get up and Got too much Stuff? Education Briefs

Peace by Piece club members from The Weber School recently hosted their counterparts from The Marist School (Catholic) and The W.D. Mohammed School (Muslim) for a unique interfaith experience filled with conversation and interaction. The full- day program included break out sessions to learn about religious, symbolic and cultural aspects of Judaism – including making their own challah.

January is Get Organized month.

When: Every Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Where: Finders Keepers Furnishings

2753 E. College Ave. Decatur

Cost: one canned good or non-perishable pantry item

Who: NAPO-Ga Organizers and Finders Keepers

Why: Help YOU get organized in 2016!

For more information call 404-377-1944 or visit www. consign.com

SATURDAY JAN 2 9:30 am

FASHIONS

SATURDAY JAN 9 9:30 am

BOUTIQUE

FURNISHINGS

Handy-Do or Handy-Don’t?

Start the year with a clear sense of what you CAN do to save time, money and drama around your home.

Rachel Johnston www.joliresidential.com

Organize Your Life!”

Make 2016 the year to move your life from messy to manageable.

Danielle Carney www.lifemanagementservice.com

From Piles to Files

SATURDAY JAN 16 9:30 am

Atlanta Public Schools’ KIPP Strive Academy has been named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School. The school is one of only 300 schools in the country to receive the designation from the U.S. Department of Education and the fourth Atlanta Public School to become a National Blue Ribbon School.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has honored Savannah College of Art and Design President and Founder Paula Wallace with a Phoenix Award, Atlanta’s highest citizen honor, for her contributions to the city’s artistic, educational and cultural landscape. The Atlanta City Council also declared December 2015 as SCAD Month in the city.

Nonprofit arts organization WonderRoot is exhibiting work by 16 Atlanta Public School high school students in “What A Time To Be Alive.” The exhibiton continues through Jan. 25 at the WonderRoot Community Center, 982 Memorial Drive. wonderroot.org.

The Children’s School in Midtown is lending a helping hand to Grace United Methodist Church for its annual schoolwide donation drive. After a successful service-learning project in which TCS parents, students and faculty participated in making over 1,000 sandwiches to donate to the church’s soup kitchen, it was evident that many other items were needed for winter, so donations are still being gathering for the church as the new year begins.

Ben Franklin Academy Philanthropy Club spent the holidays collecting food, with the faculty and staff joining with the students in a friendly competition to see which team could collect the most food. The school ultimately collected five tons of food, which was distributed through the Action Ministries hunger relief program.

SATURDAY JAN 23 9:30 am

MENSWEAR

SATURDAY JAN 30 9:30 am

How to manage all of the paper in your life and keep what really matters.

Diane Quintana and Jonda Beattie co-present www.dnqsolutions.com www.timespaceorg.com

Financial Organizing Made Simple

Learn how to create a system you can USE to manage your personal or small business nances.

Kristin Diver www.systemhappy.com

Take Back Control

Commit to get organized once and for all and make your house do the work for you.

Mary Paguaga www.SOSmary.com fkconsign.com

Novelist and nonfiction writer Winston Groom (“Forrest Gump”) will visit The Lovett School for an evening lecture on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. in the Hendrix-Chenault Theater. The lecture is free of charge and open to the community. In his lecture, “The Generals: Learning and Writing about Character,” Groom will discuss his most recent book, “The Generals.” The nonfiction book tells the tales of George Patton, Douglas MacArthur and George Marshall, three generals who changed America’s ideas of military leadership in World War II.

Greater Atlanta

Christian Senior High students partnered with 7 Bridges Ministry to prepare more than 1,000 lunches during chapel. Organized by chapel class students, the service project gave Senior High an opportunity to serve others during school hours. Together, small groups brought sandwich-making supplies from home and prepared meals for distribution by 7 Bridges to Atlanta homeless.

The Friends School of Atlanta (FSA) in Decatur is hosting a series of tours and open houses in the coming months. Parents will be able to learn about the culture and curricula at FSA, observe classes in session and tour campus facilities. Tours are being held in January, February and March, with open house events on Jan. 9 and Feb. 6. For more information or to reserve a spot on a tour, email nancy.bent@friendsschoolatlanta.org.

By Collin Kelley

The Atlanta City Council has signed off on a plan to expand the Atlanta Streetcar system to 50-plus miles with five crosstown routes and 22-miles along the Atlanta BeltLine corridor.

The council voted on the plan last month as an amendment to the city’s Connect Atlanta Plan. The streetcar system plan will serve as a framework for a potential sales tax referendum in 2016 and is a necessary requirement for any major transit project seeking federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration. This action by the City Council now enables the city to apply for large scale federal transportation funding.

“Transit is at the heart of the Atlanta BeltLine,” stated Paul Morris, Atlanta BeltLine President and CEO. “Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the City of Atlanta, and MARTA have worked collaboratively to advance transit on the Atlanta BeltLine and in the city, through planning studies and the federal process, and today’s action by the City Council is significant in helping us to continue to move forward.”

“Atlanta is a city that brings people together and connects them to opportunities,” said Councilmember Andre Dickens, who sits on the Atlanta BeltLine board and sponsored the legislation. “The Atlanta Streetcar System Plan is a 50-mile system that connects Atlanta’s people to jobs, vibrant neighborhoods and world-class entertainment opportunities. This plan, when implemented, will solidify our city’s commitment to improving social equity and increasing economic mobility for all of our citizens.”

Approval of the expansion came after a proposed streetcar line along Peachtree to Buckhead was removed from the plan after community outcry and concern from council members. In October, the city was turned down for federal funding to expand the existing 2.7-mile streetcar line in Downtown to connect with the Eastside Trail of the BeltLine.

The free ride on the Downtown streetcar line is over. As of Jan. 1, a $1 fare is now being charged with a variety of pass options available through the MARTA Breeze card system. You can see the fares and passes at streetcar. atlantaga.gov.

At the end of November, the Atlanta Streetcar had been ridden by more than 680,000 passengers since opening on Dec. 30, 2014.