From the President

Thank You for Making My Journey as President Highly Meaningful

Dr. Emily Felton

During the past year, I have had the pleasure of serving as president of a great organization—PAGE. The journey has strengthened my faith in and my commitment to quality public education in Georgia.

News highlights during my tenure included a series of reports by the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. These reports shine a laser-like spotlight on the devastating toll that education funding cuts have

Dr. Felton with aspiring teachers of South Paulding High School

taken on children throughout Georgia. “The Schoolhouse Squeeze” report provides each of us with a powerful platform to start critical community conversations. “Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet” details, county by county, the financial struggles that Georgia schools are facing. The final report, “Recovery or Bust: Georgia’s Poor Left Behind,” documents the barriers faced by families of the nation’s sixth poorest state (Georgia) as they try to climb out of poverty while attempting to obtain a quality education.

Battles surrounding Common Core Standards also dominated this year’s education news. Teachers are especially concerned that we have the right tools to properly prepare Georgia’s students for the 21st century.

And let’s not forget about the ice storm that kept many of us, including me, at school overnight with our students.

Beyond serving as a conduit for PAGE initiatives like Community Conversations, my role as president has enabled me to interact with Georgians concerned about education. In Statesboro, I delivered the keynote address for the Georgia NAACP meeting. At South Paulding High School, I met with aspiring teachers from Sean Smith’s Education Pathways Class. And at Clayton County’s “Evening with the Stars,” I watched as educators were honored for exceeding the call of duty.

But, the highlight of my year was at the Regional STAR Banquet in Rome. At that event, a STAR Student diagnosed with mutism acknowledged his STAR Teacher: a kindergarten teacher who taught him to speak. It reminded me that I’ll never know which students I will influence most, so I must nurture the potential in all of them. As Benjamin Mays, past president of Morehouse College, said, “Every man and women is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive, and if he or she does not do it, it will never be done.”

Thank you for making my journey as PAGE president a valuable and meaningful experience. n