Sandra Wright Shannon, age 63 of Snellville

SNELLVILLE — Sandra Wright Shannon, 63, of Snellville went to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. The service celebrating the life of Mrs. Shannon will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Snellville First Baptist Church with the Rev. Joel Thomas and the Rev. Steve Foster officiating. Burial will follow at Snellville Historical Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Tom M. Wages Funeral Service in Snellville.

Mrs. Shannon was born Nov. 20, 1945. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend. When the Lord said to serve, she took it literally, spending her life serving the needs of others.

She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Charles “Darwyn” Shannon; sons and daughters-in-law, Charles Braxton and Jeannie Elizabeth Shannon and Clifton Wright and Jennifer Anne Shannon; daughter and son-in-law, Rachel Shannon and Nicholas Robert Dahm; grandchildren, Alexandra Elizabeth Shannon, Abigail Leigh Shannon, William Wright Shannon, Nathan Gifford Shannon and Elijah Dean Shannon; brother and sister-in-law, Stanley and Cynthia Wright, and other relatives and a host of friends.

Mrs. Shannon requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made toward serving those in need through Streetwise Ministries; P.O. Box 657 Dacula, GA 30019. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.wagesfuneralhome.com. Tom M. Wages Funeral Service in Snellville is in charge of arrangements.

Sandra W. Shannon
Tifton Gazette
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Flood warning Snellville GA

A flood warning has been issued as of 9:21 pm November 10, 2009 for Snellville GA, per The Weather Channel. Residents should be extra careful, especially when driving.

The Flood Warning mentions Suwanee, but I received an alert which includes Snellville and Gwinnett County area.

"Flood Warning: Issued at: 9:19 PM EST 11/10/09, expires at: 11:18 AM EST 11/11/09The NWS in peachtree city has issued a flood warning for the suwanee creek near suwanee. From this evening until late Wednesday night. At 8 pm Tuesday the stage was 6.9 feet, and rising. Minor flooding is forecast. Flood stage is 8.0 feet. Forecast to rise above flood stage by tonight and continue to rise to near 9.1 feet by Wednesday morning. The river will fall below flood stage by Wednesday evening. At 9.0 feet, suwanee creek greenway floods."

Science is all around you

I thought this was great, wanted to share this with you.

By Tom McNeill
Tom McNeill is a Science Coach/Teacher at W.C. Britt Elementary School in Snellville.

I’ve been teaching Science Specials for three years now. And believe me, in this short amount of time, I’ve been asked just about every imaginable question from the students here at Britt: “Can we make a potion?”, “Are we going to mix chemicals?”, “Why does the moon follow me when I’m riding in a car?”, “What will happen if I drop a cement block on to a balloon full of shaving cream?”.

Students’ fascination and curiosity with science is natural and abundant, and they are always eager to get their hands on any lab activity that comes their way. However, one thing that I have noticed among the students is a general misconception that “science” is performed by
“scientists”, usually in a laboratory setting. This generalized belief is actually quite common among all children. When I ask, “What scientific things have you done lately?”, the common responses usually have to do with what they did in class with their teachers. Students are very
skeptical when I inform them that they “do science” every day of their lives!

If science means making observations and then acting on those observations, then every time you put on a jacket, you’re doing science. As parents, we have unique opportunities to turn what is academic into real-world learning. Children learn about the moon and stars in class, but only we can look up into the night sky with them.

Perhaps the easiest and most natural setting for science is in the kitchen. Many children are not aware of the similarities between chemists in a lab and cooks in a kitchen. Allow your children to help make breakfast. Talk about chemistry in the kitchen! Just making pancakes involves measuring solids and liquids, mixing substances, using heat energy, and manipulating and observing physical and chemical changes.

So, start at home and try not to let these little “teachable” opportunities pass you by. The more science children are exposed to at home, the more likely they will succeed here at school. Go make something delicious! Hey, sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to do good SCIENCE!

School make-up days schedule changed due to flood

From school newsletter:

Due to the two flood days which occurred in September, students and staff will be in session on February 12 & March 15.

As winter has not even begun and there is the chance that inclement weather may force additional school closings, Gwinnett County Public Schools has amended its 2009-2010 school calendar to include two more snow make-up days. Both of these days were originally scheduled as student/staff holidays.

The two new make-up snow days are:

• Monday, February 15 (snow make-up day # 1)

• Friday, April 2 (snow make-up day # 2)

• May 27 will remain as snow make-up day # 3. If the district does not

need to use these days as make-up days, they will be holidays for students and staff.

My Snellville Blog is now on Facebook

"My Snellville Blog" is now on Facebook! So, if you use Facebook, you can pick up the blog posts there too. Here is the link to My Snellville Blog on Facebook

If you have photos you'd like to share with our readers, please tag My Snellville Blog!

Veterans Day observance in Lawrenceville

Gwinnett County will host the annual Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial in Lawrenceville. The observance will pay tribute to the county’s military veterans and honor two servicemen who were killed in the line of duty this year.

The public is invited to attend this event to thank the men and women who have served honorably in the military, during wartime or peacetime, and to memorialize the fallen heroes who have sacrificed their lives to protect our nation.

Veterans Day ceremony honors Gwinnett's military heroes
Duluth Weekly

Parents join forces to alter school redistricting plans

Since the redistricting maps were unveiled last month, the district's central office has received about 1,000 formal notices from parents, many seeking a change in the proposed boundaries. More opinion forms are expected to filter in from schools affected by the redistricting.

The redistricting proposal, set for fall 2010, relocates some 9,000 students in 29 schools as the district cuts back on trailers and draws boundaries for six new schools. The Gwinnett school system, the largest in the state, has about 160,000 students.

The east Gwinnett group, comprised of parents in Snellville and Loganville, is drafting strategies to stop the proposed relocation of about 200 students at Magill Elementary in Loganville to Britt Elementary in Snellville.

The problem, according to parent Shoshone Abdulkariem of Snellville, is that Britt is already overcrowded. Just as important, she said, parents are upset that their children would now graduate from Britt to Snellville Middle School, while Magill students would graduate to nearby Midway Middle, which is set to open next year.

"A lot of residents here felt they had a hand in building that school," Abdulkariem said.

Parent Andrea Raphael of Snellville said the group turned in 160 opinion forms to the district office Wednesday, the deadline for the questionnaires.

"Britt already has about 900 students, and they want to reduce that to about 530," Raphael said. "They'll achieve it with a lot less disruption if Magill students stay at Magill and fewer students are removed from Britt."

The group is sending about a dozen representatives door-to-door to summon more support and address the board of education when it hears public input Nov. 19.

Greg Stanfield, director of planning for the district, said the case of Britt Elementary is part of a domino effect that involves several schools beginning with the new Snell Elementary. All suggestions will be considered, he said. The opinion forms will be reviewed by an educator and a parent based at each of the 29 schools affected. From there, he said, the planning department will evaluate any suggested modifications.

Parents organize to alter redistricting plans
Atlanta Journal Constitution

Baggett appears to have mistrust of Snellville vote

I received some inside news that Niria Dominguez Baggett (the candidate who is getting a recount from Tuesday's Snellville City Council election after losing to Barbara Bender by only 7 votes) has now filed an open records request for thirty-seven items, including the maintenance records on the voting machine.

I can see supporting a recount when the vote is this close, but needing maintenance records on the machine?!? That's closing in on the ridiculous in my opinion. Especially after a candidate has personally witnessed the machine recounting the paper ballots with many reputable people in attendance. After the recount, her loss appeared to be by only 6 points instead of 7. I guess that was enough to cast additional doubt.

Ugh, is Hubs back from Taco Bell yet? I'm sick of politics.

Snellville's fresh start

An opinion piece by Rick Badie in the AJC. It pretty much sums up things here...a little off - (media always wants to wrap up a story in a neat little package and real life isn't that way) but well-written overall.

Rick Badie's Gwinnett: Fresh start for civility in Snellville
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Alas, the Snellville snafus that we've come to know the past two years may be a past relic. Thank Tuesday's city election. ...

Snellville estate sale

I went to a couple garage/yard sales today, and thought you might want to know about this one - the resident told me I could list the address here.

It's 2157 Hartridge Drive, Snellville GA 30078.

The sale is closed for today, but they'll be having the yard sale again tomorrow, Saturday, November 7th, from 9 am to 3 pm. It's a great sale for anyone who does crafting, wreaths, or designing - there's stuff for most holidays, especially Christmas. When I was there, they had quite a few vintage Christmas items.

Here's how to get there - it's very easy. From US78/Main Street, turn down Skyland Drive (that's the road that runs by W.C. Britt Elementary and South Gwinnett High School. Turn left on Hartridge Drive (Hartridge will be the first left after you pass Rockdale Circle). The house is on the left. Signs are on the mailbox.