North Georgia high schools to receive $98,000 in grants
Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education grants
encourage students to complete high school and attend college
Contact: Kate Maine, University Relations
706-864-1950, kmaine@ngcsu.edu
DAHLONEGA, Ga. (Sept. 23, 2008) - The Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education (GACHE) at North Georgia College and State University will award 16 competitive grants totaling $98,000 to area high schools on Wednesday to support strategies to assist and encourage students to finish high school and pursue a college degree. The high schools receiving the grants are Banks County, Chattooga, Commerce, Elbert County, Fannin County, Franklin County, Gilmer, Gordon Central, Gordon Lee, Jackson County, LaFayette, Lumpkin County, Murray County, Ridgeland, Sonoraville, and Woody Gap.
"We are excited that so many school principals, graduation coaches, counselors, and superintendents are willing to step up to the challenge of ensuring that their students graduate ready for college with real postsecondary choices," said Shirley Davis, director of the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education. "We know the economic consequences of leaving high school without a diploma are harsh, and, in today's world, stopping short of postsecondary education is equally grim. We want every student to graduate from high school and have college as a viable option."
The grants will be presented on Sept. 24, at the Northeast Georgia History Center in Gainesville, along with a two-hour simulation program, called "Welcome to the State of Poverty," that is designed to sensitize educators to obstacles faced by low income families.
Sponsored by GACHE and North Georgia College & State University, the activity places participants into "families" and challenges them to survive for one month. During the simulated month, broken down into four 15-minute "weeks", the families must keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, keep the utilities on, make loan payments, pay for daily living expenses like transportation, handle unexpected emergencies and keep their children in school - on less than $18,000 a year for a family of four.
The poverty simulation program, led by faculty from the University of Georgia 's Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program, assists community leaders in shaping program and policy decisions affecting the one million Georgians living below the poverty line.
The grants will be presented by Mike Beatty, Georgia Department of Community Affairs commissioner, James Thompson, Appalachian Regional Commission manager, Shirley Davis, GACHE director, and Dr. Bob Michael, dean of the NGCSU School of Education. The presidents of 21 area colleges, universities and technical colleges, who comprise GACHE's advisory board, will also participate in the event.
About the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education
GACHE is housed on the campus of North Georgia College and State University in the School of Education and is funded by NGCSU and by the Appalachian Regional Commission. As part of the Appalachian Higher Education Network and one of ten centers in the Appalachian states, GACHE provides resources to schools to increase student opportunities for pursuing postsecondary education. GACHE is modeled after widely acclaimed programs operating in the Appalachian regions of Ohio and West Virginia that have boosted college attendance rates by as much as 20 percent.
