In-town free transportation now available for after school BLAST students

B.U.G. students for the second nine weeks are, from left, front row: JaQuania Emory, Charelle Hylow, Summer Flanagin and Nykia Golff; and back row, Colton Wilkerson, Lewis Williams and Zachary Dunnum.

The BLAST program at JCMS is currently taking applications for new students. The after school academic program has been available to JCMS students since September 2006 and will continue until May 10, 2007. BLAST (Building Lasting Academic Success Today) is a partnership between the Jenkins County school system and the Family Enrichment Center. The program runs Monday Thursday 3:15 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The program will now offer free transportation to participating students who live in town at the following locations:

+ Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive

+ Palmer Row

+ Lincoln & Washington (behind Enmark)

+ Kids Estate + Mays Circle + Murray Lane + Railroad Street (near tracks) + Millen Villas + "B" Street Area

+ Hendrix Street

Any student not participating in the transportation program will need to be picked up at 5 p.m. Students riding the bus will board around 5 p.m., and the bus will depart from the school parking lot shortly after.

Students may pick up an application at the JCMS office or from Mr. Paulk, the coordinator for the BLAST program. Parents should return the completed application to their child's homeroom teacher. After the application has been processed, an announcement will be made to let the new student know when he or she can start attending.

Mr. Paulk was recently very excited and extremely delighted to find out that some of the students who regularly attend the after school program were on the B.U.G. list (B.U.G. stands for "Bringing Up Grades") for the second nine weeks at the middle school, which meant that they worked very hard to improve their grade average in all of their subjects.

Parents and students are encouraged to take advantage of this program. If you have questions, please contact Mr. Paulk at 478-982-6024.