‘LAW AND ORDER’ CANDIDATE
Gwinnett Daily Post FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
75 cents ©2016 SCNI
Vol. 47, No. 6
HERO OF THE YEAR
Teach Gwinnett program draws hundreds to area Alternative certification course includes nearly 500 educators BY KEITH FARNER keith.farner@gwinnettdailypost.com
Landing a job in Gwinnett County Public Schools is so appealing for one Shiloh High School teacher, she drove from Maryland with all of her belongings and moved into a hotel. Nikki Mouton, executive director of curriculum and instructional support, shared that story last week with the Gwinnett County Board of Education as she gave an update on the alternative certification program called Teach Gwinnett. The program, which was approved in 2008, has 65 people at 34 schools enrolled this year, and more than half of those are in critical-needs areas such as special education, science and math. “We are very excited to have this program in our backyard because it gives us an opportunity to grow our own teachers at the level of our expectations,” Mouton said. Mouton’s presentation came as the state begins to assess teacher preparation programs to avoid what she called “this wheel of churning people out who aren’t
Snellville mailman honored in D.C. for saving little girl BY ERIKA WELLS
erika.wells@gwinnettdailypost.com
Oftentimes the people who most deserve recognition for their courage are the least likely to consider themselves a hero. That’s why mailman Mark Pizzo of Snellville was emotional on Wednesday when he took to the stage at a luncheon in Washington, D.C., to accept the 2016 Hero of the Year award and offer remarks. The National Association of Letter Carriers, a labor union for United States Postal Service employees, honored the mailman of 11 years for saving a child from a vicious pit bull attack while working his route last year. Last summer Pizzo and his family moved from Pennsylvania to Snellville. He had hoped to transfer in his position to a nearby route, but the closest opening was in Rock Hill, S.C. So each Monday Pizzo traveled to South Carolina, where he stayed with a co-worker during the week. He returned to Georgia to see his family every weekend. On Nov. 30, Pizzo was delivering mail in a cul-de-sac on the last part of his route in Rock Hill. He was used to seeing children playing in the area, but that day a pit bull was outside. Pizzo noticed the dog jump at a girl named Kayden White, but he realized they weren’t playing when it knocked Kayden down. “Then he heard a blood-curdling scream that he said he will never forget as long as he lives,” Fredric Rolando, the organization’s president, said at the ceremony. “The carrier raced toward the 7-year-old girl whose bloody head was gripped in the jaws of the dog as it dragged her under a trampoline.” Pizzo tried to grabbed the dog by its muzzle, but it would not let go of Kayden. He punched the canine several times before the pit bull released her. Pizzo placed the little girl on top See HERO, Page 8A
441790-3
Trump talks tough on crime and violence, Page 5A
See PROGRAM, Page 8A
Harvest Georgia to visit Infinite Energy Arena BY JON GALLO Staff Correspondent
The way Pastor Greg Laurie sees it, he’s still doing the same job he did growing up in Newport Beach, Calif., nearly a half-century ago — delivering the news. “I was 15 and every day I would put the newspapers into bags on my Stingray bike and do my route,” he said of his days as a paperboy for his hometown paper, The Daily Pilot. “I got to be pretty good at it, too. I could toss the paper and it would land right on the porch.” Now, Laurie, 63, hurls a different type of news: God’s word. “When I was a paper boy, I didn’t write the news and I didn’t make the news,” he said. “I just delivered it.
See HARVEST, Page 8A
National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando presents the 2016 National Hero of the Year award in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to mailman Mark Pizzo, a Snellville resident who saved a child from a pit bull attack last year. (Photo: Michael Shea)
Greg Laurie speaks at the 2015 SoCal Harvest. (Special Photo: Trever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
Davis, Gwinnett’s retiring associate superintendent, reflects on career BY KEITH FARNER
Frances Davis, associate superintendent for Gwinnett County Public Schools, recently announced plans to retire at the end of the month. (File Photo)
keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com
The only way J. Alvin Wilbanks could describe the task of replacing Frances Davis was to invoke the name of a basketball Hall of Famer. “It’ll be a tough pair of shoes to fill,” said Wilbanks, Gwinnett County Public Schools CEO/ superintendent, during a luncheon speech with the
MORE ONLINE Visit gwinnettdailypost.com for more photos
Gwinnett Chamber. “As a matter of fact, it may be some Shaq O’Neal sized shoes. But you might see her around with some special projects.” As the person who oversees the human resources department and as an associate superintendent in the school district, Davis
was visible at various events throughout the year. She often led a pep rally of sorts with the district’s bus drivers during orientation before the start of a school year, and served as a motivational speaker to the district’s new teachers at a similar event late in each summer. She also served as emcee of the district’s Teacher of the Year banquet.
See DAVIS, Page 8A
gwinnettdailypost.com
INSIDE Ask Amy.........4A
Crossword .....8B
Lottery........... 4A
Perspectives ..6A
Classified .......9B
Horoscope .....4A
Nation ........... 5A
Sports ............1B
Comics...........8B
Local ............. 9A
Obituaries ......8A
Weather .........4A
Stay connected with the Daily Post online, where you can submit news tips, browse photo galleries and sign up to receive headlines digitally at gwinnettdailypost.com/newsletter. Send us engagements, wedding, births or anniversaries under “Submit your news” on the home page.