Charter School Receives Governing Board

LOS ANGELES - Regina King, star of TNT’s critically acclaimed drama series “Southland,” will serve as social media ambassador for the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® airing live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 29. Through posts on Twitter and Facebook, King will serve as the online face for the awards, giving viewers unprecedented access to behind-the-scenes moments during the weeks building up to the show, as well as from the red carpet.

King’s duties as the SAG Awards® social media ambassador will kick off when she announces this year’s nominations on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 9 a.m. (ET)/6 a.m. (PT), telecast live on TNT and online at tnt.tv and tbs.com. During the six weeks leading up to the Jan. 29 simulcast of the award ceremony, King will continue to tweet and post about the SAG Awards, including updates on presenters and fashion. She will also post updates during rehearsals and provide her thoughts and insights from the red carpet on the big night.

In “Southland,” which returns for its fourth season beginning Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), King plays Lydia Adams, a smart and perceptive LAPD detective who often finds herself becoming emotionally invested in the cases she handles. In March 2011, King earned the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in “Southland.”

King was nominated for a SAG Award as a member of the cast in the film “Ray,” for which she won an NAACP Image Award. Her extensive screen credits include “Jerry Maguire”, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”, “Enemy of the State”, “Boyz n the Hood”, “Poetic Justice”, “Higher Learning”, “Our Family Wedding”, “Year of the Dog” “This Christmas”, “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous”, “A Cinderella Story”, “Daddy Day Care”, “Mighty Joe Young”, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde”, “Friday, Down to Earth” and “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate”. She also provided the voice of Kreela in the animated film “Ant Bully.” For television, she starred in the movies “Living Proof” and “If These Walls Could Talk 2” and supplied the voices of Huey and Riley for the animated series “The Boondocks”.

TNT and TBS’s live simulcast of the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will take place Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. (ET), 5 p.m. (PT), 7 p.m. (CT) and 6 p.m. (MT). West Coast viewers who prefer to watch in primetime will be able to catch the encore presentation on TNT at 7 p.m. (PT) / 10 p.m. (ET).

Of the top industry honors presented to performers, only the Screen Actors Guild Awards are voted on solely by actors’ peers in the Screen Actors Guild. The SAG Awards was the first televised awards show created by a union to honor the work of actors and the first to present ensemble and cast awards. The SAG Awards nominees are chosen by separate film and television nominating committees, each consisting of 2,100 SAG members from around the country, randomly selected anew each year. All active members of Screen Actors Guild are eligible to vote for the final Actor® recipients.

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG, TNT and TBS, visit http://sagawards.org/about/, “like” SAG Awards at http://www.facebook.com/sagawardsofficialpage and follow SAG Awards at http://twitter.com/sagawards.

Brenau ‘Early College’ Wins SACS Approval

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – With formal recognition of the Early College program by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Brenau University now will move aggressively to recruit extraordinary high school students who want to get a head start on college careers.

The program, the second generation of Brenau Academy, the female institution that has operated on the Gainesville campus since 1928, departs from the traditional residential prep school model by enabling qualifying students who are of traditional high school age to enroll in classes offered by the 134-year-old Women’s College at the university.

In the “dual enrollment” program, students complete college courses to both qualify for high school diplomas and accrue course credits that will count toward undergraduate degrees.

“That SACS stamp of approval means that this program is a fully integrated part of Brenau University undergraduate studies,” said Nancy Krippel, the university provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Courses students complete in Brenau Early College will easily transfer into undergraduate programs at Brenau and any other accredited institution.”

Brenau developed the early college format following about a year of study after it became clear to university officials that a traditional prep school model on campus was no longer economically sustainable. The pilot for the program also allayed concerns about the younger students' abilities to perform well in a higher-pressure college classroom environment. Lenna Applebee, director of the program, said that initial students in the Early College program not only kept pace with their older colleagues but also often excelled academically.

The university currently is enrolling students for the fall 2012 term. Open primarily to high school juniors and seniors, the all-female program will enable them to earn high school diplomas by completing college courses. The ideal applicant will have at least a 3.5 grade point average in high school-level classes and will score 1100 or better on SAT or equivalent tests.

“The university offers everything the student needs to complete a high school diploma, whether it is English literature, American history, sciences or foreign languages,” said Applebee. “Courses required for the last two years of high school almost exactly parallel those required for a two-year Associate of Arts diploma at Brenau. This accelerated program enables students to complete both by taking one set of courses.”

The SACS approval also means that students enrolled in the program also will have access other benefits, including some financial aid for higher education that is not available to traditional high school or residential prep school students.

In March the Southern Association of Independent Schools, the regional accreditation authority for private high schools, begins its review of the program to certify its issuance of high school diplomas. Applebee said she anticipates that review will be completed by the middle of the 2012-13 academic year, which begins in August.

“This is an excellent way for bright and confident young women to get head starts on their college careers,” Applebee said. “We provide a safe and structured environment that helps nurture and support students as they transition their educational experience to the next level.”

For residential students, there are Early College Mentors who live in the residence halls to give guidance and support for the residential experience. “These are graduate students with additional training to make a student’s time on campus fun, interesting and safe,” said Applebee. “The mentors help students balance work and play by planning activities in the residence halls, encouraging appropriate relationships between roommate/suitemates, and providing structure to time outside of class.”

For more information regarding this unique educational opportunity, please contact Lenna Applebee, Director, at 770-534-6286 or lapplebee@brenau.edu. More information is available on our website at www.brenau.edu/earlycollege.

Founded in 1878, Brenau University currently enrolls about 2,800 students in graduate and undergraduate programs on campuses and online. With a curriculum that blends professional preparation informed by the liberal arts, Brenau degree tracks range from Associate of Arts, which includes a special “early college” program for exceptional high school-age students to terminal degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts in Interior design and a Doctor of Nursing Practice. The main campus of the Georgia-based liberal arts institution, which includes the Brenau Women’s College, is in Gainesville with other campuses in Augusta, Kings Bay and in two metro Atlanta locations, Norcross and Fairburn. Brenau’s 2011 ranking as one of the top 15-best higher education values in the Southeast by U.S. News & World Report marks the university’s sixth consecutive year in that position for the magazine’s America's Best Colleges guidebook. Brenau University also has been cited as one of the best universities in the Southeast by The Princeton Review. The Chronicle of Higher Education accorded Brenau “honor roll” status as one of the top 10 best colleges and universities to work in its 2011-12 survey rankings.

Turner Seminary Celebrates Founders’ Convocation

Atlanta, GA – Turner Theological Seminary, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) constituent seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is celebrating its 118th Founders’ Convocation and Fourth Annual Isaac R. Clark Clergy and Lay Conference, January 30 through February 2, 2012. Since its beginning in 1894, Turner Seminary’s mission has been that of preparing men and women for Christian ministry in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is on this historical premise that the conference this year will focus on the theme “Fundamental Methodologies for Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Imagination.”

Turner’s President-Dean John F. Green commented, “While the week’s activities are designed to celebrate and commemorate the legacy of Turner Theological Seminary in the preparation of clergypersons for ministry, the program is intended to improve upon the skills of clergy and laypersons that are serious about ministry preparation in this 21st century. Therefore, all are welcomed to come and participate in the daytime and evening events.” The conference will be held at Saint Paul A.M.E. Church, 1540 Pryor Road, SE, Atlanta, GA, where Turner alumnus, The Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Bess is the pastor.

The Isaac R. Clark Clergy and Lay Conference, named in tribute to the former ITC homiletics professor, the late Dr. Isaac R. Clark, .is featuring dynamic preachers and presenters from several church denominations, most notably: Bishop Charles E. Blake, Presiding Prelate of the Church of God in Christ and Pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, CA; Dr. Joel Gregory, Professor of Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University and Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown College, Kentucky; Dr. Jamal Bryant founding pastor of Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church, Baltimore, and legendary preacher, scholar, author, and lecturer, Dr. Mack King Carter. Preaching and lecture events are scheduled throughout each day and at 7 p.m. evenings. The culminating event will be the 118th Founders’ Convocation Service at 11 a.m., Thursday, February 2, 2012 in the ITC Chapel, 700 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SW.

For details on preachers and presenters, the full schedule of activities, and how you can see and hear these great ecumenical messengers, call 404-527-0080 or go to www.turnerseminary.com.