2012 Georgia Teacher of the Year Named

Jadun O. McCarthy, an English Language Arts teacher from Northeast Health Science Magnet High School in Bibb County, has been named the 2012 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Mr. McCarthy was named the winner of the award at the annual Georgia Teacher of the Year banquet held at the Georgia World Congress Center. As Georgia Teacher of the Year, he will serve as an advocate for public education in Georgia.

"Jadun McCarthy is going to be a great representative of the teaching profession in Georgia," said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. "He has such a compelling story about how education has impacted his life."

A product of the Bibb County School District, Mr. McCarthy initially was going to pursue a career in law. The night of his graduation from the University of Georgia School of Law, he realized that, instead of working in a system that locks up people, he would rather follow in the footsteps of the people who provided him the tools to be successful: his teachers.

"I wanted to have the same influence on someone that many of my wonderful teachers had on me. I wanted to stop some young man or young woman from stumbling onto the wrong path," says Mr. McCarthy. "I wanted to be a teacher."

Mr. McCarthy serves as the Academic Bowl Team Head Coach, chairs the school's 'Bridging the Gap' Eight-Step Process Achievement Initiative team, and is a member of the Georgia Association of Educators. Since 2007, he has been recognized each year as one of Northeast High School's End of Course Test Start Teachers. He also serves as the Junior and Senior Class Advisor, coordinates the Junior/Senior Prom and all Senior activities, including the annual Senior Class Trip to Orlando. Students have recognized him as the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Advisor of the Year.

As Georgia Teacher of the Year, Mr. McCarthy will represent Georgia teachers by speaking to the public about the teaching profession and possibly conducting workshops and programs for educators. He will also compete for the 2012 National Teacher of the Year.

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Community Health Works, Houston and Bibb County Schools, and HealthTeacher Partner to Teach Kids Health Literacy

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community Health Works announced that teachers in Houston and Bibb County will be the first of seven central Georgia school districts to have access to HealthTeacher’s comprehensive K-12 online health education curriculum with the goal of improving the health literacy of children and teens in Central Georgia. The partnership will eventually encompass approximately 4,200 teachers in 105 participating schools across 7 districts.

This initiative supports Community Health Works’ mission of a regional integration of whole person healthcare, by fostering the health literacy of nearly 66,000 local children and teens. Community Health Works is sponsoring the HealthTeacher curriculum and teacher training for participating schools for three years as part of its efforts to improve the health of children and teens in the Central Georgia region.

”Our unique partnership with area schools and HealthTeacher combines the efforts and resources of the public and private sector to further one of Community Health Work’s primary strategic goals, improving consumer health and health literacy,” says Gregory J. Dent, President & CEO of Community Health Works. “HealthTeacher’s approach to health literacy on topics such as nutrition and exercise will be an excellent resource for students and teachers as our community takes a stand against childhood obesity and its harmful effects on life long health. We hope to expand this program in the future to include the entire twenty-five county region of central Georgia.”

Many high-risk health behaviors often are established during childhood and adolescence, which extend into adulthood. These behaviors can be addressed and prevented with proper education. According to the Centers for Disease Control in the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Georgia students are at a equal or greater risk of current obesity, smokeless tobacco use, episodic heavy drinking as well as lifetime inhalant use when compared to U.S. students.

”We are proud to be working with two leaders in health advocacy and health literacy education to further our efforts to improve the health of our students and community,” says Sharon Patterson, Superintendent of Bibb County Schools. “The HealthTeacher curriculum is designed to be simple and easy to use for our educators. With lessons relevant to today’s world and aligned to National Health Education Standards, this program will help our teachers adopt health literacy education seamlessly into their everyday classroom practices.”

According to a 2009 report by Trust for America’s Youth and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, Georgia has the third highest obesity rate with 37.3% of Georgia’s children ages 10 -17 being obese or overweight. The study finds that in 30 states, the childhood obesity rate is reaching epidemic proportions with 30% of state's children being overweight.

“This partnership will empower our teachers and community to have a greater impact on the overall health of our students and support our current health education initiatives,” says David Carpenter, Superintendent of Houston County Schools. “One of the greatest values of this program is the comprehensive training and support our educators receive while adopting the HealthTeacher curriculum in the classroom. Community Health Works and HealthTeacher are not simply providing our teacher’s a valuable resource, but are helping them make small additions to their classroom practices that have the potential for significant life-long impact on the health of our students.”

Study's show that it's not just the prevalence of childhood obesity that should be a concern:

* 23.9% of children through age 17 have ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
* 32% of children through age 17 have been offered, sold or given an illegal drug while on school property
* 37.7% of children through age 17 have had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during the last 30 days before the survey
* 81% of children through age 17 ate fruits and vegetables less than five times per day (CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007)

”Community Health Works’ embraces whole person healthcare which fits naturally with our program to improve health literacy and empower children to make positive health and wellness choices for their future success,” says Scott McQuigg, Chief Executive Officer of HealthTeacher. “Community Health Works is supporting teachers by underwriting the health education resources they need to make a positive lifetime impact on the health and wellness of children in Houston and Bibb Counties.”

The HealthTeacher curriculum covers 10 key topic areas designed to help students develop a knowledge and skills needed pursue healthy lifestyles throughout their lives. Designed for K-12 teachers and students, the HealthTeacher curriculum is aligned with the National Health Education Standards that requires instruction in five key areas:

* Health
* Nutrition
* Mental health
* Injury prevention
* Tobacco, alcohol and drug use

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Bibb, Hall, and Columbia County Schools Adopt Carnegie Learning’s Custom Georgia Math Programs

BusinessWire - Carnegie Learning, Inc., a leading publisher of research-based math curricula for middle schools, high schools, and the higher education market, announced today that the company’s Georgia Math I & 2 programs have been purchased by three Georgia school districts -- Bibb, Hall, and Columbia County Schools. Carnegie Learning’s customized Georgia Math curricula are designed, specifically, to meet new, more rigorous high school math requirements being implemented by the Georgia Department of Education beginning in fall 2008.

In November 2007, the Georgia State Board of Education’s Learning Resources Advisory Committee recommended Carnegie Learning’s integrated math curricula for use in Georgia, and districts across the state are currently selecting new math textbooks as part of the textbook adoption process. Bibb, Hall, and Columbia County Schools are three of many districts in Georgia purchasing Carnegie Learning textbooks and Professional Development services. Bibb and Hall Counties also purchased Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor® software for Math Support, an intelligent software program that provides differentiated instruction by adapting the learning path to each student’s understanding of mathematical concepts.

"The changes in the Georgia Performance Standards will require a change in expectations for students, teachers, districts and the Georgia Department of Education,” said Sharon Patterson, Superintendent, Bibb County School District. “In responding to the changing expectation, the school system sought a math solution that was research-based around a collaborative teaching model. The Carnegie Learning approach seems to deliver the math curricula we need to meet the new challenges."

Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor research is well supported in the Learning Processes subcommittee report of the recent National Math Advisory Panel report to the President and U.S. Secretary of Education, and is cited as an example of a curriculum that has strong evidence of effectiveness and is a model for applying basic research in the classroom.