Enter The TowneLaker's

Pathfinder of
The Year Contest

Do you know someone who is leading the way?

Someone who deserves recognition for all they do?

Someone whose commitment to the community is extraordinary?

Someone who uses their time to make our community a better place to live?

If so, nominate them for The TowneLaker's 2002 Pathfinder of the Year. The winner will be featured in the November issue of The TowneLaker.

Write a letter to The TowneLaker describing why this person is deserving of the Pathfinder of the Year Award. Please include their name, what neighborhood they live in, your name, and where each of you may be reached.

The deadline is Friday, October 4, 2002 at 5 p.m. Mail entries to: Pathfinder, The TowneLaker, 1025 Rose Creek Drive, Suite 340, Woodstock, GA 30189, fax to (770) 516-4809 or email to editor@townelaker.com.

We have listed all our Pathfinder's of the Month for the past year below.

Previous Pathfinders
of the Month

September 2001 — Donnie Henriques, Woodstock City Councilman, Senior Center Volunteer and member of the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Cherokee School Board.

October 2001 — Phylis Hazencamp, volunteer with MUST Ministries, assisted with 29 successful adoptions (free of charge) and involved in the Women of Vision, a division of World Vision International.

December 2001 — Bobbi Martin, volunteer for Cherokee County Humane Society (CCHS) and counselor at the Cherokee Family Violence Center.

January 2002 — David Schuenemeyer, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and volunteer for MUST Ministries Marketing Committee.

February 2002 — Yogi Gnann, founder of the "Feed Our Firemen Fund" and volunteer Wildlife Action, Inc.

March 2002 — Angela Maxwell, volunteer for Cherokee FOCUS and assistant treasurer and a finance committee member and children's music director for Hillcrest Baptist Church.

April 2002 — Sheri Workman, Board of Directors for the Recycling Center and member of the Sierra Club Centennial Group.

May 2002 — Wendy Vogt, volunteer for Animal Shelter and formed a committee that aids in the fostering of stray or abandoned animals.

June 2002 — Mike McCoy, involved with the Etowah Foundation that supports the needs of Etowah High School and reads to Bascomb Elementary School students each week.

July 2002 — Felicia McAleer, helped keep the 20-acres of woods adjacent to Wyngate a natural habitat, involved with the Lake Allatoona Clean-ups and volunteer for CCHS.

August 2002 — Jeff Bennett, Student Counselor for Etowah High School and one of the founders of the Cherokee Theater Company.

September 2002
Pathfinder of the Month

 "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jim Brookshire

September's Pathfinder is Jim Brookshire. Jim is Supervisor of Student Services at the Cherokee County Board of Education. He has been with the Board for 35 years and has been involved in Cherokee County schools in one way or another all of his life. Jim started at Oak Grove Elementary through the eighth grade, then attended Cherokee High School and graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA). Jim began teaching French at Cherokee High School after graduation from UGA for five years. The next seven years saw Jim as the CVAE (Coordination, Vocation, Academic, Education) Coordinator for Etowah and Cherokee High Schools. According to Jim, this was a dropout prevention program designed to keep kids in school.

As the Supervisor of Student Services, Jim is involved in several aspects of our children's lives. He registers parents in the home study program — more than 800 families participate in the home study program in Cherokee County. Jim also coordinates all disciplinary hearings, attending the hearings with the parents of the offending child, and the tribunal committee (three retired educators). After a decision has been made, Jim meets with the parents to explain the decision and what action is to be taken by the parents and the child, whether it be an alternative school, an in-study program at school or in the most severe cases, dismissal from school.

Jim also has been involved in the Boy Scouts through Bascomb Methodist Church since 1972, volunteering in several capacities including Cub and Scout Master, Treasurer, District Commissioner, and Roundtable Chairman. Jim is a Deacon and the Treasurer at Hillcrest Baptist Church where he and his wife, Janice attend. The Brookshires have two sons, David and Daniel, both in the Marines. David and his wife, Lucy are stationed in Okinawa with their twin boys Johnathon and Joseph, and Daniel is stationed at Parris Island, SC. When asked what he does for fun, Jim quickly says he likes to run, and participates each year in the Peachtree Road Race. Jim has also completed three marathons — the Atlanta Race, Marine Corp. Race in Washington, DC and the Chickamauga in Chattahoochee, TN at Fort Oglethorpe Military Park.

Jim, for all you do to make this community a better place to live, we thank you!