Albany Herald 20080712e1.htm

Young offenders that find themselves in Mitchell County State Court are, all things considered, lucky. Judge Rick Walters has started a program to deal with the issue of so many of the young people being without a high school diploma or GED. As a partner with the Southwest Georgia Technical College Adult Literacy Program, Waters now requires offenders ages 17-25 who are placed on probation to attend GED classes. Located at the Workforce Development Center in Camilla, the classes are free. There is, however, a charge involved for the actual GED tests and this is where Mitchell EMC has stepped in to help. Through the electrical supplier’s Operation Roundup, a grant has been given to help students without resources pay for the tests. Customers “round up” their bills, trusting the EMC to dispense the extra money to deserving causes — and here’s proof that it has worked and is still working. Several students on probation have gone through the testing process and now have their GEDs and several more are enrolled in classes. Kudos goes to the Mitchell EMC, its customers and to Judge Waters.

Dr. Anthony Parker and Dorothy Garner — president of Albany Technical College and dean of academic affairs for health technology, respectively — were proud attendees at the ribbon cutting of ATC’s newly renovated nursing lab last week. Just in time for summer quarter, the lab’s new setup in the Nathaniel Cross Building has the atmosphere of a real hospital. Garner believes the hospital simulation will ease some of the nerves as the students move into the clinical part of their training, a benefit to the students as well as patients. This is just the type of forward thinking for which Albany Technical College is rapidly becoming well-known.

Fort Gaines First Presbyterian Church built its house of worship way back in 1904 and it was dedicated the following year. On June 7 of this year, the congregation celebrated the opening of the new fellowship hall, designed to complement the historic facility. The Walter Flint Fellowship Hall is named for the church pastor, a servant to this congregation and community for the past 23 years. Members of the church and the Rev. Flint will no doubt enjoy this addition and can do so knowing that, through many generous donations, the building was paid for in full upon completion.

The Junior League of Albany is well known in this community for taking on big projects. Club members worked tirelessly to see the Turtle Grove Playpark become reality. Flint RiverQuarium has benefitted immensely from the efforts of the Junior League. GraceWay Recovery Center, a treatment facility for addicted women, is the most recent target of the club’s generosity. Lesser known to the general public are smaller service projects. In the first five months of this year, some of those projects have included sending phone cards to soldiers, providing children’s books for Evenstart, assisting Keep Albany Dougherty Beautiful with Arbor Day activities, providing Easter candy and small toys for the assembly of Easter baskets for foster children, gathering towels, canned kitten food, toys and treats for the Albany Humane Society, and the collection of toothbrushes and toothpaste for SOWEGA Council on Aging. Thank you, Junior League of Albany, for all you do, the grand-scale projects and the smaller ones, too.

— The Albany Herald Editorial Board