Partners in Education Newsletter January Edition
Kicking off 2021 the PIE Way!

The school year is halfway over but we are determined, with the help of our awesome community partners, to make it the best one yet. Do you have a creative project in mind? Need help advertising internship opportunities or summer job openings? Care to lend your expertise to the next generation of business owners and entrepreneurs? Contact your school’s PIE Ambassador today to get plugged in! 
Welcome New Board Members!

PIE is pleased to welcome two business leaders to its volunteer governing board, Chris Rentz and Andrew Jordan. Rentz is an associate broker with Pioneer Residential and Jordan is a partner and CPA at Connally, Jordan, and Associates. Both men have been active in PIE and the local community for many years. Last year, Jordan was named a PIE Partner of Excellence award winner for high schools for all he does for the College & Career Institute. Welcome, Chris and Andrew, and thank you for helping make our schools better. Click on each picture to read why these leaders are willing to volunteer their time on the PIE board.
Support PIE through AmazonSmile and Kroger Community Rewards.

It is easier than ever to support PIE each time you run by the grocery store or pick up a few things online. Before you head to Kroger, make sure your Kroger Plus Card is enrolled in their Community Rewards Program which donates to PIE each time you shop. Visit the Kroger website at http://www.kroger.com. Once logged into your account, you can search for Partners in Education of Douglas County either by name or non-profit organization number MT985, and then click Enroll. You can also support PIE through AmazonSmile. Simply head to smile.amazon.com and add “Douglas County Chamber Foundation Inc.” as your preferred benefactor. Each time you make a purchase, Amazon will donate to Partners In Education which helps support our mission of creating impactful partnerships between schools and businesses in our community.
Keeping Students Safe: 1,000 COVID Care Kits to be Distributed to Students.

Several local organizations and individuals have made generous financial and product donations designed to keep students and their families safe as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. 1,000 COVID Care Kits are being packed at Douglas County School System’s Central Office and will be delivered to every District school. The bags include a variety of items including water and reusable water bottles, hand sanitizer, facial tissues, wet wipes, masks, and hygiene items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and deodorant.

Each school will receive 25 bags that will be given to students who have limited access to COVID care and prevention items. Each school will also receive supplies for their quarantine rooms which include masks, hand sanitizer, and water and snacks for students as they wait for pick-up by a parent or guardian if they are sick or deemed exposed to the virus through contact tracing. 
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
This Month's School Spotlight is Stewart Middle School!
At Stewart Middle School, “We love our P.I.E!” Whenever there has been a call, our partners have answered. From donations to guest speakers, our Partners-In-Education have provided SMS with an abundance of blessings. Although challenging, this COVID space has not deterred our partners from continuing in that same vein. Long time supporters Douglas and Trina Smith went above and beyond to purchase trifold screens for every student and teacher desk in the building. This was an unsolicited act…they just wanted to ensure that students were provided this added safety measure as they returned to in-person learning. Sadly, Mr. Smith passed away on January 9th, 2021. SMS staff and students will always remember his kindness and dedication to the school and his legacy of giving back to the community.
In addition to providing school supplies, Wal-Mart (Supercenter #1488, Concourse Parkway), managed by Leola Hatcher, helped SMS get our community garden and outdoor classroom one step further to fruition by providing access to grant funds. Our SMS teachers were so excited that they decided to have a paint party after school!
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
This Month's Partner Spotlight is Douglasville-Douglas County Water & Sewer Authority.
To make art and water education fun for schools and to involve the entire community, the Douglasville-Douglas County Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) has partnered with the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County (CAC) and the school system on a rain barrel project. According to Lyndsey Sargent, WSA communications coordinator, the project came about when WSA, a very active Partner in Education for more than 20 years, was trying to think of ways to engage students on water topics during COVID, a time when guests are not permitted in schools.

“Normally, we are very active in the school system during the year and do lot of classroom visits, touch-a-trucks, career days, plant tours, etc.,” said Sargent. “We knew none of that was going to happen for the foreseeable future, so we came up with the rain barrels as a fun way to get the students and teachers talking about water and also get some good-natured competition going between the schools. We love partnering with the CAC to merge art and science, so it was a natural fit.”

“We love partnering with WSA to help expand the knowledge of water and conservation while building STEAM in the Douglas County School System,” said Emily Lightner, executive director for CAC. “Just a few years ago, the CAC launched a new initiative to use public art to further establish the community as a dynamic center of creativity and a destination for visitors,” making this project a perfect fit. “After each school received a rain barrel, they were tasked to decorate the rain barrel to make it look incredible.” Each barrel was then entered in a competition through the CAC's Facebook page. “We have loved looking at all of the wonderful creative designs by the students,” said Lightner, “and were inspired by all of the wonderful stories shared on how schools incorporated art and water conservation into their curriculum!"  

The winning schools – those with the most “likes” on Facebook – were announced in late December. South Douglas Elementary, Mirror Lake Elementary, Mason Creek Middle, and Douglas County High garnered the most likes and each won a digital weather system for their school provided by the WSA. 
SMALL WAYS TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Want to Partner with a School?
Looking for some easy ways to start partnering and making a difference in the lives of Douglas County’s students and teachers? Consider the following opportunities to kick your partnership off on the right foot! Need more ideas? Visit dcssga.org/p_i_e or contact your school’s PIE Ambassador to talk about their specific needs.

  • Participate in virtual career fairs
  • Offer internships to high school students
  • Serve on advisory councils
  • Serve as judges for academic and extracurricular competitions such as science fairs, art guilds, STEM clubs, etc.
  • Serve as guest readers
Eastside Elementary School Has the Following Needs:
  • Disposable masks
  • Bottled water
  • Disinfecting wipes
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Prizes/Incentives for Student of the Month


This month’s wish list items come from Eastside Elementary School. They need sanitizing wipes and bottled water to keep students healthy and focused on learning. If you or your business would like to make a contribution to Eastside, please reach out to Mary Jackson or by calling (770) 651-3800.
SHOUT OUTS
Holly Springs Elementary would love to give a HUGE shout out to Wal-Mart on Thornton Road. They donated three truck loads of school supplies. Items included pencils, paper, notebooks, binders, and other items. We are grateful to Kristie Steele, store manager and parent of Holly Hawk Lyric McKoy, for facilitating the process.
We would like to give a shout-out to Papa John’s Pizza. Darlene Da Silva reach out to us and offered free medium one topping pizzas to our students as incentives. Also, our partner Michelle Porter always goes above and beyond. She recently had a whole pallet of waters delivered to the school and regularly provides Chick-Fil-A to our athletic teams before games. We love our Partners In Ed, they are amazing! One family, one mission. All Strong! – Fairplay Middle School
Mr. Curtis French, certified Kumon Instructor and owner of Kumon Math and Reading Center of Douglasville catered a lunch for the staff of Bright Star Elementary on November 16th. He is also starting a program called “Kumon Student of the Quarter” for students in our school. He has been a welcome addition and partner to Bright Star Elementary.
Mt. Carmel Elementary School would like to give a HUGE shout-out to our Partner In Education, Samekh Ward with Hermanas Italian Ice, LLC, and Randall Jones with The Flower Cottage for judging our Holiday Door Decoration Contest. A special thank you to The Flower Cottage for providing the classroom winner with a Christmas flower arrangement. We are very grateful to have AWESOME community leaders!
Dorsett Shoals Elementary School is shouting out two of their partners: Douglasville Books for donating two gift cards and a mask and GH Electric for sponsoring math competition shirts as well as teacher surprise gifts throughout the year.
Thank you so much to First Presbyterian Church for providing staff with a holiday lunch and to Fraternal Order of Police and Youthful Expression Ministries for providing Thanksgiving dinners to our families! First Presbyterian also donated winter caps to all Kindergarten students as part of their knitting ministry! – Eastside Elementary School
Shout out to Patty Wenck with Wenck Travel who donated goodie bags for the winners of our 4th annual MCMS Science Fair. We appreciate Patty and her business for their willingness to support the school science fair! Also, thank you to Ephesus Baptist Church for the blessing our staff with scrumptious desserts on December 9th!– Mason Creek Middle School
New Manchester High School would like to shout-out their partner Jeremy Madden with the Horance Mann Companies for their generous donation of waters for students and staff. 
FLEX Academy would like to thank Papa John’s Pizza and acknowledge them for giving back to schools. We requested gift cards for star students and Darlene Da Silva sent them to the school. It was a true blessing! On behalf of FLEX, thanks to Papa Johns and thanks to P.I.E! 
Chapel Hill Elementary School would like to give a big shout-out to Mr. Curtis French of Kumon who has done a fantastic job of creating a relationship with the school! He has gone above and beyond in terms of making sure that he is present in our efforts to get more community involvement.
CONNECT WITH US
Want to stay connected with PIE? Make sure to “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/douglascountypie to see partner success stories, volunteer opportunities, and other fun stuff to keep you engaged with the PIE community. You can also get great PIE news on our webpage, dcssga.org/p_i_e, including partnership ideas, wish list items, upcoming events, and more. 
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Tag, You're It!

We want to celebrate all the great things happening in the world of PIE! Make sure to tag @DouglasCountyPIE on your school or business Facebook page if you have something awesome to share.
Does your school or business have upcoming event in the Douglas County community? Let us know the details so we can share it with the PIE network! Email Sandy to have your event in our next newsletter.
2020-2021 PIE Board Members

Lyndsey Sargent, Water and Sewer Authority – Chair
Tonya Jackson, RA-LIN and Associates - Vice Chair
Jean Baker – Recording Secretary
Rita Wilson, GreyStone Power Corporation – Corresponding Secretary
Christine Stanley, Design Solutions Group – Treasurer
Andrew Dickinson, First Presbyterian Church
Lynn Dunaway, Impact Ink
Lynn Murray, DCSS
Leslie Smith, Brainy Bytes West Atlanta  
Vonda Thorpe, Royal Accents
Patty Wenck, Wenck Travel
Christy Wilson, The Oaks Douglasville
Debbie Wolfe, Elwood Staffing
Chris Rentz, Pioneer Residential
Andrew Jordan, Connally, Jordan, and Associates
DeeDee Zachos, The Zachos Team