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Bright Side
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Smyrna Vinings
Smyrna and Vinings’ Community Newspaper
Volume 13, No. 2
FEBRUARY 2017
VININGS EXPO WILL SHOWCASE AREA BUSINESSES
The 15 Campbell High seniors who earned acceptance to the Georgia Tech Class of 2021 show their spirit.
15 CAMPBELL SENIORS ACCEPTED TO GEORGIA TECH
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While most high school seniors are preparing for the next stage of their educational careers some Campbell High Seniors have moved a step closer to selecting a college. Georgia Tech surprised 15 Campbell seniors with official letters of acceptance during a ceremony Jan. 20. Parents watched with pride as their sons and daughters received their Georgia Tech admission packets from Kevin Gonzalez, Assistant Director of Georgia Tech Undergrad Admissions. “I’m proud of these guys,” said Adam Hicks, the father of twins who received early action admission. “Georgia Tech is an outstanding university. We are proud of the experience they have been able to get at Campbell. Campbell has been a special place. The International Baccalaureate program at Campbell is a very special opportunity.” The class of 2017 includes the largest number of Georgia Tech early action admissions for the Smyrna school. Two additional Campbell students were accepted this year. More than 15,000 students applied to Georgia Tech for early acceptance, which is an increase of six percent over the prior year. Of the students who applied, about 4,000 students received early action admissions. “I truly believe that I’m luckiest prin-
cipal, at least in the state of Georgia, to be able to work with such great students, teachers, family and community,” Principal Dr. Jeanne Walker told the seniors. The Campbell seniors recognized that they had help preparing for admission to Georgia Tech. “To a great extent, Campbell High has affected my wish to not only apply to Georgia Tech but also my ability to get in,” explained Campbell senior Matthew. “In this community with all my friends and peers and especially the teachers, it is very constructive, but also competitive. We sort of compete against each other, but we also are encouraged by it. We help each other. It is just a real since of community.” Matthew, who said his parents are very excited and want him to attend Georgia Tech, has plans to study computer science and game development. He likes that he can study both the technical side and business side of the game development field at the Atlanta-based university. His classmate Carolina was bubbling with excitement as she talked about being accepted to Georgia Tech. Her sister goes to Georgia Tech, and her parents met there. So, Carolina is ready to become a Yellow Jacket. Like the other Campbell students,
she first learned she had been accepted by reading it online Jan. 14. “I was anxiously waiting,” Carolina said. “I clicked a button, and it popped up and said ‘congratulations you have been accepted.’ I started yelling all through the house, calling family all the way in Argentina, which is my hometown. It was an amazing feeling!” Besides a family connection, another reason makes Georgia Tech a top contender for many of the Campbell students who were accepted. “The HOPE scholarship definitely helps with the financial aid,” Campbell senior Malcolm said as he explained why he may opt to attend Georgia Tech. “I think there is a high chance I will end up going to Georgia Tech.” Not all the students in Georgia accepted to Georgia Tech received an in-person visit from the college Admissions Office. Campbell is the only school Georgia Tech representatives plan to visit this year. “We try to visit diverse schools each year,” Gonzalez said. “We saw a large increase of admitted students this year because of the type of students that are applying to Georgia Tech. So, we are excited to come here [to Campbell High].”
The Vinings Business Association will host its eighth annual Vinings Business Expo on March 21 from 4-7 p.m. at the Hotel Indigo Atlanta Vinings Hotel, 2857 Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta. Admission and parking are free and the event is open to the public. Over 30 exhibitors will be featured with information on Vinings-area businesses, restaurants and events. There will also be free food samples, door prizes, drawings and giveaways, including restaurant gift certificates and a cash bar. Association chair Glenn Christian said he expects 600 people or more to attend this year’s event. “The Expo is an opportunity for Vinings area businesses to showcase their products and services to a different audience they probably have not had access to,” Christian said. “The Expo draws people from all over Cobb and the northwest side of Atlanta.” Sponsors of the events include The Bright Side Newspaper, Hotel Indigo Atlanta Vinings, Marietta Signs, Fidelity Bank, High Calibre Realty, PC Doc USA, Fidelity National Title, AmFam Vinings, Edward Jones Co., and many others. Exhibit tables are available for $125 for members and $195 for non-members, and all exhibitors must register and pay in full in advance, online only at www.viningsbusiness.com. Exhibitor setup is from 3 to 3:45 pm on a first-come, first-served basis. “Interested businesses, organizations or individuals can sign-up to be exhibitors as long as the link on the association’s website works (it will stop working once 30 have signed up),” Christian said. Membership in the VBA begins at $95 for 12 months and can be set up online with a credit or debit card.
WITH 10 WEEKS TO GO, BRAVES REVEAL TRAFFIC PLAN With just 10 weeks before the Braves first pitch at the new SunTrust Park, Cobb officials are expressing concerns on whether everything will be ready. “The Braves are going to be ready,” Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said. “The stadium will be ready. But we still don’t have agreements among multiple jurisdictions on a traffic study.” Cobb Commission Chair Mike Boyce has warned that the county could not afford any missteps. “We’re all in this ship together,” Boyce said. “We’re not going to fail on opening day.” The Chairman in January named a 28-member joint task force for the Braves stadium with the aim of making the ballpark a success. The task force will be an advisory body under the auspices of District Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the Cumberland area. Ott put forward a list of 28 names of private individuals, public officials and employees of the county, as well as business owners.
SunTrust Park will be the new home of the Atlanta Braves when the season opens in April.
The Braves revealed the first facet of their traffic plan last fall, returning the starting time of games to 7:30 p.m. and noted the 14 primary access points to SunTrust Park, which will open in April. In a mid-January briefing, the Braves and key partners unveiled Cobb County’s Transportation Management Plan. Also announced were additional game day parking spaces, a Braves-operated game day shuttle, the launch of A-List season parking sales and new partnerships with Uber and
Waze. “The amount of planning and coordination that has taken place between our organization and our partners is staggering, and today’s announcement is a testament to their hard work,” said Mike Plant, president, development for the Braves. “With three months to go until Opening Day, we have already secured significantly more parking than we had for a ballpark that is much smaller. Additionally, we have already anaContinued on Page 4