Support Local Banks--Keep Your Money Here

http://www.truth-out.org/stop-them-eating-my-town65481

At the end of the day, Bear Pond’s manager, Linda Leehman, will take my money down to the Chittenden Bank and deposit it.


From Bear Pond I go to one of the dozen or so local restaurants and exchange some of my cash for a good meal. At day’s end that cash, too, will end up in one of Montpelier’s local banks.

The next day Montpelier’s banks are richer by my purchases, as are Stevens, Bear Pond, and the restaurant. If my daughter, a Web designer, wanted to start her own design firm in an office on Main Street (or from her home), she could visit one of those banks, and, if her credit was good, they could loan her some of the money that was deposited with them the night before from the townspeople’s purchases.....

....

Lakeside Groundbreaking Ceremony in Champion News

http://championnewspaper.com/

Lakeside High School is ready to see major changes as the first stage of a $24 million renovation project begins.


At the groundbreaking ceremony for the site, DeKalb County School System officials, faculty and students gathered Dec. 1 to celebrate the project’s long-awaited start. “This process started about three to four years ago and it started with the idea that we were going to get a fine arts auditorium,” school Principal Joe Reed said. “Obviously it’s gotten a little bigger than that. At this point as far as the process continuing the people chairing have gotten us from a fine arts auditorium to 25 additional classrooms...and all sorts of other things,” he added. The audience applauded as Reed went on to thank those involved for “getting this thing way beyond what it was suppose to be.”

The renovations, paid for by the taxpayer-funded SPLOST III, will take place over the next two years, and when construction is finished in August 2012 the school will also have new locker rooms, technology classrooms, new technology, a patio for student lunches, an expanded kitchen and other enhancements to the building. Lakeside’s remodel is part of the system’s larger Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) developed and approved by the Board of Education in 2007. It was created to outline the system’s most pressing facility needs.

At the high school level the CIP encompasses renovations and additions to existing facilities and the construction of replacement facilities, according to school officials. Those projects total more than $225 million and include the replacement of Tucker High School, major renovations to Cross Keys and Druid Hills high schools, technology/classroom/fine arts additions to Chamblee, Clarkston, Druid Hills, Dunwoody, Lakeside and Redan high schools, and additions to create large school models at Lithonia, Miller Grove, Dunwoody and Martin Luther King, Jr. high schools.

DeKalb Schools Interim CIP Operations Officer Barbara Colman said because all school property must be maintained it is unclear how redistricting and consolidation plans will impact current renovations.“I’d give it a little bit of time. The redistricting and consolidation has to do with the number of seats and the capacity of the existing schools,” Colman said. “The fact that a school might be overcrowded or underpopulated doesn’t really have as much to do with a need for the building; because whether or not it’s crowded, it still is going to need a good roof,” she added.

The total cost of all capital improvement projects being funded by SPLOST I, II and III money is $500 million. That will fund all facility construction projects in the system.The money will be collected through July 2012. The system already has collected enough money to fund all budgeted projects.

Representing Lakeside, District 4 board member Paul Womack also spoke to the crowd and said politics and parents made it all possible.
“I want to thank my fellow board members for accepting a little tradeoff of about $10 to 11 million to make all this happen. I guess it’s politics,” Womack said.

“If all of our communities had the same parental involvement in our school system as we have here, we’d have the greatest school system in the state of Georgia,” he added

Lakeside Groundbreaking Ceremony Thursday Dec 2

Lakeside High School Construction and Renovation Project

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Thursday, December 2 at 4 p.m.

Lakeside-DeKalb High School has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for Thursday, December 2 at 4 p.m. to commemorate the start of major construction additions and renovations of the school facilities located at 3801 Briarcliff Road. The event will be held just due east of the gymnasium. Work on the school, which was opened in 1965, include the addition of a 600-seat fine arts auditorium, 25 new classrooms, new science labs, career tech facilities and new special needs classrooms. Locker rooms, restrooms, cafeteria, media center and other spaces will get much needed makeovers, and the facility’s technology, security and ADA accessibility will also be upgraded. Funding for the $24 million project comes from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) III. Project architect is Manley, Spangler & Smith and construction will be handled by the Hogan Construction Group. All staff, parents, students, and community members are invited to join us on the east side of the school gymnasium.

Contact:
Lakeside Principal
Joe Reed 678-874-6702

Lakeside softball players receive All-Region and County All-Star honors

By Tom Doolittle

Lakeside High School sophomores outfielder Marie Collop (pictured left) and pitcher Aubrey Blackstock (pictured below), along with junior shortstop and utility player Susanne Boden (pictured right) were named to the All Region 6 AAAA First Team in softball. In the order of their mention, batting averages were .462, .512 and .533, respectively. Boden  led the team in most statistics.

The Boden name might be familiar to some, as triplets Allison, Lauren and Stephanie were publicized nationally for their 2010 academic honors as Lakeside's co-valedictorians and salutatorian—as well as record setting athletic exploits. All three are now softball players at Pomona College in California. Scott Boden, the players’ father volunteers as the Lakeside team’s assistant coach.

Meanwhile, on November 1, Lakeside seniors Mallory Mayhew, Ashley Raymond and Madison Mayhew (captain) played in this year’s DeKalb All-Star Softball Classic. The event, in its sixth year, showcases the top fifteen (15) seniors from the north and south county. The Softball Classic was set up as an avenue for DeKalb schools’ senior players to display their talents for college recruiters or generate publicity for them.

In the game, Southwest DeKalb’s Elexcia Simmons slapped a one-out, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete a 10-run rally by the South to overtake the North 12-11. Southwest's Imani Gayle and Chamblee's Erin Bell  were named player of the game for South and North respectively

Lakeside head coach, Tricia Newmyer, pleasantly surprised with the her team’s season performance, said, “We were a very young team and still posted a 12-6 record, one of the best in Lakeside's history,” and explained further that the team only had five players who returned from the previous year, few as previous starters.


2011 Region 6-AAAA First Team
Marist - Ashlyn Johns (3B), Taylor Bradley (SS), Erin McDenitt (CF)
Miller Grove - Elan Conklin (1B), Dionne Roland (2B)
Chamblee - Erin Bell (P), Taylor Harris (OF), Jessie Bragg (3B)
Lakeside - Susanne Boden (INF), Aubrey Blackstock (P), Marie Collop (OF)
Dunwoody - Stacey Ward (P), Breanna Rhoden (C), Elyse Ferguson (OF)
SW DeKalb - Trenece Nash, Imani Gayle (P), Elexcia Simmons


Writer Tom Doolittle is a 17-year Northlake area resident, founding trustee of Northlake Community Alliance, Inc., founder Northlake Business Forum and writes the www.NorthlakeStation.blogspot.com

November 16 Groundbreaking ceremony postponed for Lakeside SPLOST project

Due to expected inclement weather, the November 16 groundbreaking ceremony for the $24 million classroom and auditorium/arts center, and complete renovation of 40 year-old Lakeside High School has been postponed until December 2.

More info later.

Lakeside $24 million and "Valhalla Project" in AJC today

Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about the $24 million SPLOST project and groundbreaking event scheduled for next Tuesday, November 14. (see last blog post)


http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/dekalb-school-hopes-upgrade-737589.html


Maybe the biggest construction project in North DeKalb this (next?) year.

 

Lakeside High Groundbreaking November 16 4:00

Northlake Community and Lakeside Alumni Invited

Contact:

Joe Reed, Principal

Lakeside High School
3801 Briarcliff Road
Atlanta, GA 30345
678-874-6702


For Immediate Release
November 10, 2010

Lakeside High School Sets Major Construction and Renovation Project
Groundbreaking Ceremony for Tuesday, November 16 at 4 p.m.

Atlanta – Lakeside-DeKalb High School has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for Tuesday, November 16 at 4 p.m. to commemorate the start of major construction additions and renovations of the school facilities located at 3801 Briarcliff Road.

The event, to be held just due east of the gymnasium, will be hosted by Lakeside principal Joe Reed and invited attendees include various DeKalb County School System dignitaries.

Construction and renovations to the school, which was opened in 1965, include the addition of a 600-seat fine arts auditorium, 25 new classrooms, new science labs, career tech facilities and new special needs classrooms. Locker rooms, restrooms, cafeteria, media center and other spaces will get much needed makeovers, and the facility’s technology, security and ADA accessibility will also be upgraded.

According to Mr. Reed, the challenge of continuing to educate students amidst the two-year project is one that the school and community will pull together to get through. “Lakeside and its surrounding community have a strong tradition of working together,” said Mr. Reed. “We’ll manage through this process that ultimately will benefit our community, faculty and most importantly our students.” He added, “I was a student here back in the 1970’s and not much has changed since then. That just goes to show you how much this project is needed.”

Funding for the $24 million project comes from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) III used to pay for necessary school system capital improvements including building improvements, new schools, classroom additions, technology, and transportation needs. Project architect is Manley, Spangler & Smith and construction will be handled by the Hogan Construction Group.

Numerous other additions and enhancements to the facilities that will not be covered by the SPLOST funds are to be funded through “The Valhalla Project” by way of the Lakeside High School Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) corporation. More information on the Foundation can be found and donations can be made at http://www.lakesidefoundation.org/.


About Lakeside High School

Tradition. Legacy. Expectation. Reputation. Lakeside High School gives life to each. Opened in 1965, Lakeside has built traditions of excellence and top achievement in academics, athletics, visual and performing arts, citizenship and community service. Such are the traditions of being a Lakeside Viking. With its vibrant, diverse and high-performing students, teachers and administrators, Lakeside is poised to remain a pillar of the community for many years to come.