UPW - Urban Pro Weekly

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

MAKIN’ A DIFFERENCE COMMENTARY by Ken Makin

Lamenting the lost lives of young Black men

There’s a lot to talk about in news and politics – winners and los ers, runoffs and retreads. I just can’t get past the polarizing and puz zling deaths of notable young Black men, both locally and nationally.

It is hard to imagine going from the joy of an election night win to what news outlets are reporting as suicide, but that is exactly the fate of 20-year-old Tyrique Robinson. The young brotha had just claimed the unopposed District 6 school board seat, and represented a youth move ment for an institution that sorely needed it. Most young people that

age are a few years removed from high school, much less being in a position to vote on the everyday occurrences of what happens in schools all over the county.

There are various rumors about what happened. None of those inter est me at this point, because the bottom line is that this young brotha is no longer with us.

The tragedy at the University of Virginia is the one making national news. Three football players were shot and killed, while two other individuals were wounded by gun fire. The young man accused of

the shooting has been apprehended, though reasons for the attack remain unclear at the moment.

I think of a young man at the cusp of political victory, and young men seeking higher education, and it sincerely troubles me that even in pursuit of excellence, we might still be victims.

I’m not sharing these thoughts as part of a deeper lesson. I’m shar ing these thoughts because empathy should be the goal. I truly believe that timely love and compassion might have preserved the lives of everyone I have mentioned in this

ASU to kick off basketball season by honoring retired A.D. Clint Bryant

Augusta University’s No. 2-ranked men’s basketball team returns to action Nov. 20 follow ing their appearance in last year’s national championship game. The Jaguars are seeking to “Pack the House” with the help of the campus and community as they tip off their drive to this season’s championship and honor recent ly retired athletics director Clint Bryant.

With returning starters Tyshaun Crawford and Miguel Arnold, the Jaguars will host Fayetteville State University at Christenberry Fieldhouse at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. The home opener will feature a variety of food vendors, a new

gameday experience for fans of all ages, and a special halftime cere mony recognizing Coach Bryant and officially renaming the court the CLINT L. BRYANT COURT.

HONORING A LEGACY

During his 34 years as athletics director, Bryant oversaw all 13 AU sports teams and promoted an environment focused on student success. Along with program addi tions and facility upgrades, the Jaguars enjoyed unprecedented success over the past several sea sons, with numerous teams quali fying for NCAA regional competi tion and the men’s basketball team reaching the Division II national championship game last season.

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column.

It is a cautionary tale for us all. As a society, we are dealing with incalculable loss and pressure. How we deal with that pressure, and each other, matters now more than ever.

Ken Makin is the host of Makin’ A Difference and a freelance writer for ESPN and The Christian Science Monitor, among other outlets. Look him up on Facebook at Makin’ A Difference, and you can also send him an email with your thoughts at makinadifferenceshow@gmail. com.

Richmond County Schools issue statement about the passing of Tyrique Robinson, RCBOE Trustee Elect

The Richmond County Board of Education and the Richmond County School System statement about the passing of Mr. Tyrique Robinson, Richmond County Board of Education Trustee Elect:

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Mr. Tyrique Robinson. His willingness to serve on the Board of Education and support our children is a testament to his inter est in building a better community for us all. Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with Mr. Robinson’s family, friends and all whose lives he touched.”

CONTRIBUTORS

Clint Bryant to have court named in his honor.

2020 MIDTERMS - SENATE RUNOFF

Saturday voting barred in U.S. Senate runoff after Ga. holidays

State

holiday once known as Robert E. Lee’s Birthday and Thanksgiving too close to runoff election

BY MARK NIESSE The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA

Early voting won’t be allowed on a Saturday before the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia because it’s the day after the state holiday formerly known as Robert E. Lee’s Birthday and two days after Thanksgiving.

Georgia election officials said this weekend that state law prohibits in-person early voting on Saturdays if a holiday is within two days beforehand.

The restriction on Saturday voting leaves five days of required in-person early voting on the weekdays before the Dec. 6 runoffs. County governments will have the option to offer up to three more early voting days starting the day after the results of the initial election are certified, potentially on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterward.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had said last week that voters would have a Saturday voting opportunity before the runoff, but his office’s attorneys later learned it wasn’t allowed under state law.

“It’s not our choice. It’s literally in black-letter law that the Saturday following a state holiday cannot be used for early voting,” said Interim Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling. “We all thought there was going to be Saturday voting until we looked at the law really closely.”

The General Assembly passed the law restricting Saturday voting after holidays

in 2016, but it wasn’t an issue in previ ous runoffs because at the time, they took place nine weeks after Election Day, long after Thanksgiving and the State Holiday.

The voting law passed last year, Senate Bill 202, moved runoffs to four weeks after Election Day, creating the scheduling conflict.

Voting rights advocates criticized the limitations on early voting opportuni ties in runoffs.

Before general and primary elections, Georgia law requires at least 17 days of in-person early voting, including two mandatory Saturdays and two optional Sundays. In runoffs, five days of early voting are mandated. Early voting is prohibited the weekend before election day.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia disagreed with the secretary of state’s interpretation of state law, saying language preventing Saturday voting was only meant to apply to the three-week early voting period before regularly scheduled elections.

“Jim Crow still exists here,” said Hillary Holley, executive director of the domestic worker organization Care in Action. “Fighting for counties to offer as many days and hours as legally possible is critical.”

For decades until late 2015, Georgia had a state holiday on the day after Thanksgiving memorializing Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general during the Civil War.

Gov. Nathan Deal changed the day’s name to a more neutral title, “State Holiday,” which is still observed on the same day of the calendar.

Then in last year’s voting law, the Republican majority in the General Assembly shortened the runoff period following the defeats of Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in runoff elections on Jan. 5, 2021. The runoffs gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate following wins by

This year’s runoff features Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker after neither candidate won more than 50% of the vote in last week’s election.

Early voting will begin after coun ties complete an election audit this week and then Raffensperger certifies the results, which could occur as soon as Nov. 21, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw

SUPERINTENDENT

Richmond County School System

UPW: Education in practice and theory in 2022 seems lightyears ahead of the proverbial 3 Rs. A state education advocate said recently, “education policy is becoming a lot more complicated and a lot more interrelated with a lot of different things.” If you were addressing a group of parents and stakeholders in the education field, how would you characterize the challenges that face the modern educator that he or she might not have had to deal with just 5 years ago?

Dr. Bradshaw: Education has changed since I began teaching in a classroom more than 25 years ago. We have advanced from typewriters and dial up modems to handheld devices that children use for learning and communicating at the earliest of ages. Older children bring mobile devices to school and record interactions with their peers and school staff with hopes of being the next viral sensation. School systems across the country are addressing the role of technology in our society as we prepare students for future success in college and in the workforce. In com munities like ours, equitable access to education is a challenge because our teachers often address other needs of students before students are ready to learn. Traditional methods of evaluating school performance do not account for this work that is vital

for the academic growth of children that need it most. The gains made in classrooms where teachers are required to support children’s basic needs then teach may not be the same as in other classes, yet they are equally important.

UPW: Funding has always been at the core of any public education debate. Do you think that state legislators appreciate the impor tance of increased spending for education across the board and are you optimistic that in the coming years, public education in Georgia will be adequately funded?

Dr. Bradshaw: “ School funding has long been an important topic of debate at the national, state and local level. For the first time in many years, Georgia provided full funding for schools through the state budget process. If we consider education as an investment in the future, we will realize the return on our investment as the children we teach become the business and civic leaders that care for us and our communities. Horace Mann, a pioneer of public education, called education the great equalizer. I believe that our elected and busi ness leaders understand the importance of education funding and know the impact of education to address community challenges. As we work together and look for ways to offer

“For the first time in many years, Georgia provided full funding for schools through the state budget process. If we consider education as an investment in the future, we will realize the return on our investment as the children we teach become the business and civic leaders that care for us and our communities.”

Richmond County’s school chief discusses a wide range of issues that impact our most valuable resource and why he is optimistic.

P hoto by Vincent Hobbs

BRADSHAW

people hope and create opportunity, education has to be part of the equa tion to build a pipeline to success for all of our young people.

UPW: Georgia’s high school graduation rate, although improving, lags the national rate. Why do you think that’s the case and what are some of the challenges and suc cesses experienced by Richmond County in this regard?

Dr. Bradshaw: The high school graduation rate starts long before a student walks across the stage. The path to graduation starts when a child is born. Our school system has been challenged by the number of ele mentary children who start school behind their peers across the state in fundamentals like letter and number recognition and knowledge of basic sight words. In response to this trend, we started the Fundations program to make sure that our school system provides children the solid founda tion to develop strong reading skills that will carry them through life. To get our children ready to learn before they reach kindergarten, we part nered with CSRA RESA and launched an early literacy program called The Basics that requires the support of the entire community to help expose our children to key things they should know when they start school.

The challenge with the early gaps in school readiness and the graduation rate can also be connected to the pov erty rate in our community. We offer services to support families experiencing poverty. However, we have one of the state’s highest number of students who move during the school year compared to other school districts. Children perform better when there is stability at home and at school. Student moves affects a school’s grad uation rate. We have improved how we monitor when students move between schools and away from our school system. Recently, we have started programs, like YouScience, as early as middle school to ensure that our students connect with areas of strength and interest to keep them engaged in school. Many of our stu dents are using YouScience to explore Career Technical Education programs in high school that help them attain

certification and valuable work skills. As a result of the focus on graduation preparedness from our youngest learners to our high school seniors, I expect to see progressive, lasting growth in our school sys tem’s graduation rate.

UPW: It is difficult to discuss the economy in the Augusta area without touching on the growth of the cyber security industry. In the coming years, how might the Richmond County Schools tweak its curriculum to ensure its students have pathways to these new career fields?

Dr. Bradshaw: Our school sys tem has already incorporated cyber pathways into the curriculum. We have a Cyber Academy program at Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School. Last year, ten stu dents from our Cyber Academy passed the CompTIA Security+ test, which results in a Cyber Security Certification. In middle school, our our curriculum includes basic cyber technology skills and learning about cyber careers. We may see some new extracurricular activities as the Cyber Academy administra tors explore Esports. Cyber educa tion is hands on and highly engag ing. Students interested in cyber careers benefit from the opportu nity to see the work in action and benefit from the partnership and mentorship of local companies and industry leaders. We welcome more collaboration from the cyber com munity to help our students see the connection between the classroom and application in the real world. That exposure also helps our stu dents build relationships to help them with securing placement in the workforce after graduation.

UPW: What are some of the school security measures that are

currently being implemented in the Richmond County Schools that might not have been in force a couple of years ago?

Dr. Bradshaw: School security is our top priority. I want our stu dents, staff and families to know that we are committed to preserve school as a safe space for learning. Our Board of Education members have been instrumental in support ing new initiatives and requests for funding to support school safety. The Board of Education approved the purchase of a state-of-the-art system, Centegix CrisisAlert, that enables any staff member to request appropriate support in an emergen cy situation by pressing a button on a badge. Last month, the school board approved seven additional school resource officer positions. These new positions will add a fulltime officer to schools that previous ly shared a resource officer. We have also enhanced security coverage for extracurricular activities and events to ensure the safety of our students, staff and families. Access control doors are an important strategy to keep schools secured. Our board approved the purchase and instal lation of additional access control doors to be able to ensure that schools remain locked and have controlled and monitored access to school buildings. The purchase and installation of the access points is in progress. We also notify our families when safety related incidents occur at school.

UPW: What does “teacher lead ership” mean to you? How does the Richmond County Schools encourage and support those teachers who love being in the classroom but might feel that the best way for them to make reforms is to enter the administrative ranks?

Dr. Bradshaw: Teachers are nat ural leaders. The ability to make an impact and influence change in our school system is not limited or defined by a title. All our staff have the opportunity to make the school community where they work better. Our teachers have great influence on children and use it in their classrooms to build children who will become strong leaders and contributors in our community. In our school system, teachers take on leadership roles in their schools by leading teams, by serving as mentors for new teachers and by impacting the culture of their school community positively. For teachers interested in becoming school administra tors, we offer leadership devel opment training programs and encourage teachers to work with the administrators in their school building toward achieving their career goals.

UPW: Some 20 states have school districts that have opted for a 4-day school week. How do you feel about those kinds of “experiments”?

Dr. Bradshaw: Innovation drives progress. One of our neighboring school systems is trying a year-round school calendar model. It is great to see school systems working with families to do what best serves their community. As an education leader, I monitor these and other innovative ideas to see how they work, how they improve student performance, how they impact families and the community and what changes make enhance these ideas. We have to be willing to color outside the lines to keep our students engaged in their learning. When an idea or trial gets results, we may launch a pilot in a few of our schools to see how it can help our students. For example, we have several schools participating in a pilot to improve school attendance this year. The schools are using mes sages and activities to make families aware of the importance of children being present for school and the number of student absences. The schools are also making attendance important for the children and these schools are already seeing improve ments in school attendance.

We have one of the state’s highest number of students who move during the school year compared to other school districts.

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Latrell’s Famous Sweet Potato Pie

Live your best life! That is my motto. My name is Menia L. Chester, I am a chef and owner of Desserts by Latrell and Southern Jazz and Sweets.

Yam vs. Sweet Potato! What’s the difference?

Yams and sweet potatoes are very different from each other. Sweet pota toes are sweeter and creamier in texture, while yams have more starch and the texture is similar to a white potato. A true yam can grow over 10 feet long! So why do we mix up the names? In the 1930’s Louisiana sweet potato growers marketed a new variety of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes yams and the name was catchy!

Thanksgiving in the south would not the same without sweet potato pie. If you prefer pumpkin, you can substitute pureed pumpkin for the sweet potatoes. Here my version of my Auntie LV’s recipe.

LATRELL’S FAMOUS SWEET POTATO PIE Ingredients

4 large sweet potatoes

1 cup melted butter

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

1 ½ cup white sugar

Directions

2 tablespoons self-rising flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 pie shells, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Place sweet potatoes into a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender. Drain water, peel sweet potatoes, and mash in a bowl. This will be about 3 ½ cups when they are mashed.

3. Using a mixer, beat the on low for 30 seconds. Stop. Clean the fibers from the beater. Repeat in 30 second increments until all long fibers have been removed.

4. Mix butter and eggs together in a bowl until smooth; stir into mashed sweet potatoes. Mix milk, sugar, flour, vanilla extract, nutmeg, into sweet potato mixture; pour into the 2 pie shells.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a pie comes out clean, about 45 minutes more. Cool pies completely before cutting. Enjoy!

If you have questions, would like to see other recipes, or learn about events by Latrell, please visit my website and send an email via the contact form.

Website: www.southernjazzandsweets.com

JNSA Announces Second Annual Business Coaching Program for Students

The Jessye Norman School of the Arts to launch the second annual J-Tank, a Shark-Tank style business coaching program for Local CSRA Families

The Jessye Norman School of the Arts will soon host a Shark-Tank style business coaching program for interested CSRA families. The Program, “J-Tank”, is a collaboration between the school and the AU Hull College of Business, Augusta Housing Authority, Georgia Power, and the Augusta Partnership for Children. The project will under score the importance of art as a vehicle for economic empower ment. Families can apply at thejnsa. org/jtank.

Interested families of 4th to 12th grade students are invited to apply for the program. Eight families will be selected to enter into the J-tank program, which consists of 4 weeks of business coaching with profes sionals in finance, graphic design, business management, and idea development, beginning with an introductory meeting on January 27th, 2023.

Selected families will prepare a business pitch to present on March 11th, 2023, at the J-tank Pitch-athon, a live streamed event that gives them the opportunity to present their businesses to judges and potential investors. Each family who successfully completes the program will receive up to $500

dollars in start-up funding for their businesses, as well as continued mentorship from expert coaches to help guide the development of their business ideas.

Carmen Moses, Digital Artist and Performing Arts Director for the JNSA, is the project lead for this year’s J-Tank program. “I am look ing forward to a successful second year of J-tank, and making a differ ence in families lives,” says Moses. “I hope that with some guidance and inspiration, students and their families will be able to see that they have a supportive community who wants to see them succeed and change their lives for the better.”

The school hopes that the proj ect will bring some fun, vibrant new businesses to Augusta’s local economy and empower students to use their talents and artistic curiosity to realize their goals. All par ticipants will learn about branding, idea development, marketing, as well as the basics of generating and managing new income.

Interested participants can apply at thejnsa.org/jtank. If you have questions or would like to become involved with the program, email Executive Director Gary Dennis at jnsaexecdir@jnsarts.org.

Laney Museum of Black History

Call for Art for CSRA Artists

The Lucy Craft Laney Museum is accepting works of art for juried consideration for an upcoming “New & Emerging Artists” exhibition to be held Feb. 6 - March 24, 2023. The application is open to all artists 18 years and older (including Senior Citizens) who reside in the CSRA and are looking to showcase recent artwork. Artists may submit up to 2 works of art in any medium (painting, sculpture, mixed media, pho tography, digital, etc.) Twodimensional works cannot be larger than 24”x36” in size and must be matted/framed and ready to hang. Three dimension al (sculptures) are limited to a size that can be displayed on a table top. All submissions will

be reviewed by a jury panel and artists notified of acceptance. There are no application fees, but the museum will take a 20% commission on any sales to help cover costs of exhibit promotions.

Applications open on October 24, 2022 and will close on January 13, 2023. Jury selection will be completed on January 20th. All accepted artwork must be dropped off to the Museum by February 1st.

To submit artwork please visit www.LucyCraftLaneyMuseum. com for the PDF application and submission instructions. The Laney Museum is located at 1116 Phillips Street, Augusta, GA 30901. For questions please call 706-724-3576.

RICHMOND

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

B-21-002-0517 Bond Issue Program NEW WEST AUGUSTA MIDDLE SCHOOL BLDG. CONSTRUCTION

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY INVITATION TO BID

Sealed proposals from General Contractors will be received for the Building Construction for the New West Augusta Middle School project by the County Board of Education of Richmond County at the address below until 3:00 p.m. local time, December 8, 2022, at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read. No extension of the bidding period will be made.

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held November 22, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. local time in the Richmond County Board of Education conference room located @ 864 Broad Street, Augusta, GA.

Drawings and project manual on this work may be examined at the Department of Maintenance and Facilities, Richmond County Board of Education, 2956 Mike Padgett Highway, Augusta, Georgia 30906.

Electronic copies of the bidding documents may be obtained free of charge from the architect upon request from a legitimate bidding general contractor. No electronic copies will be released to subcontractors. If desired, printed bidding documents may also be obtained at the office of the Architect, Cheatham, Fletcher Scott Architects, 420 ½ 8th Street, Augusta, GA 30901. Applications for documents together with a refundable deposit of $350 (payable to the Architect) per set should be filed promptly with the Architect. Bidding material will be forwarded (shipping charges collect) as soon as possible. The full amount of deposit for one set will be refunded to each prime contractor who submits a bona fide bid upon return of such set in good condition within 10 days after date of opening bids. All other deposits will be refunded with deductions approximating cost of reproduction of documents upon return of same in good condition within 10 days after date of opening bid.

Contract, if awarded, will be on a lump sum basis. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of 35 days after time has been called on the date of opening.

Bid must be accompanied by a bid bond in an amount not less than 5% of the base bid. Personal checks, certified checks, letters of credit, etc., are not acceptable. The successful bidder will be required to furnish performance and payment bonds in an amount equal to 100% of the contract price.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive technicalities & informalities.

To promote local participation, a database of Sub-contractors, Suppliers, and Vendors has been developed by the Program Manager, GMK Associates. Contact Jeanine Usry with GMK Associates at (706) 826 -1127 for location to review and obtain this database.

Bids shall be submitted and addressed to:

Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw

County Board of Education of Richmond County

Administrative Office

864 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901

c/o: Mr. C. Bobby Smith, CPA, CFO

Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School student earns top award in National Merit Scholarship Program

Song Ting Tang, a senior at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, has been named a semi finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Tang is the only student in Richmond County to achieve this status in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. A National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists is among the top two percent of PSAT test-tak ers in the state and represent less than one percent of all high school seniors in the nation.

Tang will now compete against more than 16,000 semifinalists to be named a National Merit Finalist by submitting an essay, letters of recommendation, SAT scores, tran scripts, and grade point average.

National Merit Finalists are eligi ble for corporate and college-spon sored scholarships and will be announced between April and July 2023

Need an Absentee Ballot? Contact your County Elections office

Song Ting Tang