Open Letter to Legislators

June 19, 2020

Clarke Central High School English department co-chair and Georgia Governor’s Honors Program Communicative Arts instructor David Ragsdale stands in Billy Henderson Stadium with CCHS students who attended GHP during the summer of 2015. GHP is an opportunity that has enriched the lives of many high school students, and it should be continued to be funded so that future students can also experience it. “I was fortunate enough to teach subject matter outside the purview of the typical Georgia High School classroom in order to challenge, enrich and engage the brightest minds of our state, a handful of whom were from my district — the Clarke County School District,” Ragsdale said. Photo from ODYSSEY archives

Longtime Clarke Central High School and Governor’s Honors Program teacher decries defunding the program.

My name is David Ragsdale and I live in Athens, Georgia.

I’m writing about the Georgia Senate Appropriation Committee‘s Substitute to House Bill 793. Item 177.100 in that bill moves millions of dollars from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. A result of this move would be the elimination of the Governor’s Honors Program, which is the longest continuously running governor’s school in the United States and one that has changed my and thousands of others’ lives.

As an instructor in both the Communicative Arts Department (2008-2009, 2011-2013, 2016-present), and Social Studies Department (2015), I oppose any legislation that will suspend funding for the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. I can personally attest to the transformational nature of the program and of its enrichment.

“I can personally attest to the transformational nature of the program and of its enrichment.”

While teaching in Valdosta and later in Rome, I encountered some of the most diverse, talented, and amazing students, including Representative Houston Gaines as a Journalism student back in 2012, it has ever been my privilege to teach in a nineteen-year career. I was fortunate enough to teach subject matter outside the purview of the typical Georgia High School classroom in order to challenge, enrich and engage the brightest minds of our state, a handful of whom were from my district — the Clarke County School District.

Through the years, I’ve been able to host a multitude of guest speakers to work with the students to enhance their academic and social experience, including Senator Tyler Harper, who took part in a press conference with student journalists last summer. Many of these students have gone on to post-secondary placements such as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Stanford, UGA, Mercer, Georgia Tech, McGill University, Brown, Columbia, UCLA, NYU, Emory, Yale, Vanderbilt, among other highly regarded universities and colleges.

Not only were the students changed by the experience, but the rich environment also enhanced my own teaching and brought me back to Clarke Central High School a better teacher. Likewise, it affirmed my desire to engage students of all levels and backgrounds in such a positive educational experience.

“Not only were the students changed by the experience, but the rich environment also enhanced my own teaching and brought me back to Clarke Central High School a better teacher.”

This program is a shining example of what Georgia’s education system can and should do, and defunding it is unacceptable. I would like to insist that you reject this proposed budget line item and insist on the continued funding of both the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Governor’s Honors Program.

David Ragsdale

David A. Ragsdale (UGA B.S.Ed. ’01, M.Ed. ’03, Ed.S. '09), CJE, has advised student publications since 2001 at Clarke Central H.S. in Athens, Ga., where his duties include advising the ODYSSEY Media Group and Iliad literary-art magazine. Additionally, he serves as Co-Department Chair of the English department at CCHS, coordinates student internships with the University of Georgia, serves as Gifted Coordinator and teaches English at the Title I school. He spends summers teaching at the Georgia Governor's Honors Program for the state's top gifted and talented students or on the faculty of journalism workshops across the Southeast. Ragsdale received the Crystal Apple Award, an honor given to University of Georgia alumni in K-12 education who have made a significant impact on student, school or school district performance in 2007. Ragsdale was the GSPA Adviser of the Year in 2007 and 2020. He was named an ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Fellow in 2014, an Elizabeth Dickey Distinguished Service Award recipient by the Southern Interscholastic Press Association in 2015, named a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Distinguished Adviser in 2019 and the Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2022. Ragsdale and his staff have twice been recognized for their commitment to Diversity by the Journalism Education Association (2020-21 and 2021-22). He received the Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award from SIPA in 2024 and he’s been commended by the JEA Board of Directors for his work for the organization. He served on UGA’s College of Education’s Alumni Board and on the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Advisory Board for several years, and currently serves on the National Council of Teachers of English’s REALM committee, as the Journalism Education Association’s State Director for Georgia, and as the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s Executive Chair. Ragsdale will facilitate the JEA Outreach Academy at fall conventions. Ragsdale advocates a stance of student inquiry in his work and seeks to provide a safe place for students to not only succeed but also to fail. He seeks to empower students to recognize the implicit and explicit import of their words and to engage them in masterful storytelling. His students have received top honors in critiques and competitions across the country.