New teacher feels blessed to find classroom job

by Winston Jones/Douglas County Sentinel

Ashley Hall is one of the fortunate ones of the Class of 2011. She is starting her first teaching job this year with the Douglas County School System after getting her degree in May.

“Most of my friends are still looking for a job,” Hall said Wednesday during a break in the new teacher orientation session. “Only three have found positions.”

Hall is beginning her teaching career as a pre-school special education teacher for 3- and 4-year-olds at Mirror Lake Elementary School. Her position is funded by LEAP (Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership), a federal and state partnership to assist students who have substantial financial needs.

Hall is a Douglas County native, but her family moved to Villa Rica when she was in the third grade. She graduated from Villa Rica High School in 2004. She received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from University of West Georgia.

She said she began her job search while still in school, but intensified it this summer.

“I looked a lot,” she said. “I applied for any and every job in Carroll, Paulding and Douglas counties.

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Survey Most in region happy with their lives

by Rachel Lane/Times-Georgian

Regardless of what some surveys and statistics say, west Georgia residents say they are happy with their lives and their neighborhoods.

In a survey by the Survey Research Center at the University of West Georgia, almost 90 percent of those in the region who responded said they were, in general, “very happy” or “happy” with life. Almost the same number of people said their communities are “excellent,” “very good,” or “good” places to live.

“We were a little surprised that the numbers were so high, but we expected it to be positive,” said Dr. Todd Matthews, assistant professor of sociology and assistant dean of the College of Social Sciences at UWG.

He was one of the researchers involved in the program, compiling the survey questions and analyzing the answers. The results of the study were released last week.

While the Survey Research Center has conducted small surveys on water quality in the past, this was the first survey of its kind conducted in West Georgia. About 380 respondents from Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, Heard, Paulding, and Troup counties agreed to participate in the telephone interview.

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