2018 OUTSTANDING
DAWSON a publication of
FEBRUARY 2018
2 | DAWSON County NEWS | dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
A look at those who love Dawson Each year, Dawson County News accepts nominations for those that go above and beyond in their daily lives to make our community a better place. From a firefighter who works with Dawon’s children, a coach who is introducing technology into others’ lives
while running a successful program, to a student who hopes to one day work in cardiac rehabilitation and so many others, this section showcases eight stories of Dawson County’s outstanding citizens that thrive to go that extra mile.
Firefighter helps teach life skills By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
When the U.S. Army brought Sergeant Chris Archer to Dawson County, he knew he found a place – and a community – he could call home. He is now the Community Risk Reduction Officer with Dawson County Emergency Services and helps people in the community every day. “I like helping people. [Being a firefighter] made me realize, you know, people are good,” said Archer. In 2005, Archer was a sergeant in the army living in Dawson County when he saw something that would change his life forever. While hanging out with one of his friends, they witnessed a child get hit by a car. Archer and his friend looked at each other and in that moment they decided they wanted to do something to help. “We both went and became volunteer firefighters the next week,” said Archer. Being a firefighter has molded Archer and made him the man he is today. In his time with the fire department, he’s seen both the good and the bad and saved lives in the process. “I saw the side of it where we fought fires and everything else and then the side, you know, I want to be able to help and prevent those fires from every happening,” Archer said. In April 2017, Archer was awarded the “Outstanding Service” Award by the Dawsonville Civitan Club for his work with the Community Based Instruction Jessica Brown Dawson County News
See Archer | 13
Community Risk Reduction Officer Chris Archer.
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 3
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Dawson County Track Coach Charles Beusse was named state coach of the year in 2017.
Coach sees program’s success By Jessica Brown jbrown@dawsonnews.com
Ever since high school, Charles Beusse knew he wanted to be a teacher. The Dawson County alum graduated from the University of North Georgia in 2012 and has been teaching at his alma mater ever since. For the past four years, Beusse has taught eighth grade English in the Exceptional Children program at the junior high school, but starting last year he
took on a new role: instructional technology coach. He works alongside teachers to do professional development and assists teachers through the use of technology and lessons. The position was created last year through the 1:1 iPad initiative. “The role that I have this year is very similar in a lot of ways to coaching with cross country because I’m trying to help motivate people and help give teachers the tools they need to be successful,” said Beusse. “I think the instructional technol-
ogy coach – that’s the right term for it because there’s a lot of overlap between the two.” When he’s not coaching teachers with technology, he’s motivating his cross country team. Last year he was named state coach of the year in Class AAA by the Georgia Track and Field Coaches Association. “I mean that’s something that had never been on my radar before so it was very – I was very humbled by it by the fact that it’s something that’s voted by on other coach-
es and the state and just the fact that they thought enough of me and what the team did this year to recognize me,” said Beusse. In the five years that Beusse has led the cross country program, the teams have seen great success. The boys cross country team has won three region championships, were top three in the state twice and were state runner-ups this past season. The girls cross country team has also won three See Beusse | 14
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 5
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Retired educator bolsters art center By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
The current co-chair of the board of directors for the Bowen Center for the Arts in Dawsonville, Jeanne Tompkins is channeling a lifelong career of teaching into bolstering the arts center to be the best it can be. N a t ive t o A t l a n t a , To m p k i n s c o n s i d e r s Clarkesville her home and attended the University of Georgia, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in home economics and chemistry.
Tompkins was a home demonstration agent with 4-H after graduation, and eventually went back to UGA to obtain a masters in elementary education and special education. She worked in special education for a time, but when she started having kids, the work became too demanding. At that time, she said, the job was much more involved than it is today. “I had to see that they got doctor’s appointments, dental appointments, it was very comprehensive,” she said.
Tompkins moved to Cobb County with her husband and two kids and taught elementary education, and when the family moved to Louisiana, she took a middle school job. “I loved it. I knew it was where I needed to be,” she said. “They’re kind of special, eighth graders are always kind of weird but I just love their sense of humor and I loved what they did and how they did it, there was nothing they wouldn’t try one time.” See Tompkins | 14
NEIGHBORS. FRIENDS. COMMUNITY. That’s what community banking is all about. Today, we proudly support the 2018 Outstanding Citizens of Dawson County and their work in our community.
DAWSONVILLE 6372 Highway 53 East | 706-216-8444 109 Highway 53 West | 706-265-3232
Allie Dean Dawson County News
Former teacher Jeanne Tompkins currently serves as co-chair of the board of directors for the Bowen Center for the Arts in Dawsonville, where she uses her passion for art to better the community.
Member FDIC. © 2018 United Community Bank | ucbi.com
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Dawson County senior Kati Brady looks forward to a career in cardiac rehabilitation.
DCHS senior has heart for hearts By Jessica Brown Jbrown@dawsonnews.com
When she’s not helping the Lady Tigers Varsity basketball team pull out a region win, senior Kati Brady is often helping others in her community. Since she was a little girl, Brady has been a member of Harmony Baptist Church in Dawsonville and has participated in many mission trips throughout her life. The church
h a s g o n e t o K e n t u c k y, Mississippi and Louisiana to host Vacation Bible School and it’s an experience Brady always enjoys. “It’s been a great experience going there and seeing all the kids and getting to meet different people and help them with their walk even though they’re in a different state than us,” said Brady. Another church has since taken over the mission trips, but
that hasn’t stopped Brady from continuing to help wherever she can. In the summer of 2019, Brady plans to go on a medical mission trip to Honduras with s eve r a l wo m e n f r o m h e r church. “I feel like that would be a good way for me to use the knowledge and gifts God has blessed me with to use them overseas to help somebody else,” said Brady.
Brady, a dual enrollment student at the University of North Georgia, is currently working towards her goal of going into premed after she graduates high school. After overcoming injuries in her sports career, she has been inspired to help others regain their strength and get back where they want to be through physical therapy. During the end of her sophomore basketball career, Brady
was diagnosed with mono, strep and pneumonia all at once. The pneumonia also developed into pleurisy. She was diagnosed in March and didn’t feel like she fully recovered until August. “That’s been my hardest injury to overcome because it was such a long time period and it was one of those things where you couldn’t see it,” said See Brady | 15
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 7
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Teacher says job was ‘God’s plan’ By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
When Lacy Hammond began working towards her career, she never thought she would end up working with special education students. “I went to school to be an early childhood education teacher, never thinking I would teach special education,” said Hammond. “But now that I’ve been doing it I don’t really think I ever want to do anything else.” Life took Hammond down a different path than she originally planned and she believes it was God who brought her into this position. “I do believe that this has all been His
plan,” Hammond said. Hammond worked in daycare for several years before she began pursuing jobs in the education field. She began as a substitute teacher six years ago, subbing for a paraprofessional who was doing her student teaching in a classroom with special needs students. As the class grew, it needed to be split and Hammond was offered the job of teaching the second class. “I just kind of fell into it,” said Hammond. “I was just at the right place at the right time.” Before transferring to Dawson County Middle School this year, Hammond See Hammond | 14
Congratulations
KATI BRADY on being chosen as one of Dawson County’s outstanding citizens. We are all so proud of you for all your accomplishments and your giving heart. You have excelled in so many challenges.
We love you.
256 Beartooth Pkwy. • Dawsonville, GA 30534
706-216-1906
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Dawson County Middle School special education teacher Lacy Hammond is the school’s Community Based Instruction program lead.
Congrats Ron Disco Zappendorf! We love you, the Team at AMP
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
State Farm agent Carla Boutin.
Insurance agent serving community
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
Carla Boutin has always had a heart for people and helps wherever she can. “That’s what insurance is, basically just helping people,” said Boutin. Originally from Blue Ridge, Boutin says she feels at home in the north Georgia mountains and loves being active in the community. “Dawson County has been great as far as to open their arms and welcome me and make me feel a part,” said Boutin.
She attended what was then North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega with a basketball scholarship and received her degree in education. She spent three years teaching health and physical education at Fannin County Middle School and coached basketball and softball for the high school. In 1993, she led her basketball team to their first state championship. Boutin was inducted into the Fannin County High School’s Hall of Fame in 2014 both as a player and coach. Though she was passionate about educa-
tion and sports, Boutin began thinking it wasn’t the path for her. “I decided I just wasn’t really sure that’s where my true calling was going to be forever,” she said. Boutin took a job at an insurance agency in Jasper, began working with State Farm in 1995 and hasn’t looked back. Getting into insurance is what Boutin describes as “kind of an accident.” “It ended up being the best decision of my life,” she said. In 2003 Boutin gladly accepted the offer to open her own State Farm office in
Dawson County. For the past 15 years, she has been very active in promoting business and doing what she can to give back to the community. Boutin served as the Dawson County Rotary Club president from 2012-2013 and was the board chairman of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce from 2015-2016. In March 2017, she was awarded the Chairman’s Award at the 26th annual Chamber of Commerce gala. She is also a charter member of the Dawsonville See Boutin | 13
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 9
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
‘Ironman’ always ready to save others By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
If there is one thing the community knows about Ron Zappendorf is that he always seems to be in the right place at the right time to help others. “God and my family inspired me to help others at any given moment,” said Zappendorf. “It should be human nature to help. I hope people would do the same and think of God and their family and do the right thing.” Since moving to Dawson County in 2013
with his wife Seanie and his sons Jack, 18, and Max, 16, Zappendorf has been a helping hand in several emergency situations. “If you know Zappendorf, when you’re in trouble or possibly ever being stuck on an island, you would probably wish he’s around for his survival and life-saving skills,” said his wife, Seanie. The first time Zappendorf jumped in to help happened on a flight where a passenger had a seizure. With no medical personnel on the flight,
Zappendorf volunteered to calm her and treated her for shock. He stayed with her until an EMT came aboard the plane. At the end of 2013, Zappendorf was a witness to a medical emergency a n d b e c a m e a fi r s t responder when he drove up to a nonresponsive asthmatic and diabetic woman. After two rounds of CPR, he was able to revive her. In many of the emergencies Zappendorf has assisted, no one had called 911. See Ironman | 12
Photo for the Dawson County News
Ron Zappendorf has helped save numerous people in their time of need.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Volunteer keeps Dawson healthy By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
For Margie O’Byrne, there is nothing quite like the reward of helping patients obtain medications that can drastically improve their quality of life. O’Byrne spends hours each week at the Good Shepherd Clinic in Dawsonville, filling out reams of paperwork to obtain drugs for the clinic’s patients. The drugs are free for the patient, as are all other services provided at the clinic. And O’Byrne’s help is free as well. Retired from business, O’Byrne has been a volunteer at the clinic since its inception, when Grace Presbyterian Church started treating patients in its basement in 2009. Prescription assistance is O’Byrne’s job at the clinic, but it wasn’t her calling. O’Byrne graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science and a minor in education and taught history for two and a half years. When she moved to G e o rg i a , s h e s t a r t e d a t Pacesetter Steel Service Incorporated as an executive secretary. She was the second employee and watched the company grow to over 200 employees, and retired as vice president of the company in 2000. A n a c t ive m e m b e r o f Grace Presbyterian, she was part of the original group who signed up to help with the clinic, and was delegated her role. “When we were organizing the clinic, the woman who was the head at the time had See O’Byrne | 11
Allie Dean Dawson County News
Margie O’Byrne.
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 11
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
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O’Byrne all of us who said we would volunteer get together and ask us what we wanted to do. I said I wanted to be the receptionist, and she said ‘nope, I’ve already got that filled, you’ve got prescription assistance.’ That’s how it happened,” O’Byrne said. Now, the clinic serves hundreds of people each year who live, work or go to school in the county and are between the ages of 18 and 64, as well as have income 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline or lower. It has grown from the basement to a 5,000 square feet of space in a professional medical building behind the Burger King. With that growth, O’Byrne has maintained the clinic’s mission to help patients obtain drugs they couldn’t otherwise afford. “My job hasn’t changed, it’s just gotten broader,” she said. In her role with prescription assistance, O’Byrne obtains medications from drug company foundations at no cost for a year’s period of time, which requires massive amounts of paperwork, she said. “But last year we provided over $800,000 worth of drugs to our patients at no cost,” she said. “That’s just from drug company foundations.” In addition to the drug foundations, a pharmacist at the clinic obtains drugs from Dawson Pharmacy and Good Pill, another 501(c)(3) in Dawsonville. Drugs from the pharmacy normally have to be paid for, and account for the largest expenditures the clinic incurs each year. The clinic is open on Thursdays, but doctors often come in throughout the week as well. O’Byrne works all Thursday and during the week to get the work done, along with a team of four part time volunteers. She doesn’t mind the hard work, just how unstreamlined the process is to obtain free mediation. Everyone is treated individually, and each prescription ordered by a doctor requires a separate application, O’Byrne explained. Refills are not automatic, and the paperwork
can vary greatly from foundation to foundation, which is the most time consuming part. The biggest problem the clinic comes up against is insulin, because it must be refrigerated and is extremely expensive. “If someone needs insulin, they can’t go a day without it,” she said. O’Byrne found out that a friend of her son was the regional manager of Sanofi, which makes a type of insulin the clinic uses a lot of, and was able to connect with him to get the drug to the clinic so that there is a reserve for patients who run out before more can be obtained. Working to solve problems, like obtaining high-price insulin, comes naturally to O’Byrne, due in part to her business background. “One of the things that I did when I was working was to write procedures, and while we haven’t written procedures yet, we’ve pretty much developed them, and that’s helpful,” she said. Her favorite part of the job is interacting with patients. “You get to be friends with them, you get to know them, I think the biggest thing is we don’t treat them as ‘you don’t have the money to go to a real doctor, hang tight, we’ll get to you when we get to you,’” she said. “We make them feel as important as we are, or more so.” Jane Stuckey, chair of the clinic’s board of directors, said that in addition to her assigned job, O’Byrne will help wherever help is needed, even answering the phones and helping check patients in. “It’s all about helping the patients for her,” Stuckey said. “She’s probably one of the most kind people to everyone, patients and doctors and other volunteers, that I’ve ever witnessed in the healthcare environment. People would be going without medication in Dawson County if she didn’t do this job.” Above all, spreading the word of Christ is O’Byrne’s primary mission. “The camaraderie of being with other people and the joy I get from meeting the patients and figuring out what they need and how I can best help them, that’s just very fulfilling to me,” O’Byrne said. “And hopefully I’m showing Christ’s love to them, that’s my bottom line intent.”
Good Shepherd Clinic of Dawson County congratulates
Margie O'Byrne
for being an outstanding citizen of Dawson. Margie is a star among the many outstanding and dependable volunteers of Good Shepherd Clinic who are dedicated to serving the citizens of Dawson Community! Margie heads up the Prescription Assistance Department for the clinic. She and 5 other volunteers serve as advocates for our patients to obtain free medications from pharmaceutical foundations who offer these medications for the uninsured. Margie serves also as an advocate for these same patients on the Board of GSC, as well as going above and beyond in all areas of service. She has been with the Clinic since its inception in 2009.
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Ironman “People need to value human lives,” he said. “When you see someone in need, help. If you can’t physically help, call 911.” Sometimes, helping others is a family affair. While Zappendorf was taking Jack to a Monday night Boy Scout meeting, they came across a broken down vehicle stopped at the corner of Hwy. 53 and Lumpkin Campground Road. He pulled over to assist the woman and her young child. Jack, who was 13 at the time, took his jacket off to keep the child warm and called 911 while Zappendorf stayed with the woman and assisted with her car trouble. During a family outing at a store, Zappendorf and his wife were checking out when their sons noticed the woman at the register looked like something was wrong. She fainted and her coworkers didn’t know what to do. The boys called 911 while Seanie ran to the bathroom to get wet paper towels for the woman’s head. According to Seanie and his sons, Zappendorf literally leaped into action – jumping over the counter to get to help the woman. “That was probably making history at any store where someone jumped over the counter that was not going for the cash register,” said Seanie. In another instance, Jack and Zappendorf were on their way home with some friends when they saw a multi-vehicle accident and no emergency responders on site. Zappendorf asked to stop the car so they could check if the victims were okay. They calmed down the driver of one of the cars who had a broken leg and they helped put out the car that was on fire. Friend of the family, Lesley Brooks, remembered sharing
an experience with Zappendorf that isn’t easily forgotten. While they were at Atlanta Motorsports Park, an ambulance arrived carrying a young boy and his father. They were awaiting a life flight to tr an s p o r t th e l i t t l e b oy. Zappendorf acted immediately to help in any way he could, helping to calm the hysterical father by talking with him in an uplifting and positive manner. “After all emergency vehicles had left and the man had a ride to follow his son, I had asked Zappendorf if he had known this family for a long time assuming by his calm nature and the things he had said that he did. Instead to find out Zappendorf was as clueless to whom they were as I was,” said Brooks. “It was nice to see humanity without hesitation.” In late 2017, Zappendorf assisted with two car accidents and treated the drivers for shock and stayed with them until the emergency responders were on the scene. Zappendorf has been active in running races for ten years, earning the title Ironman 10 times, with two more races scheduled this year. He is a proud veteran and serves as the Vice President of the Club at AMP. He also brought the first racing safety company to Dawsonville to help protect race car drivers and enthusiasts. Ron has also been involved as a coach that led his cross country team to the Junior Olympics, an assistant scoutmaster and trained for first aid and CPR. “Helping people especially in life and death situations make you humble,” said Zappendorf. “A friend had sent me a quote one time complimenting that I had helped save lives. ‘You’ve never truly lived until you’ve done something for someone who can’t ever repay you.’ If this is true, then I’m the one that’s been blessed to have truly lived.”
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Photo for the Dawson County News
Ron Zappendorf and his family pose for a photo at Christmas time.
dawsonnews.com | DAWSON COUNTY NEWS | 13
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Archer students at the middle and high school, and was also named Career Firefighter of the Year by the Dawson County Emergency Services in December. For the past two years, Archer and the Dawson County Emergency Services have worked with the Exceptional Children program in Dawson County and is entering its third year. “Myself and another firefighter who was here noticed there was a need for fire education in the special needs community. You know we’d come to school every year in October and we never saw the special needs kids,” said Archer. “Luckily they (The CBI program) reached out to us…it was something we were looking at for a long time.” According to Archer, special needs individuals are more likely to have interaction with 911 and he wants to make it a positive
experience for the Community Based Instruction students. The special needs community has always held a place in Chris’ heart as his wife is a special education teacher and the couple also has a special needs son. Once a month, the CBI students meet at the fire station to hang out with the firefighters and learn important fire safety lessons. They most recently learned about resisting peer pressure and making exit plans when a building is on fire. “We’ve got a pretty strong bond built with them,” said Archer. “It doesn’t even feel like we’re teaching. We’re almost hanging out with them.” Chris loves working with the Exceptional students and says he learns something new every time they visit the station. In fact, one student is currently teaching Chris sign language every time they meet. He’s been learning signs for “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” “hurt,” ambulance” and others that he hopes will help the firefighters in case they are in a situa-
tion where they are assisting a deaf person in the community. When Chris isn’t fighting fires or working to prevent them, he can be found teaching Sunday School at his church, Christ the Redeemer in Dawsonville. He said he teaches every Sunday unless he’s sick with the flu. He is also in his third year as a member of the Knights of Columbus at the church. Before living in Dawsonville, Chris served in Korea as a long range surveillance detachment. In 2009, he took a short break and deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard. While in Afghanistan, Chris and his unit worked with a police mentor team to help train the police force and fire service as part of his mission. He is on the Honor Guard Team and participates in programs in the community for Veterans Day, Memorial Day and other important services held in the county. Archer married his wife Shannon and has three kids: Kristen, Patrick and Payton.
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Boutin Civitan Club. “Being involved in a community was important to me because I wanted to give back,” she said. Boutin has been a member of the Rotary Club since 2003 and has been active with the club’s many fundraisers. She is a Will Watt Fellow with the Rotary and is passionate about the Georgia Rotary Student Program. This year, Boutin is getting out of her comfort zone and expanding her community involvement by becoming a board member at the Bowen Center for the Arts. Boutin wants to be able to help support the arts and education in the area because she believes the arts are an important component to education. Since she comes from a background in education, she feels
passionate about helping the Bowen in any capacity she can. Although a member of Free Chapel in Gainesville since college, Boutin enjoys helping local churches by supporting their fundraisers. She’s talked with Pastor Brian Haas at Mountain Lake Church about launching a ministry program in the county jail. With her busy schedule as a full time insurance agent and her volunteerism and involvement in the county, Boutin lives by her calendar and makes sure she always schedules time to stay active and healthy. She enjoys exercising in her home and loves playing golf. Every year she looks forward to the Monet Golf Tournament, an all-woman golf tournament hosted by the Bowen. She’s a fan of the Falcons, Braves and the Georgia Bulldogs. Boutin lives in Big Canoe with her husband Charles and their cats: Bubba, Alonzo and Colonel Sam Tate.
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Tompkins Tapping into their curiosity and willingness made teaching middle schoolers a joy, she said. “I started teaching earth science, and I knew I was doing exactly what I wanted to do, so I stayed in that,” Tompkins said. “I taught 31 years total.” Tompkins went back to school a third time to get her National Board Certification, which she compared to getting a doctorate degree in classroom teaching. The program was incredibly intense, she said, but taught her how to analyze her teaching in a way she’d never done. “It was more about vision and understanding students, and I’ve probably used that skill more than anything else that I’ve learned in all my teaching, all my degrees, all of that: Being able to look in the moment, what needs to be done, how we’re going to do it, what’s the next step, what’s right, what’s wrong, those kind of things,” she said. And when you have an organization like the arts center, Tompkins said, that’s vital. “What’s right, what’s wrong, who do we need that can do this, this, to reach a goal, all of that,” she said. Tompkins and her husband moved to Dawsonville in 2003 because she wanted to be closer to h e r s i s t e r s , w h o l ive d i n Clarkesville.
When her husband died from complications of leukemia in 2014, Tompkins said she started looking for something to focus on. Around 2008, she started hanging around the center, and later when her husband got sick and received a bone marrow transplant, she decided for her health to find something to do other than direct his care. “I got interested in photography, I went to (the University of North Georgia) and took photography certificate courses through their continuing education,” she said. “That got me into shows, and the shows got me into the Bowen. The Bowen filled a void and a love for other things. I began to understand fine art a lot more through my photography.” One year when the center hosted Art in the Garden, Tompkins was in charge of publicity for the event, which opened doors for her to later serve as vice president and president. “The arts center is certainly a love of mine, I’ve even left it in my will,” she said. “I think art feeds your soul. Other organizations that are nonprofit, they feed people, I’m all for that...I love Rotary Club, because it has fingers in every nonprofit in the county. But the arts center just feeds your soul.” Tompkins compared the center to a flowering bush. “You have the roots in the community that are underground and not so pretty, and you have to feed those roots and you have to take care of them, and then you have the leafy parts that come as an outgrowth from that but what makes it
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Beusse region championships, been top five in the state five times and on the podium at state once. Beusse has also been named region 7-AAA coach of the year three different times. He doesn’t take credit though. “We’ve just been very fortunate to have a lot of really great kids that have come through the program over the last five
Wednesday, February 28, 2016
beautiful and what gives you joy are the flowers, and to me that is the arts center, the flowers,” Tompkins said. “You need all of it together, but you need it.” Her favorite thing about the Bowen is meeting people who come to the shows, whether it be artists or people in the community. “Being a part of all these different groups is how I function as a person,” she said. “It’s like when I was teaching, I was always motivating. It’s the same with the arts center: Motivating people to want to come, motivating people to want to be a part of it, to participate in events.” Tompkins is constantly donating her time to better the county, and takes it all in stride. She is also heavily involved in the Dawson County Rotary Club, and is president-elect for 20192020. She also donates her photography. She takes photos for the Friends of Recovery pictures with Santa at Christmas time so the families can have the memories, and also donates photographs to Grace Presbyterian Church, where she is a member. She also does free photography for high school students for their senior pages as well. Tompkins is also a mentor, and saw one student from third grade to graduation. And last but not least, she makes sure everyone in her life is fed, from Rotarians to friends to neighbors, purposefully making too much food when she cooks. “I like that kind of sharing,” she said.
years,” Beusse said. For Beusse, he hopes his kids take away life lessons they can carry with them beyond the sport. One of the biggest lessons he wants his athletes to learn: A strong work ethic. “It’s very much one of those sports where you’re going to get out what you put in,” said Beusse. “Kids over the course of a year see that getting out there every day and putting in a hard day’s work will lead to something bigger.” It’s a lesson Beusse has seen kids carry over into their academics as well and hopes they will carry it with them into
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Hammond worked with the Community Based Instruction, or CBI, program at the high school. Hershel Bennett, the Director of the Exceptional Student program in Dawson County, wanted Hammond to help expand the program to the middle school and said she has done an outstanding job. “She has high academic standards and a caring personality that leads to an outstanding classroom environment,” said Bennett. DCMS currently has six exceptional students, but there will be a group of kids joining the ranks from the elementary schools next year. Hammond has worked to integrate her students into the school and community through several different means. At the school, the students take turns delivering coffee to the teachers each morning. They also help with recycling from the cafeteria and delivering letters from the front office to the classrooms. Hammond believes that her students feel proud when they can help. It is also teaching them how to be more independent.
their college careers and the workforce. Beusse also has big goals to expand the program throughout the county. When he first began coaching, there was only a high school cross country program for ninth through 12th grade. Beusse has worked to expand the program to middle school students and hopes to get more involvement from the elementary schools. Currently, the elementary schools participate in marathon clubs with the PE teachers with the hope the program will continue to flourish in the county. “At the end of the day one thing we are really trying to promote is just lifelong fit-
“I see where the kids get a lot from it. That is why we’re here. That’s what matters,” said Hammond. Out in the county, the students go on community trips one Friday a month for outings that are tied to their current school lessons, similar to the outings of the high school CBI students. Unlike the older CBI students, the middle schoolers don’t work job sites. They have visited Walmart, had lunch at Chili’s, met with the Dawson County Emergency Services and they’re planning to go to Kroger next. Hammond hopes with the program’s growth in the next school year she can implement more community trips and more responsibilities around the school. She wants to see the middle school program grow and her students succeed when they reach junior high. Working with the CBI students has changed Hammond, who says she feels more humble, flexible and accepting because of her students. “You realize that there’s just so many different varieties of kids that you aren’t used to thinking or seeing o r b e i n g a r o u n d ,” Hammond said about working in the program. “It just makes you more accepting of just everything and anything.”
ness in our community,” said Beusse. “We feel like it’s a really great way to do it and cross country is a little different than most sports because ... you can run your entire life – we really try to focus on and try to promote that with the kids because we feel like it’s something they can take further.” Beusse is a member of Bethel Baptist but he splits his time with Liberty Baptist as well. He’s been a member of the choir at Bethel Baptist and has helped with youth groups. He married his wife Katie two years ago. She works at Forsyth County Schools.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Dawson County High School varsity basketball player and senior Kati Brady volunteers at her church and plans to go into the medical field upon graduation.
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Brady Brady. Since then, she’s been driven to help other people overcome their obstacles by interning with a personal trainer and learning how to modify exercises.
She wants to specialize in cardiac rehabilitation after the loss of her grandfather two years ago, who died shortly after open heart surgery. Since his passing, Brady has become involved with the Explorer’s Program at Northside Forsyth where she goes once a month to explore different areas of the hospital. So far, she has seen the
behind the scenes of the cardiology, endoscopy and ER areas. “I feel like that would be a good way for me to help people and get to know their story and not just have like clients, you know, to get in touch with people,” said Brady. “I feel like that would be a good career.” Brady is currently undecided on her college career as she is
still trying to figure out if she would rather go to Berry College or Reinhardt University. She has academic scholarships to both schools. She is looking into the WinShape Christian program at Berry and a women’s leadership program at Reinhardt. In the local community, Brady helps with Meals by
Grace as often as she can. Through her church and the school system, Meals by Grace delivers food to families with kids in the school system that are in need. “That’s been a really good experience for in the community, kind of reaching out and helping people right here in the school system,” Brady said.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2016
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