Chatting with Clements - BEN HILL COUNTY SCHOOLS

Ben Hill County Schools Newsletter

                   Dedication of FHSCCA Courtyard in
                       memory of Nancy Whidden
Dawn Clements presented Julie Whidden Long and John Whidden, Nancy Whidden's children, with
plaques showing the dedication of the courtyard at FHSCCA in their mom's memory on Friday,
January 13, 2023. Nancy was a retired educator and Superintendent who loved her job and
worked hard for the students and staff of this community. Nancy's family attended along with
fellow educators and friends.

Chatting with Clements
   Our seniors at FHSCCA are completing the Reality University sponsored by
   Communities in Schools.
   Town Hall Meeting at FHSCCA was a great success in conjunction with the Men
   of Vision, CIS, The Ben Hill County Sheriff's Department, The Fitzgerald Police
   Department, local clergy and other community members.
   Health Clinic is OPEN and seeing staff and students.
   100th day of school coming up on January 24, 2023
   $500 full time/$250 part time bonuses were distributed to staff in January
   2023.

                                                                                     January 23

South Central Primary Care Ben Hill School Based Health Center is OPEN
Ben Hill County Schools partnered with South Central Primary Care
to open the South Central Primary Care Ben Hill School Based
Health Center!!! The Clinic opened in December 2022.

Emory University received federal funds to promote the creation of
school based health clinics in Georgia. The grant was initiated with
Ben Hill County Schools and Emory University to begin
preparations to increase medical accessibility to the students and
parents of Ben Hill County. The Georgia Department of Education
provided grant money to renovate a location within one of our
schools. This clinic is an expansion of the services offered by our
School nurses.

We are happy to have Casey Dix, FNP and Martha Young, CMA
available daily to serve our community. If you have a child in our
system or you need to be seen, please contact them at 409-5504 or
go see them Monday-Friday 7:30am-4pm. The clinic is located at
BHMS. The exterior door is located on the side of the building next
to our gym and bus parking lot. You will see the gray door and sign.

Appointments and Walk ins are welcome.
For more information, you can check out information on our
website at www.ben-hill.k12.ga.us OR go to
https://www.scpccga.org/patient-forms to get patient forms for
your visit. Forms are available at the clinic as well.

Town Hall Meeting with Men of Vision, FHSCCA,
           and Community Leaders

                      The Town Hall Meeting on Saturday with Men of
                      Vision was a huge success with over 150 people in
                      attendance. The topics were discussed and all of
                      our panel members did a fantastic job coming
                      together to go over key issues in our community.
                      Thank you to our panel members: Hal Wiley, Dawn
                      Clements, Chief Smallwood, Reverend Connie
                      Graham, Sheriff Cone, Becky Gay, Earl Brown,
                      Jaquetta Brown, Kenneth Palmer, Eric Lewis, Jason
                      Dunn and our moderator Bernard Brantley.

                      Thank you to the Men of Vision members who
                      traveled near and far to make this event happen
                      with our FHSCCA staff. Thank you to Jeremy Tyrone
                      Rogers, Maurice Johnson, Wardell Herring, Earl
                      Brown, Donald Battle, Dewayne Stanley, Chris Kind,
                      Carlos Scott, Richard Lyons, Kevin Johnson, Jerrod
                      Robinson, Bernard Brantley, Lorenzo McLaurin,
                      Richard Watts, and Eric Lewis.

                      This event was a fantastic way to get everyone
                      together to discuss issues that are affecting our
                      children.

New Board Members were sworn in
Ben Hill County Board of Education kicked off January 2023 with New BOE members. Today,
Shirley Brooks who has been on the Board of Education since 1999 was sworn in again to serve
another term. New board members Tyler Clemons, David Garrison and Andy Johnson were
sworn in to begin new terms effective now. Tyler Clemons represents District 3, David Garrison
represents District 2, and Andy Johnson represents District 7. We are so happy to welcome
these new board members. We are looking forward to a great working relationship to continue
to empower students for success.

L4GA Grant provides books
Ben Hill County Schools, in partnership with the L4GA
Literacy Grant, placed books in various places in the
community for children and students. The books are free
and are theirs to keep. This is part of a mission to create a
love of reading, inspire readers, and expand book access
throughout the community. Thank you to the following
businesses and agencies for allowing books to be placed:
Colony Dental, Kids Health, Dental Partners, BHMS Health
Center, Dorminy Medical Center ER, Fitzgerald Housing
Authority, Fitzgerald Police Department, and Ben Hill
County Sheriff's Department.

Happenings in Events
                                                      January 24:
                                                   100th Day of School

                                              February 3: PL Day (Students DO
                                                   NOT report to school)

                                                        February 7:
                                                Board of Education Monthly
                                                          Meeting
                                                            BOE
                                                          6:00pm

                                                        February 9:
                                               Round 2 for FLEX competition

       Winter Break:
       OUT of School
    February 13-17, 2023

        February 24:
    Black History Month
    Presented by BHES
          1:15pm
         BHES Gym

         February 25:
  Father/Daughter Dance
             BHES
see BHES facebook page and
     flyers for more info

Red Across America Week for
            BHP
      Feb 27-March 3

                              www.ben-hill.k12.ga.us or
        FOR MORE VISIT: on Facebook at Ben Hill School Distrct