19th Bus Trip Across Georgia

Changing Culture, Building Community, and Reaching Excellence

The 2011 edition of this annual event was a smashing success.  Almost 80 riders filled two tour buses as we traveled off the beaten path to see eight great Georgia public schools.  We always try to present a variety of schools and programs and we successfully did that this year by visiting a charter, a career academy, a high school, two middle schools and three elementary schools.

Each school had its own personality but all underlined the fact that public education is alive and well in these communities.  We celebrated that achievement and took a close, hard look at why and how they are achieving.  There’s no doubt there were many lessons learned on this three-day experience and many teaching points will be shared across the state.

To truly understand this event and the value it offers, you have to participate.  We hope you will consider next year’s 20^th anniversary trip.  Watch the web site during the summer for announcements on the application process.

If you could not attend this year, we’ll try now to give you a feel for what you missed.  We always ask our participants for their “Reflections” of the journey.  Following you will find many of their comments as well as photos captured along the way.  If you have comments or questions about the trip, drop Partnership Communications Director Bill Maddox a note .

Photos (Scroll down to the bottom of our Gallery page for three days of coverage, October 25 - 27.)

BT 19 Route - We traveled almost a 1,000 miles in three days.  Thanks to our map-making friends at Georgia Power, see where we traveled!

Best Practices Captured - The Bus Trip celebrates achievement but another objective is to capture great ideas and use them elsewhere.  Check these ideas from our riders. 

Media Coverage - We enjoyed media coverage at every stop along the way but we were especially honored to have Maura Walz from Georgia Public Broadcasting riding along with us.  She filed some great stories.  Here is one featuring the Golden Isles Career Academy.

Individual Schools - What did the participants think of each school?  There were many "Wows!" and "Fantastics!" used to describe the experience but the comments offer insight to our stops along the way.  We encourage you to not only read the comments but think about them in relation to your own education system. Read them now. If you have comments, drop us a note.

General Participant Comments

Jennifer Britton, Special Education Teacher, A.E. Beach H.S., - Savannah - Thank you for such an incredible experience.  My knowledge and understanding as a teacher has truly been transformed by this trip.  I have a renewed faith in our education system and hope to translate this energy into positive experiences for myself as a teacher and each and every student that crosses my path.  More

Detailed Look at the Tour From Two Perspectives
If you are looking for the nuts and bolts of the trip and even some analysis of what we saw along the way, the next two entries will provide that.  The first one comes from the perspective of a senior education administrator.  The second is from a social science/health perspective:

Dodge County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Melinda Mullis Dennis  participated in the trip but her staff was not left behind.  Superintendent Dennis blogged her experiences and lessons-learned back to her team after each day.  Her commentary can be found here.  It makes for interesting reading.

Dr. Robert A. Hahn, Senior Scientist, Guide to Community Preventive Services, Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was on his second consecutive tour.  Dr. Hahn is a Georgia Partnership Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) graduate and has a special interest in the education of the state's children and the relationship that education has on health issues.  Read his analysis here.

College student/future teacher comments (19 students from 14 Georgia colleges and universities)

Hanah Swinson, Georgia Southwestern University - I just want to take the time to express how thankful I am for the past week.  Words can't describe what I saw in the schools and the lessons that I learned that will help me when I have a classroom of my own one day.  I had a blast seeing all the different schools and making connections with all the principals. This is a great opportunity for future teachers to experience.  Thanks again and I can't wait to keep in touch to tell you if I get a job from this trip. More future teacher comments.

High school/future teacher comments (Lowndes High School, Valdosta) - This was the second year the tour was joined by future teachers at the high school level.  You've heard from our college future teachers (above) about the value of the Bus Trip, now let's hear from a couple of our high schoolers and their teacher, Mrs. Amy Carter (who is also State Representative Amy Carter).  Read on!

Check out the trip on Facebook, "like" us, and let us know what you think!