Cox urges students to be involved
State School Superintendent visits Union County High School
By KATHLEEN MCKEVITT

Union County School Superintendent Tommy Stephens, Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox, and Union County High School Principal Ed Rohrbaugh.

Following an aggressive schedule on Tuesday, August 15, Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox visited Union County High School, on what was only the second day of class for students. Cox met with teachers and administrators before visiting classrooms. A former teacher herself, she even took the time to teach a full hour of 9th grade Civics class.

Superintendent Cox has visited 375 schools in three years in a similar manner. After first being elected as a State Legislator in 1999, she was later elected to her current position in 2002, taking office in 2003. Cox now has a staff of 700 people and a budget of 6.5 billion dollars, but she made it clear that she has not strayed from her roots. "I'm first and foremost a teacher," Cox told the students in the Civics class.

Cox came north to be present at the start of this school year to help initiate the semester schedule on the workings of federal and

state governments. She did so with computer graphics and her own brand of what's important. Cox used a familiar phrase, saying, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." She challenged students to stay educated, in communication, and to be involved in what's going on in their local and state governments.

When she asked about the demographics of the area it was pointed out that in a Civics class of 29 students, 12 raised their hands

as being from Florida, many of whom had moved into Georgia since the end of the last school year. Cox chided them saying, "in Georgia if you miss school too many days, your driver's license can be revoked." She went on to use the example of how state laws differ, and what regulates school systems. She lets the teachers and the students know that she is available to hear their ideas, and as a former teacher she is working hard to insure that Georgia schools are among the best in the nation.