So we’ve heard
Kersha Cartwright
Dr. Brian Ridley (93C) was hailed in Haralson County, Ga., media for his selection as Georgia Middle School Principal of the Year. According to an article in the Haralson GatewayBeacon, Ridley turned around Haralson County Middle School from its place on the Georgia Department of Education’s “needs improvement” list to one of only eight “2012 Breakout Schools.” He also was a finalist for the Parent to Parent of Georgia organization’s Education Impact Award and is a member of the State Board of Directors of the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals. The newspaper reported that, after graduating from Berry with a degree in music, Ridley earned a Master of Music degree in tuba performance, an Educational Specialist degree in leadership and a Doctor of Education degree in school improvement from the University of West Georgia.
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BERRY MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
John Barge (88C) and Joe Cook (88C) have more in common than once being roommates at Berry College – both are included on Georgia Trend magazine’s 2013 list of the 100 most influential Georgians. Barge is superintendent of Georgia’s public school system (see page 17). Cook, who also made the list in 2011, is executive director and river keeper for the Coosa River Basin Initiative. Former Berry trustee Tom Fanning also made the list. Fanning is chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company. Sara Totonchi (99C) and Berry Trustee Roger Tutterow (84C) were recognized on a list of “notable” Georgians in the same issue of Georgia Trend, as was Maria Saporta, a member of the Berry College Board of Visitors. Totonchi is executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, Tutterow is a nationally noted economist and professor of economics at Mercer University, and Saporta is a longtime Atlanta-area business reporter and columnist. The Daily Citizen of Dalton, Ga., announced the selection of Tim Howard (82C) as “Community Champion.” The award is presented annually to a person who makes a difference in the community by the Murray County Family Con nection, a group of leaders from several government agencies and community organizations. The organization’s chairwoman said she could “stand here for three days telling you about all the things (Howard) has done for our community and our children.”
University of Georgia equestrian head coach Meghan Nolan Boenig (99C) and her highly successful program were the focus of a Dick Yarbrough column in the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph as the Bulldogs pre pared for the National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championships in Waco, Texas. Yarbrough lauded the five national championships won under Boenig’s leadership, as well as the team’s considerable academic prowess. “Win or lose in Waco,” he wrote, “these young competitors remind us that amid all the hypocrisy of big-time college athletics, there are still real student-athletes who bring honor to their university through excellence on the playing field and in the classroom.” Boenig, who has led the UGA program since its 2001 inception, was featured in the inaugural issue of Berry magazine.
The Atlanta JournalConstitution was among many news outlets to report the March appointment of John Coleman (04C), at right, as one of six new members of the DeKalb County School Board. The new appointees have been tasked with what was described as the difficult job of “resolving complaints of mismanagement, infighting and nepotism” brought against the school system by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.” SACS put DeKalb on accreditation probation in December 2012. Coleman is a strategic planning manager with Invesco. The Rome News-Tribune reported in December 2012 that Robbie Robison (80C, 82G), principal of Lyerly (Ga.) Elementary School, had retired after a 31-year career in education.
In March, Barbara Struckhoff (77C) – “the matriarch of the Wayne County (Ga.) High School Lady Jackets’ sports program,” according to The Press-Sentinel of Jesup, Ga. – announced her retirement as softball coach at the end of the school year. According to the newspaper, she is the winningest coach in the history of WCHS varsity sports. She started the school’s softball program in 1978, and the softball field has been dedicated in her honor. Over the years, she also served as athletic director and girls basketball coach for both the middle school and high school. Struckhoff played basketball and volleyball while in college and was a member of Berry’s 1976 AIAW Div. II national championship basketball team.
courtesy of The Press-Sentinel
From the editors of Berry magazine: Highlights about Berry alumni sometimes come to our attention via the news media – especially when a Berry affiliation is mentioned. When we can, we want to share what we’ve heard with you. See any names you know?
JOHNNY CRAWFORD/2013 THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION