Achievers International
Is Honored at
Georgia Capitol
Legislators Help Mark Four Years
By
Dean Jackson
Staff Writer
(Friday, February 19, 1999, Newnan, Georgia) –
In a rare display on the floor of the Georgia
House of Representatives, Newnan High School
student Jordan Scott played "Amazing Grace" in
the well of the august legislative chamber.
Scott's performance - delivered in full dress,
including kilt - was part of an Achievers
International day at the state Capitol on
Thursday. The international business education
and cultural program linking Georgia schools
with schools in Scotland was the focus of a
state -- and international -- celebration four
years after its start in Coweta County Schools.
Achievers International students, organizers and
business partners were on hand for the special
recognition. Executive Director Bette Hickman,
Achievers International-Georgia chairman John
Thrasher and several business and school
partners from Coweta attended the event.
It
also helped kick off the new State Capitol
Education Center, on Central Avenue, beside the
Capitol. The Achievers International assembly
and a GSAMS international teleconference between
Atlanta and Glasgow, Scotland was the first
event held in the new high-tech educational
center, which was built for state educational
events.
Achievers International students from all over
the state viewed the video teleconference, and
set up booths in the Capitol to exhibit the
program and their student companies, which trade
with similar student companies across the
Atlantic.
Several Coweta schools – teachers and students
involved in Achievers International – were in
attendance at the live video teleconference with
Scotland Achievers organizers.
Students from Evans Middle School, Newnan High
School, the West Georgia England Exchange (made
up of Newnan High, Fayette County and Woodward
Academy students), the Heritage School, Mills
Chapel Christian School, Newnan Crossing
Elementary and Northside Elementary School
students attended the event.
Speaker of the House Tom Murphy addressed the
Glasgow, Scotland audience and the school
children, who represented Achievers
International programs in schools across the
state. Achievers International-Georgia
organizers and students from Coweta and other
counties were also honored on the floor of the
House of Representatives by a resolution
commemorating the program, which is quickly
spreading from its Coweta and Fayette roots to
schools all over the state.
Governor Roy Barnes also spoke to the Achievers
assembly on the House floor, which included
Hickman, Thrasher, Coweta representative Lynn
Smith, teachers and students from Coweta and
Fayette counties, and other dignitaries. House
Speaker Pro Tem Pat Connell presided over the
chamber.
The speeches from the floor of the House and the
resolution were carried live via video
teleconference also to Glasgow and to other
schools around Georgia and the United Kingdom.
Though musical and other exhibitions are usually
limited to the halls outside the House, the
assembly was in official recess on Thursday.
Jordan Scott was asked to play the bagpipes in
the House well as part of the program.
Achievers International was begun in 1995 by
Coweta organizers. The program links schools in
Georgia with schools overseas to promote
cultural ties and a unique education in
international business.
Students communicate by sophisticated electronic
means as they form companies which trade with
each other and market each other’s goods in
their communities. Business partners help and
advise students in the program.
"The children in this program get leadership
development" along with a rich business
education, said local businessman Bill Loftin,
who has participated in Achievers since it was
begun. Loftin said he has worked with a lot of
educational programs, "and I think this is the
best."
Loftin said he has been surprised by the growth
of the program statewide in just four years. I
think this is going to be a model for other
states," said Loftin.
The Times-Herald
Editorial
(Friday, February 19, 1999, Newnan, Georgia) -
Thursday will be a special day for Achievers
International Georgia, Inc., the Georgia-based
non-profit corporation that directs a global
economic education program matching students and
schools in Georgia with those in Scotland,
England and Wales.
Thursday is being proclaimed Achievers
International-Georgia Day at the Capitol in
Atlanta, honoring the rapid-growing organization
that got its start right here in Coweta County
in 1995.
Thanks to the efforts of state Reps. Lynn Smith
and Terry Coleman, Achievers is being honored
during a program from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at
the Gold Dome in Atlanta. Each school
participating in the program is scheduled to
have representatives presented when Achievers is
acknowledged with a Proclamation of
Accomplishment endorsed by the Georgia House of
Representatives.
The students and guests are to meet with House
Speaker Tom Murphy Thursday morning. Governor
Roy Barnes has been invited to participate.
Murphy and Achievers representatives will
participate in a reading of the Achievers
International-Georgia Resolution which will be
read via GSAMS to audiences in Georgia and in
Glasgow, Scotland. Several other officials will
participate in the GSAMS program between Georgia
and Scotland before the Capitol visitors are
treated to a box lunch sponsored by NationsBank
and a tour.
Achievers started in 1995 with six schools
involved. Fifteen Schools were involved in
1996-1997, 31 schools in 1997-98 and 77 schools
have participated in 1998-99. Public, private
and home schools in 15 counties are represented.
This is an important and innovative program that
provides opportunities for elementary, middle
and high school students to participate in a
wide range of educational experiences with their
partner school in the United Kingdom. Achievers
is taking a giant step in preparing young people
for the global economy of the 21st
century.
The rapidly expanding program is deserving of
this statewide recognition.
