Graduation rates for CHS, SHS, GCHS all higher than the state

Calhoun High School saw the fourth highest rate in Georgia.

requiring medical care. The student was then arrested for possessing the illegal drug.

She said there have been instances of middle school and even elementary school students admitting to using vape products locally.

“It’s real. It’s a problem. And we’re seeing it,” Farriba said.

She also noted that the content of the vape products isn’t the only danger, as there have been multiple incidents of devices catching fire or exploding. She show photos of one teen with burns on his lips, check and nose, another of an adult with a severely burned tongue and lips, and another of a teen in intensive care after a device exploded, causing damage to his airway.

She also pointed out that medical professionals have seen an increase in “popcorn lung” cases, when hard nodules form in the lung, as a side effect of the chemicals associated with vape use.

Farriba said her main goal is education, and that she wants to teach students that not only are the known and unknown chemicals used in the devices dangerous now, but they can affect young users in the long run too because the human brain is still developing during one’s school years.

“What you’re doing now, what you’re doing to your body, it will affect your future,” she said.

Ansley Silvers, director of addictive disease at Highland Rivers Health, also spoke during the lunch, and she explained that by the time she interacts with anyone they are already in the later stages of addiction.

Silvers explained that while people make choices that lead to addiction, no one chooses that outcome or uses a substance with that as the end goal. She referenced how prohibition of alcohol led to bootleggers making their own booze, an increased demand and an increase in alcoholism and deaths.

Silvers said substance abuse has always been a problem, that opioids and vaping are just the latest thing.

“It’s always going to be something, because what we’re dealing with isn’t chemicals, it’s the brain,” she said.

She explained that brain development and drug use follow a similar upward trend in teenagers as they get older, and for addicts, that the brain eventually flips a switch and decides getting that next fix is more important than anything else.

Silvers lamented the stigma often associated with addiction and said people shouldn’t be looked down upon for seeking treatment.

On the dangers of teenage drug use, Silvers shared the story of her son Alex’s best friend Ben, a bright young man who had a full ride college scholarship and a good job working in information technology.

Alex and Ben had made some money investing in bitcoin and had ordered online a drug called U-47700 that was then shipped to their door in an Amazon box. The synthetic opioid was legal at the time but has since been added to the list of Schedule 1 drugs.

“They both took one. My son lived and Ben died,” Silvers said, adding that Alex continues to live with the guilt.

She also talked about a rash of incidents in an Elijay high school where 17 students required treatment after vaping a synthetic marijuana-type drug, one of which passed out, then tried to ripped out his own tongue after regain consciousness.

Silvers stressed that help is available and that people shouldn’t be afraid to seek it. She talked about the services Highland Rivers Health offers and noted that if someone doesn’t qualify for assistance there that they use their contacts to make sure the person is served elsewhere.

“What I want to say is, there is help, and there is free help for those who qualify,” said Silvers.

She said recovery is possible, but like cancer treatments, there is always a chance that the problem will return. But, she said, she would rather see someone seeking help a second time than learn they had died or been sent to prison.

DBell@CalhounTimes.com

The Georgia Department of Education released the state’s official 2019 high school graduation rates on Wednesday, and Calhoun High School’s rate of 98.1% was both the fourth highest total in the state and a 0.5% increase from the year before.

Sonoraville High School saw a 1.2% decrease in 2019, to 91.2%, while Gordon Central High School’s rate of 93.6% was a decrease of 4.6% compared to the year before. As a system, Gordon County Schools achieved a 92.3% graduation rate, which was 2.5% less than the year prior.

All three local high school graduation rates exceeded the state’s rate of 82%, which is an all time high for Georgia since the state began using the “adjusted cohort” calculation now required by federal law. That law requires Georgia take the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma and divide by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduation class.

The adjusted cohort is the number of students who begin ninth grade for the first time that is subsequently adjusted by adding any students who transfer into the cohort during the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out.

Georgia has seen a steady increase in its graduation rate since that method was installed in 2012, rising from 69.7% that year to 82% in 2019. Georgia’s graduate rate was 81.6% in 2018 and 80.6% in 2017.

Locally, Calhoun’s rate of 98.1% was high enough to tie with Chickamauga City for the fourth highest in the state.

Superintendent Michele Taylor said the school system’s goal is to one day reach 100%.

“We commend our teachers and staff who work tirelessly to meet the needs of all of our students. There are many ways to measure success outside of test scores. The graduation rate is one of those measures. Strong work-based learning programs and apprenticeship opportunities with business and industry partners through Calhoun’s College and Career Academy also contribute to the success of our overall programs,” Taylor said. “We will continue to encourage and support all of our students so that our goal of 100% can be achieved.”

Gordon County Schools Superintendent Kimberly Fraker lauded the school system’s employees for their work in helping the high schools to reach their above average rates.

“It is our goal as a school system to ensure all of our students receive a high school diploma and leave us college and career ready. I appreciate the commitment of our administrators, faculty and staff from, pre-K-12th grade who strive to ensure this becomes a reality,” Fraker said.

In total, CHS graduated 253 students, Sonoraville awarded diplomas to 238, and Gordon Central saw 220 seniors turn their tassels.