The fall semester is midway through and as we rapidly approach Fall Break, a time for students and faculty to recharge, it’s also time for another edition of Community Buzz.  We welcome our new students and celebrate their indoctrination to the Tech ethos of Progress and Service. 

The Buzz in Civic Engagement

Georgia Tech is committed to being a good neighbor

Home Park Meet & Greet
The Home Park Community Improvement Association along with Georgia Tech Student Government Association hosted a public safety awareness meet and greet in late August. The purpose of the event was to provide students and residents of Home Park safety tips and contact information for public safety.  Presentations were provided by Atlanta Police, MARTA Police, and Georgia Tech Police officials.

Other campus safety initiatives are ongoing. Tech has unveiled new campus safety programs and City of Atlanta Council President Ceasar Mitchell commissioned a campus safety task force which included police chiefs, student leaders, and administrators from Emory University, Georgia State University, Atlanta Metropolitan, the Atlanta University Center schools, and Tech. The task force met weekly over a six week period to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at increasing campus safety. Recommendations include integrating campus video cameras with existing City of Atlanta cameras, creating legislation for campus safety crime free zones, and partnering with Crime Stoppers and the Atlanta Police Foundation to create reward funds for tips leading to arrest. Last, GTPD recently released its 2012 Annual Campus Safety report. To see a copy of the report click the following link: http://www.police.gatech.edu/documents/brochure.pdf.

Westside Community Alliance
The Westside Community Alliance (WCA), an organization aimed at bringing the communities west of campus together to partner on issues of common concern, continues to formulate meaningful partnerships and further develop a clear strategy to ensure that the Institute successfully sustains these meaningful partnerships.  Under the leadership of Jackie Royster, Dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the WCA brings together faculty, staff, administrators, and students from across the Institute who are working with or interested in working with Atlanta’s Westside communities. The WCA will hold its next meeting on October 23 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm.  For more information on the WCA, go to http://westsidegtalliance.org/.

English Avenue
The Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council will hold is fourth annual Festival of Lights on October 13 – 14.  The festival aims to celebrate the positives of the English Avenue community in order to advance the revitalization – both physical and human – of the neighborhood. The festival includes a parade, talent showcase, and vendors providing information on substance abuse, health and nutrition, and public safety.  Tech students and staff have participated in the festival for two years, and will sponsor a table at this year’s festival.  For more information on the Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council or the Festival, go to http://hwcac.com/ or contact Tracy Bates at tybates@bellsouth.net or contact Chris Burke in the Office of Government and Community Relations at chris.burke@gatech.edu.

Tech Town
For the second consecutive year, Atlantic Station and Georgia Tech have launched a series of Friday Night Fan Fests - tailgate style celebrations full of spirit, live music, food and fun for Georgia Tech students, alumni and fans. Friday Night Fan Fests coincide with seven home game football weekends and is free and open to the public. Events start at 6 p.m. in Central Park and feature live music, the Yellow Jacket Marching Band, the Georgia Tech cheerleaders, Tech merchandise - plus special appearance from Buzz, The Ramblin' Wreck and more.  For more information, go to http://www.ramblinwreck.com/ot/techtown.html.

K-12 and Beyond

Collaborating to positively impact Atlanta's youth

Centennial Place Elementary
Centennial Place Elementary recently hosted its annual opportunities showcase to provide parents and potential partners an opportunity to meet with existing partners, teachers, administrators, and parents at the school. The showcase also provided an overview of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) curriculum and projects for the 2012-2013 school year at Centennial. Tech continues to be an integral partner with Centennial and will once again provide the Arts Education program, which exposes fifth-grade students at Centennial to mainstream artists performing at the Georgia Tech Ferst Center for the Arts.  Upcoming performances include the string quartet Ethel, and jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon.  The Ferst Center, College of Architecture, and the Center for Education Integrating Science Math and Computing (CEISMC) also have a STEAM program with Drew Charter School as part of a federal Race-to-the-Top grant. 

Near Peer
Beginning next spring, Georgia Tech will enter into a partnership with two unique Atlanta charter schools in the Westside Atlanta communities of Grove Park and Center Hill – The Coretta Scott King (CSK) Young Women’s Leadership Academy and the Business, Engineering, Science and Technology (B.E.S.T.) Academy. These are themed, single-gender charter schools located in predominantly black and low-income communities. It is no secret in urban education that educational content by itself is not the solution to improving academic performance. The symptoms of poverty and civic neglect affect children in innumerable ways. One of those is the absence of mentorship in the form of adult presence, guidance, conversation and support. The Georgia Tech Near Peer Program is designed to address that one sliver of an overwhelming contemporary social problem. The program will introduce a new undergraduate course aimed at providing Tech students an intrinsic understanding of civic engagement and mentoring, as well as a framework for understanding the social challenges facing many urban communities. 

Pickens County Middle School
The Office of Government and Community Relations will host sixty eighth grade students from Pickens County Middle School on October 22. Students will spend the day at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum followed by a campus tour and lunch at the North Avenue Dining Hall. 

Jump Start
Did you know that one in three children enters school without the skills necessary to succeed, and that in low-income neighborhoods children start kindergarten sixty percent behind their peers in affluent communities?  Jumpstart was created to help close this gap.  Jumpstart brings preschool children and students from Georgia State University (GSU) and Georgia Tech together in a year-long mentoring relationship to build skills vital to a child’s success.  Jumpstart is an excellent opportunity for college students to positively impact the lives of local Atlanta preschool students. Jumpstart Corps members implement the Jumpstart curriculum on a weekly basis to help preschool students develop the language and literacy skills necessary for educational success. Corps members develop strong positive relationships through reading, playing, and spending time with the preschool students. Corps members also spend time weekly engaging in individual as well as team planning. Jumpstart Corps members commit to serving either 200 or 300 hours of service throughout the school year in this highly rewarding experience. Those who qualify for Federal Work Study can work with Jumpstart as their job but students do not have to receive Federal Work Study to be a Corps member. Corps members are also eligible to receive an AmeriCorps education award after completing their term of service.  For more information about Jumpstart, contact Julius Cave, Jumpstart Site Manager for Georgia Tech and GSU, at julius.cave@vpss.gatech.edu or visit the Jumpstart website at http://jumpstart.gatech.edu.

Get Involved

Leadership and public service in action

Hands On Atlanta Day
The twenty-second annual Hands On Atlanta Day will be held October 6. This year’s theme, Love Your Block – Love Your Neighbor – Love Your School, focuses on Hands On Atlanta’s three strategic focus areas; the environment, economic recovery, and education. There are more than 30 different volunteer opportunities less than 5 miles from campus. To find out more information about how you can participate in this year’s event, contact Genora Crooke at gcrooke@handsonatlanta.org, by phone at 404-979-2800, or go to Hands On Atlanta at www.HandsOnAtlanta.org.
 
Be the Change Day
Sigma Beta Rho along with a several other organizations is organizing the fifth annual Be The Change Day in Atlanta on October 6th. Be The Change Day is an annual national day of service coordinated by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)  in order to inspire and foster civic engagement through volunteerism and community service. This year, volunteers can opt to volunteer in any one of five service sites spread all over Atlanta. You can find more information about these service sites along with the history of Be The Change Day on www.btcatlanta.com.  To participate on Be The Change this year, go to the website and click registration.  The deadline for registration is October 3. Rides will be provided along with free breakfast and free lunch. If you have any questions about the event, please email Avnish Kumar at  philanthropy@gtsigrho.org.

Game Day Recycling
Volunteer registration is now open for the 2012 football season and the Game Day Recycling program needs your help! There are three remaining home games this season, and the Institute needs to make sure that the 40,000 or more fans attending each game have the opportunity to recycle.  Please join and volunteer to help give out blue recycling bags to tailgaters, or greet fans as they go into the Stadium. The volunteer commitment is one hour and all volunteers will receive a free T-shirt as well as pizza or a concessions voucher. Please go to http://www.recycle.gatech.edu/programs/gdr/gdr_volunteer_info.php for more information and to sign up.

President's Interfaith & Community Service Campus Challenge
Georgia Tech is proud to participate in the 2012-2013 President's Interfaith & Community Service Campus Challenge, a national initiative sponsored by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The goals of the Campus Challenge are to bring together people of diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds to serve together on projects that strengthen their communities and to unite people of diverse backgrounds in order to promote tolerance and greater understanding.  The Challenge promotes community service as an avenue to build this tolerance and to improve our shared communities. 
 
Every campus that participates in the Challenge commits to a focus area, and Georgia Tech's focus will be the issue of Human Trafficking.  We have made this choice based on our location in Atlanta and the fact that Human Trafficking is very present in our city.  In addition, there are several initiatives, organizations, and individuals who are already engaged in this topic, which may provide opportunities for partnership and growth.  If you are interested in learning more about this initiative and discovering how your organization can get involved, please contact Sarah Perkins, Civic Engagement Coordinator, at sarah.perkins@gatech.edu.