The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obama Elementary ‘truly wonderful’
DeKalb County school now in its permanent location.
DeKalb County School District Superintendent Steve Green stood behind a lectern Thursday morning, flanked by members of the district’s board, beaming with pride.
“You only get one chance to be first,” he said to raucous applause from the more than 100 people in the auditorium at Barack H. Obama Elementary Magnet School of Technology in Atlanta. “This is the first school (in Georgia) named after ... the first African-American president in the United States.”
The school opened for students in the fall at a temporary location, and moved into its permanent building on Jan. 5. Thursday morning, district officials, parents, students and community leaders gathered at the school for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This is truly a wonderful new beginning, despite all the challenges our students face,” said Obama Elementary Principal Angela Thomas-Bethea.
DeKalb County Board of Education Chairman Melvin Johnson told the audience the school was the result of the district’s collaboration with the community to provide a state-of-the-art experience for the students. The school’s name also came from a community recommendation.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase,” he said. “Now, not only do we see the staircase, we see the future for many students who will walk through these doors and shape their destiny.”
Johnson recalled that the board approved the new school, at 3132 Clifton Church Road just away from Flat Shoals Road where the Gresham Park and Panthersville neighborhoods intersect, in March 2015. The board voted to approve the name last July.
The school is billed as a multicultural technological school that provides a complete education through academic, social and emotional learning. It also includes a Spanish-language immersion program.
Obama Elementary includes interactive display panels and wireless access points in each classroom. All teachers received laptops with docking stations. Students received Chromebook laptops.
“We are going to do the kind of things and build the kind of technology (and) the kind of hope that President Barack Obama stood for as he commanded this country for eight years,” Green said. “It’s an honor and a pleasure to be part of the legacy.”
Pilot OK after plane crashes into tree line
A pilot suffered minor injuries after a single-engine plane crashed into a tree line along a Dawson County road Sunday.
Only the pilot was on board, when a Erco 415-C Ercoupe landed on the shoulder of Goodson Road in Dawsonville, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
The pilot’s name was not released Sunday evening, but a neighbor told Channel 2 Action News he had just purchased the plane.
That same neighbor said the pilot walked away with only a bloody nose and a firefighter confirmed the pilot had been checked out and released from a local hospital Sunday afternoon, just hours after the crash.
This is the second small aircraft crash in Georgia in the past week.
A single-engine plane crashed Thursday in Barrow County and both men on board were killed.
Train blocks road for hours in Gwinnett
Staffing regulations meant drivers in Gwinnett County faced a lengthy delay if they waited on a train blocking the road Saturday night.
The train pulled onto the siding track on Arnold Road between Kentshire Way and Hayward Lane so another train could pass, CSX told Channel 2 Action News.
That train had a mechanical issue and got stuck on Hosea Road.
The crew on board the Arnold Road train had to leave after the shift ended because they are only allowed to work a certain number of hours, Channel 2 reported.
Another crew had to be brought in to operate the train, resulting in the train blocking Arnold Road for hours.