Boys and Girls Club of Albany seeks partnership with Dougherty County School System
The goal is to keep juniors and seniors in school and ensure graduation
Boys and Girls Club of Albany Assistant Professional Officer Marvin Laster addresses the DCSS School Board Monday night while System CTAE department members Lovetta Dudley, center, and Kendra Huff listen. (Staff Photo: Terry Lewis)
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — The Boys and Girls Club of Albany and the Dougherty County School System’s CTAE (Career, Technical and Agricultural Education) are looking to form a partnership to keep juniors and seniors in school and ensure graduation with grades good enough to continue their educations.
Boys and Girls Club Assistant Chief Professional Officer Marvin Laster made his pitch to the DCSS School Board at its mid-monthly meeting Monday night.
“We want to provide an opportunity for apprenticeship and internships to juniors and seniors willing to make a commitment to the program,” Laster said. “We want to help get these kids ready for college, hopefully on scholarships, and help make them responsible citizens.
Buoyed by $15,000 in funding from The United Way and SASCO, the program would start in January with 20 students — 10 juniors and 10 seniors. The funding will allow the proposed program to provide financial incentives for the students in that juniors would receive $125 at the end of each nine weeks grading period for maintaining a 2.5 or above GPA. The seniors would receive $500 each upon graduation.
The 20 students would also be required to complete 100 hours of community service.
“Our goal is to keep the students engaged by offering the financial incentives while we would also have money management courses,” Laster said.
The board agreed to consider the program and will vote on the matter at it’s next meeting in January. Laster said the program, if approved, would start that month and would be fully implemented for the 2016-17 school year.
The Board approved awarding a contract worth $263,777 to Kinney Construction of Leesburg for demolition work on the kitchen/cafeteria area for Albany High School.
The Board also approved awarding a $304,000 contract for custodial equipment to Peoples Janitorial Supply of Forest Park.
The Board also approved a three-year, $398,000 contract to Prosys for URL filters and MicroTrend anti-virus renewal.
The next Board meeting is set for Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Related Articles
Dougherty Schools prepare for bell-to-bell student cell phone ban
As Georgia prepares to expand its statewide ban on personal electronic devices in public schools, Dougherty County School System leaders say they are working to balance compliance with the new law while giving individual schools flexibility in how they implement the policy.
Georgia’s school funding formula still ignores poverty; educators say students pay the price
During a report to the board on the outcomes of this year’s legislative session, Dyer discussed the district’s efforts to persuade lawmakers to add an “opportunity weight” to Georgia’s Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula — a change supporters say would provide additional state funding for students living in poverty.
Albany teen, 16, makes bodybuilding debut at Atlanta OCB Pro/Am
Crockett, an Albany resident and student at Albany Technical College Academy, placed second in the teen bikini division this weekend at the OCB Immortal Muscle Pro/Am Bodybuilding Competition in Atlanta, becoming the youngest competitor across all categories at the event.
