Category: Uncategorized

Cobb Loves STEM

New Technology Rushes to Cobb County Through STEMapalooza

By: Amecia Matlock

[Kennesaw, GA, June 18, 2019]- A multitude of sponsors and advocates of hands on interactive and technical learning stunned attendees with new research and programs at Cobb County’s Stemapalooza Tuesday. Kennesaw Mountain Highschool opened its doors to cobb county educators and students in the community to showcase the new technology and resources becoming available to aid in curriculum.

The keynote speaker of the evening was Nigel Nisbet was the keynote speaker at the event. He runs the MIND Research institute blog and has done several TED talks and seminars advocating for STEM based learning. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

He was present on behalf of ST Math which is a game based learning platform. It starts at pre-k and goes through middle grades. Nesbit said “It’s all about getting kids to learn to solve problems with prior conceptual understanding and thinking.” He said that this differs from traditional learning which can often be regurgitation of facts, instead of actual thought processing.

He presented about why it is so important to get children thinking critically and the benefits it presents. He also talked about how difficult it is to get children to think this way especially at an early age.

There were several other exhibitors that set up camp at Stemapalooza Tuesday, one of them being Teressa Fuller at BrainPop. BrainPop is another game based learning platform that has been around for over 20 years. BrainPop also focuses on interactive learning, and they had something very special to reveal. Creative coding is the newest edition to the BrainPop platform. Coding techniques are embedded into the projects so children learn how to code without even knowing it. Fuller said “We’re integrating with scratch and bit code so that’s both log and text based code in that respect we are able to integrate it so that students aren’t learning to code, they’re coding to learn.”

In this new technology driven world it was important to Fuller that children aren’t just going to coding class but are learning the ins and outs of coding technology on a daily basis.

Cobb County is always district wide with BrainPop and incorporates it into the curriculum. They maintain a very strong connection. Fuller said they were”here to share the love.”

Julia Crownover was representing Legends of Learning. They are another game based learning platform with a twist. Crownover said “We are a game based learning platform with over 2,000 video games in math and science for grades 3-8 and they’re all standards aligned.” She said that Legends of Learning has a good relationship with Cobb County and perfectly aligns with their curriculum. Crownover did a presentation showcasing their products and showing teachers how they can incorporate Legends of Learning into their classroom. Legends of Learning strictly focuses on math and science, and specializes gameplay based on grade level and required learning standards.

Crownover said her favorite part was connecting with other educators and STEM professionals in the industry. Stemapalooza also served as a networking event for STEM leaders, educators, and school board representatives.

Clayton County Commissioners holds public meeting for 2020 Budget Adoptions

By Jacari Brooks

JONESBORO, Ga.- The Clayton County Board of Commissioners held a public meeting in order to discuss the adoption of the Clayton County fiscal year budget for 2020 Tuesday evening. 

The Chairman, Board of Commissioners, and citizens of Clayton County engaged in discussions that hoped to come to agreeing terms for the annual proposed budget. There were four representatives present at the meeting; Chairman Jeff Turner, commissioners Felicia Warner, Demont Davis, and Gail Hambrick. The purpose for the meeting was to discuss a plan among the citizens of the county to develop and embrace the plan set by the Board of Commissioners in order for it to be executed properly. Some citizens that were representing companies gave presentations to speak on their ideas on how to improve agendas of the county. 

There were other factors during the meeting in which the board and citizens hoped to accomplish. It was to agree on topics such as potential funding sources and the appropriation of expenditures. Those factors were discussed so that there would be a resolution to make improvements. 

The first and major point discussed at the beginning of the meeting was how MARTA and the transportation be more efficiently for those who depend on that transportation. A presentation was given by Virgil Fludd, who has represented MARTA in past meetings with the Board of Commissioners. During the presentation, he spoke on how the company was going to try to provide more finances and funding to make improvements to help the bus operation run at a higher frequency and become more reliable in Clayton County. After the presentation, commissioner Felicia Warner had questions for Fludd as to why there haven’t been improvements since the last time he met with the board. 

“I don’t have the financials to tell you which projects and how long they’re going to be financed through,” Fludd said. “It is our position I believe that is to provide the level of service that you will expect that were going to need to have for additional funding.” 

In addition, he acknowledged that it would be a challenge which led to questions and comments that were asked by the board members. Commissioner Davis offered his thoughts on the matter as it pertains to the funding for the bus operations. 

“We’re only covering about 8 percent of all the bus stops we have in the county,” Davis said. “Honestly, I’ve driven up and down hwy 1941 and 138, especially with this rain, you see folks walking in dirt and sitting on the ground. I would really hope we aggressively put together a plan that’s going to aggressively take care of these issues.”

Commissioner Warner echoed the same comments by telling Fludd that the board would like to see the financials and show the total cost of the project because the issues need to be fixed for the people in Clayton County who depend on the transportation. 

“Bring us financials to the board meeting and show us,” Warner said. “You know what’s more important than time is energy, and we need to see some energy spent on the people of Clayton County.”

This was so there could be a second look to see what exactly needs to be done in order to improve the bus transportation. However, the board concluded that they would like to hear the presentation again at a later date.

Among this issue, there were other agenda items that were discussed during the meeting such as health care, retiree benefits, and proposed pay scale for law clerks. Most of those items were approved by the board members. 

Cochran Wall is now City-Owned

By Rebekah Ozbun

SMYRNA, Ga.—Smyrna City Council approved Monday the motion to give rights of the Cochran Wall to the city of Smyrna at the City Council Meeting.

“After the dedication of the property to the city, the wall will be the responsibility of the city. If property owners and developers that back up on the wall want to make any changes, they will have to request this of the city,” Smyrna community development director, Rusty Martin said.

The issue of the Cochran wall was brought up in a previous council meeting in April when Matt Junger of M. Junger Homes LLC, introduced a rezoning petition to build four single-family homes on Roswell Street. He wanted to make changes to the wall to have enough space on the sidewalk next to the wall.

Junger was looking to modify the wall to create a safe amount of room for the sidewalk or to take out the bike lane in the street leading up to Walker Court. His goal was to take down part of the wall and to move it back a few feet and rebuild it using the same materials.  

When this request was first brought to the city council, the crowd was against this because of the historical context of the wall. Roswell street neighbors felt that breaking down and moving the wall was disrespectful to the city and to the wall itself.

The Cochran wall in Smyrna has been in place since 1938 and many of the residents present at the meeting were determined to see the wall remain the same.  

“If we could preserve the wall it would be a win-win for all,” Smyrna resident, Ron Davis said, “I would like to thank the Mayor and the city for working towards this solution.”

Martin brought forward the proposed changes to the city ordinance, which included a decreased regulation width for the sidewalk and the ownership of the wall being turned over to the city. All construction decisions and changes involving the Cochran wall must now be brought before the city council and be approved.

“If any other developer were doing this project, they would have already removed the wall and been done with it without getting approval,” Junger said, “I guess this is one of those no good deed goes unpunished situations.”

More than half of the residents in Monday evening’s meeting stood up and cheered when the revisions and the ownership and responsibility for the wall was approved 6-0 by the council board.

At this decision, Junger will be able to move forward in the construction of the two single-family homes, but will not be able to make the changes to the Cochran wall that he intended on making.

 “I can agree with the revisions that have been made,” Matt Junger said, “I am honestly just grateful for this to be finished.”

Contacts:

Matt Junger—404.493.1555

Ron Davis—ronalddavis179@aol.com

Roswell Planning Commission approves rezoning of neighborhood properties at RPC meeting

By Ashley Ausburn

  • Brendan Walsh gives a presentation of his architectural designs for the lots in question in front of the Roswell Planning Commission on Tuesday, June 18th, 2019.
  • Brendan Walsh gives a presentation of his architectural designs for the lots in question in front of the Roswell Planning Commission on Tuesday, June 18th, 2019.
  • The Roswell Planning Commission holds meetings on the third Tuesday of every month. The next RPC meeting will be on July 16th, 2019.

ROSWELL, Ga- The Roswell Planning Commission met on Tuesday to discuss the matter of rezoning two plots of land in a local neighborhood where architect Brendan Walsh planned to build three new houses. After an hour of debate where representatives from the city of Roswell, Walsh himself and the members of the RPC discussed the reasons for and against rezoning the properties, the motion passed with a vote of 3-2. The two lots located on Long Circle were rezoned to a smaller size, from RS-12 to RS-6, with the conditions that the developer add a five foot sidewalk in front of the residences along with the rezoning motion being tied to the site plans.

Walsh, an architect with Lehigh Developers, lives on the same street as the two properties and has developed several of the houses in neighborhood. “12 out of 18 houses in the neighborhood have either been developed or are in the development process at the moment,” said Walsh.

When asked why he wanted to tear down the two RS-12 lots in favor of building three smaller houses, Walsh said that when he looks at a project, his goal is to design something that will bring the most curb appeal and said that his “knowledge and experience” lead him to believe that “three single family homes would best fit the character of the street.”

Commission member Allison Vrolijk opposed the motion, stating that “rezoning should not be taken lightly.”

When it comes to rezoning, there are ten criteria that the commission are told to look at in order to determine if it is appropriate for the situation or not. While Vrolijk says that some of these criteria support this rezoning motion, the majority do not. “Overall, rezoning should only be used in exceptional situations- this is not one of them,” she said.

Ronald Bevan, vice chair of the RPC seconded Vrolijk’s statements, adding that he “didn’t see a reason why the two houses couldn’t be torn down and rebuilt without adding a third one.”

Other members of the RPC such as Bruno Costanzo spoke in support of the rezoning motion. Costano argued that there was always room for change and improvement. “We’re constantly rewriting, every week there’s a new amendment,” he said.

After the motion for rezoning was passed, the commission moved on to the next item on the agenda, a text amendment to the Unified Development Code. According to the submitted documents, the amendment proposes the removal of recommendations from the responsibilities of the zoning director to provide the Board of Zoning Appeals.   

Jackie Deibel, the zoning director for the city of Roswell, spoke in front of the commission, stating that the legal aids at their department had advised them that they should not make any more recommendations when they deny or approve something.

Deibel went on to say that the legal aids at their department were “unable to make it to the meeting due to illness”, so they could not speak more in depth as to why they made that recommendation. Due to the absence of the legal personnel responsible for the recommendation of the amendment, the members of the commission proposed a motion to table the amendment until the next meeting, when the legal personnel would be more likely to attend. The motion passed unanimously.

The next meeting of the Roswell City Planning Commission is set to take place on July 16th, 2019. The Amendment regarding recommendations will be discussed then, along with other topics that have not yet been announced.