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Volunteers

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Volunteering for the Georgia Close Up Foundation provides a once in a life time experience. This volunteer-driven organization is a resource for civic education, provides educational resources, hosts local activities of technical, professional, educational and social nature, and is a leader in standards development.

If you have any questions about volunteering please contact Ron at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can Download Volunteer Registration form PDF or register as a volunteer for one of our conferences on the registration page. Download Volunteer Brochure PDF.

About our volunteers

Thank You to our current and past volunteers! Georgia Close Up would not exist without the commitment of time and effort by people in the community. They understand that teaching the next generation the nuts and bolts process of government is essential for creating possibilities and challenges. We would like to thank this year's conference volunteers.

Cody Kamin
Dana James
Stan Darden
Molly Darden
Partha Mukerjee
Aimee Lyons
Paulette Suggs
Glenda Barnes
Linda Anderson Hocker
Carol Ferguson
Ji Eun Park
Sungeun Bae
Katie Parker
Caline Jarudi
Kim Mitchell
Greta Thomas

Jr. Program Instructors:
Sissi Wang
Chiara Ausserdorfer
Thien Lam
Alice Ren
Jenny Lu
Steven Zheng
Stephen Chen
Min Soo Han
Lil' Joe
William Yu
Mike Cao
Jay Xu
Chau Nguyen
Yui Shinohara

Teachers, None of this would have happened without our teachers!
Big THANKS!

Regina Griffin, East Cobb Middle School
Marisa Cloud, East Cobb Middle School
Bob Bauer, Horizon School
Sarah Lillevik, Woodland Middle School
Nancy Smith, Woodland Middle School
Kwesi Carter, Romar Academy
Chris Billingsley, Decatur High School
Andrea Eifrid, Druid Hills High School
Thaddeus Rimmer, Atlanta Job Corps
Christopher Smith, Tucker Middle School
Tia Wilkes, Bartow Middle School

Past Volunteers

Speakers

We are especially grateful to the following government officials and elected legislators for their time and interest in meeting with our students and teachers in our previous civic education programs.

Former Governor Roy Barnes
Former Secretary of State Cathy Cox
Former Assist. Secretary of State Bob Ray
Senator Donzella James
Rep. Charles Bannister
Rep. Stephanie Stuckey
Rep. Nan Orrick

Facilitators

Many thanks go to the following facilitators, who made sure all the arrangements were made and the logistical concerns were met. Without this army of willing and enthusiastic volunteers our programs would be impossible.

Stephanie Caywood
Mary Harris, Registration
Greta Thomas, Registration
Trey Gibbs, Georgia Environment
Pam Ware-Brooks, LOB
Stu Downs, Transportation, Hotel Coordinator
Mindy Boynton, Twin Towers
Ron Thomas, Administrator/Chair Person
Dellie Reckitt, Foundation Advisor
Phillip Newton, Advisor
Peter Thomas, Program Coordinator

Program Instructors

Program Instructors are one of the most important components of our programs. PIs, as they are commonly called, exemplify 锟斤拷participatory citizenship". By way of workshops and seminars, our dedicated volunteer PIs spend time discussing and debating vital issues in small groups. It is in the workshops that most of the learning and exchange of ideas take place. Our programs are greatly enhanced by these two-day volunteer leaders.

2008 Program Facilitators

Javarus Dupree

Program Instructor 2008 Javarus is a senior at Douglas County High School, and he is excited about completing his high school career and entering the real world. He is looking forward to continuing his education by possibly entering trade school, or joining the armed forces.

Stephanie Hansard

Program Administrator 2007-2008 Stephanie is a 20 year old student from the Agnes Scott College. Her major is in Sociology and Anthropology. She is from Bremen, Georgia in the USA. At the moment she works as a research assistant at the Agnes Scott College focusing on refugees and welfare reforms. She speaks English and Spanish. She is taking part in the activities of the Georgia Animals Rights and Protection(GARP), Habitat for Humanity and Baptist Student Union. She was also the 2007-2008 Georgia Close Up Intern.

Partha Mukherjee

Program Instructor 2008 Partha grew up in Kolkata, India, but has lived in the U.S. since the early 1970s. He is a retired civil engineer, having designed construction plans and managed the maintenance of many structural facilities in the southeast for MARTA, AT&T and Southern Bell. He has taught high school students mathematics and mentored students through the Junior Achievement program. Partha enjoys playing bridge, acting in community theater productions, and studying religion (focusing on Hinduism) and politics. Additionally, he is a prominent member of the local Indian community. He spends some of his free time serving as a Bengali and Hindi translator for hospitals and courts around Atlanta.

Anne Oredeko

Program Administrator, Intern 2008 Anne is a senior at Oglethorpe University. She is an active member on campus from starring in plays to organizing events; she has participated in all of it. She will complete her degree in International Studies this May and she is looking forward to entering graduate school in the fall.

Francisca Oredeko

Program Instructor 2008 Francisca is a senior at Douglas County High School. She has been an active member of her student body since her freshman year. She has participated in her student government and many other clubs and activities. She is looking forward to graduating and entering college in the fall. She plans to major in business or economics and possibly pursue a career in politics.

Sara Peralta

Program Administrator 2006-2007 Sara is a bilingual student who graduated last May from Agnes Scott College. She won a impresive number of awards: Gozuieta Foundation Scholarship, Frances Winship Walter Academic Scholarship, and Villavieja Study Abroad Scholarship. She worked as program administrator and consultant for the Georgia Close Up Foundation and other relevant organizations as: Girls Incorporated of Greater Atlanta, Refugees Family Services and Refugees Service of Texas. She constantly took part of the Campus activities as: Student Representative for the President's Committee on Community Diversity, Vice-President & Founding Member of Latinas Unidas, Teach-in Presenter & Latina Rep, Campaign for the Living Wage, Vice-President of Outreach at Iota Iota Iota.

Franklin Thomas Jr.

Program Facilitator 1989-2008 Franklin is a defense attorney. He has practiced law in Georgia for over 15 years. He studied and graduated from the University of Georgia Law School, Talladega College in Alabama and the Lovett School. Franklin has been a Georgia Close Up volunteer for over 25 years.