MLK Papers Provide Excellent Learning Tool for Georgia Teachers
Since the January opening of the I Have A Dream: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection exhibition at the Atlanta History Center, more than 7,000 Georgia students have gotten a privileged glimpse into the life of a great Atlantan and international leader.
In March, the Atlanta History Center announced that all Georgia school groups would have free entry into the exhibition. “Atlanta’s goal is to share this experience with no less than 10,000 Georgia students. Sharing this exhibit will make a significant contribution to the growth and development of our youth,” said Mayor Shirley Franklin in a letter to Georgia school administrators.
Chalita S. Bishop was one of dozens of teachers who took up Mayor Franklin’s charge. In preparation for the visit, Bishop, a fourth grade teacher at APS Bolton Academy, exposed her students to a myriad of books and movies about King’s life. In particular she focused on King’s boyhood in Atlanta.
“Taking my students to this exhibit was great because it showed aspects of King’s life from young adult to adult,” said Bishop. “The students were awed that someone this articulate and strong was from Atlanta - their home town! They felt like a part of his legacy.”
Bishop’s students wrote letters to the History Center following the visit. Excerpts include: ‘I really like looking at the papers about his sons, wife and daughters’ and ‘thank you for the opportunity to visit the King exhibit and read [the] important sermons and papers that he wrote during school years and beyond.”
The I Have A Dream exhibition will remain on display at the Atlanta History Center until Sunday, May 13, 2007. To book a school group visit, call 404.814.4114. Visits are free to everyone every Monday, and the first full weekend of every month. For more information, call 404.814.4000 or visit www.atlantahistorycenter.com.
Pre-school students at Geoirgia display pictures they created of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. following their visit to the I Have A Dream exhibit at the Atlanta History Center on January 31, 2007. |
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Boundless Playground Opens at Coan Park
Last Wednesday, the City of Atlanta officially opened its first Boundless Playground™ at Wesley Coan Park, which is specially designed for children with and without physical disabilities to play together.
Boundless Playgrounds™ is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership to help communities create extraordinary playgrounds where children can develop essential life skills as they learn together through play. Coan Park was selected because surveys showed that the largest number of youth with special needs live in its surrounding neighborhoods.
The new playground can accommodate 160 children. Equipment, landscaping and benches were funded by the Department of Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs (DPRCA) and donors. Other partners for this project include Atlanta Public Schools (APS), Park Pride, Kirkwood and Edgewood communities, and public and private donors.
“The City of Atlanta is committed to ensuring that there are opportunities for all children to have access to full participation in recreational play regardless of their ability levels. This playground is for any and every child looking to have fun with old and new friends in a positive and safe environment,” said Dianne Harnell-Cohen, DPRCA commissioner.
A new boundless playground opens in Atlanta’s Coan Park.
Children of all abilities can interact together at the new Coan Park boundless playground. |
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Mayor’s Academy Trains APS Youth for Summer Internships
To prepare Atlanta’s youth for challenging summer internships, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency (AWDA) has partnered with the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) for the Mayor’s Youth Program Internship Academy.
The Academy is an 8-hour Saturday workshop series. Topics include professional communications, business dress, budget and finance, ethics and time management. All Mayor’s Youth Program students are required to participate to be considered for a summer internship placement. Remaining workshops will be held on April 14 and 21 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at AWDA headquarters at 818 Pollard Street, Atlanta, 30315.
For the second year in a row, Mayor Shirley Franklin, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MACOC) and ajcjobs have partnered to provide summer internships for Atlanta Public Schools (APS) graduating seniors. Last year’s program placed more than 500 students at over 100 organizations in the public and private sector. This year’s goal is to place 1,000 students.
Internships will run from June 4 through July 27. Companies who are interested in providing internships are asked to provide 35-40 hours of work per week and pay $8 to $12 per hour.
For more information contact Pat Koch at 404.880.7235 or pkoch@atlantaga.gov. Visit the Mayor’s Youth Program website at www.nextstepatlanta.org for more information on the program or www.atlantaworkforce.org.
An Atlanta Public School (APS) student learns the importance of dressing for success at a business dress workshop during the Mayor’s Youth Program Academy. |
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Arts and Culture Fund Up For Review
Mayor Shirley Franklin will review a proposal recently presented by the Cultural Arts Task Force to create a fund that will award grants to increase access to and enhance the presence of arts and culture in Atlanta.
The mayor will review the proposal to determine what type of City investment could be used to catapult Atlanta’s arts and culture attractions to world-class stature. The Task Force recommends that the Cultural Investment Fund be $10 million annually.
This figure is equivalent to $21.25 annually for every resident in Atlanta.
According to the recommendations, a new non-profit should be created to administer Fund grants. All grants will be determined by a volunteer grant-making board, to consist of 28 residents, business and community leaders and artists. The Fund will work in accordance with the City’s existing Community Cultural Plan, being facilitated by the Office of Culture Affairs (OCA).
“In 2005, Atlanta spent about $4 for each resident on arts and culture initiatives. I think we can all agree that this city’s residents deserve more. Through this Fund, we hope to increase the amount allocated for each resident by more than five times,” said Mayor Franklin.
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Atlanta residents are invited to participate in the City’s first-ever citywide Earth Day Celebration, Arms Around Atlanta, on April 21 and 22. A new public service announcement produced by the Mayor's Office of Communications encourages Atlanta residents to take part in the celebration, which includes a number of events throughout the city. Click here to go to Video On Demand (VOD) webpage to watch the PSA.
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Rave Reviews!
- The City of Atlanta won a Merit Award for its Park Access Study at the recent Georgia Planning Association’s spring 2007 Conference. The study, done in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, examined the accessibility of select City parks using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The study was part of Project Greenspace, a long-term City plan for growing and managing Atlanta’s greenspace system. In addition to park accessibility, Project Greenspace will create a vision and framework for a world-class system that connects people with great public spaces, nature preserves, parks, plazas, and streetscapes. For updates on Project Greenspace, visit www.atlantagreenspace.com.
- Effective April 14, 2007, Deputy Chief Harold D. Miller will serve as Interim Fire Chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue (AFR) Department. Miller will replace departing AFR Chief Dennis Rubin following three years of service to the AFR. Chief Miller is a 26-year veteran of the AFR department and has extensive knowledge of fire suppression, training and airport operations. Since 1999, he has served as airport commander at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA)
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Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
- From now until Monday, April 30, the Department of Watershed Management (DWM) will be resurfacing Monroe Drive, from Piedmont to Ponce de Leon Avenue, following an installation of 9,100 feet of new water mains. For the next four weeks, traffic on Monroe between Piedmont and Ponce de Leon will be limited to two lanes (one northbound; one southbound) at various block sections. Police officers will aid in traffic control. Motorists are urged to exercise caution when traveling through the work area and use alternate routes when possible.
- Atlanta BeltLine Inc. will host its next quarterly briefing on Friday, April 17 at 6 p.m. in the Atlanta City Hall Council Chambers. This public meeting is a project update. Atlanta City Hall is located at 55 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta, 30303. For more information on BeltLine updates, visit www.beltline.org.
- From Tuesday, April 10 – Thursday, April 12, the McPherson Planning Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) will host a series of meetings throughout the city to get public input on the future of Fort McPherson. During the meetings, LRA members will provide updates from previous public meetings. For specific meeting times and locations, visit www.mcphersonredevelopment.com.
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Job Announcements
With the City of Atlanta’s online application system, you are able to create an account and select a Username and Password and then log in to your account.
After your account has been established, you can create an application by clicking on the “Build Job Application” link. Once your application is completed, it will be stored in the system and can be used to apply for future job openings. To get started by viewing current open positions, click here.
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Weekly Features
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