentiment, arguing that From the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement analysis of not trusting that teachers teachers should be given the 2010-2011 school year

20

MIND THE GAP: South Atlanta Educational Complex ’s librar y (far left) features illustrations of important African American leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass. Law and Social Justice School students (left) walk down the halls to their classes.Other students (below) work on a Spanish project in the hallway outside their classroom. Ninety-five percent of students in the School of Law and Social Justice students are lowincome, meaning they are eligible for the National School Lunch Program.

PRESCHOOL ALL

The average LOW-INCOME student attends a school where

69 PERCENT are low-income, and teachers have an average of

9 YEARS of experience.

The average HIGH-INCOME student attends a school where

38 PERCENT are low-income, and teachers have an average of

12 YEARS of experience.

EQUITY EQUALITY

incentive pay to work in high-poverty areas that need high-quality teachers the most.

“Right now, there’s no incentive for a teacher to be in that kind of school, except maybe an idealistic notion about equality or improving the lot of society in general,” Stephens said.

Raynor also discussed another way of creating a more equitable system: changing school funding formulas.

“I think one of the big [issues] that can be addressed, certainly at the local level, is the issue of funding,” she said.

In an article for EdWeek, Cynthia Brown, vice president for education policy at the Center for American Progress, advocated for a new system of funding, “one in which states provide all nonfederal resources for education, and districts no longer have the power to raise funds from local property taxes.”

Principal Davis doesn’t worry about increasing the amount of funds she has to work with at South Atlanta. She focuses on how to use the funding that she does receive to best help students like Coyotl.

“The unfortunate dynamic that we experience is that the mindset of our students in this community is that mediocre is OK,” Davis said, “and so part of our job here is to explain to them and to communicate to them in multiple ways that mediocrity is not acceptable.”

Coyotl finally understood that concept, after years of mediocrity in middle school, when he realized that he could make a difference in the lives of those around him. He described an eye-opening encounter with a homeless man.

“I was walking down the street, and there was this old guy asking me, ‘Where are you going?’” Coyotl said, “and I told him I was going to church, and he was like, ‘What? You’re going to church?’ ... Everybody in there [Coyotl’s neighborhood] is homeless, and I thought about high school at that moment—I don’t know why—and I thought about ‘Can I do something to change this?’”

Coyotl’s story is an inspiring one, but there are tens of thousands of other low-income public school students in metro Atlanta. The question is how many of them will be able to follow in Coyotl’s footsteps and what educators and government leaders can do to make the path shorter and easier to navigate. p