Georgia Magazine - August 2012 - (Page 13)

COMPILED BY VICTORIA SCHARF DeCASTRO Where kids count Using one of the Earth’s brightest resources, the sun, local middle school students put their hand-built solar sprinters to the test at Jefferson-based Jackson EMC’s Junior Solar Sprint competition at Road Atlanta in Bra- North Gwinnett Middle School took ﬁrst place at Jackson selton in May. EMC’s Junior Solar Sprint in two major categories: Speed/ A fast-paced race com- Performance and Design/Engineering. Team members petition, the Junior Solar include, from left, front row, Richie Adams, Kirtan Parekh Sprint teaches students the and Jordan Thomason; back row, Coach Jonathan Roy, principles of energy and sci- Tanay Sheth, Tilak Patel and Lauren Johnson. ence in a fun and exciting atmosphere. Goals include stimu- the annual Mentor Appreciation Lunlating interest in new technology cheon held at the Jefferson Civic Center among young students, encouraging in May. them to accept these technologies Lindsay’s Legacy pairs a student in and incorporate them into their edu- need with a caring, adult role model cation and consumer practices. and friend to guide the young person Also at Jackson EMC, Dwayne toward personal and academic sucAnsley, director of operation ser- cess. The program comprises more vices, was honored as the 2012 Lind- than 200 mentors in the three school say’s Legacy Mentor of the Year at systems of Jackson County. AMY LOTT / COWETA-FAYETTE EMC LIGHT SOURCES INC. Coweta-Fayette EMC computer services technicians Jennifer Jones and Ben Schwarting check out an impressive “Tacticomm” vehicle during the ﬁrst statewide meeting of the Georgia EMC Technology Association. On the cutting edge Some 40 individuals representing approximately 25 EMCs, plus Tuckerbased Georgia EMC, Georgia System Operations Corp. (GSOC) and Georgia Transmission Corp., attended the Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) Technology Association’s ﬁrst statewide meeting at Palmetto-based Coweta-Fayette EMC in May. More than 30 vendors and speakers were also present. Presentations focused on the technical/hardware aspects of information technology for electric utilities. Topics included disaster recovery, telecommunications, virtualization, security, application development for mobile devices, mobile device security and the introduction of GSOC’s Member Portal, an online tool for EMCs to post documents and engage in discussion with other member cooperatives. A Howard Technology Solutions “Tacticomm” vehicle was also on-site to address the EMCs’ role in emergency response and public safety management. The high-tech mobile command and communications SUV allows ﬁrst responders to act quickly to establish command presence, resource control and communication interoperability (the ability to exchange and use information—usually in a network made up of several local area networks) in the aftermath of a major disaster. August 2012 Co-op employees brighten community park Mt. Zion Park, located near the Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) Training, Education, and Safety Center in Smarr, was recently enhanced as part of a service learning project completed by electric cooperative employees currently participating in the University of Georgia Management Development program. Used by many groups From left, Phillip Tankersley, Carroll EMC in Carrollton; in the Smarr community, Latisha Courchaine, Snapping Shoals EMC in Covington; the park consists of a ball Matt Young, Carroll EMC; Blake Gay, Planters EMC in ﬁeld where many church Millen; Rusty Rainey, Coweta-Fayette EMC in Palmetto; teams play, as well as a Ken Simmons, Carroll EMC; Tim Waddle, Talquin EMC meeting facility that hous- in Quincy, Fla.; and Erica York, Ryan Bridges, Audrey es local Boy Scout and Fowler and Dale Bennett, Sawnee EMC in Cumming, worked on the Mt. Zion Park enhancement project. Girl Scout troops. The enhancement included a landscaped entrance to the house to match existing facilities, park, a newly constructed park sign and a new roof and door on the with lights, fresh paint on the well well house. More online at www.georgiamagazine.org KEN SIMMONS / CARROLL EMC 13 http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - August 2012

Georgia Magazine - August 2012
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Liberty Notes
Georgia News
Festival Guide
Calendar of Events
Currents
Ready, Set, Get Prepared
Georgia Farmers Return to Their Roots
Around Georgia
Picture This?
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - August 2012