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OCTOBER 18 - OCTOBER 24, 2017
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The benefits of yoga Exercise strengthens physical and mental health
PHOTO BY MELANIE RUBERTI
Susan Kraut focuses on stretching and deep breathing exercises as she winds down a yoga class.
BY MELANIE RUBERTI melanie@newnan.com
When yoga students step into Susan Kraut’s classroom on the second floor of the Piedmont Newnan Wellness Center, they are immediately transported into a meditative oasis.
Dim lights, soothing music and lightly scented incense encompass the room as Kraut, a certif ied yoga instructor, leads students through a series of poses intermingled with breathing techniques and deep muscle stretches throughout the body.
While the Hatha yoga class Kraut taught on Wednesday is for more experienced yoga students, she gently guides the class through the exercise and shows them alternative poses if they’re not quite up to speed. But Kraut is quick to break the misconception yoga is only
for people with extreme flexibility or exercise experience. “Enhancing flexibility, physical strength and endurance is actually part of the practice,” she explained. “It connects our mind and our body and gets us in tune with our body … when we feel strain and anxiety, we
know what to do to stop it.” Kraut felt the benefits of yoga f irsthand when she started practicing it more than five years ago. The former entertainment marketing specialist had two
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Welch STEM Garden growing a crop of learning opportunities By REBECCA LEFTWICH
COURTESY OF WELCH ELEMENTARY
Welch students get in on the gardening action, spreading mulch in flower beds.
becky@newnan.com Nestled in an outdoor nook at Welch Elementary School is a place where f irst-graders grow edibles, the tiniest Bulldogs learn their ABCs on stepping stones, and teachers conduct read-alouds and science experiments with their classes. It’s Welch’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Garden, a collaborative project spearheaded by parent volunteer Jennifer Adke and STEM teacher Sharon McClellan. More than simply an outdoor classroom, the garden was specifically designed to augment STEM classes – which have been in place for grades K-5 for three
years – at the school. “I took the state science standards and sat down with Jennifer, and we figured out things we could be doing,” McClellan said. “We wanted to make sure the teachers feel like it will enhance their lessons and not just be something extra they had to do. Uti li zi ng a n u nused space between classroom ha llways a nd in itia lly armed with a $2,500 grant from Panasonic secured by Adke, volunteers began carefully transforming the spot into a sciencespecific learning ground. “The garden would not have been possible without Jennifer,” McClellan said. Among other features, the garden contains grow-
ing tables, a life-sized abacus made of PVC pipe and wiffle balls, a weather station, an experiment table, stepping stones labeled with the ABCs and a low wooden bridge designed specifically to help pre-K students with reading and motor skills. A mourning dove and several hummingbirds have taken up residence in the garden as well. “The grant from Panasonic really helped get it going, and we’ve had other donations from The Home Depot and other places,” McClellan said, adding that one popular feature of the garden is tree stump stools donated by the Georgia Forestry
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Coweta SAT scores top national average Courtesy of Coweta County Schools Special to The Newnan Times-Herald
The average score on the SAT was 1079 for 2017 graduates in the Coweta County School System, placi ng t he system 19 points above the national average and 29 points above the state average on the college entrance exam. This was the first year of reporting for the newly
reformatted SAT. Reporting shows test results for 2017 graduates on the SAT’s new math and evidence-based reading and writing tests sections and is scaled between 400 and 1600 points. While the new format precludes direct comparisons to last year’s results, 2017 was the third year in a row that the Coweta County School System scored higher than
the state and national averages. All three Coweta high schools also outscored state and national averages on the exam. “Opportunities to evaluate the level of rigor in our curriculum against the state and nation are often difficult to obtain,” Coweta Superintendent of Schools Steve Barker said. “The SAT is one such measure that allows this type of comparison.
“These positive results ref lect a rigorous advanced curriculum, strong instructional delivery from our teachers, and dedicated work by our students,” Barker added. “Our community should be proud of their efforts.” Coweta County’s average score wa s 552 on reading/writing and 528 on math, while national scores averaged 533 on reading/writing and 527
on math. Georgia averages were 535 on reading/ writing and 515 on math. East Coweta Hig h School students scored an average of 546 on reading/writing and 523 on math for a combined 1070; Newnan High School students scored an average of 547 on reading/writing and 521 on math for a combined 1068; and Northgate High School students scored an average of 562 on reading/writing and
540 on math for a combined 1102. The mean scores are for students in the graduating class of 2017 who took the new SAT during high school. Within each assessment, test-takers are counted only once and only their latest scores are included. School systems or schools with 15 or fewer t e s t- t a k e r s w e r e n o t
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