Chamber hosts annual Partners in Excellence Breakfast

ALBANY — More than 300 business and community leaders and Dougherty County School System representatives crowded into the Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center Thursday morning as the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and the school system recognized their Partners in Excellence at a Rise N Shine Breakfast.

Security Bank and Trust was honored as the program’s Partner of the Year for 2016.

The Partners in Excellence Program, celebrating its 30th year, is the school system’s premier school/business partnership program. It pairs businesses, community organizations and civic organizations with individual schools to promote excellence in education.

Chandu Kuntawala, the chamber’s Education Committee chair, is also the chair of the new Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy. He discussed two new programs that will have chamber, community, partners in excellence and DCSS involvement.

“The first program is called ‘Priority One.’ Recognizing that the education of the children in our community is the no. 1 priority. Priority 1 is a volunteer mentoring program between the business communities and our schools,” Kuntawala said. “It will be based on needs requirements from the school system.

“The second program is called ‘Go See.’ It’s a school touring program where our business community will have an opportunity to see, tour and visit with all of the schools in our community and experience all of the great things that are happening in our schools.”

Mosely then addressed the crowd.

“What a great way to begin a morning,” Mosley said. “I had a lady in the food line thank me for doing a wonderful job. I thanked her and said that I’d like to think I had a little bit to do with it, but the truth is we’ve surrounded ourselves with the right people.

“We’ve built a lot of fires, and we are trying to keep them hot while we climb this mountain. But we’ve made a lot of progress, a lot of progress.”

The Partners in Excellence Program also ushered in 48 new partners Thursday, pushing the total number of participating organizations to more than 260 businesses.

The primary goal of the Partners in Excellence Program is to strengthen and enrich the instructional programs in schools, thereby ensuring that all students graduate with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required for lifelong learning and successful functioning as members of the work force, community and society.