EDUCATION BRIEFS

By Collin Kelley

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms accepted a check for $33.5 million from the developers of Centennial Yards earmarked for “community benefits” during a ceremony at city hall on Oct. 14.

The check is part of a community investment deal agreed to by the city in return for nearly $2 billion in tax breaks to CIM Group to build the $5 billion mixed-use project on land in Downtown formerly known as The Gulch. Bottoms’ administration negotiated a total of $42 million in community investments, with $28 million planned for affordable housing, $12 million in citywide economic

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has recognized 325 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2021, including Oakhurst Elementary School in Decatur. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

►Twenty students from the Rosel Fann After-School Teen Program took the inaugural ride on mountain bikes donated to the City of Atlanta at the RideATL event at Southside Park. Teens were equipped with a bike and a helmet and rode a 1.2-mile trail guided by volunteers from the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association. The bike donation was coordinated by The Trust for Public Land and made possible by donations from REI and Hydro Flask to the Outdoor Foundation and included a program featuring Commissioner John Dargle, Deputy COO LaChandra Butler Burks and District 12 Atlanta City Council member Joyce Sheperd (pictured above).

Researchers at Georgia State’s School of Public Health have been awarded a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study a novel behavioral intervention targeting binge drinking and sexual assault among college students that is tailored by gender and sexual orientation. The web-based program, known as Positive Change (+Change), was developed by the research team and is the only intervention that concurrently targets both binge drinking and sexual assault.

◄Mikhaila Doyle, a 2021 graduate of Atlanta Girls’ School and current freshman at Brown University, has been selected as one of the members of the inaugural class of Oprah Winfrey Leadership Scholars (OWLS). All members of the program are receiving a fouryear scholarship, but also have the chance network with fellow OWLS as they obtain their bachelor’s degrees and beyond. As a class they’ll have access to speakers and leaders in a range of fields that reflect the group’s array of ambitions.

Atlanta Public Schools is teaming with Education Farm (Ed Farm) to enhance the district’s technology integration initiative. The Atlanta Board of Education approved a $580,000 investment in the Ed Farm partnership at its August meeting. Ed Farm is a non-profit organization focused on increasing educational equity, improving learning outcomes through technology, and preparing the nation’s future workforce for careers in the 21st Century.