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Schools

To Support Teachers, Sherman's Troops Ride into Savannah

Former Clarke Middle Principal Ken Sherman leads cyclists on a 207-mile trek to support the district's best teachers.

To raise money for some of Clarke County's finest teachers, a group of more than 40 Clarke County educators, parents and others hit the road this morning, embarking on a 207-mile bike ride from Athens to Savannah.

Former Principal Ken Sherman, one of the ride's founders, is making his tenth appearance peddling in the so-called Savannah Double Century Bike Ride, since the fundraiser's humble beginnings in 1999.

Sherman – no relation to Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who led Union forces through Georgia to Savannah in his infamous March to the Sea – first organized the trip so that his school could continue to take field trips, hold after school programs and take care of other school expenditures the district couldn't afford.

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“We've used (money from the bike ride) for just about every kind of unfunded or partially unfunded need you could imagine,” Sherman said.

On the very first ride, Sherman and another Clarke Middle teacher together raised $2,000 for their school.  Three years passed, and at the urging of some parents, Sherman decided to revive the ride once more in 2003. That year, with several other new riders, the group raised $7,000 for the school, he said.

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“We realized we were on to something both as an annual event, and something to gain with publicity for the school for the need for additional funds, and at that point it became an annual event and we've done it every year since,” Sherman said.

Since the ride's inception, participants have secured more than $150,000 in funding from individuals and businesses in support of Clarke Middle. What started out as an army of two has grown to more than 50 dedicated riders every year.

“It's a big social event. It's a way for people to come together and support each other to do something good for the community, and for a lot of people it's become a signature event for all those reasons,” Sherman said.

Double Century Riders come from all different walks of life and experiences. Some are doctors and lawyers, others are students or police officers with minimal riding experience. This year the oldest rider is 70, and the youngest are in their teens, he said.

“We're a very diverse group in every possible way,” Sherman said. “Just every stripe you can imagine, we have folks in the group who are very hardcore cyclists who will do the run upwards of 19 miles per hour on the average ... and we have some older, slower, more beginner-type cyclists who saw this as an opportunity to set a challenge for themselves.”

Sherman and his cycling troops left early Friday on a stretch along Prince Avenue through downtown Athens. The entire route is expected to take two full days to complete, with the first half of the journey taking riders more than 100 miles from Athens, to Louisville.  On Saturday the group will saddle up again and weave through several other small Georgia towns on another 100-mile stretch.

Once in Savannah, Sherman and other riders will spend the remaining weekend celebrating and recuperating, he said.

Sherman retired from his post at Clarke Middle in 2009, but at age 59, he wanted to preserve the bike ride so he could continue to support the school district, he said.

This year Sherman has set a fundraising target of $10,000, but the money won't go to Clarke Middle as it has in the past. Instead, it will help the Foundation for Excellence in Public Education in Clarke County endow a fifth Teacher of Excellence Award. This change should have a lasting impact on the district for years to come, said former Clarke Central Principal Maxine Easom.

“I think its a nice next step so we can move from one school into every school,” Easom said. “It just shows how much heart he still has for the school district.”

Money generated from the ride will also support the funding for twice as many classroom grants given out to teachers to help them equip their classrooms with books and other supplies, or to prepare for special projects or field trips for their students, Easom said.

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